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RCL 06-08-2019 05:39 PM

Essence of Trumpism
 
Jim Moonan asked, over on General Talk, if anyone has been able to create proverbs or sayings to capture how so many do so much to harm themselves by loving or even tolerating Trump. Of course, many have already tried in prose and verse, but shall we try again? Post verse, prose and proverbs, if you’re so inclined.

RCL 06-08-2019 09:29 PM

OK, I’ll risk it.

Self-Annihilation

The purpose of propaganda, the Church and Hitler knew,
is repeating lies until the victims think like you.
Seamlessly, your victims will adhere to you as one,
and fusing finally means that the “new normal” won.
Make us Great Again and we’ll soon feel at home,
our unity community a la the Stockholm syndrome.

Adrian Fry 06-09-2019 02:17 AM

Do people 'harm themselves' by tolerating Trump? How might one not tolerate him? By marching uselessly up and down in front of public buildings at weekends when he and his administration aren't there? No. The English polymath Jonathan Miller observed of his atheism that 'I live my life without reference to God. I don't spend time not believing in Him.' Live your life without reference to Trump: do other things more socially useful.

Max Goodman 06-09-2019 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian Fry (Post 437730)
Live your life without reference to Trump: do other things more socially useful.

When an administration's policies are destructive, it's socially useful to oppose it and the policies.

Not everyone has the luxury of living without reference to Trump. In that regard, as a white cisgender male without urgent financial needs, I'm among the luckier Americans (not to mention those overseas who are hurt by his policies). But I still have responsibility for the government that represents me.

There may be more useful things to do than marching, but it's not useless to express one's opinion, be part of an activist community, or show those Trump is attacking that one supports them.

Roger Slater 06-09-2019 03:24 PM

A lot of us marched up and down when they were about to repeal Obamacare, and then they didn't. I have no doubt that the walking up and down was instrumental in saving healthcare for many millions of people

Adrian Fry 06-10-2019 01:26 AM

Points taken, Roger and Max. I suppose I just reacted badly to the idea that those so much as tolerating Trump harm themselves by doing so. It seems to make activism mandatory, somehow, and I don't feel that can be right.

Roger Slater 06-10-2019 05:44 AM

Adrian, Trump isn't a problem that will go away if you just ignore it. The real question we are facing now is whether our constitutional system is strong enough to keep Trump from installing himself as dictator. As some wise man said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Mark McDonnell 06-10-2019 07:31 AM

People watch a lot of reality TV — and today the flashy, combative presentation styles of reality TV and television news are often virtually indistinguishable. After hosting 14 seasons of The Apprentice, Trump was already thoroughly ingrained in a lot of people's minds as a 'straight-talking, tell it like it is' successful businessman. Viewers may have laughed at him a little (the hair, the tan), but many also respected and laughed with him — a large part of that show's appeal was a sort of manufactured schadenfreude at seeing contestants' incompetence and pretentions exposed by Trump. No other politician has had this kind of lengthy, controlled exposure and image-defining before running for President.

To answer Ralph's question, I think Randy Newman put it pretty well in his song 'Rednecks' (writing in character and about someone else)

'Well, he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong'

I do think the mainstream news media, including its nominally liberal sections who are so aghast at Trump now, have a lot to answer for, for giving his 2015/16 campaigns so much exposure and airtime because they were 'entertaining' and good for ratings.

Brian Allgar 06-10-2019 07:32 AM

Adrian. a non-existent God can clearly do us no harm, so there is no point in spending time not believing in him. Trump's existence, on the other hand, is all too horribly real, and I agree with Max and Bob that, for those able to do so, it's better than nothing to try to find ways of kicking against the prick.

Michael Cantor 06-10-2019 07:38 AM

Adrian, your analogy to living your life without reference to God is absurd. Atheists are not afraid of God taking their basic liberties while they ignore him, or sending them or their children to war, or befriending our enemies because if helps his own business, or demeaning America, or declaring himself God for Life. And so forth. There is little, today, that is more socially useful than aggressively opposing Trump.


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