tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post1971293635832827164..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: The Great Liberal FreakoutStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-9174463748337266662017-03-09T08:29:08.252-08:002017-03-09T08:29:08.252-08:00Ares: "Republicans have bedded themselves wi...Ares: "Republicans have bedded themselves with people whose goal is to destroy the republican party, and remake it into some nationalistic white Christian party. That might be fun if you like chaos, but it looks like political suicide in the bigger picture."<br /><br />Objection! Pure (or impure) speculation!Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-2418459888717937882017-03-08T23:38:10.866-08:002017-03-08T23:38:10.866-08:00Khazan gives the game away when she entitles her a...<em>Khazan gives the game away when she entitles her article: “Strangers in Their Own Land.” If there are no borders it is not their own land. </em><br /><br />If they think it's their own land they're literally Nazis. And definitely racist.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-32252469671265568422017-03-08T18:26:20.112-08:002017-03-08T18:26:20.112-08:00In Khazan’s words: Still, Trump’s outlandish perso...In Khazan’s words: Still, Trump’s outlandish personality has heightened the ideological animus Democrats would have felt toward any Republican president. Antagonism toward George W. Bush was severe, but this feels, well, different. <br /><br />I don't know if patriotism is the issue, but certainly it is about pride. There was a pride that believed America was moving in the right direction, towards more inclusiveness, more acceptance, more justice for all. We elected our first black president for the oppressed blacks. We got gay marriage for the oppressed gays. We got bathroom choice for oppressed gender dysphorics. We got health insurance gender and age equality where young males were given the privilege to subsidize healthcare costs for women and the elderly. We got $15/hr minimum (living) wage in many big metro areas where most people made more than $15/hr anyway.<br /><br />So whether all of this was "virtue signalling" or real progress, it looked like progress, even if identity politics didn't address the issues of the majority. It was the last low-hanging fruit available for progressives to believe in. Of course the ERA amendment was still unachieved, and women still make less than men on average, but that's what Hillary was for. She could finish the job.<br /><br />Hillary knew how to say all the right things. She knew all the people who can help make things happen, and she was a 40 year political veteran who could deal with Republican majority congress and make deals needed to move things forward.<br /><br />And then we got Trump, and even Trump was shocked, trusting the polls. Maybe 48% voted for Clinton (and all the polls were projecting), and Trump's 45.9% ended up enough in key midwestern states, and Michael Moore predicted and feared.<br /><br />So while Trump promised to "Make America Great Again", everyone knew that wasn't his central message. Rather it was just a big fantasy, while he regularly made his true mission clear. It was similar to the tea party message and rejected not just the Democrats, but the Republicans as well. So Trumps' true message was "Let's scare the living daylights out of the 'establishment' on all sides." And when it looks like undeserved people are getting undue attention, while you're doing everything right, and suffering, its easy apparently to say "Things can't get much worse." and roll the dice on Trump, just in case it makes a difference.<br /><br />I'm sure I don't have to remind anyone how much Trump was hated within his own party, and how he used ad hominem against all his rivals, and they tried their best to defend themselves, but Trump supporters didn't see ad hominem attacks. They saw insiders who had mastered the art of saying one thing and doing another after they were elected.<br /><br />But it is strange that even Ted Cruz swallowed his pride in the end. He held on all the way through the RNC in failing to endorse Trump, but in the end concluded a maniac Trump was better than Clinton, and so did the rest of the hapless republicans. They sold their souls to the devil, because access to the presidency meant their agenda could finally be enacted.<br /><br />But whatever hysteria is going on for the Left, it does seem the Right is more in danger, since they're all betting their careers on Trump's sanity, and that still looks like a bad bet. And if it was just Trump's dopiness that threatened us, perhaps the Left would be over-reacting. But Trump's appointing Steve Bannon as advisor looks more sinister, and Republicans are forced to bet on Bannon's goodwill as well, and that seems even more unwarranted.<br /><br />Republicans have bedded themselves with people whose goal is to destroy the republican party, and remake it into some nationalistic white Christian party. That might be fun if you like chaos, but it looks like political suicide in the bigger picture.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-36511716110423818982017-03-08T10:16:59.814-08:002017-03-08T10:16:59.814-08:00"Perhaps those who are especially deranged ab..."Perhaps those who are especially deranged about Trump are not motivated by patriotism, but by ideological zeal. They resent anyone who does not believe what they believe."<br /><br />I believe you have gotten it exactly and correctly. Your second sentence nails the response of college students and (suspected) paid minions on campuses of late (and for some time). Diversity of opinion will NOT be tolerated.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.com