6 ms·

> Trump said terrible things and people voted for him because he said those terrible things. I understand your frustration (I'm right there with you. I felt li

> Trump said terrible things and people voted for him because he said those terrible things. I understand your frustration (I'm right there with you. I felt like a family member died after the election), but I think the statement I quoted is an exaggeration. Trump had a few groups of people that helped him win the election. I'd break them into these groups: * Traditional republican voters who didn't like much of what Trump said, but worried about liberal Supreme Court justices. * White supremacists. Most Trump supporters weren't white supremacists, but most white supremacists were Trump supporters. * People who feel that Washington is deeply corrupt and want to see the existing system torn down. Trump has pledged to introduce term limits for congress people, along with banning certain government employees from becoming lobbyists for a period of time. * Working class people who liked Trump's trade policies. He's pledged to renegotiate certain trade deals in an attempt to lessen our trade deficit. That would make it less appealing to outsource jobs, which union workers found appealing. I voted for Hillary, but I admit that I like his anti-corruption and trade deficit policies. Unfortunately I'm horrified by his policies on muslims, undocumented immigrants, etc. Quite simply, people who think like you and me lost on Tuesday. We lost badly. We need to take some time to figure out where to go from here, because if we run the next election like this one, we will probably lose again. We spent a lot of time being upset about the white supremacists who backed Trump. We didn't spend enough time addressing the concerns of union workers, anti-corruption advocates, and republicans who didn't like Trump. It probably cost us the election.

akytt 10y ago
As a bystander I think you lost because of political correctness. Declaring racism and biggotry and all those other things wrong does two things. Firstly, it makes it easy to ignore anyone expressing these thoughts. Because they are simply wrong. Secondly, it effectively hides any other view. You won't even know your colleague is a racist because he knows He cant say it. But political correctness will not change how people think. All of these people without a voice - the racist, biggots, sexists and the stupid - found a voice and voted for him. Guys, half of any population is statistically less smart than the other. You have apparently pissed off that other half and have to live with the consequences. In the land of the free it should be ok to be racist. As a society, you don't have to be but you cannot deny that racist idiot his right to be racist. He should not get his way but he should have the right to speak his mind.
- serge2k 10y ago
  > Guys, half of any population is statistically less smart than the other But most are within a similar band. Liberal arrogance again.
bduerst 10y ago
> I think the statement I quoted is an exaggeration. But none of your points explain why. Trump said terrible things, that he would commit war crimes, restrict the first amendment, he won't respect the election if he loses. He's praised dictators, denied climate change, committed charity fraud, stiffed 800+ small businesses, walks in on underage girls changing and brags about it. He lies about something one day and deflects attention away to blame someone else when called out on it. It's fascinating that he gets a pass on saying and doing these things. "It's an exaggeration." Personally, I think it's because he was a reality TV star. We expect celebrities to say and do ridiculous things, and then roll our eyes at it. Except he's president now, and he isn't acting.
- Fjolsvith 10y ago
  > ... he won't respect the election if he loses. You mean like all the people protesting against Trump?
  - bduerst 10y ago
    > Deflecting Peaceful protesters aren't presidential candidates threatening to not respect the vote. How does that justify giving a pass to the terrible things Trump has said and done?
    - MichaelBurge 10y ago
      It wouldn't justify Trump doing it, but I'm curious if you supported blackballing Al Gore after he contested the 2000 election with a lawsuit. I've heard a lot of people complain about the Supreme Court, but rarely complain about Al Gore himself for contesting.
      - notfromhere 10y ago
        Al Gore contesting the Florida count with a 537 margin for victory is different than "if i don't win, it means its rigged"
  - 10y ago
padseeker 10y ago
That is fair. I'll grant you that. I had concerns about Hillary. And I can appreciate Trump's anti corruption policies. It will be very interesting to see if he does engage in a trade war, slapping tariffs on goods made outside the US. If he passed legislation about charging taxes on carried interest that too would be positive. However I'm scared as all hell about everything else. If he does anything good that will be a minor miracle. He is a sociopath and a narcissist. His tax plan will blow a hole in the federal budget while maintaining entitlements. There was an article where he asked the generals "why cant we just nuke them" 3 times. It's going to be like Bush but a lot worse.
theandrewbailey 10y ago
> Trump had a few groups of people that helped him win the election. I'd break them into these groups: Don't forget: * Minorities. Although Trump didn't win their vote outright, more minorities voted Republican this time than last. He even won the Hispanic vote in NYC. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/exit-poll-analysis.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/e... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/20/donald-trump-overwhelmingly-wins-hispanic-vote-nyc/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/20/donald-trump...
atomi 10y ago
> people who think like you and me lost on Tuesday. We lost badly. As far as last count Hillary won the popular vote (though not by much). The election was very close at any rate. Trump was just better at parroting and promising the things he heard from rural Americans. He listened to them. And he sold them on their own ideas and made them sound tenable. That's all there is to it.
padseeker 10y ago
I hear what you are saying, and I agree with it. Thing is the aforementioned family member is not a hard core republican. I'd say more of a conservative democrat. She did not vote against a corrupt system. She voted because of racial resentment. And she wasn't all too happy about a woman president either, despite the fact that she is a woman. Have you read said's response? I came to learn something, hoping to take something away. This guy said is a member of a different minority group resentful of African Americans overrepresentation in this country, and is an Indian. This is not an isolated incident for me so far, where I've heard from either a member of a minority group or a woman voted for Trump that has no substance, but rooted in resentment against another minority group. This is making me more depressed. Maybe this is a couple of isolated incidents. But what I'm learning is only making me more depressed.

akytt 10y ago

As a bystander I think you lost because of political correctness. Declaring racism and biggotry and all those other things wrong does two things. Firstly, it makes it easy to ignore anyone expressing these thoughts. Because they are simply wrong. Secondly, it effectively hides any other view. You won't even know your colleague is a racist because he knows He cant say it. But political correctness will not change how people think. All of these people without a voice - the racist, biggots, sexists and the stupid - found a voice and voted for him. Guys, half of any population is statistically less smart than the other. You have apparently pissed off that other half and have to live with the consequences. In the land of the free it should be ok to be racist. As a society, you don't have to be but you cannot deny that racist idiot his right to be racist. He should not get his way but he should have the right to speak his mind.

serge2k 10y ago
> Guys, half of any population is statistically less smart than the other But most are within a similar band. Liberal arrogance again.

bduerst 10y ago

> I think the statement I quoted is an exaggeration. But none of your points explain why. Trump said terrible things, that he would commit war crimes, restrict the first amendment, he won't respect the election if he loses. He's praised dictators, denied climate change, committed charity fraud, stiffed 800+ small businesses, walks in on underage girls changing and brags about it. He lies about something one day and deflects attention away to blame someone else when called out on it. It's fascinating that he gets a pass on saying and doing these things. "It's an exaggeration." Personally, I think it's because he was a reality TV star. We expect celebrities to say and do ridiculous things, and then roll our eyes at it. Except he's president now, and he isn't acting.

Fjolsvith 10y ago
> ... he won't respect the election if he loses. You mean like all the people protesting against Trump?
- bduerst 10y ago
  > Deflecting Peaceful protesters aren't presidential candidates threatening to not respect the vote. How does that justify giving a pass to the terrible things Trump has said and done?
  - MichaelBurge 10y ago
    It wouldn't justify Trump doing it, but I'm curious if you supported blackballing Al Gore after he contested the 2000 election with a lawsuit. I've heard a lot of people complain about the Supreme Court, but rarely complain about Al Gore himself for contesting.
    - notfromhere 10y ago
      Al Gore contesting the Florida count with a 537 margin for victory is different than "if i don't win, it means its rigged"
- 10y ago

padseeker 10y ago

That is fair. I'll grant you that. I had concerns about Hillary. And I can appreciate Trump's anti corruption policies. It will be very interesting to see if he does engage in a trade war, slapping tariffs on goods made outside the US. If he passed legislation about charging taxes on carried interest that too would be positive. However I'm scared as all hell about everything else. If he does anything good that will be a minor miracle. He is a sociopath and a narcissist. His tax plan will blow a hole in the federal budget while maintaining entitlements. There was an article where he asked the generals "why cant we just nuke them" 3 times. It's going to be like Bush but a lot worse.

theandrewbailey 10y ago

> Trump had a few groups of people that helped him win the election. I'd break them into these groups: Don't forget: * Minorities. Although Trump didn't win their vote outright, more minorities voted Republican this time than last. He even won the Hispanic vote in NYC. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/exit-poll-analysis.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/e... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/20/donald-trump-overwhelmingly-wins-hispanic-vote-nyc/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/20/donald-trump...

atomi 10y ago

> people who think like you and me lost on Tuesday. We lost badly. As far as last count Hillary won the popular vote (though not by much). The election was very close at any rate. Trump was just better at parroting and promising the things he heard from rural Americans. He listened to them. And he sold them on their own ideas and made them sound tenable. That's all there is to it.

padseeker 10y ago

I hear what you are saying, and I agree with it. Thing is the aforementioned family member is not a hard core republican. I'd say more of a conservative democrat. She did not vote against a corrupt system. She voted because of racial resentment. And she wasn't all too happy about a woman president either, despite the fact that she is a woman. Have you read said's response? I came to learn something, hoping to take something away. This guy said is a member of a different minority group resentful of African Americans overrepresentation in this country, and is an Indian. This is not an isolated incident for me so far, where I've heard from either a member of a minority group or a woman voted for Trump that has no substance, but rooted in resentment against another minority group. This is making me more depressed. Maybe this is a couple of isolated incidents. But what I'm learning is only making me more depressed.