World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[marurun]

"For one thing, the median income of Trump voters was HIGHER than the national average. Secondly, empathy for the working class is NOT a blind spot for the media. Every Presidential election cycle BEGINS in rural Middle America—Iowa, and New Hampshire, which is the Iowa of New England—and the travails of people in flyover country have been preserved as lore in our culture since the American Revolution."

"I think a lot of these supposedly poor, misunderstood souls in the hinterlands knew damn well that Donald Trump wasn’t gonna bring their jobs back... Their Trump vote was an act of aggression"

"Because I can reach out and offer all the compassion in the world to Trump voters. But a great many of them just proved that they don’t give a shit about the rest of us either way."

http://www.gq.com/story/shut-up-about-c ... le-america

[Sarge]

The thing is, they've been told over and over that "they're for the little guy", but nothing really ever came of it. Much of the vote was pure frustration at politicians on both sides lying through their teeth. Trump may be, too, but his bluntness has its appeal for those that have felt steamrolled for years.

[jp1]

The thing is, they've been told over and over that "they're for the little guy", but nothing really ever came of it. Much of the vote was pure frustration at politicians on both sides lying through their teeth. Trump may be, too, but his bluntness has its appeal for those that have felt steamrolled for years.

I'm still abstaining from comment. I would like to know what your thoughts are on Trump's conduct and cabinet picks thus far. If you don't mind sharing.

Do you feel he has contradicted himself as far as his promises to the working middle class interests?

Lastly, what about his business conflicts? There hasn't been much talk about that. It seems pretty important.

These are honest questions about your opinion and I'm not looking to argue against your points...just hear them out.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

[Sarge]

I like a lot of his picks. Especially Mattis. I also think that Sessions is going to make a fine AG. There are a lot of very conservative folks in there. I like Carson, but I'm not sold on him for HUD. I'm not completely sold on Rex Tillerson, either, although he certainly has the qualifications to serve in that post. I don't know much about some of his financial guys like Mnuchin, so I need to learn a bit more.

I have no problems with him turning over the reins to his sons. They're going to inherit the family business anyway. I'll be watching for conflict of interest, of course, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to make the entire family divest from his business.

I don't know that he's turned his back on anything yet, given that he hasn't gotten into office. He's a billionaire that purports to have the middle class at heart, so perhaps his other financial guys see things similarly. Again, I'll have to watch carefully.

As I've said before, in my mind, he's a crapshoot. I don't think he's driven by ideology, which makes him very difficult to predict. He's definitely willing to take up non-conservative opinions, and not all of his picks are conservative. He's not Ted Cruz, not by a long shot. I think at some point I'll get used to him whacking people on Twitter. It's not my chosen modus operandi for sure, but I recognize the appeal. And it's not unprecedented, there have been some really nasty things politicians have said about each other in our past.

[TSTR]

Yeah, but what about his pick of Linda McMahon?

[jp1]

I like a lot of his picks. Especially Mattis. I also think that Sessions is going to make a fine AG. There are a lot of very conservative folks in there. I like Carson, but I'm not sold on him for HUD. I'm not completely sold on Rex Tillerson, either, although he certainly has the qualifications to serve in that post. I don't know much about some of his financial guys like Mnuchin, so I need to learn a bit more.

I have no problems with him turning over the reins to his sons. They're going to inherit the family business anyway. I'll be watching for conflict of interest, of course, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to make the entire family divest from his business.

I don't know that he's turned his back on anything yet, given that he hasn't gotten into office. He's a billionaire that purports to have the middle class at heart, so perhaps his other financial guys see things similarly. Again, I'll have to watch carefully.

As I've said before, in my mind, he's a crapshoot. I don't think he's driven by ideology, which makes him very difficult to predict. He's definitely willing to take up non-conservative opinions, and not all of his picks are conservative. He's not Ted Cruz, not by a long shot. I think at some point I'll get used to him whacking people on Twitter. It's not my chosen modus operandi for sure, but I recognize the appeal. And it's not unprecedented, there have been some really nasty things politicians have said about each other in our past.

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I haven't heard a lot from Trump voters on these issues (save for one), and was just wondering how they were perceived from that side of the fence. I appreciate you reciprocating, considering my past posting habits on the matter.

[marurun]

I didn't think Sarge was a Trump voter. You may be barking up the wrong tree with that, jp1.

The thing is, they've been told over and over that "they're for the little guy", but nothing really ever came of it. Much of the vote was pure frustration at politicians on both sides lying through their teeth. Trump may be, too, but his bluntness has its appeal for those that have felt steamrolled for years.

I think picking Trump in the primaries was that, but the rural whites everyone keeps talking about typically vote Republican in the actual presidential election regardless of who makes it through the primaries. The swing voters this time were upper-middle and middle class white voters, voters who are staying above water mostly just fine. Despite the American economy's recovery, they feel threatened and don't want to lose what they have, unlike people who already lost and don't have a way forward (rural whites, blacks, the poor in general). If it's those middle class white voters who are saying, "Who's paying attention to me?" the only answer I have is that the system is already tilted in your favor, and if anyone in the US is owed more attention, it isn't you. Doesn't mean we should ignore their needs, but other needs are more pressing (maybe not to them, but to society as a whole).

There are an awful lot of people in the US right now who are bothered by the idea of more attempts to level playing field, because the system has been tilted in their favor for so long that they can't see the tilt any more. To them that favorable advantage is just normal. They think they'll be neglected, but it's really more that they'll be a little less favored.

[Ack]

I didn't think Sarge was a Trump voter. You may be barking up the wrong tree with that, jp1.

I believe Sarge was a Trump voter, but a reluctant one. I was one of the right-leaners who didn't vote for Trump.

As for the cabinet picks, some of them bother me, though I believed the generals he brought in would probably have the easiest confirmations, barring Gen. Mattis' need for a waiver of the five year rule. Personally, Mattis and Kelly are probably some of the best choices out of the lot, and I look forward to seeing how they manage their departments. Carson in charge of HUD is a weird choice for me.

As for Sessions as Attorney General...well, I know a thing or two about Alabama politics, and they're pretty much never clean, though I admit that I prefer him to Giuliani.

[Sarge]

I believe Sarge was a Trump voter, but a reluctant one. I was one of the right-leaners who didn't vote for Trump.

That's pretty much it. I did, but I wasn't happy about it. I thought we had two crap choices, and I went with the one I think would be least crap. I can certainly recognize that others evaluated on a different metric than I did.

Some of the cabinet picks have helped reassure me, some make me go "uh-oh", and some are just... I dunno. "We'll see" picks.

I've read enough about the Sessions stuff that I'm quite confident the smears are politically motivated, particularly in regards to the KKK comment. Much of that came from Ted Kennedy, who effectively "borked" Sessions before he actually borked Bork.

[prfsnl_gmr]

None of them are people I would choose, but the cabinet picks don't really bother me. For Republican appointees, all of them are just OK, and other than Mike Pompeo, none of them really bother me that much.

I continue to be concerned, however, that our president elect is basically a clueless, easily manipulated, thin-skinned, blowhard. (That said, the stunt with the unlabeled manila folders full of "documents" about his businesses was hilarious in its ham-fistedness.) I am not sure how he is going to last four years...