04-30-2019, 11:29 PM
I see Trump getting somewhere between 41% and 45% of the popular vote unless his approval ratings get to the middle 40s by January 2020. Doing so will be difficult in the extreme.
A majority of Americans distrust him. He hurts people as a way of consolidating support in his base. I concede his base much as I assume that certain people will never like classical music. (It takes patience and the willingness to listen to music with the most generic of titles. String Quartet in G-Major, K.387, anyone? 33 minutes, and you get to listen to something about 225 years old. Two violins, a viola, and a cello make all the sound. That takes some learning). Is it worth it? I say it is. Many would never dare listen to this.
Well, I despise just about everything about Donald Trump -- his demagoguery, his contempt for legal precedent, his willingness to toss rhetorical kerosene onto an overheated debate, his recklessness, his inveterate lying... OK, some people found that attractive at first so long as he promised what other politicians would never offer. He either could not achieve his promises (because they contradict, which I expect from the communications of a liar or fool) or what he offers is itself suspect. I need music of this type to help me forget how ugly American politics have become.
If Americans did not give credit to Obama for getting America out of the worst economic meltdown in 80 years, then why should they give such credit to Donald Trump? Maybe Bill Clinton's "It's the economy, stupid" does not apply once one realizes that the economic activity is mostly the result of putting the screws to most people on behalf of economic elites.
I have seen footage of Trump rallies and Castro rallies -- and they have similarities. Everybody cheers at the same canned lines. People who disagree with the Great and Glorious Leader are depicted as enemies. People whose concordance with the message is suspect are escorted away.
With Donald Trump I see a great debasement of what made America great -- or at least on the path to genuine greatness. That means people recognizing that someone else's misfortune is not cause for delight. That means that the leadership does not divide and conquer. That means that people communicate clearly and honestly, making only promises that the can reasonably expect to deliver. That means that one shows due respect for expertise (some of it is wrong, but it takes some wisdom to distinguish which expertise one can follow) instead of rejecting it as 'intellectual' and thus suspect. Above all that means that business dealings and government actions come with a thick sauce of integrity.
Maybe I need remind you of what J. Edgar Hoover said of criminals (and, yes, Donald Trump is a shyster) -- that in all of his years in law enforcement he has found one thing in common among all criminals -- that they are all liars. Crooks must lie because they must hide what they are. Honest people know enough that they can get away with little. Find the liar with a connection to the crime, and you find the crook.
A majority of Americans distrust him. He hurts people as a way of consolidating support in his base. I concede his base much as I assume that certain people will never like classical music. (It takes patience and the willingness to listen to music with the most generic of titles. String Quartet in G-Major, K.387, anyone? 33 minutes, and you get to listen to something about 225 years old. Two violins, a viola, and a cello make all the sound. That takes some learning). Is it worth it? I say it is. Many would never dare listen to this.
Well, I despise just about everything about Donald Trump -- his demagoguery, his contempt for legal precedent, his willingness to toss rhetorical kerosene onto an overheated debate, his recklessness, his inveterate lying... OK, some people found that attractive at first so long as he promised what other politicians would never offer. He either could not achieve his promises (because they contradict, which I expect from the communications of a liar or fool) or what he offers is itself suspect. I need music of this type to help me forget how ugly American politics have become.
If Americans did not give credit to Obama for getting America out of the worst economic meltdown in 80 years, then why should they give such credit to Donald Trump? Maybe Bill Clinton's "It's the economy, stupid" does not apply once one realizes that the economic activity is mostly the result of putting the screws to most people on behalf of economic elites.
I have seen footage of Trump rallies and Castro rallies -- and they have similarities. Everybody cheers at the same canned lines. People who disagree with the Great and Glorious Leader are depicted as enemies. People whose concordance with the message is suspect are escorted away.
With Donald Trump I see a great debasement of what made America great -- or at least on the path to genuine greatness. That means people recognizing that someone else's misfortune is not cause for delight. That means that the leadership does not divide and conquer. That means that people communicate clearly and honestly, making only promises that the can reasonably expect to deliver. That means that one shows due respect for expertise (some of it is wrong, but it takes some wisdom to distinguish which expertise one can follow) instead of rejecting it as 'intellectual' and thus suspect. Above all that means that business dealings and government actions come with a thick sauce of integrity.
Maybe I need remind you of what J. Edgar Hoover said of criminals (and, yes, Donald Trump is a shyster) -- that in all of his years in law enforcement he has found one thing in common among all criminals -- that they are all liars. Crooks must lie because they must hide what they are. Honest people know enough that they can get away with little. Find the liar with a connection to the crime, and you find the crook.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.