Every once in a while a liberal says something somewhat intelligent

[AcademicActuary]

Stephens has compared Trump to Italian dictator [Benito Mussolini(Benito Mussolini - Wikipedia)

He could have just said, like Mussolini, Trump is an effective demagogue.

[Indy]

Sure. The Rs are a coalition just like the Ds are.

Lots of evangelical Christians are doing fine economically and support Trump for reasons that have nothing to do with economics. (Though, they may still reject what they see as the arrogance of the mainstream Christian denominations.)

The rich people on Staten Island may own businesses and love to hear Rs talk about cutting regulations. They may favor R tax policies.

[ao_fan]

idk, my uncle is retired and collecting a pretty great pension. he was a democrat prior to trump. not sure what his deal is. might be his insane wife influencing him.

[ArthurItas]

@Ranger

Trump voters had a powerful case to make that they had been thrice betrayed by the nation’s elites. First, after 9/11, when they had borne much of the brunt of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only to see Washington fumble and then abandon the efforts. Second, after the financial crisis of 2008, when so many were being laid off, even as the financial class was being bailed out. Third, in the post-crisis recovery, in which years of ultralow interest rates were a bonanza for those with investable assets and brutal for those without.

I think the above is probably the only part of the piece worth paying attention to. There is a large part of the poor working class that used to vote mostly Dem that defected to Trump based on empty promises about bringing all the good high paying jobs back to America that didn’t require any education. None of that happened. Many of them came for the promise of jobs that never arrived, but they stayed for drivel like this about how straight white Christian men are the only persecuted group in America.

[soyleche]

Does the article get into Black Lives Matter protesters being justified?

[ao_fan]

@Ranger

Trump voters had a powerful case to make that they had been thrice betrayed by the nation’s elites. First, after 9/11, when they had borne much of the brunt of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only to see Washington fumble and then abandon the efforts. Second, after the financial crisis of 2008, when so many were being laid off, even as the financial class was being bailed out. Third, in the post-crisis recovery, in which years of ultralow interest rates were a bonanza for those with investable assets and brutal for those without.

and somehow Trump was the answer to this. nevermind that he is also elite. the only thing that makes him different is that he wasn’t a politician prior to this. he was a shady real estate mogul instead.

[AcademicActuary]

Remember it was Trump that made the commitment to withdraw from Afghanastan (i.e. abandon the effort)…

Not convinced that ultra low interest rates are a bonanza for those with investable assets and brutal for those without. If you do not have investable assets you are probably a net borrower. If you had investable assets it would have depended upon where they were invested.

What exactly has Trump done to reign in the financial class other than weaken regulation of the finance sector?

[ArthurItas]

@AcademicActuary

Remember it was Trump that made the commitment to withdraw from Afghanastan (i.e. abandon the effort)…

Facts are irrelevant here. This is about the aggrieved feelings of sad straight white men.

[colonelsmoothie]

I want to throw up in my mouth a little bit

[colonelsmoothie]

If there’s any old guy who should win the sexy award it’s gotta be that Fauci dude. Guy still runs 4 miles a day and it’s kind of like, a hero.

[ao_fan]

i think fauci is also a sex symbol among a different group.

[colonelsmoothie]

@Indy

Both parties wanted to open China to the Western trading bloc. Neither was terribly concerned about the millions of manufacturing jobs that would cost.

Do these people not know how to delegate or what? It’s like when a new analyst comes in all eager and shit to take on your data entry work. Thanks kid! Now I can move on to a higher value-add role and get paid more.

[Indy]

@colonelsmoothie

Now I can move on to a higher value-add role and get paid more.

That’s what the Ds said. It happened for some, but not for enough. Turns out that the higher value-add role often takes a three digit IQ.

[Indy]

Stephens agrees with you

No wonder they were angry.

Anger can take dumb or dangerous turns, and with Trump they often took both. But that didn’t mean the anger was unfounded or illegitimate, or that it was aimed at the wrong target.

[magillaG]

Remember too that a lot of working class voters also felt betrayed by clinton and the democrats for nafta and the decline of american manufacturing (which was not all due to nafta of course but seemed to be.) It started before 9/11.

[ArthurItas]

Agree it’s a much longer term trend than NAFTA, and yes Clinton took heat for agreeing to the deal

[NerdAlert]

I have always had sympathy for trump supporters, the same way I had sympathy when my toddler would get upset that his brother got something he also did. He would prefer neither of them get something than his brother get what he got, a real cut off his nose to spite his face asshole in those days.

Of course, my son grew out of it by five, and me having sympathy for his feelings didn’t mean they were in any way valid. There is a better way in life, one where kindness and community prevail.

I’m sympathetic for anger, but turn it into something righteous, not selfish.

[Snikelfritz]

[ao_fan]

sure sure, but i know too many trump haters who are selfish assholes too. i think in general humans are just assholes.

[SredniVashtar]

@Ranger

Trump voters had a powerful case to make that they had been thrice betrayed by the nation’s elites. First, after 9/11, when they had borne much of the brunt of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only to see Washington fumble and then abandon the efforts. Second, after the financial crisis of 2008, when so many were being laid off, even as the financial class was being bailed out. Third, in the post-crisis recovery, in which years of ultralow interest rates were a bonanza for those with investable assets and brutal for those without.

I don’t buy this. You could say the same thing about any generation in America. We’ve always been run by the elite. We’ve always started wars and bailed out banks. The workers are always angry. That’s why Socialism is a movement, though it always fails.

Trump was not even a particularly convincing “anti-elite” candidate, being conspicuously rich himself and his only major policy plan was to give money to rich people.

@Ranger

Oh, and then came the great American cultural revolution of the 2010s, in which traditional practices and beliefs — regarding same-sex marriage, sex-segregated bathrooms, personal pronouns, meritocratic ideals, race-blind rules, reverence for patriotic symbols, the rules of romance, the presumption of innocence and the distinction between equality of opportunity and outcome — became, more and more, not just passé, but taboo.

This I do buy. Maybe America shifted too far and too fast?

And whenever the culture shifts too fast we elect a massive shithead who ruins our country? I don’t entirely get the connection, but there’s something there.