This false equivalence between Trump and Biden is maddening. My theory is that people raised as Republicans simply cannot accept what the Republican party- really the new TRUMP party - has become. In their minds they have created this elaborate coping mechanism that somehow Joe Biden, an unexceptional, but basically decent human being is equivalently bad as Trump. There is NO metric on which this is true.
"There is NO metric on which this is true." - Sure, there is. To wit...
[Warning: channeling anti-anti-Trump mental contortions is dangerous and can cause insanity. This is being done by a professional on a closed course; do NOT attempt to inhabit the mind of a NR writer (or reader) without specialized training and supervision.]
Biden's DOJ and NY DA have completely corrupted the legal system in their unending lawfare quest to "get Trump". Now, as off-putting as Trump's mean tweets are, they don't hold a candle to the weaponization of our legal system. So we will have to reluctantly vote for Trump in order to save our legal (and other institutions) from complete destruction by the leftists.
I wonder if a re-branding them as the "New Republican" (or Diaper Don Republicans) party would offer permission for some to reconsider. I read the phrase the other day and it was striking how it changed the frame of reference. Because the current Republican party is truly the RINO party.
We assign different meanings to RINO. I am proud to be a RINO, being defined by the MAGA Republicans as a Reagan Republican. In my case I am letting the fine MAGA people define the term. In reality, they are Republicans in name only, because I cannot think of many policy positions of MAGA (assuming they could even articulate anything other than nihilism) that match those of Reaganism. But, whatever.
I noted this on the livestream last night. The false equivalence and the need for bothsidesism in our media is indeed maddening. The BBC *had* to reach out to Robert Hur's purposeful charactetization of Biden as a doddering fart in a recent article (that I very helpfully cannot find now) about Trump.
There is one metric that ought to matter. Joe Biden has actually gotten lots of things done. Donald Trump just talked about doing things. Trump is grandiose get rid of AcA and provide something much better. Biden real accomplishment on insulin price. American like big empty promises more than smaller actual accomplishments.
I am not the first person to write express this view. Trump was NEVER about getting things done. In fact, the bust heads style he uses will reduce the probability of successful implementation. Implementation is not the point. The point is loudly and publicly calling the "bad people" poopy heads!
Most Republican's don't like the things Biden has done, so "getting stuff done" is not always a winning argument.
Partly as JVL wrote, this is because they deny the plain facts of low unemployment, no recession, and other good economic news. And also parts of the legislation that passed and items like the border and student loans.
I still think most of the 50% saying they will vote for Trump want a replacement-level GOP administration expecting ordinary government with low taxes. Most do not actually want MAGA as such. The message that Trump is actually nuts and will bring chaos has unfortunately not broken through.
Not with supposedly intelligent pundits like Noonan equating Biden with Trump. Clearly she is lying in order to keep her Republican readers. I doubt any Democrats read her. She should probably retire.
Here is the thing. If you don't like the current tariff first economic approach of Trump/Biden, wait until you get a look at Lighthizer's plans for a second term. He is saying some of the dumbest things I have ever heard anyone say- who is supposed to know something about economics. Hold onto your hats!
I agree that all the indications are that Trump's policies will be nuts and cause chaos if implemented. And this also assumes no economic or geopolitical crisis, such as a credit crunch requiring tax increases which the GOP will refuse to implement.
My comment is that I still think most of the people saying they will vote for Trump are in denial about this and expect he will just re-appoint Steve Mnuchin and give a repeat of 2017-2019 economics while Trump confines himself to the justice department and corruption, or at least be talked out of the crazy policies in the end by adults in the room. There's a 10% chance this is what will happen, but chaos seems more likely.
What's really scary is Trump will listen to his mentor Putin and Putin's new pal Kim Jong Un and take the US out of NATO give Russia free rein in Eastern Europe and North Korea free rein to invade the South and possibly Japan. Trump will bask in the praise of dictators and be thankful he can't be touched by the law due to the SC not giving the President total immunity until Trump is elected. Don't believe Trump being convicted means a thing. Remember Hitler was convicted and spent a year in prison before he was elected. Many judges in the US are as fascist as Trump. As long as white men (and some women) are in charge AND above the law, they're happy.
I am a "math guy" so in my language the probability of an irreversible, catastrophic event with Trump as president is significantly above zero. If Biden the irreversible, catastrophic event is off the table. As MAGA, and increasingly other Republicans are not driven by analysis, but by emotion, they are not even having this thought. Or, they are willing to "take that chance", because, ya know, drag queens in libraries - or some other cultural war edge issue.
CFT (Convicted Felon Trump) is an extremely bad, repugnant human being. The only way to “trump” that is to spin the fairy tale that Biden is even worse. That Rottweiler is less dangerous than that beagle.
They've been told the Dems are evil since Limbaugh, and everyone else got on that bandwagon - Pat Buchanan, talk radio and Fox. Nearly 40 years of brainwashing. If you're not an R, you're a Dem. Not possible.
Reagan famously said something along the lines of, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me." At the time he said it, I never realized how rare it is for someone to leave a party that has totally changed its very essence. As a former Republican, I feel the same as Reagan did.
The Ts care about their Savior, Our Lord Donald Trump.
As a Christian, I can tell you that the idea that God has come among us in human form is quite attractive. The difference is that I think that God has come only once.
Republicans care about the Republic? That was certainly so when they were founded in 1854 and when Lincoln and TR were president. However, in the 1920s, Republican presidents cared about business; "the chief business of the American people is business” Calvin Coolidge said. It was "that man in the White House" as Republicans referred to FDR who saved the Republic from the socialist uprisings afflicting Europe.
As Grumpy Guy shows above, Reagan ran against the Dems, and since then, the Rs have been anti-Dems. That is the thing that united them. Dennis Prager said in the 90s, and continues saying it to this day, the Left is destroying America.
What is the Republic? The nation is divided on that, although not closely. Nearly ⅔ of Americans believe it is "a set of American founding ideals: that we all have inherent and equal rights to live, to not be tyrannized, and to pursue happiness as we each understand it”. The other third? "Shared history, traditions, and values and by our fortitude and character as Americans, a people who value hard work, individual responsibility, and national loyalty" (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/15/can-the-declaration-of-independences-ideals-hold-america-together/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). That third is the Republicans today, including MAGA Rs.
And that third has captured the pollsters and other tea-leaf readers into believing that they are of equal strength and numbers as those of us who are among the two-thirds. Why? Because they have large MAGAphones and we are not vocal enough about our preferences. Let us hope and pray that our preferences ALL come out on 5 November.
This false equivalence between Trump and Biden is maddening. My theory is that people raised as Republicans simply cannot accept what the Republican party- really the new TRUMP party - has become. In their minds they have created this elaborate coping mechanism that somehow Joe Biden, an unexceptional, but basically decent human being is equivalently bad as Trump. There is NO metric on which this is true.
"There is NO metric on which this is true." - Sure, there is. To wit...
[Warning: channeling anti-anti-Trump mental contortions is dangerous and can cause insanity. This is being done by a professional on a closed course; do NOT attempt to inhabit the mind of a NR writer (or reader) without specialized training and supervision.]
Biden's DOJ and NY DA have completely corrupted the legal system in their unending lawfare quest to "get Trump". Now, as off-putting as Trump's mean tweets are, they don't hold a candle to the weaponization of our legal system. So we will have to reluctantly vote for Trump in order to save our legal (and other institutions) from complete destruction by the leftists.
Well, besides that. 😀
Oh I can simulate multiple Trump arguments across multiple segments.
It's 1 GBP for 5 minutes, but only 8 GBP for a course of 10! ;-)
My man! You need to charge more. That is an E ticket ride- if you get the reference…
As in Disneyland? Well, then I should say "thank you"!
Of course, that was 1 GBP back in the 70s on the Flying Circus. I should update my prices. :-)
How much is that in real money? :)
Something like 23.5 Fizzbins. ;-)
I wonder if a re-branding them as the "New Republican" (or Diaper Don Republicans) party would offer permission for some to reconsider. I read the phrase the other day and it was striking how it changed the frame of reference. Because the current Republican party is truly the RINO party.
We assign different meanings to RINO. I am proud to be a RINO, being defined by the MAGA Republicans as a Reagan Republican. In my case I am letting the fine MAGA people define the term. In reality, they are Republicans in name only, because I cannot think of many policy positions of MAGA (assuming they could even articulate anything other than nihilism) that match those of Reaganism. But, whatever.
Your definition is my definition good sir!
I noted this on the livestream last night. The false equivalence and the need for bothsidesism in our media is indeed maddening. The BBC *had* to reach out to Robert Hur's purposeful charactetization of Biden as a doddering fart in a recent article (that I very helpfully cannot find now) about Trump.
There is one metric that ought to matter. Joe Biden has actually gotten lots of things done. Donald Trump just talked about doing things. Trump is grandiose get rid of AcA and provide something much better. Biden real accomplishment on insulin price. American like big empty promises more than smaller actual accomplishments.
I am not the first person to write express this view. Trump was NEVER about getting things done. In fact, the bust heads style he uses will reduce the probability of successful implementation. Implementation is not the point. The point is loudly and publicly calling the "bad people" poopy heads!
Most Republican's don't like the things Biden has done, so "getting stuff done" is not always a winning argument.
Partly as JVL wrote, this is because they deny the plain facts of low unemployment, no recession, and other good economic news. And also parts of the legislation that passed and items like the border and student loans.
I still think most of the 50% saying they will vote for Trump want a replacement-level GOP administration expecting ordinary government with low taxes. Most do not actually want MAGA as such. The message that Trump is actually nuts and will bring chaos has unfortunately not broken through.
Not with supposedly intelligent pundits like Noonan equating Biden with Trump. Clearly she is lying in order to keep her Republican readers. I doubt any Democrats read her. She should probably retire.
Here is the thing. If you don't like the current tariff first economic approach of Trump/Biden, wait until you get a look at Lighthizer's plans for a second term. He is saying some of the dumbest things I have ever heard anyone say- who is supposed to know something about economics. Hold onto your hats!
I agree that all the indications are that Trump's policies will be nuts and cause chaos if implemented. And this also assumes no economic or geopolitical crisis, such as a credit crunch requiring tax increases which the GOP will refuse to implement.
My comment is that I still think most of the people saying they will vote for Trump are in denial about this and expect he will just re-appoint Steve Mnuchin and give a repeat of 2017-2019 economics while Trump confines himself to the justice department and corruption, or at least be talked out of the crazy policies in the end by adults in the room. There's a 10% chance this is what will happen, but chaos seems more likely.
What's really scary is Trump will listen to his mentor Putin and Putin's new pal Kim Jong Un and take the US out of NATO give Russia free rein in Eastern Europe and North Korea free rein to invade the South and possibly Japan. Trump will bask in the praise of dictators and be thankful he can't be touched by the law due to the SC not giving the President total immunity until Trump is elected. Don't believe Trump being convicted means a thing. Remember Hitler was convicted and spent a year in prison before he was elected. Many judges in the US are as fascist as Trump. As long as white men (and some women) are in charge AND above the law, they're happy.
I am a "math guy" so in my language the probability of an irreversible, catastrophic event with Trump as president is significantly above zero. If Biden the irreversible, catastrophic event is off the table. As MAGA, and increasingly other Republicans are not driven by analysis, but by emotion, they are not even having this thought. Or, they are willing to "take that chance", because, ya know, drag queens in libraries - or some other cultural war edge issue.
CFT (Convicted Felon Trump) is an extremely bad, repugnant human being. The only way to “trump” that is to spin the fairy tale that Biden is even worse. That Rottweiler is less dangerous than that beagle.
They've been told the Dems are evil since Limbaugh, and everyone else got on that bandwagon - Pat Buchanan, talk radio and Fox. Nearly 40 years of brainwashing. If you're not an R, you're a Dem. Not possible.
It came from the churches! How does that not have major influence?
Reagan famously said something along the lines of, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me." At the time he said it, I never realized how rare it is for someone to leave a party that has totally changed its very essence. As a former Republican, I feel the same as Reagan did.
Ditto
Are there really many Rs any more? They seem like Ts to me. Republicans care about the Republic. Ts care about...?
The Ts care about their Savior, Our Lord Donald Trump.
As a Christian, I can tell you that the idea that God has come among us in human form is quite attractive. The difference is that I think that God has come only once.
Republicans care about the Republic? That was certainly so when they were founded in 1854 and when Lincoln and TR were president. However, in the 1920s, Republican presidents cared about business; "the chief business of the American people is business” Calvin Coolidge said. It was "that man in the White House" as Republicans referred to FDR who saved the Republic from the socialist uprisings afflicting Europe.
As Grumpy Guy shows above, Reagan ran against the Dems, and since then, the Rs have been anti-Dems. That is the thing that united them. Dennis Prager said in the 90s, and continues saying it to this day, the Left is destroying America.
What is the Republic? The nation is divided on that, although not closely. Nearly ⅔ of Americans believe it is "a set of American founding ideals: that we all have inherent and equal rights to live, to not be tyrannized, and to pursue happiness as we each understand it”. The other third? "Shared history, traditions, and values and by our fortitude and character as Americans, a people who value hard work, individual responsibility, and national loyalty" (https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/15/can-the-declaration-of-independences-ideals-hold-america-together/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). That third is the Republicans today, including MAGA Rs.
And that third has captured the pollsters and other tea-leaf readers into believing that they are of equal strength and numbers as those of us who are among the two-thirds. Why? Because they have large MAGAphones and we are not vocal enough about our preferences. Let us hope and pray that our preferences ALL come out on 5 November.