Trump makes all fanatics on the right, of whatever stripe, feel heard. Trumpism increasingly looks like a coalition of various fanaticisms united by a shared hatred of the American mainstream. Trump understands fanatics are dangerous and wants the menace they represent lined up behind him. The threat this represents to the ideals on which democratic and constitutional governance rest cannot be overstated.
I was talking with my work hag the other day and we got onto the MTG/Hot Garbage subject. She said MTG/HG was just vile, and while I agreed she *is*, I said the bigger problem is MTG/HG's VOTERS. She is a reflection of her voter base...so it is her voter base who are the truly vile human beings. The same can be said for Gosar, Gaetz, Perry, and all the other members of the Trash Can Caucus on the GOP side. Think of these politicians as the head of the cyst. Unless you clear out the sac (AKA the strong garbage quotient of their voting bases), then people like this will keep getting elected.
I do not believe in the "don't attack the voters" principle. If people are being bad citizens AND bad human beings, CALL THEM OUT. Call them out every time they cross your path. It is no sin to point out truly bad people, and if you as a voter think that Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar and that imbecile Tuberville are good reflections of your views and opinions, then surprise--you are a terrible person and deserve to get read for filth the house down for it. If you don't want to be read for filth, then here's your fix--don't be a crap person, and don't give your vote to crap people.
As is noted in the article, I am also not sure that Trump is an anti-Semite. This has nothing to do with his Jewish relatives or pro-Israel stance. Given his high degree of narcissism and displayed character/characteristics, I do not think that he is actually capable of being (substantively) anti-anything. That would require him to actually see people other than himself as people who should be considered as people and not merely animated props in TrumpUniverse.
I am sure that he subscribes to a lot of the common racial (not just anti-Semitic) stereotypes/tropes... because he lacks the ability and willingness to see the world in more complex terms. His world is built upon, founded upon these memes/stereotypes.
Trump's primary/only concern is what serves Trump--thus his desire to cater to these fringe groups (or what were fringe groups before we got Trumpified).
"He moved the embassy to Jerusalem, they say. What about the “Abraham Accords,” they say."
Trump does not support Jews, he supports Israel, and my theory is that he does so because of Christian Dominionist fantasies about Jerusalem being restored to the Jews (read: Israel) triggering the final apocalyptic battle leading to the Second Coming. In this scenario, the Jews are bit players in a militant, violent Christian takeover of the world, and nothing else.
There is only one classification that defines Trump. Selfishness. All those who argue that he is anti-this or anti-that are simply over thinking this. He is pro-Trump (& hence anti-anti-Tump). Trump is fully transactional and will side with whoever he thinks he can benefit from. Doesn't matter whether they are Jew, Muslim, Evangelical, Saudi, Russian, Israeli, Venezuelan, White, Black, Brown, Republican, Democrat. He is an equal-opportunity grifter. He will suck up to <insert the person he hates the most> in a heart beat if only <insert the person he hates the most> has what he craves for.
"Trump’s defenders bristle at such charges [of antisemitism], noting that Trump’s own daughter, son-in-law and some of his grandchildren are Jewish and that he is a staunch friend of Israel."
Which is part of the problem, not the solution. One common trait among those with prejudice is their ability to compartmentalize it, to rationalize it away by seizing upon the exception in an effort to prove the rule. It is usually a matter of proximity, as if only the best of a certain group manage to find their way to them and the rest are lesser life forms. To them there are good Jews (in their inner circle) and bad Jews (everywhere else). Ditto good Blacks and bad Blacks. Ditto good immigrants and bad immigrants. Ditto good gays and bad gays. No less egregious is the idea that we cannot see through the contradictions and that their occasional acceptance of the "outsider" is not unquestionable proof that they are fine folks after all.
Lest you doubt, I suggest having lunch after church services with some of your fellow Christian worshippers. Many are fine people. But don't be surprised if others, in unguarded moments and trusted company, give voice to those same ideas as they explain their world view outside of an hour or two on Sunday mornings. Some people wonder why they are Trump voters. I've never been surprised. The evidence has been hiding in plain sight all along, if you know where to look for it.
To this day, I cannot understand why not instantly condemning David Duke was not only *not disqualifying* for Trump’s candidacy but was barely a news story. It certainly never got the coverage of the “Mexican rapists” or the “grab ‘em by the p****!” comments, which, while also abhorrent and disqualifying, didn’t seem quite as bad in comparison.
I think it was the strange way Trump refused to condemn Duke that made me first think there was something deeply disturbing about him. He claimed he couldn’t really say anything about Duke because he didn’t know much about him or that they hadn’t met. I very clearly remember saying to myself: Either he’s more ignorant than I realized or that he’s completely amoral.
I also have never met David Duke nor do I know much about him - apart from the whole “being the leader of the KKK” stuff. But I sure as hell know I don’t want his endorsement! If I happen to be running for office and some interviewer told me I had his support on *anything*, I would reject it and start questioning my life choices. It should have been *reflexive*. Instead it took a couple of days. A couple of day! To weigh the risk/benefit ratio of condemning the leader of the freaking KKK!!! And the Republicans nominated him anyway. Everything else on his long ledger of racist/anti-semitic behavior was par for the course.
Trump didn’t move the embassy to Jerusalem for the Jewish people. He did it because evangelicals are obsessed with Israel. It plays a prominent role in end times mythology and the second coming. He was transactional, as always. He doesn’t care about the Jewish community, Israel or Christians. He is no friend, let alone a good friend, to anyone.
Charlie’s piece in Politico is well done. The persistence of anti-Semitism is a telling indicator of several awful things about human nature. One of them is the perverse streak in human nature that makes people sometimes root for the bad guy. After the horrors of the Holocaust, there’s no doubt even for the most lazy and casual observer as to who wears the black hat on this issue.
Trump gets this perverse streak in people and loves playing the heel. His odd but very fitting participation as a character in pro wrestling taught him that. In that form of entertainment, the cartoonishly bad guy gets a lot of attention and, weirdly, affection. While it seems incongruous to bring up this trivial pop culture reference in this context, it fits. Trump is both an unserious and dangerous person.
“Trump has always been desperate to send signals to his base of support that he agrees with and loves them.”
Ah...a psychopath loves no others. Others beyond the self are despised, flesh to be exploited, and humans to be necessarily destroyed. For sake of psychopathic power.
I do not know about the suburbs in the nation as a whole, but over the last 20 years the Atlanta suburbs have gone strongly Democratic. Atlanta is like California. The outer burbs went for Romney in 2014, but in 2020 they were strongly in favor of Biden. Gwinnett county went to Romney in 2012 by 9%. In this year's runoff, it went to Warnock by 25%.
MTG, Ye, Gaetz, Desantis, Tucker, Bohnert, Kari, Fuentes, Jones, Gosar, etc. You can argue all you want about who's making the kool-aid and who's drinking the kool-aid. At the end of the day it's still Trump who owns and runs the kool-aid factory....
Trump continuing to embrace these fringe groups means he's desperately trying to hold on to as many fans as he can, as opposed to appealing to the mainstream. I think he's still seeking a mainstream message (or should be) for 2024. Even if he has one in mind now, it is probably not time to bring it out. More likely he'll drag it out when he can take the temperature of the country and be sure who his opponent is.
It really is time to stop amplifying Ruy Teixeira. Certainly one would expect a dropoff in suburban Dem support in 2022 vs. 2020. Trump was not on the ballot this time. If he is in 2024, then I think it is reasonable to expect that Dem support in the suburbs will be more like 2020 than 2022. Also (and I realize it's only one state), how would Ruy fit his narrative into the data from Georgia earlier in Charlie's post, which over a longer term seems to counter Ruy's position?
Trump makes all fanatics on the right, of whatever stripe, feel heard. Trumpism increasingly looks like a coalition of various fanaticisms united by a shared hatred of the American mainstream. Trump understands fanatics are dangerous and wants the menace they represent lined up behind him. The threat this represents to the ideals on which democratic and constitutional governance rest cannot be overstated.
I was talking with my work hag the other day and we got onto the MTG/Hot Garbage subject. She said MTG/HG was just vile, and while I agreed she *is*, I said the bigger problem is MTG/HG's VOTERS. She is a reflection of her voter base...so it is her voter base who are the truly vile human beings. The same can be said for Gosar, Gaetz, Perry, and all the other members of the Trash Can Caucus on the GOP side. Think of these politicians as the head of the cyst. Unless you clear out the sac (AKA the strong garbage quotient of their voting bases), then people like this will keep getting elected.
I do not believe in the "don't attack the voters" principle. If people are being bad citizens AND bad human beings, CALL THEM OUT. Call them out every time they cross your path. It is no sin to point out truly bad people, and if you as a voter think that Matt Gaetz and Paul Gosar and that imbecile Tuberville are good reflections of your views and opinions, then surprise--you are a terrible person and deserve to get read for filth the house down for it. If you don't want to be read for filth, then here's your fix--don't be a crap person, and don't give your vote to crap people.
Off the soapbox now...
As is noted in the article, I am also not sure that Trump is an anti-Semite. This has nothing to do with his Jewish relatives or pro-Israel stance. Given his high degree of narcissism and displayed character/characteristics, I do not think that he is actually capable of being (substantively) anti-anything. That would require him to actually see people other than himself as people who should be considered as people and not merely animated props in TrumpUniverse.
I am sure that he subscribes to a lot of the common racial (not just anti-Semitic) stereotypes/tropes... because he lacks the ability and willingness to see the world in more complex terms. His world is built upon, founded upon these memes/stereotypes.
Trump's primary/only concern is what serves Trump--thus his desire to cater to these fringe groups (or what were fringe groups before we got Trumpified).
What the GOP thinks antisemitism really is: Saying bad things about Israel
What liberals think antisemitism really is: QAnon, Kanye, Groypers, Great Replacement Theory, the occasional mass-shooting at a synagogue
What antisemitism really is: Hasidic Jews getting stabbed on the regular for wearing religious garb in public in places as liberal as Brooklyn and NJ
"He moved the embassy to Jerusalem, they say. What about the “Abraham Accords,” they say."
Trump does not support Jews, he supports Israel, and my theory is that he does so because of Christian Dominionist fantasies about Jerusalem being restored to the Jews (read: Israel) triggering the final apocalyptic battle leading to the Second Coming. In this scenario, the Jews are bit players in a militant, violent Christian takeover of the world, and nothing else.
There is only one classification that defines Trump. Selfishness. All those who argue that he is anti-this or anti-that are simply over thinking this. He is pro-Trump (& hence anti-anti-Tump). Trump is fully transactional and will side with whoever he thinks he can benefit from. Doesn't matter whether they are Jew, Muslim, Evangelical, Saudi, Russian, Israeli, Venezuelan, White, Black, Brown, Republican, Democrat. He is an equal-opportunity grifter. He will suck up to <insert the person he hates the most> in a heart beat if only <insert the person he hates the most> has what he craves for.
"Trump’s defenders bristle at such charges [of antisemitism], noting that Trump’s own daughter, son-in-law and some of his grandchildren are Jewish and that he is a staunch friend of Israel."
Which is part of the problem, not the solution. One common trait among those with prejudice is their ability to compartmentalize it, to rationalize it away by seizing upon the exception in an effort to prove the rule. It is usually a matter of proximity, as if only the best of a certain group manage to find their way to them and the rest are lesser life forms. To them there are good Jews (in their inner circle) and bad Jews (everywhere else). Ditto good Blacks and bad Blacks. Ditto good immigrants and bad immigrants. Ditto good gays and bad gays. No less egregious is the idea that we cannot see through the contradictions and that their occasional acceptance of the "outsider" is not unquestionable proof that they are fine folks after all.
Lest you doubt, I suggest having lunch after church services with some of your fellow Christian worshippers. Many are fine people. But don't be surprised if others, in unguarded moments and trusted company, give voice to those same ideas as they explain their world view outside of an hour or two on Sunday mornings. Some people wonder why they are Trump voters. I've never been surprised. The evidence has been hiding in plain sight all along, if you know where to look for it.
To this day, I cannot understand why not instantly condemning David Duke was not only *not disqualifying* for Trump’s candidacy but was barely a news story. It certainly never got the coverage of the “Mexican rapists” or the “grab ‘em by the p****!” comments, which, while also abhorrent and disqualifying, didn’t seem quite as bad in comparison.
I think it was the strange way Trump refused to condemn Duke that made me first think there was something deeply disturbing about him. He claimed he couldn’t really say anything about Duke because he didn’t know much about him or that they hadn’t met. I very clearly remember saying to myself: Either he’s more ignorant than I realized or that he’s completely amoral.
I also have never met David Duke nor do I know much about him - apart from the whole “being the leader of the KKK” stuff. But I sure as hell know I don’t want his endorsement! If I happen to be running for office and some interviewer told me I had his support on *anything*, I would reject it and start questioning my life choices. It should have been *reflexive*. Instead it took a couple of days. A couple of day! To weigh the risk/benefit ratio of condemning the leader of the freaking KKK!!! And the Republicans nominated him anyway. Everything else on his long ledger of racist/anti-semitic behavior was par for the course.
Trump didn’t move the embassy to Jerusalem for the Jewish people. He did it because evangelicals are obsessed with Israel. It plays a prominent role in end times mythology and the second coming. He was transactional, as always. He doesn’t care about the Jewish community, Israel or Christians. He is no friend, let alone a good friend, to anyone.
Charlie’s piece in Politico is well done. The persistence of anti-Semitism is a telling indicator of several awful things about human nature. One of them is the perverse streak in human nature that makes people sometimes root for the bad guy. After the horrors of the Holocaust, there’s no doubt even for the most lazy and casual observer as to who wears the black hat on this issue.
Trump gets this perverse streak in people and loves playing the heel. His odd but very fitting participation as a character in pro wrestling taught him that. In that form of entertainment, the cartoonishly bad guy gets a lot of attention and, weirdly, affection. While it seems incongruous to bring up this trivial pop culture reference in this context, it fits. Trump is both an unserious and dangerous person.
Charlie,
I can tell you how much I appreciate not only all you have done and are doing regarding saving us from the ‘Trump phenomenon’ but your support
For American workers, like the railroad people, really makes me So happy.
So many American workers like postal workers have been misreported on and neglected in so many ways.
So 🙏
“Trump has always been desperate to send signals to his base of support that he agrees with and loves them.”
Ah...a psychopath loves no others. Others beyond the self are despised, flesh to be exploited, and humans to be necessarily destroyed. For sake of psychopathic power.
I do not know about the suburbs in the nation as a whole, but over the last 20 years the Atlanta suburbs have gone strongly Democratic. Atlanta is like California. The outer burbs went for Romney in 2014, but in 2020 they were strongly in favor of Biden. Gwinnett county went to Romney in 2012 by 9%. In this year's runoff, it went to Warnock by 25%.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/12/07/raphael-warnock-win-georgia-senate-county-democrat-cnntm-berman-vpx.cnn
In the Dec. 6 runoff, DeKalb county turnout was 53% and Warnock got 87% of the votes.
https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user3667/ElectionSummaryReportRPT%2025-04.pdf
MTG, Ye, Gaetz, Desantis, Tucker, Bohnert, Kari, Fuentes, Jones, Gosar, etc. You can argue all you want about who's making the kool-aid and who's drinking the kool-aid. At the end of the day it's still Trump who owns and runs the kool-aid factory....
Trump continuing to embrace these fringe groups means he's desperately trying to hold on to as many fans as he can, as opposed to appealing to the mainstream. I think he's still seeking a mainstream message (or should be) for 2024. Even if he has one in mind now, it is probably not time to bring it out. More likely he'll drag it out when he can take the temperature of the country and be sure who his opponent is.
It really is time to stop amplifying Ruy Teixeira. Certainly one would expect a dropoff in suburban Dem support in 2022 vs. 2020. Trump was not on the ballot this time. If he is in 2024, then I think it is reasonable to expect that Dem support in the suburbs will be more like 2020 than 2022. Also (and I realize it's only one state), how would Ruy fit his narrative into the data from Georgia earlier in Charlie's post, which over a longer term seems to counter Ruy's position?