President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Wait till you see what they do to Medicaid.

 

And Medicare. And Social Security. And anything else worth plundering.

 

This is a spot on analysis, and I'm almost ashamed to admit how much it resonates with me in relation to my own family tree.

THE most ridiculous thing from this election is how many of our poorest counties voted for Trump--the NYC attention-whoring non-tax-paying billionaire sure to appoint other out-of-touch non-tax-paying supply side billionaires. Why are SO many Americans voting entirely against their own economic interests?

And, NO, it's not just because "they're a buncha dumb redneck racists", instead also because the Democratic party has done a terribly shitty job speaking to the people who should form a huge percentage of its base--in fact, it often seems to express virtual contempt for those folks. When Hillary Clinton chooses a glaringly divisive lineup of Convention speakers featuring firstly the likes of Lena Dunham and Sarah Silverman, what message do they think that sends to the typical middle-America church-goin working-class family?

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren tried to explain this to the Democratic Party establishment, but they did not get it. The real divisive issue that should now be the heart of the Dem movement is our wildly spiraling economic class disparities. Focus firstly on that--find a uniting way to communicate to working class whites and blacks that they're really on the same team economically--and you will seize control. But if you instead keep focusing so relentlessly in a smug tone on the divisve PC identity politics stuff ....well, expect to keep losing middle America for the foreseeable future.

And, for god sakes, please be done with the Clinton Machine once and for all. Yeah, the Clintons were once good for the D party in the 90s, but they've only been an anchor weighing it down ever since.

 

To win back the working class, the Democratic Party must again try to win more local elections - school boards, mayors, governors, state legislative seats, congressional seats. And to do that...

It's going to have to cut the some of the social agenda, or wait for 15-20 years when the working class that repeatedly votes against them is dying out.

The Democratic Party has been hammered by two additional things:

>>Right-wing media, which is generally awful but effective in peddling its story of "hell in a handbasket" to the working class.

>>The perception that public schools - grade schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges - not only aren't what they used to be, but don't teach kids shit because the kids and a handful of rotten, complaining parents run the joint. along with special interest organizations who drummed a phony "equality" into our schools. Here's what a working class family used to like to do - go to a Christmas program. They liked to take pictures, have their kid put on some nice clothes and sing on some risers in a Christmas program.

That's dead now. Gone in most places. In the name of not offending the 7% of the school that wouldn't like it or the ACLU, which might complain about it. That's what I hear from people. The world we knew where they had Christmas pageants is gone. We can't have those anymore, along with 100 other things they won't let us have.

And those kinds of situations are microcosms. White working class look around and see a society entirely out of their control and actively working against them - whether that's true or not. They see that you can't work as a maid in many hotels anymore - the jobs are taken by refugees or illegal immigrants. They see the cost of college has skyrocketed. They see their kids can't make high school sports teams because they didn't spend $11,000 on travel ball from ages 8-14. They see a world where, even in "public school," it feels like the best access is for the privileged or the underrepresented who get special attention because they're rarer than the large group. Consider, for a minute, the amount of dedicated teaching attention spent on a ESL kid. The son of a factory worker or a mechanic, in the solid middle of his grade's academic achievers, is neither spectacular nor in great need. He's just passed along, year after year, part of the quiet middle.

At least some of this stuff is close working class persecution fantasy, and some of it is real. It's a real thing that the working class is being priced out of youth sports. That's a true deal. And to be priced out of club sports is to usually close the door on high school sports unless you're in a smaller town.

I already know Republicans don't much give a shit, but Democrats generally can't be bothered either. Along comes Trump's "a plague on both your houses." The working class eat it up. it's how they feel.

 

Was part where you shit on the separation of church and state supposed to be one of the things you call "real?" Sorry, but we're supposed to be better than the attitude of piss on "7 percent of the population," because the majority needs to feel good about themselves.

Also, are you actually complaining about ESL programs? What about other special education programs? Should we be upset about those pesky kids with physical and mental challenges needing a little more help, too?

 

The separation of church and state, as it stands today, sometimes feels like something our country is too big and diverse for. It makes complete sense on Long Island. At the same time, it does feel like we've lost something when an elementary school in rural Arkansas or Tennessee can't put on a Christmas pageant when Christianity is so central to the community's identity, and so is the public school system. All - as they see it - because some lawyer in Manhattan would spoil their fun. On the other hand, you have school systems wanting to write science out of science textbooks, so you kind of understand why people can't have nice things.

 

What we should do is establish places - we could call them "Places of Worship" or "Churches" ... whatever - where people with similar religious beliefs can gather freely and do things like put on a Christmas pageant. Maybe that would finally give these poor repressed Christians an outlet.

 

One thing to remember about this whole thing is a lot of Christians, by far the dominant majority, cry oppression at the simple suggestion of being respectful of different beliefs. The "We say MERRY CHRISTMAS HERE [whether you actually celebrate Christmas or not]!!!!!" thing is a perfect example.

 

Not a strong opening for Arnold:

 

So proud this guy is our leader and the face of our nation.