political rants

Why Trump?

Why Trump?

It is utterly amazing to me that so many of my fellow Americans still support a president who, in Bernie Sanders’ words, “is compulsively dishonest, who is a bully, who actively represents the interests of the billionaire class, who is anti-science, and who is trying to divide us up based on the color of our skin, our nation of origin, our religion, our gender, or our sexual orientation.”

Why Support for Trump Persists?

The reason why so many of my fellow Americans supported Trump then and now can be boiled down to the following factors:

A widespread feeling that the coastal elites had sold them out, through their aggressive offshoring of manufacturing in pursuit of neoliberal economic policies.
A widespread feeling that the middle class and working class have been taking it on the chin for decades, adjusted for inflation. The average wage has not gone up since 1975.
The growing gap between the right and the rest of us.
Changes in demographics are only 60 percent white, less than 30 percent evangelical Christians.
Women and minorities have gotten too much power and visibility.
Cost of living has gotten out of hand, particularly college costs, housing, and medical care.
The radical left is pushing its socialist agenda of climate change, LGBTQ rights, and universal health care onto the rest of the country.
LGBTQ rights have gotten out of hand, many of these people believe that gay marriage should be illegal and many believe that the LGBTQ community should be made illegal, and are particularly anti-trans.
White supremacy and racism – many of his supporters are outright racists and white supremacists.
The widespread feeling that traditional Christianity is under attack and there is a war against Christianity.
Related to this is the fear of Muslim immigration
Many believe in the replacement theory – that widespread immigration is designed to change the foundations of American life.
Fear of rising crime and disorder.
The decline in support for traditional democratic norms, desires for a strong man authoritarian to take charge and stick it to the hated libtards.
The disdain of the corrupt, coastal globalists elites who look down on "real Americans" living in Fly Over Red States,
Greatest political polarization since the1850s as Americans once again split into political tribes amid a feeling that the US is a splitting apart along sectarian and political fault lines.
Resurgence is the belief that another civil war is inevitable
Fascism has once again become an acceptable alternative.




Travels in Trump's America

I've been wrestling with this question since 2016 when I drove across the country when I returned when I tried from the State Department in the spring time just as the primaries were heating up and Donald Trump was winning left and right. One of the things I realized as it went through so many nothingburger towns and the great flyover states was that Donald Trump spoke to the rural hinterland people who felt that they were being left behind and with the broad spread belief that the coastal elites who just did not get them and did not care. Trump, the greatest conman in modern U.S. history, was able to convince them that he was on their side, and then he was their champion of the forgotten Americans. Donald staged his hugely entertaining rallies everywhere that Spring and into the Fall, while Hillary staged far fewer events, acting as if she was entitled to the the next President, that it was her turn. That attitude proved to be fatal to her chances.

As I went through all these small towns, I realized that they were forgotten Americans and I realized in fact that the political system had abandoned them due to the prevailing liberal neo-economic theories that led to the hollowing out of American industry and many rural areas to be similar to what you might see in the 3rd and 4th world backwater countries so, and in a sense the system was indeed rigged against them.

Both Trump and Bernie Sanders spoke to these individuals, but they had different prescriptions for what to do about it. Bernie Sanders, I believe sincerely believed that he was trying to help them whereas Donald Trump was just seeing this as a way to grift his way to the White House and once he was in the White House he did very little to help. He mostly spent his time trying to help the donor billionaire classes by the huge tax giveaways he gave them.

Objectively speaking, one would have to say that since 1975 the working class in the middle class has been hard hit in terms of take-home salaries. Their take home salary has not changed that much when adjusted to inflation and when adjusted for how many more things that people have to buy just to be considered middle-class things that did not exist in 1975 like cell phones PC's and the need for a second car etcetera. Bottom line, the cost of living has gone way up, but wages have been flat since 1975.

The Masters of the Universe See Workers as “Labor Units of Production”

And the so-called Masters of the Universe, the CEO class, did not give a damn about their workers and communities, seeing workers as nothing more than “labor units of production” to quote Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior trade negotiator.

Right-wing Populism has an Appeal

Many of these people were attracted to Trump because he was a right-wing populist and had simplistic answers to complex questions, unlike the wonky Democrats who would have very long-winded complicated answers when people just wanted to know what the **** are you gonna do about it and do you care about it?

The changes in demographics in the United States

The United States is no longer a country that is majority white evangelical Christian nor is it a country where white men are the undisputed leaders of the country it is also a country where gays and lesbians have come out in force, and it's a country where almost 20% are immigrants or children of immigrants all of which means that the country is very different from what it was in 1975 when it was mostly white most significant helical Christian, and it was perhaps a little bit more rural than it is now. To a lot of Trump supporters, America has changed and is no longer the country they grew up in.

Racism/Sexism

Trump appeals to the racists in the United States who believe in white supremacy and believe that the white man has been taken on the chin . Related to this is the sense among white men that women have gotten out of control and are uppity, and should be put back in their place. Many also felt that the U.S. made a mistake electing a black man President and it was time for a white man to be in charge again. And they were not ready for a woman President, particularly that woman.




War on Christianity

Trump has somehow convinced evangelical communities that he is one of them that the Christian community is under attack in a war on Christianity and that he is standing up for Christians. The growing fear that the Muslim religion is taking over or spreading in the United States and that Muslims are enemies of traditional religion

Some of Trump's supporters think that is time for an authoritarian strongman to take over the United States and straighten things out. There is the sense that democracy has failed and that a fascist alternative might work better.

Own the Libtards

Related to this, of course, is the fear is the feeling that Trump it's gonna take to take it to the hated liberal elites and that retribution is what they want final reason is perhaps that for many people fascism doesn't sound that bad anymore that a fascist regime might be just what the United States needs to make America great again and make making America great again means taking America back to the 1950s or perhaps of the 1890s when white men ruled the country minorities were kept in their place gays were in the closet and women we're not in charge of anything

White evangelical Christians found their values were the values that ran the country so for all these reasons I can see why Trump still considerable appeal has his followers simply do not believe all of the negative comments negative facts about Trump they do not believe that he is a criminal thinking up leave that the charges or anything other than political retribution by the out-of-control department of just weaponized by Joe Biden.

For all of these reasons, and for lingering feeling that perhaps it's time for a strongman to come into power and straighten things out trump is still their man.

Ten Trump Senryu


Toxic Waste Dump




Former President

sat on his fat rear-end rump

taking a toxic waste dump




Paranoid




former president

screaming about the deep state

is coming to get him




Deep State




former President

convinced deep state after him

they are coming for him



Filled with Rage




former president

filled with rage and hatred

no longer a sane man



enemies

Former President

Trump has enemies

they are out for him




Former President's Legal Problems




former president

legal problems mounting

he will be breaking soon




Early Onset Alzheimer's




former president

early onset Alzheimer's

hitting him very hard



Dementia




Former President

dementia sets in now

can’t speak properly




Five Trump Tanka


Dementia



Former President

dementia sets in now

can’t speak properly

muttering complete nonsense

complaining about Biden

Former President's Legal Problems

former president

legal problems mounting

he will be breaking soon

his lawyers abandoning him

He is the worst client ever seen

Enemies

former president

Trump has enemies

they are out for him

the deep state plotting

against president trump




Filled with Rage

former president

filled with rage and hatred

no longer a sane man

muttering nonsense

should be locked up




Toxic waste dump




Former President

sat on his fat rear-end rump

taking a toxic waste dump

his words no longer make sense

as he loses his mind



The End