To Trump Supporters, If There Be Any Here On The DU

[Joe Nation]

I know that many liberals tend to just dismiss Trump supporters and call them idiots and a whole host of other names. I can't say that I haven't done the same. I now realize that this isn't a viable solution to build a bridge, and, that when you put politics aside, these same people are my neighbors, friends, and family members. So help me to understand your support. That is all I am asking. Please, no side comments from the regulars of DU. I already know what you think.

Anyway, Please list as succinctly as possible the top three things that Donald Trump has done to earn your support. Not the things he said he would do but the things he has actually done. While I do not support him or his administration, even I can name things he or the GOP have done that have actually benefited me. So let me start:

1. Because I have a high household income, I have received about $10,000 more annually from the Trump/GOP tax cuts.
2. Honestly, Donald Trump has energized the Democratic Party and the youth vote like nothing else in years, it's undeniable.
3. Finally, I feel that Trump's presidency will hasten the demise of the GOP which demographically has been doomed for years.

I realize that there may be few to no Trump supporters here and I am OK with that. But if you're lurking and can muster up the courage of your convictions, please help me to understand your support choice. I promise not to judge.

[Squinch]

1. If any of the trump supporting trolls here answered your question, they would be banned.

So not likely you'll get an answer from them.

But I think I can answer it for you. I'll use my best trump supporter voice:

You wouldn't know it if you passed me on the street, but I am actually a terrified and disappointed person. I am not doing as well, financially or socially, as my daddy did. So I look around and try to find an explanation for that, and here's what I see: It's the brown people and the women. They're taking my job, they're making my son gay, they're getting all powerful. I'm beginning to feel like I have no voice at all. So obviously the solution is to put those brown people and women back where they were when my daddy was my age. Put them back in their boxes! Stop all this liberal equality bullshit. It's my only hope. Donald trump promised me he would do that. So now he's my only hope. And nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."

[NY_20th]

3. Most excellent

Great job.

[Squinch]

4. Supporters of whiny donnie are not very complicated. The answer for female trump supporters is:

"My husband/father told me to vote for him."

[haele]

9. There are a more than a few female trump supporters who support him on their own.

primarily three types;
1. The "Why should I take responsibility for my own life or consider other people's (including my children's)wellbeing; Mommy and Daddy and TV told me I'm a princess - and all the men in my life are supposed to put me on a pedestal and work themselves into an early grave to prove that..." self-entitled "Queen Bee" types who will do anything and everything to be taken care of - and have the most good stuff -amongst their acquaintances,
And
2. The "I'm so f'ing miserable and trapped even though I worked so hard; I hate you all - especially any of those other people who think they're entitled to more handouts or justice that I can't get access to..." hateful types who need someone to look down on to justify their own pain, bad luck, or shortcomings,
And finally,
3. The "I was born sinful, and God wants me to be a devoted helpmeet; I'm afraid of the Hell my pastor is telling me I will be cast into for not being obedient and displeasing God..." fear-filled types who want a very, very small and safe world to live and die in.

Those are the ones justifying their votes.
Unlike my sister in law who just unthinkingly marks the "R" on her ballot, because that's what everyone else she socializes with does. Of course, while from all indications she disapproves of him and other GOP legislators she votes for, she doesn't talk much about their policies or can even answer why she voted for them in the first place, except that she might be considered "different" then her friends and yes, her husband and his family.

Haele

[dchill]

26. Don't say "husband/father" - it gets them all excited.

[Squinch]

34. Lolol!

[jpak]

6. Shhh - be vewy quiet - we're hunting fweepers...

[Squinch]

7. Fweeper season!

[Cary]

27. Well said!

As you can see the opening post somewhat illustrates my prior question, although it isn't so much a scold. Sorry again for misreading your reaponse.

[Squinch]

35. No problem. These things bring up our passions. I'm the

first to understand that.

[Cary]

36. Did you notice the scold came in later?

Or is that my imagination?

[Squinch]

39. I didn't notice.

[NCTraveler]

2. If someone were to honestly reply to your op, they would be banned.

Here is where to direct your op: freerepublic.com

Then again, you just have to read their site for your answer.

Additionally, point number one does not benefited you. That simple logic is how the right wing sells their bullshit.

[Joe Nation]

21. Thanks for the tip

I went to the site and read some posts. First of all, the site is just poorly constructed. The comments were a mix of intentional and just plain naive narratives. However, many comments seemed to have the same narrow perspective that exists on both sides, and I am no fan of the "both sides do it" narrative. I realize that there is a false equivalency and contextual misrepresentation hard at work in many of their comments. They seem OK with that. Thanks again.

[NCTraveler]

25. "First of all, the site is just poorly constructed."

Of course it is. It was designed by a bunch of rabid conservatives while masturbating.

"The comments were a mix of intentional and just plain naive narratives. "

That is not a logical statement. Not sure what to make of it.

"However, many comments seemed to have the same narrow perspective that exists on both sides"



That cleared it all up for me. Thanks.

[LexVegas]

5. Fuck Trump supporters. nt

[shanen]

8. Most likely angle to divide and conquer the Trumpists? I say it's family separation!

I think you are greatly underestimating the stupidity of mobs, and Trump LOVES mobs. I sincerely believe that if the mob at a Trump rally started chanting "Lock kids up!", they would all chant along.

However, I do think that many of the Trump supporters are not THAT evil and that it might be possible to divide his base on this issue. You can't do it at one of his rallies, because in that context they would just chant along, and afterwards they would try to rationalize why they did it. Most of Trump's authoritarian followers are extremely gullible and they will convince themselves under those circumstances.

I think we need to reach them when they aren't looking for it, when they are thinking relatively rationally. We need to get them to question their own behavior when they are screaming for Trump. I even have a suggestion how to do it by creating a fake Trump mob at a protest against locking up kids. Simple procedure:

(1) Give each protester a paper with an ugly Trump face on it. An angry, shouting face with a mouth hole to chant through.

(2) During the protest, at some point announce "And now, a few words from the OTHER side of this issue."

(3) All the protesters would cover their faces with Trump faces and start chanting "Lock kids up! LOCK KIDS UP!"

I think the resulting video would have high potential to go viral. More importantly, some of Trump's supporters might look at it and think "Do I really want to be part of such a mob?"

[Joe Nation]

10. Not true

If you speak to your neighbors and friends about anything other than politics, they can be completely reasonable even if they support Trump. I've often spoke to people that I know are Trump supporters and I would have no problem sitting down with and having a drink with them as long as politics didn't come up.

I knew that there was no way that certain members of the DU community could resist trolling this post. It is as in their nature as perhaps it is in the nature of Trump supports to troll the people they are against. In that way, there is actually little difference between both groups.

I can only try to understand where they are coming from. It seems that some folks consider that a step too far. Sad really.

[shanen]

11. Are you talking to me?

At least from the placement of your reply, it seems to be possible. Context matters, which seems to be your point and which I'm sure was mine.

However, if you were talking to me, then I am curious what part of my comment that you are actually disagreeing with.

[Joe Nation]

12. No I wasn't

It looks like a comment may have been deleted.

[Squinch]

15. It would show up if a comment were deleted. None were.

[Joe Nation]

18. Dunno then???

Maybe it was not a voluntary deletion?

[Squinch]

19. All deletions show up as either "post removed" or deleted by the poster.

[LuckyCharms]

13. How can you have a drink with them if they support a racist?

Wouldn't that be a show stopper for you? If racism is not a red line for you, then what is?

[Joe Nation]

17. One thing I've learned in my life is....

Nobody can be defined by the best or the worst thing they have ever done. We all fall someplace in the middle of the worst and the best of our natures.

[LanternWaste]

20. Their racism, the bigotry, the fear, and the violence are all accurate examples of their nature en t

"Nobody can be defined by the best or the worst thing they have ever done..."

Thankfully, no is doing that. We are simply observing the collective words and deeds, and labeling them for that.

Their racism, their bigotry, their fears, their violence... none of those are the worst (or best) things they have ever done. It's simply become a part of their nature they (at worst) condone or (at best) merely tolerate and accept.

You wanna pretend we have to work with them and extend a hand to them? Fine. Enjoy yourself, God bless, and may the wind be at your back. My observations of them tell me little more than yours is a fool's errand.

[Joe Nation]

23. I never intended to work with them as much as I...

am interested in understanding what motivates them. I think much of it is ginned up fear and hatred of the other perpetrated intentionally by a cynical GOP desperate to hang onto power at any cost. I get that. What I don't get is what reward do they get for buying into the bigotry. They must be getting something for all their efforts.

[rusty fender]

38. It's called satisfaction

[rusty fender]

42. But they have to own their votes

and any vote for Trumpass is a vote for racism, misogyny, capitalist cronyism, hypocrisy, homophobia, etc.

[Cary]

29. "...there is actually little difference between both groups."

God I hate "both sides do it."

One side is birtherism, pizzagate, Clintons murdered 30 people, phony email scandals, Willie Horton, the Slutbern strategy, "supply side economics," creation science, climate science denial, guns don't kill people, .... One side gave us #Hitler.

How do you come to say that both sides are the same in any way? I reject that bullshit with every bone in my body.

[oberliner]

14. You received about $10,000 more annually from the Trump/GOP tax cuts??

Seriously?

[Joe Nation]

16. Seriously!

It helped the wealthier households remember?

[oberliner]

28. Wow

Yeah, I guess I didn't realize the extent of it for wealthier folks.

[LuckyCharms]

32. See, that's the thing. It helped the wealthier households.

I saw a slight increase in my paycheck, and a slight decrease in my refund as calculated for next year.

And my paycheck increase was more than offset by a huge increase in my medical insurance premiums during mid-year open enrollment.

[Joe Nation]

41. That is exactly what it was designed to do!

At the expense of middle income wage earners.

An example I know of is that teachers can no longer deduct $250 in supplies from their taxes that they buy for their classrooms. What kind of petty Republican bullshit cuts funding for schools year after year and then attacks teachers for filling in the gaps for their kids? Heartless bastards I tell you.

[Tracer]

22. Where did your $10,000 come from?

The tax cuts are for the fiscal year 2018, not last year. So --- have you done your 2018 taxes months and months early?

[Joe Nation]

24. Me personally, NO

My accountant, yes. You have to adjust both your withholding and your investments this year.

[LuckyCharms]

33. How did you adjust your investments, and how does...

that adjustment relate to the $10k savings?

[Joe Nation]

40. You'd have to talk to my accountant.

I just bring the money in, he decides the rest.

[stonecutter357]

30. LOCK HIM UP!

[beachbum bob]

31. No trump supporter could use rationale logic to explain the base

of their suppprt, you would be wasting your time waiting for reasoned discussion as they have to basically ignore facts and history.

As for tax cuts, my wife and I see nothing as we are retired and all we see is our expenses going because of trumps policies.

[Cary]

37. And you will get hit with more regressive state and local taxes

As the feds cut back.