I think that's a lot of it. But I also think for other GOP voters it's a matter of compartmentalization and willful ignorance.
I was just musing along the same lines this morning (well every morning) it’s scary when you really think that a good portion of the country believe the Fox Trump mantra backed by the MAGA GOP. This isn’t a full list by a long way. Just immediate thoughts not in any particular order. *Social Security *Medicare/Medicaid *Control women’s bodies under the threat of jail *Control military promotions *Defund FBI CIA *Threaten Attorney Generals Office *Want to shut down government. Stopping pay for servicemen and families and any other government employees. *Health insurance. *Supporting Russia, defunding Ukraine. *Child care *Attacking teachers and librarians who won’t follow their christofascist movement. *Supporting Trump and his open lying. (Dems are aborting kids after birth) *Destroying Democracy to install Authoritarian rule. How many repugnant voters are directly, negatively affected by this, yet will still support these policies and vote trump. Believing that they are putting it over the Dems but are really ending Democracy and their own image of freedom??? First they came after socialists!
Don't discount a lack of imagination or empathy. One of my biggest gripes about all those NYT "Trump voters in heartland diners" profiles was the unspoken assumption that it was Clinton-then-Biden voters who live in a 'bubble'. It never occurred to any of these coastal liberal elites writing these pieces that they were indeed in a 'bubble' in that they didn't realize how willfully ignorant and proudly provincial those voters are.
Fear of Trump, fear of primary voters, fear of psychos like Boebert, Greene, and Gaetz. And let's be honest, there really isn't a moderate GOP and there hasn't been in years. And the ones that exist, have policy ideas stuck in the 80s and 90s. The Bulwark folks are smart people, but a little out of touch at times. And this is one of those instances.
Related point: I love Tom Nichols, but his dogged refusal to see that Reagan paved the way for a lot of this is a huge blind spot for him.
I am convinced that Reagan for a lot of these people was the dad/grandad they all wished they had. And yeah, it's frustrating. He has probably seen the quote about Reagan wishing for an outbreak of botulism on poor people. Would not be surprised if he dug in even then.
I think you're right. Which is just sad, considering he wasn't a great father to his real kids. It's probably silly to pretend I know the guy, but Nichols seems like somebody who could at least be decently troubled by that. Just not enough to reexamine his core beliefs.
The whole hashtag resistance is annoying basically But i guess propaganda works hence why Biden invited them all to the white house
Especially the constant fallacy that the ex-urban / rural trump voter is poorer than the classic urban working class Biden voter when the opposite is true. urban areas have far more struggling working class voters.
To be clear they didn't say they thought it would happen - rather the opposite. But the opportunity clearly existed when Cheney and co broke with the party trying to bring back Trump.
Well, I just find him annoying because he uses clickbait headlines, complete with BIZARRE use of CAPITALIZATION and PUNCTUATION, more than anyone I've ever encountered on the internet in any category at all.
I mean sure - that is why he left the party. He has said it 100 times. Personally I find Nichols highly annoying but he has literally become a democrat and admitted he was wrong about the GOP - especially what he thought was the fringe crazy turned out to be the dominant gene
I tried his podcast once and it was much too YAHS BOI for my taste - i'd rather listen to staid lawyers
Out of touch or Brainwashed by the right wing media blitz. After all Fox is fair and balanced. That’s all they need.
God no! I listened to the Meiselas legal podcast one time (the meidas touch brothers). But it's much too yes boi! for my taste. they have about 900 hours of episodes a week which is just them ranting about stuff. Similar to Mueller She Wrote which tends to be her just reading legal documents and talking about cats. I have no problem if people like that stuff. I'd just rather listen to more straight up lawyers like Preet.
Anybody who, given a choice between writing headlines for their stories like: A: Meadows denied motion before Federal Court. vs. B: Federal Judge DESTROYS Meadows . . .can always be counted to pick headline type B is someone I can't be bothered to read/listen to.
Absolutely. Also, to me legal analysis means talking about precedents and statutes and actual court rules like what will or won't fly in front of a judge. The hashtag resistance coverage totally lacks that actual court room stuff. I'm the first to accept that Andrew Weissmann's coverage is popular because it is total law pawn but at least he talks about the actual law and not some fanfic version
Clown show is on full speed.... House Republicans failed for the second time this week to advance their Pentagon spending bill, another massive defeat for Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The vote on the rule for debate — a key procedural hurdle — was 216 to 212. Politico: “This time, though, it was far more surprising to GOP leaders, who believed they won over enough holdouts to move forward on the defense spending bill. Its the latest ominous sign of a looming shutdown that could begin Oct. 1.”
If only people like McCarty could have done something about all this “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down.”— After House Republicans once again failed to pass a basic procedural rule to fund the Pentagon, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) hits some members of his own conference pic.twitter.com/Qt4AR71jP3— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2023
That elusive voter fraud: OHIO GOP VOTER FRAUD: A lawyer from Shaker Heights, who donated to Trump, is set to go to prison for committing election fraud, which the judge described as a crime against every citizen. The judge, Andrew Santoli, gave the attorney, James Saunders, a three-year prison sentence… pic.twitter.com/c26QDL6URN— Popular Liberal 🇺🇸 (@PopularLiberal) September 21, 2023
For those wondering: https://www.thebulwark.com/podcast-episode/a-raging-bull-elephant/ Man, do they rip into the Reps: Does Gaetz know anything other than "no?" Did McCarthy plan on losing the military budget vote? If he did, what kind of plan could it possibly be? What happens if Gaetz calls for McCarthy to stand down? Who would take his place? And the impeachment bit ruined any chance of the Dems working with the Reps. Also, why is Trump going to see the striking auto workers in Michigan?