I know this is going to be unpopular but I am friends with and I understand many Trump supporters

[NanceGreggs]

128. While I applaud your defense ...

... of these people and your efforts to understand them, the fact is that there is no excuse for being ill-informed, and basing one's vote on - well, on exactly what?

The oft-used excuse - "I wanted to change the status quo" - is meaningless. Change from what exactly? Do they want more gov't involvement in their daily lives, or less? Do they want more funding for education, or less? Do they want affordable healthcare, or a return to those with pre-existing conditions fending for themselves because they can't be insured? Do they want a more aggressive foreign policy, or one based more on diplomacy than military might?

Do they know what they want - or is it a matter of "as long as it's change, for better or worse, I'm good with that."

In this day and age, there is no excuse for not knowing what candidates stand for, and what they plan to do if elected. We are well past the days when candidates traveled the country by train, and made speeches at whistle-stops, hoping their "message" would be passed along. We have 24/7 TV coverage, radio, newspapers, blogs, and the internet. It literally only takes minutes a day to keep one's self apprised of what's going on politically, especially during campaign season.

No offense to those who are "spending time with their kids and tending cattle", but exactly what do they think people living in large cities do all day? They may not be "tending cattle" or plowing the lower 40 to plant potatoes - but they work hard and long each day, often having to commute for hours to get the kids to school or daycare and then on to the office, then be home in time to shop for groceries, do the laundry, cook dinner, help the kids with homework, etc.

I'm REALLY tired of the "I'm too busy to keep up with the world around me" excuse. If you can't be bothered to find out what's going on, then stay home and DON'T VOTE if your vote is based on non-information, or some crackpot idea that you "want change", but can't figure out what change it is you actually want.

It only took a few soundbytes from Trump to demonstrate who he is and what he stands for. One didn't need to be glued to the TV or internet 24/7 in order to KNOW he was a bigoted, racist idiot who doesn't have the intellectual capacity to put a coherent sentence together. And yet the "too busy tending cattle" folks came out to vote for him anyway.

Stupid is as stupid votes. I have no sympathy for those who voted for Trump - those people wearing "MAGA" hats with "made in China" labels who somehow thought he was the champion of those whose jobs he himself has outsourced. I have no sympathy for those who voted for a man who denigrates women, or openly mocks the disabled. I have no sympathy for those who proudly voted for someone who they now claim they really didn't know anything about.

I raised two kids, pretty much on my own. It wasn't easy, and we went through some lean times financially. There were times when I was working 80 hours a week just to keep on top of the bills - and yet I somehow managed to keep abreast of what was going on politically, and to be apprised of who was running for office and where they stood on the issues.

Sorry for saying so, but the "I had NO idea what I was actually voting for" excuse is bullshit.