Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Are they out there?


    If you don't see something, despite looking for it, it could be:
   A) it isn't there.
   B) it is there, but occurring outside of your range of vision.
    A new Facebook friend pointed out the impossibility of persuading anybody who supports Donald Trump and his malignant botch of a presidency to reconsider their position.
   "A popular meme goes around Facebook saying that nobody’s mind is changed by seeing anything on social media," she wrote.   
    That sounds true. As the Trump disaster unfolds, drip drip drip, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, there is no misstep that can't be explained away. Colluding with Russia? Well, Russia ain't so bad. Firing the FBI director to squelch the investigation? Well, he's allowed to do that. Receiving money from foreign governments in violation of the Constitution? Good business!
     At no point does anyone say, "Hmmm...is this what I voted for?"
     I've never seen, or heard of it.
     Is there anyone, in the United State of America, who voted for Trump, but now, seeing him in operation, thinks,"Golly, I might have made a mistake."
    Because I've never gotten an email, or a letter, or a phone call that betrays even a whisper of that sentiment. Or even the beginning of that sentiment. Rather, we get what is popularly referred to as "doubling down." Angry, aggrieved bemoaning of the unfairness facing our president, the greatest president ever, mixed with condemnations of the bitch he defeated, and nostalgic denunciations of the Muslim sleeper agent he replaced.
    So I'm asking you, the great unseen EGD audience. Have any of you, in your personal experience, heard of anyone dissatisfied with how Trump is performing in the White House? If so, under what circumstances -- and no names, please. I don't want to out anybody or expose them to the caustic ridicule and abuse that passes for political argument from the Republican camp.
    And if not -- and I would guess that common answer is "no" — what does that mean for our country? Even should Trump be booted from office—a long shot—or quit, bored, or be riven with a thunderbolt by the severe God of Deuteronomy, how can we face our difficult American future, knowing that so many of our brethren are blind to the evidence of their senses? Or what would be the evidence of their senses, if those senses could receive evidence?
    We're sorta screwed. Are we not?

16 comments:

  1. There have been some reports that his ratings among his beloved have slipped some but with personal experience with an acquaintance of mine, nothing that he does or says will change her mind.

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  2. Agreed. I work very closely with someone who is a staunch Trump supporter. He insists that Trump has accomplished great things so far, especially given how hard the established political machine and "fake news" is undermining his every effort. Additionally, Trump will continue to excel for the next 7 1/2 years as President and will be looked upon by historians as the greatest President in the past 100 years. Trump administration gaffes are typically the fault of outside forces hostile to Trump.

    The one that made me most irate was when he parroted Trump's tweet about it being wrong that a judge can overturn an Executive Order. My co-worker insisted that's not how the three branch system of the Federal government is supposed to work.

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  3. I am amazed at the power of Fear to abdicate American values and embrace a demigod

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  4. I'm in an area that is very pro Trump, and I have talked to some that have regretted their votes. The main theme being that they were shocked that he is so incompetent and untrustworthy. One person who has regretted their vote that I know well is my dad. Before the election, it didn't matter what was said or done, there was no way he was voting for Clinton. Now he fully admits that voting for Trump was a huge mistake, which for him is a rarity.

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  5. I can well understand the reluctance of Trump voters to admit that Trump doesn't know the first thing about what he's supposed to be doing, but I fail to see what we Democrats have to gain by blaming Hilary Clinton for the disastrous election results. I doubt very much if Joe Biden would have done better and Bernie Sanders, as much as I enjoy his act, would not have been able to overcome the deeply rooted American prejudice against all thing Socialistic. We love our Medicare and Social Security, but don't you dare call such Socialism. Hilary was everything Donald was not: cautious, reasonable, knowledgeable, dignified. Enough Americans clamored for the clowns and they'll be with us for a while. Why shouldn't Trump supporters be happy? They got what they wanted: chest-thumping chaos and daily drama.

    john

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  6. I've read about Trump supporters who are having doubts, but don't recall reading about anyone who said outright that voting for him was a mistake.

    Let's face it: Trump supporters are motivated by resentment, and people don't let go of their resentments very easily.

    NikkiD: Good for your dad.

    --Bitter Scribe

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  7. I know someone who believed in Trump-as-businessman-and-dealmaker, and he's horrified by how things are going. I know another who voted for Trump after voting for Obama twice and being disappointed, and would bet that he's also thinking he made a mistake (I haven't run across him recently). But maybe these two don't fit your category? Often, "voting for candidate X" doesn't mean "candidate X supporter" beyond the vote. There are a whole bunch of folks who don't invest in candidates the way folks invest in sports teams, and you're writing about the folks who do invest in candidates that way, I think? Not all the people who voted for Trump are those who populate Twitter/Facebook feeds/message boards, just as all the folks who voted for Clinton aren't the hand-wringing readers of Slate or HuffPost or Jezebel. They went to the ballot box, made their decision for reasons not significantly shaped by narratives driven by the candidates' efforts, and can therefore be pleased or disappointed by what follows.

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  8. I wouldn't know if any of my pro-Trump former friends regret their choice. I don't talk to them anymore because they are no longer my friends. I have no interest in continuing a relationship with, let alone talking to, and never mind "trying to understand" anyone who supports the national embarrassment that is Donald Trump. It sickens me.

    I did not feel this way towards those who voted for Mitt Romney or John McCain (ok maybe somewhat, due to the Palin factor) or George W Bush. This is different.

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  9. The closest I have ever seen any of my Trump supporter friends backing off is that they wish he would stop tweeting and concentrate more on governing. Otherwise, they're in complete lockstep with him.

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  10. I spoke to only a few Trump supporters and that was by mistake - I thought they were normal. But they were not so much pro-Trump as anti-Hillary and anti-Obama. Unless Trump kills embassy workers in Benghazi, or becomes African-American, he can't be as bad as them. He can lie and ramble incoherently all day and he's not even in the same demonized league. As long as that's the case there's no reason to think they made a dumb vote.

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  11. I could just copy and paste the last couple of sentences of NikkiD's comments. My husband voted for Obama both times, but he was an rabid Hillary-hater. He thought she was a criminal, and there was no way he was voting for her. Ironic, isn't it?

    So, he voted against Hillary, and cast his ballot for Trump, one of the greatest grifters of all times; (I could go on and on with epithets for Trump). My husband is extremely disappointed and disgusted with Trump and thinks he should be impeached, but he still thinks Hillary was a crook, and I can't get him to admit he was wrong. It's caused major issues between us.

    We both agree that impeaching Trump would only lead us to Pence, then Paul Ryan, and on down the line. All of them would have to go before someone decent came along!

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  12. Good article about how Trump is profiting from being president. I am sure Trump voters don't care. https://theintercept.com/2017/06/12/the-u-s-government-has-become-the-ultimate-extension-of-donald-trumps-for-profit-brand/

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  13. Many of Trump's supporters were of the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" variety. They were tired of the politicians ignoring them while their jobs were going overseas and things just kept on getting harder for them. As long as there's no real alternative, they're just going to stay with him since a false hope is better than no hope.

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  14. Maybe what all those voters are singing is a variation on the John Lennon tune; All we are saying, is give Trump a chance.

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  15. You can take the Trump supporters to the facts,
    But you you can't make them think.

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  16. Hell with them. We have to save ourselves.

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