General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust got this from a "friend" on FB, it's long but it gives an insight into the deplorable mindset
"Like many citizens, I've wondered and tried hard to understand why Pres. Trump has such a remarkable following. (It's obvious why he probably should not)! Then a friend sent me this raccoon story. It makes no difference about your political leanings, this is just a good explanation of WHY... (or it's as good as any I can come up with).
If you really want to know how most people feel, and this applies to both democrats and republicans, read below. It says it all.----
You've been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. You want them gone immediately. You call the city and 4 different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job. But there is this one guy and he guarantees to get rid of them, so you hire him. You don't care if the guy smells, you don't care if the guy swears, you don't care if he's an alcoholic, you don't care how many times he's been married, you don't care if he has a plumber's crack, you simply want those raccoons gone! You want your problem fixed! He's the guy. He's the best!
Here's why we want Trump. Yes he's a bit of a jerk; yes he's an egomaniac; but we don't care. The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republicans and Democrats can be two-faced and gutless, and illegals are everywhere. We want it all fixed! We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people, we don't care that he has changed positions, we don't care that he's been married 3 times, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslim terrorist.
This country became weak and bankrupt, our enemies were making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo, and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in; " AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED ". And Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.
We're sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and sick of illegals. We just want this thing fixed . Trump may not be a saint, but we didnt vote for a Pope. We voted for a man who doesn't have lobbyist money holding him back, a man who doesn't have political correctness restraining him. We all know that he has been very successful, hes a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he's also not a politician, not a cowardly politician. And he says he'll fix it. And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong or looked at and called a liar. Also, we don't care if the guy has bad hair. We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW .
You are welcome to pass this on. Thousands of people who haven't voted in 25 years seem to be getting involved. And the more people get this email the more that will understand why Trump was elected. The raccoons have got to go!"
I keep politics off my FB page but sometimes I have to respond...I'm leaning on dumping this FB friend
boston bean
(36,186 posts)These people are racist losers.
Ohiogal
(31,671 posts)What a wonderful Christian way to refer to your fellow human beings who are suffering.
It really infuriates me when someone will say "this holds true regardless of your political leanings" -- and then proceeds to go on a right wing screed.
I would definitely dump this guy!
d_r
(6,907 posts)what if the guy was making up the racoons?
What if the guy had never successfully gotten rid of racoons before, and hasn't done anything about them for two years, but keeps talking about how he is going to do something about them? What if the guy is well known for conning people before?
Does your friend hire contractors and pay them upfront?
MANative
(4,105 posts)0rganism
(23,856 posts)... and at first we all think, hey maybe he's just really good at catching raccoons after all.
but turns out, these are Don's trained raccoons and he sets them loose in Joe's basement. he chases around his pet raccoons for a while and occasionally pretends to catch one or run one out of the yard. eventually, after Don's rounded up most of his raccoons, he hands Joe a fat invoice that includes a "discount coupon" for some joint called "Donald's Bigly Walls LLC", which it turns out this asshole owns. Don tells Joe he needs a big old wall around his back yard to keep the coons out for good, but thanks to prevention of raccoon damage, the wall pays for itself in a few months, right?
then Don takes off, leaving 3 of his raccoons in Joe's basement.
ooky
(8,889 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)"... man who doesn't have lobbyist money holding him back, a man who doesn't have political correctness restraining him. We all know that he has been very successful, hes a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things..."
dawg day
(7,947 posts)Seriously, Bin Laden could have said all that about how terrible we are.
lisby
(408 posts)That's what it all boils down to. Anyone not white and on top or black and on the bottom needs to be "fixed." And what does "fixed" mean, anyway? Killed? Deported? Stripped of citizenship? Stuffed back into the closet?
I'd like to know, from your friend, what the definition of "fix" is--not in terms of basement animals, but in real terms. How far would they like Trump to go?
"We voted for a man who doesn't have lobbyist money holding him back." They voted for a man who is owned and financed by Putin.
Yeah, I would definitely dump that FB friend.
SHRED
(28,136 posts)Your friend doesn't see the hypocrisy in hiring illegally?
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)Quite honestly, most of them like Trump because they've been told to like him by conservative media. That whole screed is based upon the misinformation that Fox News broadcasts everyday.
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)Many will require deprogramming.
ChoppinBroccoli
(3,764 posts)Except the President of the United States doesn't have the luxury of ONLY being an exterminator. He doesn't just do ONE job like an exterminator does. What you're hiring is a guy who is in charge of taking care of EVERYTHING in and around your house, and making sure the entire neighborhood is safe too. So YOU don't have the luxury of saying, "I don't care that he has identified the problem as being that there is food in the house they're after, and his solution is to poison all the food, including the food WE eat." And YOU don't have the luxury of saying, "I don't care if he's not a munitions expert, and he intends to pack our basement with dynamite in order to get rid of the raccoons." Because guess what happens when the "guy who hates raccoons just as much as I do" sets that dynamite off. Or that he intends to get rid of the raccoons by flooding YOUR basement with water. And then, when his job is over, he just walks away and gets another job while YOU have to live in the house he destroyed.
So, once again, cool story, bro.
I mean, I get that Republicans tend to think in a simplistic way (I often say they think in bumper stickers and catchphrases), so in their minds, there's no problem so complex that it doesn't have a simplistic solution. But why is it that they always have some cutesy-poo story/allegory that they THINK illustrates their position? And why is it that they NEVER see all the inherent flaws in their little stories? Remember when the "why you should hate immigrants too" story going around was the one about the poisoned M&M?
renate
(13,776 posts)Metaphors are really helpful for explaining and understanding, but they have to be accurate and not just sound good.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)malaise
(267,842 posts)ck4829
(34,977 posts)DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Two thirds of illegal immigration won't be stopped by the wall.
Trump promised a healthcare-reform. Not happening.
Trump promised infrastructure. Not happening.
Trump promised bringing coal back. Coal-jobs are dying faster than during the Obama-administration.
Trump promised great deals. His wonderful trade-deal is marginally different from NAFTA.
Trump promised to get rid of the national debt of $19 trillion within 8 years. He managed to increase it to $21 trillion within 2 years.
Yeah, he says he will fix it. And once you have made your down-payment, he makes a run for it.
Javaman
(62,444 posts)if he did, I'd cut him loose after a couple of weeks of failure and find someone else.
with the orange asshole, he isn't removing rabid filthy racoons, he's bringing them in and breeding them, thus making the problem worse.
area51
(11,868 posts)In what alternate universe?