President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

This could be considered borderline apocryphal in terms of projecting how this will impact the election, but this is worth noting: I have some members of my extended family who are in college, and they said everyone they know is "beyond furious" at Trump. Those who weren't politically active or didn't have any strong opinions in that realm are motivated because they blame the mismanagement of his administration on COVID for "ruining our college years."

Sure, some of their anger is superficial, over things like losing parties, social activities, football games, et. al. But they feel as if a basic expectation for their life was napalmed by Trump. And I don't care what the motivation is, as long as it gets them to send in their ballots. Whatever it takes.

Also ... if the 18-29 voting bloc has a dramatic increase in participation from previous cycles, the polling is going to be way off.

 

They have every right to be furious over losing those moments. Their anger is not superficial and those moments are not superficial, they are part of a life that's been stolen from them. My nieces and nephews are in high school and I'm furious on their behalf for what they're missing (sports, proms, hanging out at the park with their friends, attending school in person, ditching school, being kids for a little bit longer).
I'm not equating it to death or being hospitalized or losing a job or business, but it still matters. All of it matters.

 

I'm not surprised by the failure of leadership. It's Donald Trump after all, and we've known for decades exactly who and what he is.

That people chose to vote for him anyway is a low moment in American history. Whatever their reasoning in doing so. We're getting exactly what we deserve.

What surprises me, especially in reference to C19, is their inability to recognize that failure of leadership.

Or, more broadly, the unwillingness to accept that such a quality as "leadership" even exists.

Which is the kind of ignorant cynicism that got us here in the first place.

 

Mark Kelly says it wasn't him dressed as Adolf Hitler in yearbook photo

How do we get past where this is a thing? You have a random website comb through 40-year old college yearbooks where a candidate went to school, find a picture that has no contemporary attribution of who is in the photo, but have a half dozen people who were actually there say "That's not him; it was so-and-so" yet the website still claims it was the candidate.

 

If we can’t get ahold of this thing and it just lingers for years, I have to think people will start to form small communities with which to live in isolation to get that lifestyle back.

 

Now I think you are just playing with me.

 

They should . . . unless it matters --- to someone, anyone --- that the tax money used to pay for it doesn't pay the bills and hasn't for years.

Of course we love it. We pay X and receive X+Y+Z+LMNOP. Like we do everything.

We're Donald Trump. We don't pay our bills while boasting "We're worth $22 trillion! (but owe $26 trillion).

 

The on switch for the new IPhone is 12 atoms wide. Atoms.

If we cannot get a vaccine for this, we will get a test that confirms if someone has it in seconds. How long? Who knows? But I’m guessing it will be before we start podding into communities.

You’re just going to have get checked a lot when you go places.

 

Crime against humanity.

Trump’s campaign made stops nationwide. Then coronavirus cases surged.

 

Yes. My goodness think back about your own high school experience. And now consider missing promps and homecomings and senior games or entire seasons. And then there's the fact that you have to pick a college without ever having seen it. And then maybe you're in college. And you're not having that robust social experience that we all wax nostalgic about. Superficial? Maybe. But it's what life is all about.

 

In the scale of loss experienced by others, the fact my daughter will almost surely not be able to be home for Christmas is nothing. But it fills me with frustration and sadness every day. We all have our health and I'm happy and grateful for that. But separation from the pleasures of ordinary human life is the virus's universal toll on human beings, and it's far from a small one.

 

Looking forward to seeing my folks the first time this year in a couple of weeks. I can tell just talking to them on the phone the isolation has been hard. They are normally active, engaged people with their church choir and other activities - now my mom is watching Jimmy Swaggart re-runs (for the music she says - we're Catholic) and my dad, well he's actually walking outside more, which is good.