dagblog - Comments for "The New Normal"

Ok, I saw the scare quotes,

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 18:32:41 +0000

Ok, I saw the scare quotes, but there was a double layer of logic, so wasn't clear whether you believed the theory you were espousing. Yes, to his believers he's an outsider, a patriot, the last honest man, etc. All these memes they coopt without them meaning a thing in practice.

PP, perhaps you missed my

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:17:13 +0000

In reply to Pretty unbelievable

PP, perhaps you missed my scare quotes. Of course, Trump isn't actually an "outsider." But he has successfully positioned himself as one because a) he has never served in office, and b) he says things that offend the political establishment--Reince Priebus and other GOP hacks notwithstanding. That makes him an outsider in the eyes of his constituents, regardless of how you or I define the term.

Manufactured dissent, Ramona

PeraclesPlease — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 19:35:24 +0000

In reply to And in turn he became

Manufactured dissent, Ramona it's easier to get people to complain than agree. Where I live they swapped out the two main parties for 2 new parties that do the same - the people feel they got some change, the insiders keep their embezzlement and sweetheart deals. In the US Fox transferred its meme to internet blogs - let a 1000 flowers bloom. Same with the left. Where do we go from here?

And in turn he became

Ramona — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 19:00:00 +0000

In reply to Being an "outsider" doesn't

And in turn he became insufferable to more than half the country. There is more to his popularity than a snotty nose-thumbing at the establishment. Years of Hannity/Limbaugh/Levin/Coulter/Beck/O'Reilly/Tea Party/Koch Brothers/Fox News/BushCheney/McConnell, etc., with no attempt at tempering those views with logical reasoning have now inured millions of people to the real causes for their misery.

They're ripe for blaming and desperate for solutions, and Trump gives them relief by promising that he'll save them. They don't care about or want to know the details; they just want to be saved.

The Republicans have done a lousy job of protecting jobs, of working toward better health care, of raising citizens up instead of bringing them down, and the Dems have done a lousy job of fighting against them. The rise of both Sanders and Trump was probably inevitable, given the dissatisfaction and feelings of hopelessness on both sides, but there is no logical answer for the continuing popularity of Donald Trump.

As long as we have a government we'll have an elite establishment. The question is, which elite establishment will work better for us? To most of us the answer seems obvious, but we're less than two months away from the election and it's still not clear who will win. Hillary and the Dems have their work cut out for them. From now on their only chance is in convincing voters they're better at governing than either Trump or the Republicans.

They'd better get to convincing and not just defending. They're all that stands between us and Donald Trump. We can't do this alone.

That's a good question. For

Ramona — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:23:25 +0000

In reply to Not necessarily. Some people

That's a good question. For too many years now the Dems have either ignored or dismissed labor, as if Big Labor hadn't worked tirelessly over the years to put them where they are today. I don't hear Obama or Hillary talking about labor's troubles at all. Big mistake, I think. They need to convince workers who see no hope up the road that they've got their backs. If they don't, Trump will fill in the gaps--saying what labor wants to hear with no intention of doing anything for them once he no longer needs them.

This is Hillary's chance to become the populist millions of disillusioned Americans are looking for. If she doesn't move toward the economy and the problems of the poor and disappearing middle class she'll lose to someone who would be a disaster for the people struggling to move up. If she doesn't understand the importance of this, I hope someone in her camp finally sees the light and can convince her.

Pretty unbelievable

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 13:13:53 +0000

In reply to Being an "outsider" doesn't

Pretty unbelievable definition. Many insiders are insufferable loathed jackasses, but still vacation at the Cape, lunch at The Palm, can get an audience with the Pope or the House Speaker or a personal op-ed in WaPo or NY Times. And it's pretty hard to be hated by *every* part of the hoi polloi - every dick finds his audience. In the current case, Trump may be somehow largely hated, but many are creaming themselves to show how much they've come around to him. Typically outsiders are shunned and have trouble with access - not so The Donald, eh? Fuck, he had a long-running successful reality show, tons of rich people show up at his latest wedding...

The only thing "outside" about him is he shames reality by repeating a word that simply doesn't apply, yet people go along with his definition. You shouldn't.

Not necessarily. Some people

trkingmomoe — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:20:19 +0000

In reply to Not necessarily. Some people

Not necessarily. Some people who intend to vote Trump may answer that both or neither are qualified.

That is because it is an anti establishment election. They see him as not part of the current government insiders. It is an election defined by the haves and have nots. The right and the left or red and blue lines are now very blurred. Labor has had very little representation for the last 40 years. The question is how is labor going to vote in the coming few cycles?

Tear this motherfucker down

NCD — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 00:56:18 +0000

In reply to I was viewing some

Tear this motherfucker down and start all over.

We tried that for 8 long disastrous years with W. The GOP Base ran away from it, put on funny hats, and called themselves the Tea Party.

Doing it again with The Great Compeller may be one too many. There are no Obama 2.0s in sight to clean it up if it would be even possible. 2010-16 may be recalled with nostalgia and as the best of times.

Not necessarily. Some people

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 19:34:30 +0000

In reply to There are many trying to make

Not necessarily. Some people who intend to vote Trump may answer that both or neither are qualified.

And remember, Trump's average support has been just over 40 percent, so depending on the sample size, it would only require a few people to answer this way to get these results.

There are many trying to make

ocean-kat — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 19:01:59 +0000

In reply to The New Normal

There are many trying to make sense of this election. I have never been more disappointed in the American people nor more confused. Here's just one example. In poll after poll more than 60% of the people say Clinton is qualified to be president. More than 60% say Trump is not. Given how close the race is there must be people who say Clinton is qualified and Trump is not but plan to vote for Trump anyway.

No matter how low my opinion of the American people gets they always seem to find a way to convince me that I've overestimated them.