Is Trump going to Prison?

[The Grand Nudger]

The winning angle wasn't about free market capitalism vs communism - that's just a nostalgic hook in the jingle. It took the basic form it has now in 1976, when Ronald Reagan spun the myth of the welfare queen about a woman called Linda Taylor, born Martha Miller, who...amusingly enough, was white. It's a central belief of white grievance that socialism is a thing that white people pay for and black people get. That needy white families do not get help, that the help only goes to people who don't deserve it, this category being more or less identical to blacks and browns - especially women. Thus, if white people were getting it, it wouldn't even be socialism. It would be a hand up, not a handout.

People in the know might be aware that The Whites actually do get the lions share of welfare..along with any number of other government benefits, and that it has always been this way - but we're all aware of how unresponsive to facts beliefs like this can be, so it's usually pointless to bring them the numbers on it just like it's pointless to bring them numbers on great replacement nonsense.

I think it's amazing that we're still stumbling along pretending that there's some political disagreement, or some issue about the economy, or taxes, or what have you. It's a white supremacist movement from top to bottom.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I agree, I think Trump's support arises from bigotry rather than a fear of socialism.

[no one]

I was unaware that trumpanzees could be brainwashed.

Wouldn't one need a brain first?

[TaraJo]

@TaraJo

So, yeah, republicans make us so terrified of socialism that their sheep will gladly donate all their money to a snake oil salesman because he's the only thing that they think can fight it.

This strategy isn’t what it once was. Voters today are less afraid of the socialism boogeyman than they once were. This is especially true among minorities and younger voters, two demographics that Trump desperately needs.

Boru

Very true.  There's a reason for it, though:  Republicans are pandering to baby boomers VERY HARD.

I'm Gen X and I'm one of the younger Gen Xers being born in 1978.  I was 11 when the Berlin Wall fell and the cold war basically ended.  I have some memories of the world during the cold war, back when "communist" was one of the worst insults there was and when we were constantly under threat of potential nuclear war.  But how much of that are you going to pick up on when it all happened before you were even 11 years old?  Think about people older, people who reached adulthood and fought wars in Korea or Vietnam, against communism.  Think about those people who had regular drills in school on how to react in case of nuclear war.  They were trained for a very long time to see communists as the enemy and that kind of training tapered off in the 90's when communism wasn't a big threat from the USSR.  

And the next generation?  They've seen more and more greed from completely unrestrained capitalism.  They're the generation that watched their income, their future, their education, their healthcare..... those things were all stolen or corrupted by corporate greed.  Maybe, if they had lived under the same kind of existential fear that boomers and gen x experienced in the cold war, millenials would be turning more conservative now, but it's not happening.

Doesn't help that a lot of the social changes the younger generation support are hated by republicans.  I mean, my kids didn't even bat an eye at the idea of me being trans, but 20 years ago, I wouldn't have known what to say if one of my parents had come out as trans.  LGBT rights are basically unquestioned.  Republicans overturned Roe v Wade and the kids don't like that.  And they really don't like the prospect of having to spend decades in debt to go to college.  They aren't learning to fear potential nuclear war, they're fearing routine school shootings.  Republicans, besides simping for corporate greed, are against so many of the social issues that younger people support.

So far, that's paid off for the GOP because younger people don't vote as much.  Statistically, that's how it goes: the younger you are, the less likely you are to vote.  And usually, as a generation gets older, they start getting more conservative.  Thing is, the Millenials should be getting more conservative now.... and they aren't.  That's what's going to hurt the GOP right there.

[arewethereyet]

I must be the outlier Boomer. Though born in 1957, I seem to be pretty opposite the stereotype. I consider myself to be an old hippie - still pretty much about live and let live. A person's sexuality or preferences have never been an issue for me other than the person I was with at any point.

I would guess my contribution has been to raise my kids to be much the same.

Conservative - no. Less impulsive and more careful - yes. I am too old and fragile to do the stuff that really should/could have killed me back in the day.

[Angrboda]

I was born in 1963. I don't know how things break for my cohort. But I had an older brother who was draft age. The Cold War didn't mean nearly as much to me as the Vietnam War.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

My own formative years were The Troubles. Neither Vietnam nor Russia concerned me as much as getting blown up by my neighbours.

Boru

[no one]

The self indulgent clowns who love to have their egos stroked by the whoremongering defamation peddlers are bereft of any analytical or investigative capabilities.

Just because you were raised on disinformation and fraudulent flimflam, doesn't mean you have to accept it.

A little bit of inquisitive scrutiny goes a long way. But, if these hypocritical, intellectually lazy buffoons actually applied any form of intellectual integrity, their cozy little corner of quaint superiority would rapidly dissolve. And that's just unacceptable.

[arewethereyet]

[arewethereyet]

^I read somewhere that these shoes are on back order. Gee, how many people are going to pony up the cash and not ever get the shoes?

Saw where someone 'won' an autographed pair after making a 9K bid on them. How the hell is that a win?