There was a store in Wilmington, too. They went out of business earlier.
But if you go to the resorts – Salisbury Beach, Hampton Beach, Weirs beach, and others – there was LOTS of pro-Trump T-shirts, and nothing pro-Democratic party or anti-Trump.
Yes. If you go to beach toy stores anywhere along the low-density tourist part of FL, they’re positively loaded with Pro-trump merch. And even somewhat here in greater Metro Miami. You might also find some Brandon merch, but nothing even remotely pro-D or anti-RW/Trump. It’s all snarky “pwn the libs, har har” stuff.
Made in China of course, but enthusiastically ordered by somebody here and being enthusiastically bought by lots of other somebody’s here.
Something I wonder about MAGATs: like tools Jordan Klepper interviews, with their paraphernalia. Did they show any interest in politics at all before trump came along? I guess it’s exciting to be part of a movement. Their naivete is astounding. The way they parrot talking points and take every thing he says at face value. He said Mexico will pay for the wall, and apparently, they really believed it.
A fairly sensible but not deep-thinking guy I knew turned into a Trumper. I last dealt with him just a year-ish into Trump’s term, so I don’t know how he later evolved / devolved.
Ultimately to him politics had been a stuffy game between two teams of fake-smiling shits in suits who said boring lying “blah blah blah” diplomatic platitudes at each other while shoveling our money into their pockets. That was it. That WAS politics; it held nothing more. And wasn’t something he paid much attention to; too boring & no point. “They’re all the same.”
Trump was a refreshingly blue-collar coarse mentality: the polar opposite of polished or diplomatic, he just said outrageous shit that made the suits gasp, delivered with macho swagger. He was NOT “all the same”. And while they were gaping, he was shoving the money in his pocket instead, or claiming he was saving it for the little guy’s benefit. It was great fun to watch him tweak the Olde Guarde. In effect Trump was conducting a smash-and-grab raid on the Establishment and it was great fun to watch. “Serves the bastards right” was my friend’s refrain.
And that was it. This was fun to watch, fun to parrot, and fun to wait for the next exciting thing Trump would say. And fun to hoist a beer to it with all your like-minded friends. Suddenly, politics was interesting. It was easy to get a team T-shirt and root for the team because the team was both exciting to watch, and it was WINNING!!!
The idea that politics (and government) was actually about running a country or that good or bad governance had any impact on our lives immediately or our country’s future, was simply unthinkable. It was all just a game show. And this one was a LOT more fun to watch then the Obama or GWB show had been.
Think 60 Minutes vs. Jersey Shore. It was no deeper than that.
I weep for my country.
My Trumper relative is as follows:
Miserably unhappy with his life’s accomplishments, despite having several advanced degrees in valuable fields. He assumed that checking the box (ie, MBA) guaranteed riches.
The failure of that started his descent into misery about 20 years ago.
When Trump came along he gave this person a blaming voice. It was all someone else’s fault. Illegals. The Uniparty. The global Bezos-Gates-Soros oligarchy. He’s all in on all of it. We used to be close. But whenever we speak HE brings up politics every time, and becomes unhinged if I don’t agree with him.
I can almost understand your friend here, when I was very young and even more naive than I am now - I watched professional wrestling. Understood it was scripted but didn’t consider it fake because the participants actually picked each other up and hurled the opponent to the mat.
It made for interesting entertainment, but as you summarize- it is a tearful way to run a country (or for anyone to view running a country).
Oh my gosh! I figured it out!! Of course … Of course. Now to tell the world before they get me. Gotta work quickly now. Tap tap tap.
The eminence gris behind the whole RW circus from Limbaugh’s humble origins 30 years ago to how Trumpism will end in circa 2075 is …
Vince McMahon!!!
We are so doomed. Who’s at my door!!?!?!
BLAM BLAM. Arrrgh!! gurgle gurgle sigh…
I can relate, and yet I hate Trump with the fire of a thousand suns. Unearned privilege and all that.
In this corner of Trumpland, it’s mainly focused in hating on Biden. I regularly see the Mercedes SUV in the office parking lot with the “Joe and the hoe got to go” bumper sticker. Or the one that said “I preferred mean tweets and gas under $2”. That sort of thing.
Like the other day when I was walking into the grocery store and I heard a guy on his cell phone telling somebody “Well Biden did this to us.” Later, as I was leaving, he was standing on one of those industrial scales near the exit grumbling audibly to himself “…keep gaining weight.” I responded “Biden’s fault” as I walked by.
Classy. 
That’s literally the word that pops in my head every time I see it.
ETA: Some of these Trumpers are well off. We had a client who owns a jewelry store (it was founded by his father). He was talking gleefully about being part of the “Trump boat parade”.
We see multi-million dollar boats, bunches of em, about once per month all decked out in trump regalia & loud noises for a gleeful and bullying display of anger at how bad America is under Democracy.
Didn’t they swamp each other and have to be rescued at one of the earliest boat parades?
They most certainly did. It was delicious.
Put enough selfish thoughtless people in one place, add enough alcohol, and pretty soon the consequences of “me me me!” rear their heads to the detriment of “us us us”.
A beautiful microcosm demonstration about how societies really work, not how some folks wish they work.
YES! Very much yes!
That is why i believe they are determined to fail eventually. They complain about overreach (by which they mean having to be treated like ordinary citizens- not have special privilege), but they are the ones who are guilty of overreach and eventually it will bring them down.
But even accepting that I continually ask myself how far backwards they will drag society before they do topple themselves. Will we be living the Handmaiden’s Tale by then, will they impose unthinkable atrocities like genocide, will they create the nanny state they so fear because the government will take and take without ever giving back and people will quit trying? Will they start a World War?
They have gone from Jackson playbook to the Nixon playbook, and given a few ounces more influence they are bound to start the Hitler playbook.
It takes roughly 3 generations to overcome an authoritarian takeover from within. The Iranian revolution of 1978 will be gone by 2050, even if nobody external touches their territory.
Assuming the RW nutbags take the official US power in 2024 by means deemed more or less fair at the time, it’ll be about 2030 before liberty is truly gone, and about 2100 before it could come back.
The future, as Yoda points out, is hard to see: constantly moving it is.
The recovery time of societies from the “temporary insanity” form of authoritarianism has never been tested in the internet / CCTV 24/7/365 surveillance of everything / everywhere world. So the 3-generations rule-of-thumb prediction may prove to be off by an order of magnitude if the internet-centered police state gets built.
The Chinese are certainly working diligently on it with decent “success” at home so far and would be happy to sell the tech to DeSantis cheap were he to ask.
It seems like they had a dozen-ish stores, one of which now sports this appearance:
