Reports from the heartland

pique

You forgot the wealthy and those with an interest in his tax cuts for them and liberation from government control. Also you forgot the Christian evangelicals who believe Trump was sent by god. Where I live, those appear to be the two most potent forces. I'm not buying the economy theory. People are actually better off economically under Biden than they were under Trump. And Trump has offered less than zero to make the economy better. Musk promised economical pain under a Trump administration.

There's a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on here that just isn't in alignment with reality.

The uber rich want Trump because they are greedy. Lots of non rich people want to be rich so they follow the lead of the rich.

From what I see in Trump country, the number of folks who voted for him because of grocery and gas prices has to be vanishingly small. They are all economically better off with Biden. This is greed and mass delusion fueled by a propaganda machine. An the weirdos who think a Trump presidency is somehow better for the Palestinians. See what I mean about mass delusion?

wtg

@wtg said in Reports from the heartland:

Really great guests and discussion on Fareed's GPS this morning. David Frum and Ezra Klein, Oren Cass, and the editor of The Economist (can't remember her name).

If you have access to CNN and can watch it, do it.

Fareed's take, which is the intro to the show:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/10/politics/video/fareeds-take-gps-2024-election-results-digvid

When a transcript of the entire show is posted online, I'll link it in this thread. Might be a few days.

Frum is most concerned about what Trump will do once he is inaugurated. He thinks that the US has made it this long because in the past, the elected people were willing to play by the rules and maintain high standards. He thinks the GOP elite have basically sold out and that rough waters may be ahead. He thinks 1) Trump will pardon the January 6th rioters, 2) Ukraine is toast and 3) he'll give away Taiwan.

Also lots of discussion about how rocky things are in Canada, Europe, and the UK with respect to their incumbent governments. Lots of turmoil.

I think we can say that we live in interesting times.

pique

I find their post-mortem with Alan Lichtman far more on point:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/10/politics/video/fareeds-take-gps-2024-election-results-digvid

I hope that takes you to the correct video. If not, scroll down the selections until you find Lichtman's. Corporate greed and massive disinformation are the new keys. I strongly agree.

pique

I agree with Bernie Sanders in the short clip they also had from him, where he talks about how Dems should have had a much stronger message about the true culprit in our divided nation: the billionaire class who are pitting us against each other for their own benefit. The rise of the oligarchy is the real threat to us.

wtg

@pique said in Reports from the heartland:

I find their post-mortem with Alan Lichtman far more on point:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/10/politics/video/fareeds-take-gps-2024-election-results-digvid

I hope that takes you to the correct video. If not, scroll down the selections until you find Lichtman's. Corporate greed and massive disinformation are the new keys. I strongly agree.

Found the video, will watch a bit later.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/08/politics/video/allan-lichtman-wrong-prediction-keys-election-digvid

pique

The WaPo also has an article about the new right wing government in New Zealand (a number of Kiwis responded by saying that their right wing is nothing like our right wing, and besides, their government swing right-left-right every three years). What I found interesting about it is they reported on an international organization that is working to swing countries all over the world to right wing populism.

This has me thinking that what is really going on here is is that late-stage capitalism has created a world where a few ultra-wealthy activists are working to control governments everywhere to shape politics to their advantage. In their preferred world, there are no limits on their business ventures, ordinary people cannot get in their way, and climate and environmental considerations have to be put to death. Because of the internet and social media, and their control of many media outlets, and the lack of restraint on the press as far as publishing only what is accurate, they can shape world opinion with disinformation without limits. Create alternate realities, control the culture. I have no doubt that Elon Musk's involvement in Trump's reelection has some nefarious aspects we may never learn about. These people want to own the world and bend it to their will. And they appear to have succeeded. Because of disinformation, the general public is focussed on entirely the wrong things.

AndyD

@ShiroKuro
Quote is from one of the better UK newspapers, the i.

Talking of foreign press, Trump isn't popular in Germany and this weeks Die Zeit was amusingly concise with a piece headlined in bold:
F***

wtg

@AndyD said in Reports from the heartland:

this weeks Die Zeit was amusingly concise with a piece headlined in bold:
F***

I decided to take a look at Die Zeit and came across this article about red bubbles and blue bubbles.

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2024-11/us-campaign-tiktok-social-media-democrats-republicans

And a quick aside...it's great to have you here on a regular basis! I appreciate your viewpoint and insights as someone who lives across the pond and who can share that perspective.

Oh, and your dog is really sweet, too.