General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAs Trump's support narrows it becomes more dangerous.
I have lived in a red part of a red state almost my entire life. What time I have not lived here I have had the pleasure of living in a liberal urban area as well as among ex pats while overseas for a few years. I wander; point is, I have seen some conservative, but never radically political folks who 1. vehemently opposed Trump in the primary (Rubio and Cruz supporters) 2. turn into reluctant supporters in the general 3. then finally morph into weirdly and emotionally invested in him now - defending him more passionately than they ever did W at his most or least popular. They honestly tell me that Democrats and the media not "getting behind our president" are the problem. In other words, controlling all three branches of government is not enough. His critics literally need to shut up and get behind. the Leader.
Scary times.
Edited to ask: how do we engage now? I will not argue on social media anymore because it just devolves into toxicity among friends and relatives.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)put up barb wire fence with Trump Free Zone signs around your property
and if they start the conversation tell them only facts matter
because Trump does not like falsehoods
BigmanPigman
(51,625 posts)back in Oct. except mine said Nut Free Zone. I am an artist and teacher and drew a picture of 45 and had the red circle with the diagonal red line through it. In schools they have "nut free zones" for kids with nut allergies. I gave them out as stickers, tags, and pins and put a big one by my back door.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Abu Pepe
(637 posts)but Fox News conditioned people for this for years. I do't think they realized the monster they created even.
BigmanPigman
(51,625 posts)become more defensive AND offensive.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)that he was offended, then, when Trump took two days to denounce David Duke over a year ago. I literally got a response that sounds like it came out of a N. Korean radio broadcast (as I imagine a N. Korean broadcast). Same when I pointed out that Rubio himself condemned Trump's response to the VA Nazi rampage - Democrats and the media need to support our president.
Rhiannon12866
(205,857 posts)The people I know who bring up politics feel the same way we do. It's certainly possible, since I don't bring it up with people I run across. But when I was at the auto dealership, I changed the TV in the waiting room to MSNBC and Mike Pence appeared on the screen. The nice woman I usually deal with came in to tell me my car was ready, and we've never discussed politics, but she took one look at the TV and said "I hate him!"
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)I was born and raised here by Roosevelt/Kennedy pro-civil rights white liberal parents. In my childhood everyone was a Democrat (most conservative some liberal). People still voted their economic interests instead of their racial, sexual fears. Southern strategy worked.
Rhiannon12866
(205,857 posts)I know that New York is a "blue state," but like the rest of the country, that's because of the more populous City. I live in a traditionally Republican area, most local races are decided in the Republican primary. But in my travels, I only saw 2 Trump bumper stickers. Lots for that "meteor," though, saw another one just today.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)Geographically and somewhat culturally right?
procon
(15,805 posts)They are lost. Gone. Beyond salvaging. My whole damn family is beyond reason. Other than retaining some vague hope that their brainwashing will fade when Trump is removed from the public stage, I despair that the estrangement can ever be repaired. Still, perhaps, the day will come when Trump's cultists are no longer subjected to the non stop propaganda that keeps them enthralled, and maybe then we can engage as normal people again.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)Honest to god I always wondered how Hitler came to power in an educated industrialized western nation. Or pogroms in any European country - how strange the stories of people waking up one day and their neighbors purging them. I can totally see it.
And we have a decent economy. Imagine the damage Trump could do in times of real hardship.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)Maybe they should read Candide? They sure as hell sound like Pangloss.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)a shitty one, but to paraphrase John Goodman in The Big Lebowski "at least it's an ethos."
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Like any fad, the last hangers-on are the most pathetic.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)which he probably won't
but he might
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)They're not worth engaging, ever.
Abu Pepe
(637 posts)he got 3/4 of the vote in my county