And an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope. 
Decentralization to what? The power of the states is decentralized from federal power already. How do you propose to decentralize further?
The problem with government handling decentralization is whatever party is in power will ensure the other party loses power, such as through gerrymandering. The EU already favors letting individual member states make their own decisions, and only to call on the EU when matters get too complicated. They had to step in to bail out Greece, which the other member states weren’t too thrilled about, and England wants a divorce. Decentralization definitely has its drawbacks. Some times, voter stupidity *isn’t *to blame.
Political decentralization can also happen without government action, such as when blacks moved from the south to escape Jim Crow laws. I for one don’t want to move to another country to escape Trump.
When you posted this a week ago today, Trump’s approval rating on fivethirtyeight.com was 40.2%. Right now it’s 39.5%.
Any other predictions?
Can’t forget Camp Bullshit: you make up bullshit about politics just to make Your Side look good. Grade: negative infinity
Indeed. Under water by 16 points now.
That’s good, but I struggle to understand how it’s even that high. I mean, I didn’t think he would be elected either, but hasn’t this all been far worse than some of his softer voters expected?
All I can figure is that a substantial number of people are motivated more by emotion and loyalty than by facts. He said it himself:
But that was during primary season. I definitely expect him to have a hard floor of 25-30 percent, with the difference between that number and his vote total being people who were like “I’m Republican, I hate Hillary, and maybe he’ll bring his [supposed] business savvy to goverment, clean up the corruption, make some deals”. I’m just puzzled that he was recently over 40 percent and isn’t far under now. To put it another way, if he’s at 40 percent now, why wasn’t he at 60 percent two years ago?
Trump’s been obviously awful from pretty much the get-go, and it wasn’t long before the only people who supported him were the absolute morons who also have no morals whatsoever. These people aren’t going to get any smarter or more moral, so they will basically continue to support him no matter what, until they personally are being directly harmed in a way so obvious that their tiny, pea-like brains are able to comprehend it. Until then they won’t stir; 800,000 strangers suffering is just ambrosia to them.
Trump’s approval rating hardly changes no matter what he does. If you look at the history on fivethirtyeight.com, it started at about 45% when he took office, then sank to around 40% within a few months. Since then it has sunk as low as 36.4% and gone as high as 42.9%. It’s never taken either a steep climb or dive.
One possibility is that the MAGA hat crowd actually believes Trump when he talks about fake news. If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter what Trump does. When the news reports on the effects of his policies and behavior, he just tells his followers not to believe it, and they don’t. What few of us expected is that there are so many of these people.
I still think some of those people are stubborn Republicans who don’t really like him but are gritting their teeth and getting through this while refusing to break ranks.
Per 538, his net approval (IOW, approval - disapproval) was -9.2 on December 15; now it’s -16.4. That’s movement. And it’s the worst it’s been in a year.
Dude, he doesn’t have to tell them. All he needs to do is refer to anyone he doesn’t like with an insulting nickname and then the MAGAteers tell themselves to not believe facts.
They don’t believe it in very large part because they aren’t living with the consequences of voting for him. But eventually, they will, and it won’t be pretty. Even then I am sure that many Trumpists will blame liberals, illegals, gays, atheists, and communists, but some voters will eventually peel away. Whether they will give us the satisfaction of admitting they were wrong is a different subject, but that doesn’t matter.
And Wilbur Ross and Mick Mulvaney aren’t helping him either.
From “Let them eat cake” to “Let them borrow from loan sharks.”
Has she offered to spank him with a copy of the Congressional Record while he lies naked across her lap? Maybe that’s the way to get bipartisan amity and move forward.
JHFC that’s just gross beyond the pale. And too early in the morning. :eek:
And now, the Senate is starting to show some signs of strain.
I think the shutdown is going to end soon because of the mounting pressure on Republican senators. It will be up to them to have the balls to tell the Ann Coulters of the world to go to hell, but at least some Republicans are beginning to understand the perils of staying aboard a Trump train that’s about to drive everyone over the cliff.
But I’ve underestimated Republican stupidity and depravity before so we’ll see.
…Hillary and her emails, and Obama and his Kenyan Muslim cronies.
Yes, this is where it has to break. The Dems aren’t going to back down and neither is thump. Sumpin’s gotta give.
Looks like someone just got tired of so much winning.