Trump Hysteria

[Traditio]

Something that I've noticed over the course of the Trump presidency is that virtually everyone has gone crazy.

On the one side, you have the lunatics among the democratic establishment who make Alex Jones seem reasonable in comparison. From day 1 of his presidency, efforts have been made to paint him as "Putin's puppet," despite every obvious evidence to the contrary. If Trump is Putin's puppet, then why did he keep bombing Syria? If Trump is Putin's puppet, then why did he try to pressure Germany to stop buying Russian oil and instead buy American oil? Why did he withdraw from the Iran deal and do even more sanctions on Iran? [Iran and Russia are allies, for those of you who don't know.] Likewise, efforts have been made to paint him as a uniquely bad/evil person. Thus the "orange man bad" mentality. Do these people have anything to say against the actions that Trump has actually taken as president or Donald Trump's stated policy positions? For the most part, no, not really. They just don't like Trump the man.

And on the other side, you have the Trump cult of personality people who equally don't care about the things that Donald Trump is actually doing as president or about Donald Trump's actual state policy positions. You know. The people who cheered when Trump said that he wouldn't get us involved in all of these pointless wars overseas. And then went on to cheer when Donald Trump launched missiles against Syrian airfields. Then continued to cheer when Trump said that the US isn't leaving Afghanistan and Iraq. Then continued to cheer when Trump made a deal with the Taliban to leave Afghanistan. And would probably cheer if he reneged on that deal tomorrow.

The people who can't actually name of any of the bills that Donald Trump has signed into law or executive orders that he signed, but cheer him on regardless, because he's OUR GUY.

Donald Trump has been on every side of every issue. But Trumpists don't care. I honestly believe that if Donald Trump signed medicare for all, free college and a green new deal into law, these Trumpists would continue to cheer just as loudly as when Donald Trump denounces all of those things.

And that's most of the country. The deranged conspiracy theorists and outrage mobs on the establishment left and the fanatic personality cultists on the right.

Trump has driven basically the entire country insane.

Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[Traditio]

I'll give a clear example of this:

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump (correctly) pointed out that the official unemployment numbers are inaccurate.

And the Trumpists cheered!

Now both he and the Trumpists appeal to those very same numbers to show how "awesome" the Trump economy is.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump (correctly) pointed out that we are in a "big, fat bubble."

And the Trumpists cheered!

Now both he and Trumpists talk about how awesome it is that the stocks just keep going up and up and how totally strong our economy is.

 

[User Name]

And that's most of the country. The deranged conspiracy theorists and outrage mobs on the establishment left and the fanatic personality cultists on the right.

Trump has driven basically the entire country insane.

Has anybody else noticed this?

Good analysis overall. I would add the following: Evangelicals and other social reactionaries support Trump for one main reason--he appoints conservative judges. There is another reason. Mental health professionals seem to be in general agreement that Trump is a malignant narcissist, and this speaks to Trump's "cult of personality." Other narcissists recognize their own narcissism in him, and they like what they see in Trump because Trump validates them.

On the flip side, there are the establishment Democrats, who refuse to admit the real reasons why Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016, and are desperate to deflect attention away from Clinton's massive flaws and onto anything else, such as calling Trump "Putin's puppet," as you correctly pointed out. So we have "clowns to the left of us, jokers to the right," as the classic Stealers Wheels song goes.

I've said it before: Bernie Sanders is the sanest and most intelligent person currently running for president. If he wins, a Sanders presidency would go a long way to restoring this country to sanity.

 

[Traditio]

Good analysis overall. I would add the following: Evangelicals and other social reactionaries support Trump for one main reason--he appoints conservative judges.

That's part of the irony of it all, though, isn't it? Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are massively pro-corporate, yes, that's true. But I don't think that you can call them socially conservative. If Donald Trump would have nominated a judge who was openly in favor of repealing Roe v. Wade, both Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski would have voted no. [This is part of the reason I say that abortion is not a living issue. Those are both Republicans.]

Both Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, when asked about abortion, appealed to stare decisis and asserted that Roe v. Wade is "the settled law of the land."

So far as I can tell, the most that they've actually done that can be called "socially conservative" is in ruling in favor of the "Bake the gay wedding cake" guy. But they ruled in his favor on the grounds that the State of Colorado showed religious prejudice in the process of going after him. They were very clear to point out that they weren't establishing a broader precedent that other judges down the line would have to take into consideration.

And it's certainly not like either of these judges is going to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

I've said it before: Bernie Sanders is the sanest and most intelligent person currently running for president. If he wins, a Sanders presidency would go a long way to restoring this country to sanity.

Warren and Buttigieg are probably more intelligent (which is why they tend to do well with educated, affluent white liberals), though I do agree with your assessment that a Sanders presidency would probably restore the US to some level of sanity.

If you like or dislike Bernie Sanders, you don't like or dislike him because he's Bernie Sanders, as a general rule. You like or dislike him because you do or don't like the things that he has to say on the issues.

 

[User Name]

That's part of the irony of it all, though, isn't it? Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are massively pro-corporate, yes, that's true. But I don't think that you can call them socially conservative. If Donald Trump would have nominated a judge who was openly in favor of repealing Roe v. Wade, both Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski would have voted no. [This is part of the reason I say that abortion is not a living issue. Those are both Republicans.]

Both Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, when asked about abortion, appealed to stare decisis and asserted that Roe v. Wade is "the settled law of the land."

Yes, I know. But don't tell the right-wing Christians that--you'll make them kick their feet and cry in their cornflakes. All they know is that Trump appoints judges based on recommendations from the Federalist Society, and that is all they need to know to be satisfied, as far as they're concerned.

 

[User Name]

Warren and Buttigieg are probably more intelligent (which is why they tend to do well with educated, affluent white liberals), though I do agree with your assessment that a Sanders presidency would probably restore the US to some level of sanity.

I will modify my statement: Sanders is the most intelligent politician running for the presidency. No other candidate is as savvy as Bernie. If they were, they'd be matching or beating him in popularity.

 

[Traditio]

I will modify my statement: Sanders is the most intelligent politician running for the presidency. No other candidate is as savvy as Bernie. If they were, they'd be matching or beating him in popularity.

I'm not sure if that's true. People don't like Sanders because he's particularly intelligent or charismatic. People like him because he's a fundamentally decent and honest person who has been saying the same things for the past 30 years that he's saying now. He actually cares about the American people. He is "willing to fight people he doesn't even know."

When you say "intelligent politician," what comes to mind is political calculation.

Bernie Sanders isn't about "intelligent political calculations." I don't think he's making any calculations. The sole calculations that he is making, as far as I can see, is "I believe this, so I'm going to say this." To the extent that he's made political calculations (like not attacking the other candidates, endorsing Hillary Clinton and doing a national tour with Tom Perez even though the primaries were rigged against him), his supporters didn't like those things.

That's why what Hillary Clinton said is true in Washington D.C. "Nobody likes him." But it's not true of 60% of the actual voters.

 

[Traditio]

This is why we like Bernie. It's not about intelligence. It's about basic human decency.

 

[User Name]

I'm not sure if that's true. People don't like Sanders because he's particularly intelligent or charismatic. People like him because he's a fundamentally decent and honest person who has been saying the same things for the past 30 years that he's saying now. He actually cares about the American people. He is "willing to fight people he doesn't even know."

When you say "intelligent politician," what comes to mind is political calculation.

He is all that. I think Sanders could defeat Warren or Buttigieg in a one-on-one debate. That's why I say he's smarter. He knows better than they do.