The Soviet Union had all sorts of laws to protect the rights of their citizens, but they didn’t really matter because those in power pretty much just ignored those laws and did what they wanted to. That’s really the big problem we’re currently facing in the United States. The MAGAsphere, a.k.a. the Republicans, no longer care about rule of law, democracy, or protecting anyone’s rights but their right to rule.
Also for that group of the electorate, that builds upon an assemblage of assumptions/presumptions about how things work at that level along the lines of:
- that ALL the rich and powerful are up to no good anyway (so might as well support the one that proposes what I like)
- that getting away with all sorts of shit IS the point of being rich and powerful
- that this is because in their perceived experience “the system” is inherently an unfair corrupt one where the decision to prosecute or not is not made on the basis of justice (a.k.a. if crime is crime why did I get busted and the bank executive got off?)
- that as a result of all that ALL the political leaders will be accused of all sorts of things by opponents no matter what (and they have been sold on that so many things have been thrown around, “you can’t know what is true” – so birtherism/“her e-mails”/Hunter’s laptop/everyone’s rides in Epstein’s plane/Stormy/the documents, it’s all equivalently “part of the game”)
- so what’s so different about Trump?
Many of these less-informed voters sincerely already believed well before the recent SCOTUS rulings, that it was the norm and the standard that someone who made it to President would NEVER be prosecuted or on the losing side of a suit over ANYTHING. From their POV it was not that hardly anyone before had done something this bad – just that for some reason no one had bothered going after them for what they did do (Bill Clinton maybe excepted).
Great points!
That ain’t nothing. SCOTUS ruled that bribery is A-ok. No reason to grift anymore.
You’re entire posts describes my MAGA mother very well. She continues to maintain that she’s an independent voter, tells me you can’t trust any politician, but goes hard for Trump. Throughout my entire life, Trump is the only politican she’s ever supported in any meaningful way. I’ve asked her how she reconciles going so hard for Trump if “they’re [politicians] are all the same,” but she’s never been able to give me an answer.
and no one mentions Hilary calling them “deplorables”?
Context is everything-
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”
and she was absolutely right.
We’re all getting screwed (except for some very few).
As for ignorant it does seem they are ignorant. Who looks at Trump and thinks this is the guy to make things better? Would they hire him to manage their finances or farm or business? Would they want to work for him? Would they let their daughters near him?
Add in overt racism and bigotry.
But they want him for president. Is there a word you would call that?
but as you well know, some undecided voters may have taken that personally, esp as other posters pointed out it sounds East Coast elitist
Jesus, Attila - one of those guys.
- The bad guy from Superman 3
It’s all about the leopards and the faces.
Honestly I thought that was her best line of the whole campaign.
She was absolutely right. Impolitic but right.
She understated the problem when she said “half.”
I think this is exactly it. This also explains why Trump has managed to increase his support among minorities. Cis-hetero white Christian men don’t have a monopoly on hate, and fundamentally what Trump is appealing to is hate. That means that individuals whose politics are largely colored by hate will find Trump appealing, even if they happen to be members of a minority group.
ETA: The bigger mystery is why some people think that voting based on hate will improve their own lives. That part I don’t understand, and I doubt I ever will.
I think this was covered upthread - they seem to care more about taking away from/hurting others than improving their own lot.
The other aspect is that everyone likes to feel that they’re spoken for, or have a voice that’s heard. But for a lot of people in the nation, they get the impression that everyone else’s voices are heard and heeded but theirs.
Whether this impression is correct or not is irrelevant - it’s how they feel.
Think, for instance, of some people who ask, “Why is there a Hispanic Heritage Month, a Black History Month, a (some other month,) but never a White Heritage Month?” Pointing out to them that white people are already in a privileged position in society doesn’t register because their eyes see this gap or discrepancy and feel that they are the voices that aren’t heard.
So then a guy like Trump comes along and he makes them feel heard. Then these people who were desperate for validation (“the gays get heard, the Muslims get heard, the feminists get heard, but nobody was listening to us”) latch onto him desperately with a feeling of great relief.
Yep, but of course people took it out of context as if she called all trump supporters = “deplorables”.
They were; nobody decent would support him. But we aren’t supposed to admit that so she got blasted for pointing it out.
By convincing them that they have other things to gain. That’s why there’s so much talk about social values.
‘States rights’ convinced a lot of southerners who had nothing to gain from slavery to make common cause with the planter class.
This is very true.
I remember being in high school and almost falling for that type of thinking for about 5 minutes. Then someone (I think was actually a white man, my History teacher) pointed out the obvious, that “white” isn’t an ethnic group, and there were tons of groups celebrating Scottish, or Irish, or German, or English, or Polish, or one of a bajillion other ethnic heritages. But that’s not enough for the folks who want a White Christian American Heritage Month. “Because we’re so left out and picked on.”
Yep.