mtutiger

Clearest evidence yet of self-inflicted damage

In 2024, he got a lot of first time support from younger and Hispanic voters. Both of these groups are big reasons why he ended up winning (with a difference of 250k votes over three states). And a lot of that came down to the economy and feelings about cost of living. One of these groups in particular (Hispanics) is also predominantly Catholic and one of the more likely groups to be annoyed or offended by the President trashing Pope Leo. The deadenders will never quit him, but what I wish more people would understand is that not every single person who voted for Trump in any of the last three Presidential elections (particularly the last one) is a Trump deadender. And yes, things that the President says that push those softer voters away and things that his opposition does matter in bringing people along.

There's undoubtedly plenty of people that will rationalize it away, but it isn't 100% either.

This will probably come across pedantic, but to the extent it's a "war" or a "feud" or whatever euphemisms are thrown at it, it's a completely one-sided one. The Pope is simply projecting the logical position that comes from the Gospels on the war and conflict before us. Trump, the narcissist that he is, also likely cannot handle the fact that Pope Leo (Dolton, IL native) has now supplanted him as being the most influential American on the planet as well.

Again, a lot of the same fears and anxieties in the lead up to what Orban would do to stay in power were filtered in the media and among a lot of American observers. The voters spoke and they did not happen. Just think we need to consider that when thinking about our own situation. I understand that January 6th happened and that Trump (unlike Orban) is not a rational person. But I see the thought that democracy is over or that politics do not matter at all often (including to an extent on this board when engaging), and regardless of what stupidity he or his party have up his sleeve, I don't believe either thing is true. Democracy is not over, people are engaged (10 million people showed up to the last No Kings protests, no matter how much it was downplayed by the media), and things are always changing. People are pissed at the cost of gasoline, the cost of housing, being stuck in a stupid and pointless war. People were pissed when the administration was instigating a terror campaign on the people Minneapolis (one, btw, that the people of Minneapolis beat back and defeated). And yes, I truly do think there are a lot of people pissed off at his attacks on democracy. Maybe that wasn't the case in 2024, but things change in politics. This administration is terrible, they will do countless bad things between now and November and now and 2028. But I wish more liberals or anti-Trump folks understood that being joyless or hopeless (or projecting joylessness and hopelessness) all of the time may be a good coping mechanism... but ultimately it does not make anything that may happen in the future any more or less likely. I speak to that as well having watched the Hungarian opposition build over the past couple of years as well.... they started from a much worse situation than we find ourselves in, but there was a lot less wallowing or "woe is me" going on. They did the work... we need to as well.

This is a great point... the church will long outlive our senile, narcissistic President

Definitely not suggesting that I trust the American people... Nor am I excited quite frankly about any of this. There's a reason you see less of me on this board and consuming political media at this point in time But also stepping back from all of that, the Hungarian election shows that politics does matter and that change can happen. And the population that made it happen didn't do it by acting like a bunch of cold hearted cynics who were constantly paralyzed by fear, they did it by putting in the work We really could learn from that collectively

Offensive on so many levels... so many levels

Certainly think we need to be vigilant, but whatever the risks are, I think the fear and anxiety that I see from a lot of corners is frankly counterproductive to actually going out and winning the election before us. Would just add as well that given how elections are run and administered in this country (ie. basically thousands of individual elections spread across 50 states), it's not clear to me how exactly they can be "nationalized". Obviously understand the changes they are proposing with the SAVE Act and oppose them, but the federal government isn't going to administer elections in every municipality in America

It was being discussed in the World Politics thread because it applies more over there, but I do think we need to think a little bit about the rhetoric leading up to this campaign and all of the fears that people had (not unfounded fwiw) about what Orban would do if he lost, or how he would steal the election, or how they would throw out votes, you name it. The election came, Fidesz got their asses kicked, and Orban and went out there and whined and cried but, in the end, conceded. The fears, legitimate as they may have been, did not come to pass. To be clear, I know there are differences. The biggest one being that Orban is a rational actor and Trump is not..., but there's a lesson here in that we all have anxiety about what the President or Republicans in Congress will do in the event that they lose in the Midterms. We create wild scenarios in our heads. Some realistic, and some less so.... but that fear and anxiety does not help, it only paralyzes. That's what Peter Magyar and the Hungarian opposition taught us today. People need to stiffen their spines and be vigilant, but not constantly in fear and not treating Trump like he's a force of nature that can't be reckoned with. And that politics are over and do not matter (they clearly did in Hungary under a much more consolidated authoritarian system). And, as I've paraphrased Ulysses Grant many times saying, we all gotta stop worrying about what *they* are gonna do and start thinking more about what *we* are going to do.

If Jon Ossoff loses GA 14 by 10 in November, he's winning the state overall by more than 10 points. That's why it matters. These by-elections aren't about moral victories, certainly not in districts that Trump won by 30+ in 2024... they are a signal to where the electorate sits right now, just as polls are also a signal as to the electorate The dynamics are different in a special election, but this was a massive overperformance. And I doubt the folks who actually do politics for a living for the GOP in Georgia are sitting around in private saying "a win is a win" to soothe themselves. I would add to that the shift is really similar to the one we saw in Wisconsin last night, whether there was a win or not. It was a bad result for the Georgia GOP full stop

MAGA will try to spin this as a win, but it isn't. It's a big fat L... All this effort, American lives and countless civilian deaths later, and we get an outcome that involves Iran collecting duties on the Strait of Hormuz (when it was free to pass previously). What a waste of time and energy and money. And what an embarrassment for us as a nation to be led by this lunatic... no one will ever trust us the same again, and frankly, I wouldn't blame them

The market has been a willing participant in being talked off the ledge generally... they've treated this like a normal Presidency and think that when he comes to bad decisions that he'll back off once the blowback occurs. At some point, one would think the fact that he's an irrational actor (to put it kindly) would break through and we'd get an "Emporer has no clothes" moment, but I'll believe it when I see it

This was all very predictable in that Presidents are often faced with events they cannot control. We all saw how he reacted (or decomposed rather) in the face of COVID. There are differences this time though, starting with the fact that this wasn't an act of God, it was a war of choice. His fingerprints are all over the metaphorical smoking gun and all of it, the conflict, the economic effects, the additional money per gallon on fuel, it's all on this decision

Isn't this level of management pretty much what was being implied of the latter part of the Biden Presidency by the media? The President's brains are pretty much a skillet of scrambled eggs at this point and, for some reason, barely anyone seems to notice

ABC isn't really a victory either, especially given how the Kimmel ordeal played out and how they have responded since

But maybe "MAGA" Americans should care about paying more at the pump... It's very weird, gladiator games ****

He's delusional if he thinks he unpopularity of this war is because of the media coverage

And, most importantly, it doesn't help the average American one iota.

Please explain in detail why this is worth the extra 60-80 cents on the gallon we are all paying at the pump. Won't hold my breath for a response

Maybe the President and Secretary Kegseth should demonstrate the safety of the Strait by boarding a vessel and riding across....

Just to step back for a second, the "pro-peace", "low gas price" President has now delivered us a war on the Middle East and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and as a result of this, we have now seen wholesale spikes in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel. And we still have yet to hear why exactly why any of this is happening. And on the "touching grass" front, given how the public increasingly sees this Presidency, would suggest that those who continue to cheerlead this thing on may be the ones who need to touch more grass

Almost like the internet troll is projecting just a bit...