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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPierce: Trumpism Is a Spell
This whole thing is worth a read. Will someone explain to me why we should "reach out" to these people?
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13452453/trump-supporters-despair/
The president*'s fans don't believe things can get better.
One of the best hires any publication has made over the past few years happened when Politico brought in Michael Kruse to do longform pieces for Politico Magazine. (This is one of the reasons that, as you may have noticed, Politico is one of the few people or institutions thats lost its nom de blog around the shebeen.) This week, with impeccable timing, Kruse brings back a report about what he found when he went back to Johnstown in Pennsylvania to catch up with some Trump voters with whom he visited a year ago. There are dark blue notes playing behind every word. Two examples:
And, also:
He said he was going to bring back the steel mills.
Youre never going to get those steel mills back, she said. But he said he was going to, I said.
Yeah, but hows he going to bring them back?
I dont know, I said, but its what he said, last year, and people voted for him because of it.
They always say they want to bring the steel mills back, Frear said, but theyre going to have to do a lot of work to bring the steel mills back.
He hasnt built the wall yet, either. I dont care about his wall, said Frear, 76. I mean, if he gets his wallI dont give a shit, you know? But he has a good idea: Keep em out.
These people are not reachable. I wish they were. Theres no point in getting angry about it anymore. Theres also no point in wondering why they feel the way they do, why they fell for the snake oil, and why they consistently vote against their own interests, or dont vote at all. Reading what they told Kruse about where they are a year after voting for Trump is like listening to someone in the throes of a hangover talk about a bar fight they were in the night before.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)They vote for someone who makes promises they know he can't keep. I guess hearing the bullshit makes them feel better.
There is no way to have a rational conversation with people like this.
mcar
(42,331 posts)And/or racist & sexist.
malaise
(268,998 posts)They are 'deplorable' morons
mcar
(42,331 posts)What are they even voting for? And, President Obama slept till noon and golfed all the time but dude was unaware Dotard golfs way, way more? Tell me that's not the Fox effect.
I'm happy today. I shouldn't have posted this cause it's pissing me off again.
treestar
(82,383 posts)This is what the Orange One gives them.
Mr. Ected
(9,670 posts)I need to keep a compilation of things I hear everyday. It sounds just like this. I could write a book. "Cranial Inversion: How Trump's Army Kneecapped America".
I blame generational politics and America's propaganda agencies for this unfortunate and irreversible state of affairs.
Polly Hennessey
(6,797 posts)They do not think; they react. They have one tape in their head and the tape cannot be changed. Eventually, the tape will splinter and they will devolve even deeper into their misery. Dont bother with them. They are only worthy of being forgotten.
lindysalsagal
(20,686 posts)When children talk like this, you allow it because they're not finished, or complete.
There are smart capable people in rural america, but they really are not the norm, and they are vastly out-numbered by those who really can't grow up and catch on.
As the world and our country becomes evermore complex and global, they just are not going to figure out how it works. And they want someone to make it all seem simple, and reassure them it's all someone else's fault and someone else's problem.
They're not going to take responsibility for understanding or becoming informed. The church depends on these people: The dependent.
We used to have agricultural jobs they could do to be feel like they contribute to small-town america. Now, farms are all automated. Farms are high-tech, require business-savvy and higher order thinking, problem solving and communication. You don't just plow, plant and pick anymore.
Lumber, coal, even manufacturing, it's all gone and they're not needed and they know it. And Donald gives them someone to blame.
The only question is: Who will they find to replace him?
Kasich was too smart for them and went nowhere. I still say he should have been their candidate, but he didn't mommy them nearly enough. They couldn't relate: Not enough small, angry words. They loved the insults, and always will.
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)That Jerk Lost by 3 million votes. We either need to do away with it or make it more fair, with every state having the same ratio of Electoral Vote per population. As it this is not the way it is.
rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)Bennett Marco: Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.
Michael Kruse: Donald Trump is probably the most diligent hardest working president weve had in our lifetimes.
BadGimp
(4,015 posts)Current Paradigm: These people will never change or evolve. They seem so permanently manipulated and ill or misinformed. You can't get through to them.
The truth is without people like those profiled in the article, Trump and The GOP could and never will be able to win.