I would love to get inside the heads of the non-Trumpist voters who disapprove of Joe Biden's job performance and try to understand not only why they are dissatisfied, but also (and more importantly) exactly what they seek in a leader, especially when compared to the four previous years of disharmony and dysfunctional behavior in so many ways and on so many levels.
Lower health care and prescription drug costs. Measures taken to reign in climate change and energy costs. At least some movement on gun safety post-Uvalde, despite substantial and ongoing opposition. Investment in mental health care. Student loan relief. Reinvestment in American industry and manufacturing, such as the CHIPS and Science Act. Boosts in employment and improvements to roads, bridges, etc., via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan. Improved health care for veterans. US Postal Service reforms. Strengthening our international alliances with, among others, the European Union, NATO, and the Group of 7, and standing in solidarity with Ukraine in its hour of need. The Respect for Marriage Act and reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. More jobs, with good pay and benefits. An improving economy. A generally smooth recovery from the pandemic. And, above all, stable, steady leadership and predictable, rational behavior. The list goes on.
I get it that Biden had help in some of these areas and that some of the measures are controversial. And there have been some missteps as well. But on balance it appears that we've had two good years overall, better than expected by many if one actually bothers to inform oneself and look at the details rather than simply rely on soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines. Accordingly my one overriding question for the 62 percent who disapprove remains:
Just what the hell do you want?
Thoughtful responses requested from those who think that four more years of Trump, or any GOP figure who finds his example to have been a better one, would be a better pathway to prosperity for the average American and his/her future and for both the standing and image of the United States around the world.
My theory is that Trump made a lot of people, particularly White people who believe they have lost ground over the last 30 years, feel better about themselves.
He appealed to their self concept as “superior” people who have basically been cheated out of their birthright by Liberals, the Deep State, Jews, Blacks, immigrants, or whatever fill-in-the-blank target “out” group.
If we view this from a Maslow Hierarchy of Needs perspective, most Trump voters already have their basic physiological, safety, and belonging needs met. So Trump and other grievance-oriented Republicans can appeal to their needs for esteem, respect, and self-actualization. This is all consistent with what JVL says is Trump’s biggest draw, that he is a lifestyle brand.
Without Trump in office, they see themselves as disrespected and feel bad about themselves.
If I am correct in my assessment, then no amount of policy or legislative accomplishments can overcome this.
I believe his low ratings are the result of the right-wing media machine constantly lying and tearing him down. They are very good at doing this. I personally think he has been a fabulous president, much better than Obama.
Can anyone here name a job that requires multi-tasking piled on more multi-tasking than being the POTUS? Trump, obviously has only one task on his work agenda, the same task he is consumed by on his personal agenda. His "I win, you lose" approach doesn't allow for anything close to compromise, and democracy is, if nothing else, compromise. Biden compromises. Always has. And guess what? Meeting 1/2 way always leaves a group on both sides with a giant dry corn cob wedged firmly in their collective rectums, with no amount of laxative or volume of enema capable of dislodging it. And if there were, the only facility to handle the pissed off pro-group and the equally pissed off con-group is a two-holer outhouse...one hole wide and two holes high.
I believe only 35% of the electorate is a actually paying any attention. The rest stick to party lines and whatever they hear from like minded friends.
Deutschmeister, I am sure you have family members and close friends you could ask, "Just what the hell do you want?" Have you sat down, asked, and then really listened to what they have to say? And if they blow you off, "who cares about politics! all politicians are the same," follow up?
What I'm getting from them is a large dose of "I don't want to talk about it. We'll just argue." And classic Whataboutism ("Yeah, but when Obama was President, ..."). I usually ground my points in "neither side has a monopoly on the truth" or "the truth probably is somewhere in the middle," trying to open the door to rational give-and-take discussion that might lead somewhere. But people can be very set in their ways, and in this era of tribalism, if progress is to be made, seemingly it must come in small increments, not one fell swoop. It's hard to figure out what angle to take with people who, on one hand, at least admit that Trump has some issues and maybe isn't the best person for the job but then mere moments later also say, literally, that Barack Obama should burn in Hell for what he did to America. Nothing seems to satisfy them.
I imagine the "disapproving" lot breaks down into multiple cohorts, and that this poll is not a grim as it it looks. My guesses to what they what.
A. The MAGA forever crowd: They want Trump, and then some kind of ongoing MAGA dynasty to be determined. And also maybe Christian nationalism.
B. The Bernie bro types: They want economic populism and cheap eggs. They are winnable for Biden, but not a given.
C. Moderates (disappointed by the Afghan pullout and have other think some of his policies could have been better): They want good governance. Just because they don't approve of Biden doesn't mean they will vote for Trump.
D. People who are angry about everything all the time. They answered this poll, because they want people to know how angry they are. Not sure they'll vote. Unless you can vote via Facebook or with your phone.
I've reached the point of wondering how representative the subset of people willing to respond to polls at all is to the electorate as a whole. It's inconceivable to me that people in your Groups B and C, as well as a large proportion of Group D, are unaware of how successful Biden has been, if they're even moderately informed, or at least breathing. It seems likely that people with an axe to grind are more apt to participate.
The only polls that I trust anymore are the ones that take place under official auspices, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Chapeau! The above is a perfect summary of success under Biden's administration.
I am one RELIEVED American knowing sensible professionals are in charge. For FOUR TERRIFYING YEARS the danger was real, folks. We almost didn't elect Joe. Without him, NONE of the above would have ever happened; it would have been an unmitigated disaster.
People like us who are reading the Bulwark and probably other sources know about all the things you listed. But most Americans do not read such things, they are busy with their lives and internalize only broad generalities. And remember negative things stick longer with people than positive things do so if inflation was horrible beginning two years ago in most people's memories it remains horrible now. No matter what Democrats say, it will be discounted as mere politics if it is heard at all...no one will remember or accept good news if it is something that requires more than a hashtag (formerly bumper sticker) amount of words.
Not necessarily. Just don't expect a whole lot of people to see the messaging and don't expect those who do to think "I was wrong so I'll vote for Biden in November."
National opinion polls are irrelevant. The only votes that matter now are the swing voters in the swing states.
For the swing voters who disapprove of Biden, it just means that they perceive him as too old or he's not Obama or he's not their idea of a what a president should be for whatever reason. It has nothing to do with policy, and it doesn't mean he won't get votes against the GOP candidate whom many/most of them will perceive as worse-especially if it's Trump.
And for everyone else, the policy agenda doesn't matter; only the color of your jersey does. If the Red Team proposed a 90% tax on the rich to fight climate change, the MAGA base would go for it. That'll never happen, of course, because MAGA doesn't control the GOP agenda--the Kochs, Leos, and Singers do.
When I talk to people who loathe Biden, it tends to go in the direction of senility--blooper reel stuff--and his being "handled" by Dark Forces. I ask them whether they've read Trump's deranged thweets. Crickets. After that, it's the "Open Border," despite that that's patently untrue--or, at least, true of every border. It fits into the narrative that said Dark Forces desire to import lots of people to replace them.
I wasn't going to answer because I obviously don't think 4 more years of Trump is a good thing, but if I were a betting person, and enough of a ghoul to bet on the death of American democracy, I'd bet Trump will win in 2024. Biden did a lot of great things, sure, but he had one main job: defend our democracy. Right now, he gets a D- and possibly an F from me. Under his administration, his DOJ and FBI declined to investigate the ringleaders of January 6. There has been no Democratic response to this reporting at all, and I've been looking. It seems glaringly obvious that the best way to escape crimes in the US is to convince law enforcement you're part of the political class.
The DOJ and FBI don't advertise who they investigate until someone shows up with a warrant at the door. I suspect they're investigating and their targets are keeping their mouths shut - unlike Trump.
So what did you think of the Washington Post's report that the FBI hasn't been investigating?
From Monday's article: "Inside the FBI’s Washington Field Office, buzz about who might join the task force to investigate those around Trump dissipated as word spread that plans for the team had been shelved. In the U.S. attorney’s office, budding investigative work around the finances of Trump backers was halted, an internal record shows, including into Jones, who had boasted of paying a half-million dollars for the president’s Jan. 6 rally and claimed the White House had asked him to lead the march to the Capitol.
About the same time, attorneys at Main Justice declined another proposal that would have squarely focused prosecutors on documents that Trump used to pressure Pence not to certify the election for Biden, The Post found.
Officials at the National Archives had discovered similarities in fraudulent slates of electors for Trump that his Republican allies had submitted to Congress and the Archives. The National Archives inspector general’s office asked the Justice Department’s election crimes branch to consider investigating the seemingly coordinated effort in swing states. Citing its prosecutors’ discretion, the department told the Archives it would not pursue the topic, according to two people with knowledge of the decision."
Kate… what actually gets Biden re-elected ? The economy or protecting Democracy? I would hope it would be protect democracy.. or the least a good portion of both. Unfortunately I firmly believe people vote for things that directly and immediately affect their lives. Abortion, the economy.. these things do.
My guess is Biden could technically be a pure messenger of saving democracy in his second term. However that message might not get him re-elected. Especially in those 1/2 dozen or so states he needs to win.
I'm more worried about populism right now. If the elites all receive "Get out of jail free" cards, there is going to be populist anger. And the people like Hawley and Cruz who benefit from it will be the first to whip up the crowd against the elites with no sense of shame.
Still stand by my comment. WHY would anyone who actually is involved tell the Post or anyone else who they're investigating? Look, I worked for a federal agency, and to even breathe the name of a person we were looking at would have Internal Affairs looking at ME, and at the least, showing me the door. There are people serving time, higher ups, that the DOJ and FBI have gone after and nobody knew about it until they were arrested. Given today's charged political times, the last thing the DOJ or FBI wants is the press clamoring about their case. The Post wants to sell papers.
"better than expected by many if one actually bothers to inform oneself and look at the details rather than simply rely on soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines"
I'm afraid this answers your question. I don't think people pay enough attention. They think they do, but really it's just passing consumption of soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines. Prior to Trump's first term, this was essentially me. I didn't realize how little I knew, I just knew I was frustrated. I didn't realize how much dishonesty was really going on around me. Granted, there's been enough turmoil that I feel anyone with their head in the sand pre-2016 should've had a wakeup call by now, but I fear they haven't and perhaps won't until things get *really* bad. I'm not sure what form "really bad" will take, but until that happens, it's business as usual for people, which means not really paying attention and forming ignorant conclusions based on misinformation and an overall lack of understanding and appreciation for how government is really supposed to work (e.g., it's not meant to entertain!).
I agree with you; but at this particular moment, our political world has been shaped by “small govt” propaganda, when what we actually need in many, if not all areas of America, is a huge investment in govt spending and partnership. But we’ve told expansionist govt is COMMUNISM since the Russian Revolution. And that is a bedrock belief rarely challenged even by Democratic candidates for the last 50 years.
As JVL pointed in his pieces last week, in many ways Biden is making good on his campaign promise to be the president for all Americans. The infrastructure bill he got passed - on a bipartisan basis - is helping fix roads, build bridges and bring broadband service to areas of the country that went for Trump in 2020 by double digits. Biden will never get credit for any of that, but he's doing it anyway.
Inflation is coming down [sorry to be a buzzkill, Will Hurd], job creation is going great guns, and the economy is back to pre-Covid levels. You ask a terrific question, Deutschmeister: just exactly what do the nay-sayers want?
We had another NYT front page designed to get us all anxious again yesterday with dismal predictions on inflation, the economy, the intelligence and test scores of our youth and the large and growing cohort of old people in the population (the majority tend to vote Republican). Also a bunch on what is going on btw Biden and some major Asian nations as well as stuff on Schiff getting censured. I was disgusted reading the headlines. Anyone that claims it is a liberal paper that softballs Democrats doesn't read it.
Biden is a radical leftist, commy, fascist, who wants to help the working and middle classes survive. That would mean new taxes and a redistribution of wealth, which is exactly what Lenard Leo, Harlan Crowe, and the rest of their billionaire friends do not want. They own the much of the country, the Supreme Court, and half the media. Trump is their smokescreen to further their kleptocracy.
Sometimes I think that billionaires owe more in allegiance to each other than to their own countries. Not a deep state, but a sort of meta-state, floating above the rest.
They’re like corporations, they are nimble and would gladly move from one country to another for a bigger slice of the pie. There only allegiance is to the mighty “green-back!”...:)
Yes. most of them are very international, especially those in energy. They do deals with the Saudis, the Russians, and many of the poor countries that they can exploit. They are much more comfortable with authoritarian governments that they can pay-off. They fight honesty, transparency, regulations and taxes wherever they can.
Which makes me wonder why so many of that 62 percent, who have virtually nothing in common with those people and vice versa, are so willing to buy into their agenda. None of them will be inviting us into their homes for dinner or send us Christmas cards. Yet we put them up on a pedestal and act as if they have our best interests at heart more than their own. I'll have to renew the acquaintance with my old Abnormal Psychology textbook to figure that one out.
Yes, I have a best friend that has a masters in Psychology and she looked at me a couple weeks ago and said, "Biden's just hurting everything"...........................she voted for trump in '16, came to the conclusion she could not do that again(I do not know who she voted for in '20) ....when I try to engage, it just seems hopeless. I don't understand.
An old Psych major here also with an old Abnormal Psychology textbook that, unfortunately, reached its expiration date long ago.
If you're not familiar with psychcentral.com, it's worth a visit. I'm a regular reader now and find that it often has relevant articles with insightful information. You can easily breeze through the headlines to weed out the "pop psychobabble" ones and select the professional ones. Their "Inside Mental Health" podcast also has engaging, helpful topics from time to time.
Interesting. I'm actually an old psyche major too. I did two years of psych before switching to electrical engineering so I could make money without spending the next ten years in school. I sometimes wish I still had my old Intro to Abnormal Psych textbook.
Back some 40 years when I was just entering the workforce, I was saying I would love to be in the 90% tax bracket - I could live very, very well on what was left!
Thank you, TC. Finally, I have an explanation why so many people who can barely afford to pay the rent support Republican policy to cut taxes on the wealthy. :-)
I would love to get inside the heads of the non-Trumpist voters who disapprove of Joe Biden's job performance and try to understand not only why they are dissatisfied, but also (and more importantly) exactly what they seek in a leader, especially when compared to the four previous years of disharmony and dysfunctional behavior in so many ways and on so many levels.
Lower health care and prescription drug costs. Measures taken to reign in climate change and energy costs. At least some movement on gun safety post-Uvalde, despite substantial and ongoing opposition. Investment in mental health care. Student loan relief. Reinvestment in American industry and manufacturing, such as the CHIPS and Science Act. Boosts in employment and improvements to roads, bridges, etc., via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan. Improved health care for veterans. US Postal Service reforms. Strengthening our international alliances with, among others, the European Union, NATO, and the Group of 7, and standing in solidarity with Ukraine in its hour of need. The Respect for Marriage Act and reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. More jobs, with good pay and benefits. An improving economy. A generally smooth recovery from the pandemic. And, above all, stable, steady leadership and predictable, rational behavior. The list goes on.
I get it that Biden had help in some of these areas and that some of the measures are controversial. And there have been some missteps as well. But on balance it appears that we've had two good years overall, better than expected by many if one actually bothers to inform oneself and look at the details rather than simply rely on soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines. Accordingly my one overriding question for the 62 percent who disapprove remains:
Just what the hell do you want?
Thoughtful responses requested from those who think that four more years of Trump, or any GOP figure who finds his example to have been a better one, would be a better pathway to prosperity for the average American and his/her future and for both the standing and image of the United States around the world.
My theory is that Trump made a lot of people, particularly White people who believe they have lost ground over the last 30 years, feel better about themselves.
He appealed to their self concept as “superior” people who have basically been cheated out of their birthright by Liberals, the Deep State, Jews, Blacks, immigrants, or whatever fill-in-the-blank target “out” group.
If we view this from a Maslow Hierarchy of Needs perspective, most Trump voters already have their basic physiological, safety, and belonging needs met. So Trump and other grievance-oriented Republicans can appeal to their needs for esteem, respect, and self-actualization. This is all consistent with what JVL says is Trump’s biggest draw, that he is a lifestyle brand.
Without Trump in office, they see themselves as disrespected and feel bad about themselves.
If I am correct in my assessment, then no amount of policy or legislative accomplishments can overcome this.
I believe his low ratings are the result of the right-wing media machine constantly lying and tearing him down. They are very good at doing this. I personally think he has been a fabulous president, much better than Obama.
Can anyone here name a job that requires multi-tasking piled on more multi-tasking than being the POTUS? Trump, obviously has only one task on his work agenda, the same task he is consumed by on his personal agenda. His "I win, you lose" approach doesn't allow for anything close to compromise, and democracy is, if nothing else, compromise. Biden compromises. Always has. And guess what? Meeting 1/2 way always leaves a group on both sides with a giant dry corn cob wedged firmly in their collective rectums, with no amount of laxative or volume of enema capable of dislodging it. And if there were, the only facility to handle the pissed off pro-group and the equally pissed off con-group is a two-holer outhouse...one hole wide and two holes high.
I believe only 35% of the electorate is a actually paying any attention. The rest stick to party lines and whatever they hear from like minded friends.
Easy. They want a leader who will punish the people they hate. End of story.
Deutschmeister, I am sure you have family members and close friends you could ask, "Just what the hell do you want?" Have you sat down, asked, and then really listened to what they have to say? And if they blow you off, "who cares about politics! all politicians are the same," follow up?
What I'm getting from them is a large dose of "I don't want to talk about it. We'll just argue." And classic Whataboutism ("Yeah, but when Obama was President, ..."). I usually ground my points in "neither side has a monopoly on the truth" or "the truth probably is somewhere in the middle," trying to open the door to rational give-and-take discussion that might lead somewhere. But people can be very set in their ways, and in this era of tribalism, if progress is to be made, seemingly it must come in small increments, not one fell swoop. It's hard to figure out what angle to take with people who, on one hand, at least admit that Trump has some issues and maybe isn't the best person for the job but then mere moments later also say, literally, that Barack Obama should burn in Hell for what he did to America. Nothing seems to satisfy them.
I imagine the "disapproving" lot breaks down into multiple cohorts, and that this poll is not a grim as it it looks. My guesses to what they what.
A. The MAGA forever crowd: They want Trump, and then some kind of ongoing MAGA dynasty to be determined. And also maybe Christian nationalism.
B. The Bernie bro types: They want economic populism and cheap eggs. They are winnable for Biden, but not a given.
C. Moderates (disappointed by the Afghan pullout and have other think some of his policies could have been better): They want good governance. Just because they don't approve of Biden doesn't mean they will vote for Trump.
D. People who are angry about everything all the time. They answered this poll, because they want people to know how angry they are. Not sure they'll vote. Unless you can vote via Facebook or with your phone.
I've reached the point of wondering how representative the subset of people willing to respond to polls at all is to the electorate as a whole. It's inconceivable to me that people in your Groups B and C, as well as a large proportion of Group D, are unaware of how successful Biden has been, if they're even moderately informed, or at least breathing. It seems likely that people with an axe to grind are more apt to participate.
The only polls that I trust anymore are the ones that take place under official auspices, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Seems reasonable to me.
I would expect pretty much this result from people who “actually” pick up phones and take polls.
Chapeau! The above is a perfect summary of success under Biden's administration.
I am one RELIEVED American knowing sensible professionals are in charge. For FOUR TERRIFYING YEARS the danger was real, folks. We almost didn't elect Joe. Without him, NONE of the above would have ever happened; it would have been an unmitigated disaster.
Alas the once and future king.
People like us who are reading the Bulwark and probably other sources know about all the things you listed. But most Americans do not read such things, they are busy with their lives and internalize only broad generalities. And remember negative things stick longer with people than positive things do so if inflation was horrible beginning two years ago in most people's memories it remains horrible now. No matter what Democrats say, it will be discounted as mere politics if it is heard at all...no one will remember or accept good news if it is something that requires more than a hashtag (formerly bumper sticker) amount of words.
Jeez, Max. I guess we better just give up and forget about it.
Not necessarily. Just don't expect a whole lot of people to see the messaging and don't expect those who do to think "I was wrong so I'll vote for Biden in November."
National opinion polls are irrelevant. The only votes that matter now are the swing voters in the swing states.
For the swing voters who disapprove of Biden, it just means that they perceive him as too old or he's not Obama or he's not their idea of a what a president should be for whatever reason. It has nothing to do with policy, and it doesn't mean he won't get votes against the GOP candidate whom many/most of them will perceive as worse-especially if it's Trump.
And for everyone else, the policy agenda doesn't matter; only the color of your jersey does. If the Red Team proposed a 90% tax on the rich to fight climate change, the MAGA base would go for it. That'll never happen, of course, because MAGA doesn't control the GOP agenda--the Kochs, Leos, and Singers do.
When I talk to people who loathe Biden, it tends to go in the direction of senility--blooper reel stuff--and his being "handled" by Dark Forces. I ask them whether they've read Trump's deranged thweets. Crickets. After that, it's the "Open Border," despite that that's patently untrue--or, at least, true of every border. It fits into the narrative that said Dark Forces desire to import lots of people to replace them.
I wasn't going to answer because I obviously don't think 4 more years of Trump is a good thing, but if I were a betting person, and enough of a ghoul to bet on the death of American democracy, I'd bet Trump will win in 2024. Biden did a lot of great things, sure, but he had one main job: defend our democracy. Right now, he gets a D- and possibly an F from me. Under his administration, his DOJ and FBI declined to investigate the ringleaders of January 6. There has been no Democratic response to this reporting at all, and I've been looking. It seems glaringly obvious that the best way to escape crimes in the US is to convince law enforcement you're part of the political class.
The DOJ and FBI don't advertise who they investigate until someone shows up with a warrant at the door. I suspect they're investigating and their targets are keeping their mouths shut - unlike Trump.
So what did you think of the Washington Post's report that the FBI hasn't been investigating?
From Monday's article: "Inside the FBI’s Washington Field Office, buzz about who might join the task force to investigate those around Trump dissipated as word spread that plans for the team had been shelved. In the U.S. attorney’s office, budding investigative work around the finances of Trump backers was halted, an internal record shows, including into Jones, who had boasted of paying a half-million dollars for the president’s Jan. 6 rally and claimed the White House had asked him to lead the march to the Capitol.
About the same time, attorneys at Main Justice declined another proposal that would have squarely focused prosecutors on documents that Trump used to pressure Pence not to certify the election for Biden, The Post found.
Officials at the National Archives had discovered similarities in fraudulent slates of electors for Trump that his Republican allies had submitted to Congress and the Archives. The National Archives inspector general’s office asked the Justice Department’s election crimes branch to consider investigating the seemingly coordinated effort in swing states. Citing its prosecutors’ discretion, the department told the Archives it would not pursue the topic, according to two people with knowledge of the decision."
Kate… what actually gets Biden re-elected ? The economy or protecting Democracy? I would hope it would be protect democracy.. or the least a good portion of both. Unfortunately I firmly believe people vote for things that directly and immediately affect their lives. Abortion, the economy.. these things do.
My guess is Biden could technically be a pure messenger of saving democracy in his second term. However that message might not get him re-elected. Especially in those 1/2 dozen or so states he needs to win.
Maybe it’s a second term issue ?
I'm more worried about populism right now. If the elites all receive "Get out of jail free" cards, there is going to be populist anger. And the people like Hawley and Cruz who benefit from it will be the first to whip up the crowd against the elites with no sense of shame.
Still stand by my comment. WHY would anyone who actually is involved tell the Post or anyone else who they're investigating? Look, I worked for a federal agency, and to even breathe the name of a person we were looking at would have Internal Affairs looking at ME, and at the least, showing me the door. There are people serving time, higher ups, that the DOJ and FBI have gone after and nobody knew about it until they were arrested. Given today's charged political times, the last thing the DOJ or FBI wants is the press clamoring about their case. The Post wants to sell papers.
"better than expected by many if one actually bothers to inform oneself and look at the details rather than simply rely on soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines"
I'm afraid this answers your question. I don't think people pay enough attention. They think they do, but really it's just passing consumption of soundbites, social media, clickbait, and attention-seeking mainstream media headlines. Prior to Trump's first term, this was essentially me. I didn't realize how little I knew, I just knew I was frustrated. I didn't realize how much dishonesty was really going on around me. Granted, there's been enough turmoil that I feel anyone with their head in the sand pre-2016 should've had a wakeup call by now, but I fear they haven't and perhaps won't until things get *really* bad. I'm not sure what form "really bad" will take, but until that happens, it's business as usual for people, which means not really paying attention and forming ignorant conclusions based on misinformation and an overall lack of understanding and appreciation for how government is really supposed to work (e.g., it's not meant to entertain!).
I agree with you; but at this particular moment, our political world has been shaped by “small govt” propaganda, when what we actually need in many, if not all areas of America, is a huge investment in govt spending and partnership. But we’ve told expansionist govt is COMMUNISM since the Russian Revolution. And that is a bedrock belief rarely challenged even by Democratic candidates for the last 50 years.
As JVL pointed in his pieces last week, in many ways Biden is making good on his campaign promise to be the president for all Americans. The infrastructure bill he got passed - on a bipartisan basis - is helping fix roads, build bridges and bring broadband service to areas of the country that went for Trump in 2020 by double digits. Biden will never get credit for any of that, but he's doing it anyway.
Inflation is coming down [sorry to be a buzzkill, Will Hurd], job creation is going great guns, and the economy is back to pre-Covid levels. You ask a terrific question, Deutschmeister: just exactly what do the nay-sayers want?
We had another NYT front page designed to get us all anxious again yesterday with dismal predictions on inflation, the economy, the intelligence and test scores of our youth and the large and growing cohort of old people in the population (the majority tend to vote Republican). Also a bunch on what is going on btw Biden and some major Asian nations as well as stuff on Schiff getting censured. I was disgusted reading the headlines. Anyone that claims it is a liberal paper that softballs Democrats doesn't read it.
Biden is a radical leftist, commy, fascist, who wants to help the working and middle classes survive. That would mean new taxes and a redistribution of wealth, which is exactly what Lenard Leo, Harlan Crowe, and the rest of their billionaire friends do not want. They own the much of the country, the Supreme Court, and half the media. Trump is their smokescreen to further their kleptocracy.
Well said.
Sometimes I think that billionaires owe more in allegiance to each other than to their own countries. Not a deep state, but a sort of meta-state, floating above the rest.
They’re like corporations, they are nimble and would gladly move from one country to another for a bigger slice of the pie. There only allegiance is to the mighty “green-back!”...:)
And corporations are not unlike Dr. Frankenstein's quasi-human creation.
Indeed. Except in Russia, they sometimes fail to "float" at a crucial time.
They failed at getting the memo about open windows.
Some lose their ability to fly at awkward moments...
Yes. most of them are very international, especially those in energy. They do deals with the Saudis, the Russians, and many of the poor countries that they can exploit. They are much more comfortable with authoritarian governments that they can pay-off. They fight honesty, transparency, regulations and taxes wherever they can.
The attack on science and truth has been thanks to fossil fuel's goal line stand over a generation.
Which makes me wonder why so many of that 62 percent, who have virtually nothing in common with those people and vice versa, are so willing to buy into their agenda. None of them will be inviting us into their homes for dinner or send us Christmas cards. Yet we put them up on a pedestal and act as if they have our best interests at heart more than their own. I'll have to renew the acquaintance with my old Abnormal Psychology textbook to figure that one out.
Ah, makes me think of Abby Normal in "Young Frankenstein" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Pw0xX4DXI).😂 😂 😂
Yes, I have a best friend that has a masters in Psychology and she looked at me a couple weeks ago and said, "Biden's just hurting everything"...........................she voted for trump in '16, came to the conclusion she could not do that again(I do not know who she voted for in '20) ....when I try to engage, it just seems hopeless. I don't understand.
If it applies to at least 62% it is hard to call it 'abnormal'.
As my Abnormal Psychology professor frequently intoned, "What exactly IS normal?"
An old Psych major here also with an old Abnormal Psychology textbook that, unfortunately, reached its expiration date long ago.
If you're not familiar with psychcentral.com, it's worth a visit. I'm a regular reader now and find that it often has relevant articles with insightful information. You can easily breeze through the headlines to weed out the "pop psychobabble" ones and select the professional ones. Their "Inside Mental Health" podcast also has engaging, helpful topics from time to time.
Interesting. I'm actually an old psyche major too. I did two years of psych before switching to electrical engineering so I could make money without spending the next ten years in school. I sometimes wish I still had my old Intro to Abnormal Psych textbook.
Wise decision! I went in the other direction and double-majored in English Literature, and spent the next twenty years in school!
Back some 40 years when I was just entering the workforce, I was saying I would love to be in the 90% tax bracket - I could live very, very well on what was left!
Thank you, TC. Finally, I have an explanation why so many people who can barely afford to pay the rent support Republican policy to cut taxes on the wealthy. :-)