A case for Trump supporters

[JayMysteri0]

When I juxtapose these events it's only to make a bigger point and not meant to choose one side over the other. While 99.9% of the BLM protests are peaceful, there are still those who want to cause trouble, just as is the case with Trump supporters.

However, I would just say that these people do not represent the entire constituency as a whole on either side and I'm hoping at some point we can find some middle ground. I get that's not a popular stance here at this site but I think it's the best path forward once Trump is finally out of the picture.

I do believe the more radicals on the right will eventually tone down (we're seeing it now with their forced exodus to Parler for example) and hopefully that will pave the way for us to look for areas where we agree.

They may not represent the constituency, but they are the ones we see & are proud to be seen & WANT to be seen.

These are the people who are inspired to run, bringing us our crop of Q nuts.

They may not represent the ENTIRE constituency, but they do seem to visually to represent a LARGE portion of the constituency. Which is what individuals like myself react to.

 

[Eric]

I'm sort of in that situation with a good friend, unofficially. I try to avoid politics with him but even when I acknowledge his viewpoint he doesn't really see it as a common ground and just wants to drone on further. Before the first debate that I didn't even really want to talk about he started with the "hiden Biden" schtick to which I quickly steered the conversation into another topic. Since then I haven't even really wanted to talk to them just because they can't get the clue I don't want to talk politics and especially not with their Trump style overbearing.

If a friend is a Trump supporter I don't hold that against them but if they can't keep from talking about it I will simply distance myself. I am quite capable of staying away from the subject, I have people I've worked with for years and we don't know each others politics, IMO it's better that way. I do have a good friend who is a cop and a Trump supporter and we know just not to talk about those things and all is well, it's not that hard really.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I am not sure I could be "friends" with a Trump supporter; colleagues and acquaintances, yes, I could suffer or endure that.

Friends, no.

I am someone who writes about, thinks about, talks about, breathes politics, - I used to teach it - and therefore, a friendship where this subject is avoided is but a surface relationship, not a true friendship, or, someone who is an acquaintance.

In the past, I have had conservative friends, sane conservatives, but someone who supports Mr Trump, no.

For, if they support that man and his administration, what they stand for, or tolerate, acquiesce in, is anathema to me.

 

[Huntn]

Let me know if you figure it out, Trump has some sort of spell on people. I have friends I can no longer even associate with and I've always been able to maintain relationships with them (being in different parties) before.

Trump has some sort of spell on people.

This has to be the case or option B we live among one hell of a lot of STUPID, racist, selfish, gullible, ignorant, (any combination of those) hate the government, I might even go so far as hate the principles upon which our nation was founded. Fair and convenient elections? Boo. Lock up a real crook, not one of those make believe crooks? Boo. Decide Vlad is a good guy? OMG. Love Donny because you think he’s a racist you Proud Boy or KKK? Your wallet is nice and plump?

I’ve got lots more but I’ll stop.

 

[lizkat]

I am not sure I could be "friends" with a Trump supporter; colleagues and acquaintances, yes, I could suffer or endure that.

Friends, no.

I am someone who writes about, thinks about, talks about, politics, and therefore a friendship where this subject is avoided is but a surface relationship, not a true friendship, or, someone who is an acquaintance.

In the past, I have had conservative friends, sane conservatives, but someone who supports Mr Trump, no.

For, if they support that man and his administration, what they stand for, or tolerate, acquiesce in, is anathema to me.

It has been terrible for some in the USA whose family members may once have been conservatives or libertarians but who became Trump supporters by the time the 2016 general election rolled around.

It had seemed to me at first that the sundering of such relationships would be most susceptible to repair, if we eventually elected a president of either party who could at least bring us back to remembrance of times when not everything was about politics. and especially such harshly binary views of each other's politics. The clashes became almost set pieces. So one thinks they could be left behind after awhile... like after Trump had left? Sort of like arguments over whose idea it was to buy that damn car always going in forv repair. Eventually there's a different car in the driveway, so...

But when I think more about it, those formerly very close situations are possibly the least amenable to change. Lots of very bitter words got exchanged in some families during the ascension of Trump in 2016, and afterwards as well, like when his agenda-carrying advisors and agency heads set to work while Trump watched TV and golfed. When normal boundaries of argument are exceeded by kinfolk over and over again on some irreconcilable difference, the damage can be irreparable. The closer one is to someone, the more one knows where to stick a knife, in the heat of an argument gone too far.

It's the same for us collectively now in the USA really. There are those who cannot acknowledge any rationale for defending Trump, and those who admire or envy his style and in some cases find his accomplishments attractive enough to override their misgivings about his character or decorum.

But I still think with Biden as a president --and even if he ends up as a sort of caretaker president, well we need one!-- we can move away from the toxic politics left and right experience with each other 24/7 currently... if the media will just stop focusing on Trump after he leaves office.

That may be a really big "if" but I think it's going to be critically important after Biden's presidency officially begins. It's too much to ask of the media to ignore Trump right now. I mean the man and his enablers are too dangerous just to ignore in the transition period, even if what we're watching at the moment is mostly political theatre aimed at keeping right leaning voters in Georgia amped up to try to save the Senate majority for a self-destructive Republican Party.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And, worse, from the media perspective, is the unfortunate fact that Mr Trump generates headlines, and thus, traffic, and revenue for these papers and other media platforms.

Yes, I can well imagine the bitterness of some of those family disputes and the mantra: "Let's forget about all that racism, misogyny, cruelty, corruption, contempt for the poor, and just be friends."

But, the thing is, if you are a person of colour, or a woman, or someone from a less advantaged background, your very rights are curtailed and diminished and reduced as this administration sets about chiseling away what it can of basic human rights, reproductive autonomy, economic independence and legal rights for anyone who is not a middle class, white, male, and so, averting your eyes, holding your nose, and gritting your teeth, are not really acceptable strategies when addressed by a Trump supporting friend, family member, or colleague who wants you to forgive and forget - and overlook fundamental difference in perspective - while the very policies they support deny you basic rights.

The cost of not calling them out, and preserving this friendship (which is often reduced to a feeble disclaimer along the lines of: "Oh, well, this doesn't apply to you, of course,") is asymmetric, and comes at too high a price.

 

[JayMysteri0]

 

[DT]

HFS, they're all so dumb, there's not even any discourse - but they also think they're really informed, they have this "fake news" escape hatch, so no matter how many facts are presented, even from trump's own staff, it's "fake", because it conflicts with their desire to worship that soft, orange, Prince-shoe wearing idiot.

 

[Eric]

The troll level is strong in this thread. Let me know when these people represent the entire 72 million who voted for Trump.

 

[SuperMatt]

According to a recent poll, these people represent only about half of the people who voted for Trump.... so good news: we’re down to 35 million, or about 10% of the population. That seems more reasonable.

Half of Republicans say Biden won because of a 'rigged' election: Reuters/Ipsos poll

About half of all Republicans believe President Donald Trump "rightfully won" the U.S. election but that it was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud that favored Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

www.reuters.com

 

[Eric]

According to a recent poll, these people represent only about half of the people who voted for Trump.... so good news: we’re down to 35 million, or about 10% of the population. That seems more reasonable.

Half of Republicans say Biden won because of a 'rigged' election: Reuters/Ipsos poll

About half of all Republicans believe President Donald Trump "rightfully won" the U.S. election but that it was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud that favored Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

www.reuters.com

I saw that this morning and was frankly surprised at how low it was with all the hyperbole.

 

[SuperMatt]

I saw that this morning and was frankly surprised at how low it was with all the hyperbole.

68% think there was some kind of cheating though. Pretty bad look for Republicans. If they didn’t win, there must have been some kind of cheating? Come on. It’s like a sport - if you lose, you can either blame the refs, complain that the other team cheated, etc.... or you can see how to improve for the next game. Maybe the GOP will whine about “cheating” for the next 4 years and get crushed in the next election too.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Whatever about the proverbial "butt hurt" feelings, the alienation, the sheer vitriolic hatred for anyone who is different (wrong colour, wrong gender, wrong social class), the mad cultural identity politics (you know, 1780 wasn't a great time for a lot of people, principally those who were the wrong colour, or gender), this isn't yet over, and - until it is, - for, the GOP is still contesting the election, still putting undue (and probably illegal) pressure on states not to count the ballots or certify the outcome, something they do not disassociate themselves from, nor call out, nor disagree with, - and, until they do, it is hard, to say the least, to make a case for supporters of the egregious Mr Trump.

 

[Huntn]

This deserves a laugh emoji, but is just too freak’n sad and disturbing how fucked up these people are, knowing they are STUPID American Citizens. As usual it boils down to just how many of them are here to spell catastrophe for the future of our Nation. The question becomes how much of a nation of morons are we? And how scared should we be, 70m morons, and 75m hopefuls, I realize this leaves a lot uncounted for, but these are not goods odds by any means.

 

[Edd]

This deserves a laugh emoji, but is just too freak’n sad and disturbing how fucked up these people are, knowing they are STUPID American Citizens. As usual it boils down to just how many of them are here to spell catastrophe for the future of our Nation. The question becomes how much of a nation of morons are we? And how scared should we be, 70m morons, and 75m hopefuls, I realize this leaves a lot uncounted for, but these are not goods odds by any means.

I’ve watched a few of these Klepper vids and I get more depressed than amused.

 

[Eric]

There's a point I want to make here, especially to @JayMysteri0 as to why posting a bunch of videos in response to a thread that just asks us to look at it from the other side. My ex old best friend of some 35 years always had racist tendencies and we would have heated discussions from time to time, it wasn't until he started sharing youtube videos of black people beating on white people that I had to distance myself from him.

There are no shortage of these videos and he would use them to point out how all black people are thugs, I even brought up the black man who once bought a handcuff belt buckle and was stopped a block later and questioned how he got the money to pay for it and my friend's response was "then he should tell his people to quit being thieves so he wouldn't be targeted". It was the straw that broke the camels back, we haven't spoken in years now and he's a hard core Trump guy as you might guess.

In my view, responding with these videos to label all those who voted for Trump with this broad brush is no different, how does this make us better than them?

 

[Edd]

In my view, responding with these videos to label all those who voted for Trump with this broad brush is no different, how does this make us better than them?

I understand your point. But, you are what your actions are. And, after the last 4 years, voting for Trump over Biden is quite an act.

I‘ll be kind here. Either you’re cosmically ignorant, or you’re unconcerned about / actually like Trump’s character.

 

[Eric]

I understand your point. But, you are what your actions are. And, after the last 4 years, voting for Trump over Biden is quite an act.

I‘ll be kind here. Either you’re cosmically ignorant, or you’re unconcerned about / actually like Trump’s character.

Clearly you don't understand the point and if you haven't gotten it by now you won't. Therein lies the true ignorance.

 

[Edd]

Clearly you don't understand the point and if you haven't gotten it by now you won't. Therein lies the true ignorance.

Was the point that one side shouldn’t paint the other with a broad brush, and if we do, we’re just as bad as racists?

 

[Eric]

Was the point that one side shouldn’t paint the other with a broad brush, and if we do, we’re just as bad as racists?

The point is that dismissing over 70 million people is myopic by any stretch, particularly when such a large swath of them were previously Obama supporters or Democrats before 2016. What do you say to those people? Are they all suddenly the haters we see in the videos posted, are the ALL racist bigots?

Joe Biden has made it clear that he's going to reach out to this constituency, are you calling him ignorant as well?