Call him Mr. President

stevenkesslar · Wednesday at 12:48 AM

59 minutes ago, Suckrates said:

Except it hasnt. The things that would normally DOOM a Presidincy have had no affect on Trump. To the contrary, each indiscretion and trangression has only made him stronger and more popular. so putting your eggs in THAT basket, that his 2.0 failures will end him is not a bet I would make. Now for Hegseth, I would normally agree with you, to let him pass thru IF we werent talking about the Defense Dept and military. Those departments are responsible for OUR protection and safety, and I am NOT willing to gamble with those. If it were HUD, who the fuck cares ? But there are just certain lines too risky to cross.

Yes, and no. We are both partly right.

First, there is no such thing as failure in Trump 2.0, in the sense that he won't run for office again. Steve Bannon, man child, has teased the idea that maybe he could run again. But he may be dead by 2028. And even if he is alive and healthy, my point is that the overwhelming majority of voters don't want Bad King Trump.

Second, he got his ass kicked in both 2018 and 2020. So, yes, he is back. He will be in a position of great power. But it's not like voters gave him a blank check. At 49.9 %, he has still not won a majority of votes in any election. In two elections, 2016 and 2020, he won less than his Democratic opponent.

Where you are correct is that he won 49.9 % of the vote in 2024 despite the mountain of reasons he should have lost. So then it comes down to: why did he win? I'm with Trump on this. He said he won because of high prices, and the border. It fits with a world in which 40 out of 54 incumbents that presided over COVID+ inflation got kicked in the polls.

Quote

At the time of writing, vice-president Kamala Harris has won almost four percentage points less of the popular vote than President Joe Biden did in 2020, the steepest drop in Democratic support since 1980. Economic and geopolitical conditions of the past year or two have created arguably the most hostile environment in history for incumbent parties and politicians across the developed world. From America’s Democrats to Britain’s Tories, Emmanuel’s Macron’s Ensemble coalition to Japan’s Liberal Democrats, even to Narendra Modi’s erstwhile dominant BJP, governing parties and leaders have undergone an unprecedented series of reversals this year. The incumbents in every single one of the 10 major countries that have been tracked by the ParlGov global research project and held national elections in 2024 were given a kicking by voters. This is the first time this has ever happened in almost 120 years of records.

Trump was actually one of the first incumbents kicked out due to COVID in 2020.

I think the polls overwhelmingly support this take. Lots of people held their nose and voted for Trump, despite Jan. 6th and his other indiscretions. Lots of other people, like Palestinian Americans, said I can't support either of these people. If there is a 49.9 % mandate - is not getting a majority ever a mandate? - it is to lower prices and control the border and help the working class.

I don't disagree that appointing an incompetent Defense Secretary is bad. Or bringing back an incompetent border czar who let fentanyl flood over the borders and kill an unprecedented number of Americans.

That said, in some ways Pam Bondi is worse than Matt Gaetz. The argument for confirming Gaetz is that he would have done exactly the same things. But it would have been more obvious - or transparent - because he is such a despised asshole.

The nice thing about this situation is that all I have to do is hope Trump is more competent than during Trump 1.0. And that he appoints people who will actually be effective in helping the work class. If he instead wants to appoint alcoholic womanizing Gay bashers, that's his problem.

That poll possibly autistic @EmmetKruelty posted above says that Trump is actually slightly less trusted than during his 2016 honeymoon. If the majority of America gets sick of him, like in 2018 and 2020, that's not my problem.

054f86bd55d3ad6b681addffcb8858a029ba15-v

Suckrates · Wednesday at 03:56 AM

3 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

The nice thing about this situation is that all I have to do is hope Trump is more competent than during Trump 1.0. And that he appoints people who will actually be effective in helping the work class. If he instead wants to appoint alcoholic womanizing Gay bashers, that's his problem.

Trump has never cared, and doesnt now care to govern for the working class. He actually despises those people and only covets being surrounded by people of incredible wealth who are now his major audience and the ones he IS governing for. He will make himself and ALL the wealthy wealthier, while the working class....

Can I Have Some More GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY