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How surprised are you by the Trump Era?

Hookah Horns

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Hookah Horns

Hookah Horns 3081

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I've long considered myself someone with a low opinion of the average American's intelligence. I'm also a student of history. Furthermore, I'd been lamenting the polarization in this country for a long time before Trump's election. Despite these, I never would have believed what's happened the past 5 years would happen. Not here. Not anytime soon. 

Not nearly half the electorate joining a cult of personality developing around a grotesque reality TV star narcissist. Not all the norm destruction, insults to institutions and assorted embarrassments. Not the insane amount of lying, "alternative facts", and attacks on the media. Not a batshit insane conspiracy theory gaining millions of believers. Not the Republican Party being controlled by a complete ass clown. Not this entire third-world disgrace. Not the ignorance of science and trying to wish away a pandemic. Nor all the other shit. 

I thought America was somehow above all of this. It couldn't happen here. The people would never abide it. We were immune, somehow. I'd often tried to imagine a dictatorship or something like Naziism taking hold in our democracy and I just couldn't do it. But now I can. 

Was I just naive? Have any of you experienced any of this without constant disbelief?

 

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Hookah Horns

Hookah Horns 3081

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What's amazing is that the insanity and shamelessness of Trumpism still manage to surprise me when it really shouldn't by now. Like many, I expected that this election would have Trump claiming fraud, probably in court. But it still surprises me that this is happening when the election wasn't even down to one or two states. 

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52342

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Figured he couldn’t win the nomination and was appeasing his ego. Then he won the nomination. 
figured he’d never beat Hillary until halfway through election night, then he won. I got a chuckle and a charge out of it from the everybody loves an underdog standpoint, and assumed the weight of the office would square him up. Obviously it did not. 
figured there’s no way he wins re-election against a fairly moderate democrat, then he got like 10 million more votes than I thought he would. 
 

so yeah I was surprised at his 4 years, but looking backwards I don’t think I should have been. 

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orangecat92

orangecat92 306

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Some of our best leaders decided to go away from politics.  Just on the republican side alone, we should have had gen. Schwarzkopf, Powell, and condi rice.  Instead we get lightweights like Jeb bush, Ted Cruz, etc.  Americans like to keep things fairly even, so in 16 it was republicans turn after 8 years of Obama.  There should have been some good candidates there.  

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29793

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Every eight years or so, I think we've gone as low as we can go. I'm talking post Nixon who I never thought would be undercut. Presidents (mainly GOP ones with the exception GHW Bush) got dumber, the hate engine gained more sway and got a racing motor when FOX came on the scene. The re-election of W Bush was pretty shattering.

Then you have Donald Trump. Holy shitcakes.

I was astounded he won the GOP nomination. Of course, I was also happy because there was no way a large enough segment of the population would vote for this constantly failing clown. As usual, ol' RomaVicta was wrong. He wins.

Okay, President-elect Trump. It will be embarrassing, but maybe he'll do some unorthodox things to actually improve government. This won't be because of business acument. He is an outsider and maybe he can do something good.

So, he takes office. The Russia connections were alarming. The shady funding of his inauguration was disappointing. Then the flood of lies and his Korean clown show ended optimism. We kill the Iran treaty, pull out of the Paris Accords, we have malign clowns in the cabinet, and then a huge tax break for the rich.

Remarkably, that was the high point. It just got worse.

No, I never expected it to be this bad and crazy. I never thought the hyperbole of us being a banana republic would evolve into being apt.

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4 hours ago, orangecat92 said:

Some of our best leaders decided to go away from politics.  Just on the republican side alone, we should have had gen. Schwarzkopf, Powell, and condi rice.  Instead we get lightweights like Jeb bush, Ted Cruz, etc.  Americans like to keep things fairly even, so in 16 it was republicans turn after 8 years of Obama.  There should have been some good candidates there.  

Honesty and integrity prevent them from going all the way

 

8 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

So many people are so gleeful in their dishonesty. Support for him is just a parlor game, and they all know it, and they know it injures the country.  Yet they do it anyway.  That’s what shocked me.  Half the country would do it. 

Biggest surprise is how fucking one sided this thread is, given the past 6-8 months without any mention of  people's behavior towards race and justice, combined with wanton destruction of communities across the country.   It's just Trump as the problem though, right?.

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32341

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In my lifetime, no political party ever fell in love with their President, and stayed in love, no matter what. 

Until now.

The GOP developed Stockholm syndrome...for him.  They loved Reagan, but at the end of his second term, there were some fault lines apparent.  Trump could stay in office for the rest of his life and GOP (aside from a few stragglers here and there) can find no issue.  This is a man who consistently polled under 50% during his presidency...and they just did not give a shit.  More Trump, please.  Oh, and it's cool that your entire family is running the West Wing; hope those kids have fun now!

And I'm not even talking about the people who voted for him.   That's another discussion completely.

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USMCHorn

USMCHorn 1369

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59 minutes ago, slorch said:

Honesty and integrity prevent them from going all the way

 

Biggest surprise is how fucking one sided this thread is, given the past 6-8 months without any mention of  people's behavior towards race and justice, combined with wanton destruction of communities across the country.   It's just Trump as the problem though, right?.

Lol, you're surprised it's one-sided? You're surprised that people’s reaction to watching a man murdered on camera by the police for the umpteenth time caused unrest? You can't associate Trump's leadership with any of this can you?
 

Use your fucking brain Slorch. People don't wake up and randomly decide to destroy their own communities. 

Edited by USMCHorn
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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301

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As for the thread’s purpose. I’m shocked. And this most recent election has me questioning everything about this country. That so many millions lined up to vote for this cruel idiot again after watching his actions/words over the last 4 years is sickening. Hell, my congressional representative is a Qanon believer. That’s truly mind blowing. I honestly don’t know if this country is where I want to continue raising my children. 

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gmr548

gmr548 16513

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3 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

Trump did not surprise me, but our citizenry have shocked me to my core.

Life in a bubble, folks say.

Yeah, this. Trump governed exactly how you'd expect. The weird cult shit just blows my mind though. Party over country, or more appropriately, Trump over country, for a significant portion of the population.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31282

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6 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Figured he couldn’t win the nomination and was appeasing his ego. Then he won the nomination. 
figured he’d never beat Hillary until halfway through election night, then he won. I got a chuckle and a charge out of it from the everybody loves an underdog standpoint, and assumed the weight of the office would square him up. Obviously it did not. 
figured there’s no way he wins re-election against a fairly moderate democrat, then he got like 10 million more votes than I thought he would. 
 

so yeah I was surprised at his 4 years, but looking backwards I don’t think I should have been. 

Pretty much me, here.  I violently disliked Trump starting a long time ago, but he's a much worse person than I had thought.

I always knew there were a lot of morons in the USA, but I didn't realize how aggressively and malignantly stupid they were.

And I guess we/I have to admit that there are a number of people who aren't morons by IQ and education but are willing to be malignantly stupid in support of a personality cult that preys on their worst traits.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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DigglerontheHoof

DigglerontheHoof 21063

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2 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

Yeah, this. Trump governed exactly how you'd expect. The weird cult shit just blows my mind though. Party over country, or more appropriately, Trump over country, for a significant portion of the population.

This is what blew me away.  I mean, I knew we had a lot of self-centered, ignorant morons in this country but,JFC, I didn’t realize that number is essentially 50%.

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36 minutes ago, USMCHorn said:

Lol, you're surprised it's one-sided? You're surprised that people’s reaction to watching a man murdered on camera by the police for the umpteenth time caused unrest? You can't associate Trump's leadership with any of this can you?
 

Use your fucking brain Slorch. People don't wake up and randomly decide to destroy their own communities. 

For all of the shit Trump fucked up, and it's plenty; no I don't associate the racial bullshit with him.  He was just a symptom of a far deeper, more treacherous disease.   Some people's 'cure' was insane.   Others seized upon the opportunity to enflame  the situation, outside of their own communities.  Still others did nothing and relished the destruction.

wanna blame Trump?  whatever.   It's way the hell deeper than that.

 

Glad it's over now though...(rolleyes.)

 

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28712

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I'll never understand Trump's popularity. I thought everyone saw him as a joke. I was first introduced to him in 1983 when he went on a media tour bragging that he built a tall building in Manhattan and PUT HIS OWN NAME ON IT! How was that news? Big fucking deal. There are lots of tall buildings in Manhattan. I don't know who built most of them, I don't care who built most of them. Why should I? Who is this loud, obnoxious, self-promoting jackass? And that's his entire schtick. Advertising himself as a successful businessman, not actually being a successful businessman. It's all a put-on. I didn't even know at the time that Trump Tower didn't have as many floors as he said it did. 

That was back when I was in high school. I didn't know his politics. I didn't even know my own politics yet. I just saw that he was clearly a buffoon. Nothing he's ever done has changed my opinion. Why doesn't everyone see it? It's right there in plain sight. (Since then I've learned that he was supporting Democratic politicians while I voted for Reagan and Bush based solely on the fact that my parents always voted Republican.)

Then he was a regular on the cover of the National Enquirer that I'd see in the checkout line. I thought that made him even more of a cartoon character. I didn't know he was in cahoots with the tabloid and that was part of his marketing strategy. No publicity is bad publicity, just keep your name in the heads of...white trash, I guess. That's what Trump is. Rich white trash.

Bankrupted companies, including a casino. The butt of jokes on TV shows from Carson to Cheers. But always self-promoting. Getting a cameo in Home Alone 2 and some sitcoms (shame on you, Drew Carey, and there's no way that Marla Maples getting a gig on Spin City didn't come with the stipulation that the Don would also make an appearance). A serial adulterer in public view. Never tried to hide it. 

Until Trump got elected, I just didn't realize how stupid people are. I mean, I knew they were stupid, I just didn't know how stupid. The signs were there. George W. Bush got elected and reality TV became a thing. I just didn't see how big it was. Even with the popularity of The Apprentice, I always assumed everyone saw Trump as a buffoon and knew it was theater and not a "game show."

I never thought I'd see a cult of personality around the U.S. Presidency. If it happened, I never could've imagined that it would form around such a wretched personality. And I never would've dreamed that I'd actually have friends and family members who are part of the cult. 

It's very isolating. 

 

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ConferenceRoom

ConferenceRoom 6130

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22 minutes ago, slorch said:

For all of the shit Trump fucked up, and it's plenty; no I don't associate the racial bullshit with him.  He was just a symptom of a far deeper, more treacherous disease.   Some people's 'cure' was insane.   Others seized upon the opportunity to enflame  the situation, outside of their own communities.  Still others did nothing and relished the destruction.

wanna blame Trump?  whatever.   It's way the hell deeper than that.

 

Glad it's over now though...(rolleyes.)

 

Slorched.

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Bookman

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1 minute ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Sometimes I wonder why I never had the guts to try my hand at being a proffessional poker player. 

I would hate to play poker for a living. I make decent money at $1/$2 but beyond that the players are just much better. Plus I think the swings would get to me.

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52-80

52-80 19096

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32 minutes ago, slorch said:

For all of the shit Trump fucked up, and it's plenty; no I don't associate the racial bullshit with him.  He was just a symptom of a far deeper, more treacherous disease.   Some people's 'cure' was insane.   Others seized upon the opportunity to enflame  the situation, outside of their own communities.  Still others did nothing and relished the destruction.

wanna blame Trump?  whatever.   It's way the hell deeper than that.

In another thread another dude celebrated Trump's exit from presidency because "last year", his daughter "got called n**ger", and her friends got called "fags".

I wasn't going to spoil hat victory party but come the fuck on.... remember when we were in school, before Trump was in office, and kids never used those slurs ever before?  No - Trump invented and licensed racism!

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52-80

52-80 19096

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14 minutes ago, TornACL said:

If you live in Texas and are surprised how easily people can be manipulated, I invite you to drive around on Sunday and see how packed every megachurch parking lot is. 

what if some of them are just there to see the House that Hakeem built?

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Aqua Buddha

Aqua Buddha 14519

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2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

The average American is incredibly stupid and lazy. Kardashians out front should have told you.

I was going to post something similar to this but you hit it.  I'm in consumer retail so lord knows I have a low opinion of the average person but this year has surprised even me.  The complete willingness of the average person to chase bullshit down a rabbit hole has stunned me.  Those people have always been out there but I'm surprised there are that many.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31282

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Reading some of these threads about Trumpers and Republicans and what not caused me to have kind of an epiphany.

You can encapsulate Donald Trump and his presidency in two words:  "name calling."

That is the sum total of the Trump presidency:  calling people bad names.

And approximately half of the American population ate it the fuck up.  Bunch of gotdam little kids.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3432

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I was very surprised at every turn:

2016 election night I went to bed early not being happy with either candidate, but figured the American people had enough sense to bite the bullet and elect Hillary. No.

Upon reflection, I considered the 2016 campaign a fluke: inevitable turn to R after 8 years of D,  Unenthusiastic democrats, last minute Comey thing, maybe a few votes from Russian influence, very close margin, D win of popular vote etc.  It was not.

The Trump insanity started from Day 1 in office, but I figured at some point along the way there would push back from the R side.  there was not.

I looked to the 2018 midterms as an opportunity for repudiation of the Trump game plan and while the house changed hands to stop the bleeding, it was far from the blue wave advertised.

As the pandemic hit, there was a chance to have the unified federal response required and a opportunity to handle an exterior threat in somber and mature manner. Nope.

2020 election showed that despite everything, Trump was within 60,000 votes or so (if in the right places) from winning.

At numerous junctions, individuals, organizations, the general public, and parties had the opportunity to neuter this era and we did not.  I wake each day wondering how I will be surprised again by some new low or new inaction.

 

 

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wildcat09

wildcat09 29256

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I was surprised he got the nomination and I was surprised he got elected.

Once he was inaugurated, nothing that followed really surprised me, except maybe their inability to repeal the ACA. He didn’t do a single thing during his term that wasn’t entirely predictable based on his behavior during the campaign and his self-evident narcissism. Anyone who thought he might grow into the job or that the GOP that fell in line behind him would restrain him was a fool.

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BearSchlong

BearSchlong 8077

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18 minutes ago, slorch said:

extremely privileged too.  Don't forget it, either.

Me too, but I spend enough time with good friends who are poor people of color to be honest and self aware, unlike you.

The Republican party has devolved into a caricature.

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4 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Me too, but I spend enough time with good friends who are poor people of color to be honest and self aware, unlike you.

Haha.  I love it just staying in my castle.

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Wanker Bob

Wanker Bob 379

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2 hours ago, slorch said:

For all of the shit Trump fucked up, and it's plenty; no I don't associate the racial bullshit with him.  He was just a symptom of a far deeper, more treacherous disease.   Some people's 'cure' was insane.   Others seized upon the opportunity to enflame  the situation, outside of their own communities.  Still others did nothing and relished the destruction.

wanna blame Trump?  whatever.   It's way the hell deeper than that.

 

Glad it's over now though...(rolleyes.)

 

Joe Biden Reaction GIF by GIPHY News

The main thing trump did was promote two sided system where whites were cheered for parading around state capitols with assault rifles, encouraged into open rebellion against democrat governers, etc. All while he attacked minorities at every turn. All of his rhetoric was about inner-city crime and poverty, calling latinos rapists and murderers, committing human rights atrocities on political refugee latino immigrants at the border (many of whom are displaced from their countries directly because of american policy and actions), and encouraging police atrocities against blacks. 

And you don't think he had anything to do with any of it?

You really are a racist. Maybe not a trump flag waving, yelling N word at black kids or telling latinos to go back to their country level of racist, but you definitely think you're superior to non whites and deserve to have police and politicians grant you privilege as a white by oppressing minority communities. 

Look in the mirror for once in your life and realize you're a massive problem. Either focus on change or embrace your weakness and racism like the trumpy fucks do. But this disingenuous bullshit you do is annoying and insulting. 

Edited by Wanker Bob
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wildcat09

wildcat09 29256

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White cops stomping on black faces is how things are supposed to work, to Slorch. Black people who resist should be brutally put down, to Slorch. A crowd of black people lighting one building on fire is infinitely worse than every level of the Republican party letting a pandemic run wild and kill hundreds of thousands of Americans (but disproportionately black and brown Americans), to Slorch.

Slorch's idea of America is fascism. Period.

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