All Things Trump: Is it over yet?

[L'Emmerdeur]

The blue collar workers among Trump supporters are kidding themselves if they believe what he says about their wages. Trump pays lip service to them but his priority is demonstrably to benefit large corporations and the wealthy, not improving the lives of working people.

'Real pay data show Trump’s "blue collar boom" is more of a bust for US workers, in 3 charts'

If you thought workers’ hourly pay was finally rising, think again.

At first glance, the latest data – which came out on Feb. 7 – look pretty good. They show nominal hourly earnings rose 3.1% in January from a year earlier.

But the operative word here is nominal, which means not adjusted for changes in the cost of living. Once you factor in inflation, the picture changes drastically. And far from representing a “blue collar boom” – as the president put it in his State of the Union address – the real, inflation-adjusted data show most U.S. workers have not benefited from the growing economy.

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[L'Emmerdeur]

Also, if Trump is considered slightly above average intelligence, I really despair for the fate of humankind.

I agree with you on that.

[pErvinalia]

I edited my post as it sounded as though I was despairing due to you.

[Cunt]

I put as much stock in your opinion on this as I did on your ridiculous belief that the senate impeachment trial would lead to the downfall of Biden.

How IS your boy Biden doing then?

His standing in the race...would you call it up? Or down?

[pErvinalia]

What's that got to do with Tyranical predicting that Biden would be locked up due to the impeachment trial?

[Cunt]

I don't know...I just heard he predicted Biden's downfall, and I noticed he hasn't exactly risen.

Also, Hunter is currently being investigated. Let's wait to see what comes of it. I mean, it would be a conspiracy theory to attach it to his 'Uncle Jim' and Iraq...at least this early.

[Hermit]

The blue collar workers among Trump supporters are kidding themselves if they believe what he says about their wages. Trump pays lip service to them but his priority is demonstrably to benefit large corporations and the wealthy, not improving the lives of working people.
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True, Trump has not done anything to improve pay rates for blue collar workers, but to be fair, the rot has set in decades earlier. Starting with Jimmy Carter, no Democrat President has done anything about their lot either.

[pErvinalia]

I wonder how many working class will support him in November, given how many of them have lost their jobs or had no improvement in their living standards over the last four years. How stupid are these people?

[Cunt]

Assuming all his supporters are stupid. Sounds very high-minded of you. If only you had a prestigious academic title, I would be convinced.

As it is, you aren't showing any better than the average joe.

[pErvinalia]

No, it was a genuine question. There will be a stupid cohort amongst them. I'm wondering what the level is. This will strongly impact Trump's fairing in November.

[Cunt]

I love how the he got all the dems to dress in white sheets and sit still and humourless, while he had a party in their house. It's possible that bringing that airman up was trolling.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Recent rant from Rick Wilson.

'King Donald to GOP: And Now—and Forever—You Shall Be My Servants'

Are you not entertained?

In two speeches today, the recently acquitted and utterly guilty president of the United States, King Donald the Malevolent, let his rage, manias, and petty vengeances out to play, bellowing like a third-world warlord in a display of political performance art that was almost unbearably grotesque in its affront to American values, the law, and our collective sanity.

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One of my rules about Trump is that the truth is always in the asides, the off-prompter remarks, the petty disparagement of his betters, the windows into his seething, hideous jealousy, the galaxy-sized chip on his shoulder. If the state of the union was focus group vomitus, base red meat, and anodyne policy proposals, today’s two bookend speeches were windows into the ravenous maw of Trump’s authoritarian fantasies, the bully set up for free hits while his minions hold the victim's arms back.

Like all authoritarians, Trump was sending a crisp signal that he is above the law. This was the core of it all, the triumph of corruption. The praise of his allies had a sting to it, though most were too dumb or too scared to understand it; “You are my servants. Today, you did a good job for me. But, really, what have you done for me lately?” Those Members of the House and Senate with a pulse know--and secretly admit, as Sherrod Brown wrote in the Times–that Trump was guilty, and from fear they let him off.

Like all strongmen, Trump won’t tolerate dissent. No differing views can be allowed. The king is always right. Anyone who speaks against him deserves what they get. A cynic might even conclude that the Trumpian jokes about sending people like me to GITMO are their attempt to push the Overton Window.

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Trump is going to continue to use the arms of government and the powers of the federal law-enforcement to pursue political benefit for himself and political advantage against his opponents.

He knows his allies and the rest of the online thugocracy he’s empowered doesn’t need to be told, “Tell Congressman X that we’re going to kill his kids if he’s critical of me.” He knows damn well it’s going to happen. He knows the threats from his supporters to his opponents are constant, vile, and personal. Trust me, I live it every day.

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Donald Trump may be utterly ignorant of history, but he has the unerring instincts of a sociopathic authoritarian for the seizure of power, the destruction of institutions around him, and complete confidence that the weak men around him will cheer every outrage and excess. Trump is a man who will revel in the shock and terror of his allies when he turns on them, feeding on their misery.

They sat mute as Donald Trump attacked the religious faith one of their own. They sat staring down at their feet. Why not? So much for his devotion to religious liberty, as he claimed earlier in the day. Trump knows that the evangelical movement is as much a whore to him as any of his previous purchased dalliances. When you’re delivering judges, you can grab them by the pussy, clearly.

[Cunt]

TL:DR

Here is the kind of diversity the Trump campaign needs.

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

[Hermit]

I wonder how many working class will support him in November, given how many of them have lost their jobs or had no improvement in their living standards over the last four years. How stupid are these people?

Some will turn to the Dems next November, but most did not vote for him in the hope that he'll improve their living standards in the first place. They wanted someone to tell them that Mexicans are bad and Negroes worse. They wanted someone to tell them that it's OK to grab women by their pussy. They wanted someone who leads by example of indulging in all the baser instincts, riding roughshod over all conventional niceties, someone who showed them that it's OK to be uninhibitedly greedy, gluttonous. That is why it is true that Trump could shoot a random person on Fifth Avenue without losing any supporters. They don't mind if their President were a murderer, provided he supports and approves their own follies and foibles.

I don't know how intelligent Trump is, but he has peasant cunning in spades. In 2016 he outplayed the Wall Street shill with ease. If Biden wins the Dem primaries, we'll have a repeat of the game. If Sanders wins the primaries he will probably lose too, but for different reasons. The media will bring out the heavy artillery and fire away at the dangers of communism to democracy, freedom and the American way like we've never seen before, and the scare campaign will work. If Elizabeth Warren wins, she won't be able to live down Pocahontas and the Bernie Bros will refuse to front up at the polling booths. Major Buttigieg? Well, he's a poof, isn't he?

Looking at the latest polls (up to Feb. 6, 2020) listed at 538, Trump beats every comer by between 3 and 31 percentage points.

[pErvinalia]

Regarding the working class I doubt it's either or. It's probably both. The working class in the US has been hammered by neoliberalism for the last 30 years. To discount that is unreasonable.