When The Emperor Has No Clothes

Most of us recall the children’s story about the Emperor who paraded in his imaginary finery and the masses of subjects who obediently “saw” that clothing. Only when a young boy in the crowd named the reality–that the Emperor was naked–did others recognize that they’d been deceiving themselves.

The story is a great parable for America’s disinclination to see the “naked” truth about Trump’s voters. Political figures in both parties, aided and abetted by media figures unwilling to trust their eyes, insist that Trump voters were motivated by economic uncertainty.

Virtually all the peer-reviewed research finds otherwise.

Diana C. Mutz is a professor of political science and communication at the University of Pennsylvania (and the distinguished daughter of former Indiana Republican Lieutenant Governor John Mutz). She is one of many who have studied Trump voters; results of her research recently appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Mutz found no evidence that personal economic anxiety motivated Trump supporters. The one factor that did increase the likelihood that someone would vote for Trump was a belief that white people are more discriminated against than people of color, and that Christians and men experience more discrimination than Muslims and women.

Charles Blow recently commented on the Mutz study in The New York Times.

A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found what other studies have found: Support for Trump was largely motivated by white fear of displacement from dominance.

As the study put it:

White Americans’ declining numerical dominance in the United States together with the rising status of African Americans and American insecurity about whether the United States is still the dominant global economic superpower combined to prompt a classic defensive reaction among members of dominant groups.”

This new study dovetails with an analysis of millennial Trump voters published last year in The Washington Post: “First, white millennial Trump voters were likely to believe in something we call ‘white vulnerability’ — the perception that whites, through no fault of their own, are losing ground to other groups. Second, racial resentment was the primary driver of white vulnerability — even when accounting for income, education level or employment.”

This is the explanation for those of us who find it incomprehensible that anyone could vote for this proudly ignorant, embarrassing and dangerous buffoon. As Blow says,

Trump is one of the last gasps of American white supremacy and patriarchy. He is one of its Great White Hopes.

The distillation of his campaign message was not only to halt the rapid pace of change, but also to reverse it, to undo the Obama-izing of America and restore it to whiteness. It was also to uncouple America from globalizing influences and specifically elevate American whiteness.

If anything has become clear during the year and a half of this disastrous Presidency it is that Trump’s only “agenda” is to reverse and obliterate anything Barack Obama accomplished. The absence of any other coherent motivation–the inability to articulate any philosophy of governance, the obvious absence of any belief structure other than his own grandiose claims of superiority, the constant “dog whistles” and repeated use of racist and misogynist language–is as obvious to people who pay attention as was the Emperor’s lack of clothing.

Racism isn’t limited to cross-burnings and overt acts of discrimination. Our persistent unwillingness to confront the obvious–our discomfort with the reality that so many of our fellow Americans recoil from an equality that threatens to divest them of their perceived superior position in society–is understandable, but not at all helpful.

Delusion won’t dress the Emperor.

50 Comments

  1. Should we be encouraged by the fact that it has only taken three years to figure out the problem [American White Supremacy]? I wonder how long it will take to do something about it. Will it be another three years or longer? If we wait for the DNC dominated Democratic Party, I will assure you, it will be an ETERNITY.

  2. American White Supremacy has penetrated the upper echelons of the Democratic Party as far back as the first few month of the Clinton Administration. Bill Clinton is the ultimate culprit. He cooperated with the infiltration when he initiated his TRIANGULATION POLICY. What more could we have expected from a draft-dodger, who was also a descendant from a used car salesman?

  3. As I commented when I shared this blog on FB:

    This is important. A “psychological mindset” – in other words, their perception, what they ‘think’, not anything real, is why people voted for Trump. That means we can not ‘reason’ them out of their feelings, any more than you can ‘reason’ someone out of a fear of heights. The ONLY recourse we have is a two-pronged approach…more Democratic voter turn-out, and less ‘purity’ requirements for our Democratic candidates (I’m looking at you, Joe Donnelly-haters). There is NO perfect candidate; there are only those who will win a Democratic seat (and thus should be forced by their electors to vote their party’s platform), or those who will cause a Democrat to lose.

  4. Jane,

    “…….and less ‘purity’ requirements for our Democratic candidates.”

    Less “purity.” Does that mean you have to have a criminal record to run as a Democrat?

  5. The few, and believe me it is very few, Republicans who still speak to me do not support Trump. They are those staunch Republicans who will vote Republican to their dying day; they may not make the “Emperor has no clothes” connection but they also ignore the naked members of Congress who have bared their racist, bigoted hearts and souls to this nation and the world at large. Some are Catholic; such as my neighbor who appears to be Filipino, has an Hispanic son-in-law and grandchildren. An in-law in my family refused to sit at the same table with me at my granddaughter’s, her niece’s, wedding last year; went so far as to remove two chairs and place settings from the bride’s family table to another location for herself and her son. Her Lesbian daughter and her partner were placed at the next table with other cousins. The bride’s African-American cousin wasn’t invited. They are representative of Trump supporters; he is their party’s chosen leader so he must be their salvation.

    “If anything has become clear during the year and a half of this disastrous Presidency it is that Trump’s only “agenda” is to reverse and obliterate anything Barack Obama accomplished.”

    “Political figures in both parties, aided and abetted by media figures unwilling to trust their eyes, insist that Trump voters were motivated by economic uncertainty.”

    President Obama was handed a presidency driven to an economic level nearing a full repeat of the “Great Depression” along with unnecessary wars to contend with plus the standard blatant racism this country has been trying to hide since long before the Civil War. Racist Democrats didn’t vote in mid-term elections (one of those “dog whistles” to evidence their racism?) and the race to the totally Republican Congress was begun. The GOP, owned and operated by the 1%, act as their agent and now own and operate Congress and have made a large deposit on SCOTUS with the able assistance of Citizens United. A misnomer if there ever was one! The Trump supporting voters are blinded by the possibility of “Making This Country White Again” and don’t seem to notice he is picking their pockets as they cheer him on.

    “Delusion won’t dress the Emperor.”

    Not only does the Emperor have no clothes; the entire Congressional body is naked and it is an ugly picture to behold. I include those Democratic members who vote for the bills denying Americans civic and human rights by “going along to get along”. This is not the “Audacity of Hope” President Obama spoke to in his book, nor is it the compromise he attempted (and sadly, failed) during his administration. Republican racism and bigotry does not recognize compromise; their aim is power and full control…which they now have.

  6. The Trumpers have to be pleased with the Republican choices to run against Donnelly. They reflect the willful ignorance of their president, they have avoided saying anything of substance in the three televised debates and they repeatedly appealed to the fear and racial hatred inspired by Trump. The Indiana Republican party should be ashamed of itself, but that would require introspection and honesty and those seem to be missing from both the party and its candidates.

  7. Marv is correct. With the intelligent people on this blog, they could easily write a new parable – The Empire Has No Clothes.

    As others have researched and written about, America has been in a long steady decline for decades. We’ll learn in time this was all a ruse to control population. The opioid crisis, mass shootings, etc., etc.

    It’s taken this “great country” roughly 17 years to figure out that three tall buildings couldn’t be leveled to the ground by two aluminum planes. 😉

    Oh well, I digress.

    The topic was white supremacy. That has become an oxymoron in the United States. The same morons proudly proclaim that “democracy is our problem.”

    How have we failed so many people?

    The only immigrants coming to America are selling drugs to the masses and working for $5.00 an hour cash picking tomatoes and apples.

    How much have we spent on our military guarding the poppy fields in Afghanistan?

    Oh wait, I digressed again…

    On a lighter note, Matt Taibbi with the Rolling Stones has written some excellent articles about the former Tea Party. The brand became so negative that it’s been completely washed by those who funded it—the Koch brothers.

    It’s now called Americans for Prosperity. LOL

    Meanwhile, the Democratic Party wants “black people and immigrants” to support them this election cycle. What have they done for minorities in this country??

    Americans with darker pigment in their skins are also waking up to this American reality.

    When the entire Empire is naked, anybody occupying the throne will be naked.

    If the DNC wasn’t naked, they would have put together a platform for the people and sold it across the country. “We’ll show Trump and his Capitalist Thugs!”

    Nope, they didn’t and they won’t…they aren’t wearing clothes either and Americans are starting to see this.

    We are heading back quickly to the Gilded Age…Republicans are claiming that blacks were better off when they were slaves. We’ve all become slaves because we’ve lost our power. Or, been frightened into not using it…

    Viva La Revolucion!!

  8. This country would never have exposed its own racism if Trump had not run for president. By openly displaying his own bigotry, racism and intolerance he gave permission to millions to do the same. Now we know the extent of the problem. And hard as it is to face, we know who among us is in that crowd.

    There is much we can do to combat this disgraceful flaw in our country’s character. We can each be the best we can… openly and without apology. We can speak up when opportunity presents itself to promote tolerance and acceptance. We can participate in events that promote equality and tolerance. We can reach out to those being discriminated against and offer what help we have. Mostly, we each can strive to be the American we want all to be.

  9. We’ve witnessed for some time the effect of the Tea Party, originally funded by Charles Koch. It didn’t start off as a part of the Republican Party. It was a THIRD FORCE. As Todd has pointed out it’s still there but operating in another form.

    Our IMMEDIATE answer must be in the creation of a COUNTER THIRD FORCE outside of the Democratic Party. If it becomes a part of the Democratic Party, only time will tell. And there isn’t much time.

  10. The election of Donald Trump is a FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE not aTECHNICAL CHANGE. It is impossible for the old ways to have much of an effect on it, if any. It’s a very difficult situation to accept. We weren’t ready for it. It upsets not only our short range plans but also our plans about our future.

    That’s why the COGNITIVE DISSONANCE has been so overwhelming. It’s understandable. Most Americans are too locked into the past to make the necessary changes.

  11. In the late 30’s in Germany, there was hope for a creation of an ETHICAL FRONT against the Hitler Regime. Many had fears that it wouldn’t materialize in time to make a difference. As we know from history, their fears were justified.

    I would strongly suggest, that our political situation here in the U.S. isn’t that much different than what it was in Germany in the late 30’s. They had no effective opposition, neither do we.

  12. Nevertheless, the TRUMP REGIME does have an ACHILLES HEAL. It can’t successfully defend against a tough ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS. There’s too many holes in their story that can’t be filled.

  13. While I agree that a revolution is necessary to break out of this cognitive “slump” we’re in, we shouldn’t be too discouraged. If some of the pervasive attitudes about the DNC on this blog are rife, it won’t matter how stumbling they are; Perez is flat on his face in his incompetence. Large numbers of people are taking it upon themselves to illustrate the resistance necessary to defeat and replace the “naked” emperor and his equally naked (think: unadorned ignorance, fear and outright stupidity) acolytes. The women’s marches, the kids rebellions against non-functioning politicians, etc., are not all registered Democrats.

    I think the rebellion is not as visible as pitchforks and torches, because the social media – like this blog – has allowed people to vent more subtly. I agree that the DNC has lost its voice, and I think that the good people in this country realize that. They will vote out Republicans and Republicanism one way or another.

  14. Vernon,

    “I agree that the DNC has lost its voice, and I think that the good people in this country realize that. They will vote out Republicans and Republicanism one way or another.”

    Agreed. All we need to do is just remember the Boy Scout motto….”BE PREPARED.”

  15. Thanks, Sheila, for another enlightening entry. I couldn’t agree more.

    As for “Viva La Revolucion!!” — what are you thinking? Trump & his authoritarian allies are just waiting for something that appears to be violence against the regime and then there will be hell to pay. Who do you think has amassed the unbelievable number of weapons in this country? Do you think black people could have held out on a national reserve in Alabama like the white Bundy clan did in Oregon? NO WAY!! I live in the South and I must tell you that the only thing that might be more entrenched than racism is love of guns. And I am in the middle of Trump country. These folks wouldn’t hesitate to defend this buffoon if he called them out to do it. I recently called out some racist thinking on FB and got removed from our HOA “Crime Watch” page. Revolution won’t be pretty; it will be violent and devastating. We must support our Democratic candidates, even if their not perfect. It’s our only hope besides violent revolution. God save us from that. “Viva La Revolucion!!”????? – what a load of romanticized BS!!

  16. Kathy,

    “Trump & his authoritarian allies are just waiting for something that appears to be violence against the regime and then there will be hell to pay. Who do you think has amassed the unbelievable number of weapons in this country? Do you think black people could have held out on a national reserve in Alabama like the white Bundy clan did in Oregon? NO WAY!! I live in the South and I must tell you that the only thing that might be more entrenched than racism is love of guns.”

    I agree, 110%.

    Agreed.

  17. I came across a great article by Henry Wallace one of FDR’s VP’s.

    The Danger of American Fascism By Henry A. Wallace
    Sunday 09 April 1944

    Excerpts follow:
    What is a fascist?
    How many fascists have we?
    How dangerous are they?

    A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends. The supreme god of a fascist, to which his ends are directed, may be money or power; may be a race or a class; may be a military, clique or an economic group; or may be a culture, religion, or a political party.

    The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.

    If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States. There are probably several hundred thousand if we narrow the definition to include only those who in their search for money and power are ruthless and deceitful.

    American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information, and those who stand for the K.K.K. type of demagoguery.

    The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy.

    They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.
    http://www.truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/45300:henry-a-wallace–the-danger-of-american-fascism
    ======================================================================
    You know as I read this article – I thought WOW. The American fascists, Wallace warned about in 1944 have emerged. Others have sounded the bell concerning American Fascism, Imperialism and steroid Nationalism, like Marine Corp General Smedley Butler in the 1930’s. Ike warned about the influence of the Military-Industrial Complex.

    Henry Wallace with out a doubt was wise enough to see this template for Fascism in America in 1944, even at the same time we were fighting against it in WW 2.

  18. Marv- I agree with your Gretzky quote and here is another from the Great One > “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” I am not into political self-immolation just yet, especially with an historic opportunity presented by a blue wave this November. So we don’t like the DNC’s antics (or lack of them) and Tom Perez? Tell me what our real world alternatives are. I didn’t like Clinton’s triangulation or labor policies, either, just as I have to swallow hard with some of the views and votes of Donnelly, but again, look at the alternatives. Do we want to give aid and comfort to the Trumpies, Tea Partiers, Falwellers and other cave people who are defending a dying society with their inane viewsof things (either real or pretended)?

    I agree that we need heavy reform within our own party, but let’s save our energy and finger-pointing for the real enemies of the people and worry about reform of the within after November. There is a 1932 election upcoming as the blue tsunami is coming into view, so let’s not blow it by aiding our opponents with untimely political self-immolation and an insistence on the perfect over the doable, which is akin to Tea Party thinking. Let’s first defeat the common foe and then have our platform brawls. Back to Gretzky > Let’s take this shot in November; the Republicans have no goalie and this is no time to complain about a poor pass made in the first period. Shoot the puck! Win, and then discuss the poor pass in the dressing room.

  19. Bravo, bravo to every one that’s participated in this blog this morning and to Sheila, Diana Mutz and her very important study, and to the great Charles Blow for commentIng on it. It explains what I run into when I make the mistake of talking to some of my very old friends about politics and what is going on in this country right now. These particular people have mutated into being hardcore Trump supporters and while I love them dearly their views are irrational yet these are very rational people, or have always seemed to have been going back to our childhoods and teen years living in the neighborhood we grew up in, all of us together.

    They themselves mention what this country might be like when Caucasians are no longer the “dominant” racial group and they’re very fearful of this. What is odd to me is that these folks have never exhibited any degree of racism that I am aware of and yet they’re very concerned about this particular aspect of the emerging demography of this country. We all talk about the great divide in this country that we have now that has helped along by propaganda from both inside and outside this country but it’s scary to think of how many tributaries it has and how many good people hold so many irrational fears that to them are very rational. It makes me glad that I don’t hold such fuse but it’s a creeping crud that we must find a way to deal with. I’m very glad that Professor Mutz has produced such a study and that Sheila has referenced it.

  20. There is one other link concerning Fascism in America, Fascists Compete To Own America.
    http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/thom-hartmann/78949/fascists-compete-to-own-america

    In 1938, Mussolini brought his vision of fascism into full reality when he dissolved Parliament and replaced it with the “Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni”—the Chamber of the Fascist Corporations. Corporations were still privately owned, but now instead of having to sneak their money to folks like Mick Mulvaney or Scott Pruitt and covertly write legislation in a sound-proof telephone booth, they were openly in charge of the government.

    Another quote from Henry Wallace: Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion. American fascists of this stamp were clandestinely aligned with their German counterparts before the war, and are even now preparing to resume where they left off, after ‘the present unpleasantness’ ceases.
    =======================================================
    It would seem self evident today the Fascists, and Corporatists look for those cracks in our society to exploit. Nothing is beneath them in their quest for more power.

  21. Monotonous,

    Terrific article. As you have pointed out, General Smedley Butler testified in front of a Congressional hearing as to the planned takeover. Likewise, that should be our final objective, if possible. You have to have clout. You need policy makers. General Butler understood that fact in the 30’s. That’s why he was so successful in exposing the planned takeover which was being led by a leading member of the DuPont family.

    So now we have the Koch family. How much do things really ever change?

  22. Gerald,

    “So we don’t like the DNC’s antics (or lack of them) and Tom Perez? Tell me what our real world alternatives are.”

    I would organize effectively on the OUTSIDE and thereby have enough clout to put POSITIVE pressure on the DNC in the INSIDE, so that they can be effectively TAMED, for the lack of a better word.

  23. Gerald,

    “Marv-Fine, but when?

    We should have started yesterday.
    ___________________________________________________________

    April 30, 2018

    Exclusive: Democrats lose ground with millennials – Reuters/Ipsos poll

    by Chris Kahn

    MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) – Enthusiasm for the Democratic Party is waning among millennials as its candidates head into the crucial midterm congressional elections, according to the Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll. [See full article]

  24. Gerald,

    “Back to Gretzky > Let’s take this shot in November; the Republicans have no goalie and this is no time to complain about a poor pass made in the first period. Shoot the puck! Win, and then discuss the poor pass in the dressing room.”

    I agree they’re vulnerable and as you say “the Republicans have no goalie” But my concern is that you can’t shoot the puck without a competitive TEAM. And I don’t see a winning Democratic Party TEAM in November if things don’t start changing right now. There’s still time.

  25. Gerald,

    As I mentioned a few days ago to you, I believe my TRUMP CARD has to do with SPORTS and teams. How do you DESIGN the right team?

    Back in 1980, I designed Victory Sports Management, the first INTEGRATED sports management team with the NFL great, Ken Houston as one of my partners. It wasn’t all about $$$. As we both have agreed, you have to stay “ahead of the puck.” I’ve been doing that WITHOUT FAILURE since 1980 in the Deep South, both in Dallas and in Jacksonville. Almost 40 years. I believe that should be enough experience. Agreed?

  26. We have come to several conclusions here about the causes of the decline, but we hope not fall, of liberal democracy. In fact almost daily we focus on one cause and it gets described in detail from Sheila’s perspective followed by everyone else who is a regular here from their perspective in their style. Always interesting but in a liberal democracy, in an election, the only real action we have available to us to change the course of history, all of those details have to be integrated into one of a very few choices (a perfect and comprehensive solution not being among them). In other words single issue candidates and voters have traditionally been unsuccessful in a liberal democracy.

    Of course everyone knows that. However Agent Orange and his tribes of sycophants stumbled on to a solution that tribal chiefs and councils invented about a quarter of a million years ago. Promise all special interests what their single issue demands. Don’t worry about delivery and don’t worry about practicality. If two special interests are mutually exclusive promise them both anyway. They will only hear what they want to hear.

    So a question for November is, should fans of liberal democracy do what enemies of liberal democracy have found effective? Lie lavishly and ignore solutions in favor of promises?

    That would make November a referendum between “frying pan” or “fire’. As for me, no thanks for either.

    Gerald said it better, earlier. Embrace the forest not a single tree. Solve the most urgent problem this battle and mop up the details as the campaign progresses. Don’t be like the boy who can’t get his hand out of the cookie jar because he refuses to let go of any of the cookies he’s purloined.

    In unity there is strength and like during the Constitutional Convention the choice is the best compromise word, not each founder’s favorite word. If they hadn’t accepted that the Convention would still be underway.

  27. Donnelly Haters? That’s cute.

    How do I know there’s too much kayfabe going on? Too much hypocrisy and too much mendacity among apparatchiks. Case in point,it’s funny those that continue to admonish others for their unwillingness to support a DINO such as Joe Donnelly, just happen to be the same folks that disparaged Bernie Sanders and claimed he was such a “flawed” and “impure” candidate. In fact,they claimed he didn’t have a chance at winning because of a cavalcade of lame excuses. The truth is those within the Democratic Party willing to vote for a DINO and hate Bernie really don’t want a true Democratic platform. They want to continue to be Republican-Lite. Have at it. Because that’s working out so great–or is it?

    Viva La Revolucion = Suing Russia and Wikileaks. Now that’s some effective action against the likes of the Koch Brothers,et al(sarcasm mode on high). The truth is,this is a sign of how desperate the party has become.Hell,when I first saw an article wrt this lawsuit, I thought I was reading The Onion. How can one have confidence in a party that believes such a lawsuit(s) is/are effective and signals good governance? It doesn’t.

    Unfortunately,not only does the emperor have no clothes,but the opposing party to the Republicans has none as well.

  28. Marv, you have mentioned Wayne Gretzky. I have been thinking lately about the sad state of the Democratic Party, i.e., the DNC and DCC. Sports teams sometimes think if they have a Super Star they will win. It can certainly help to have that Super Star. However, sports is a team effort.

    Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Shaq, and Tom Brady all had and have in Brady’s case good team mates. Any of these Super Stars could be slowed up, that is where the Team came into play.

    The Corporate Establishment Democratic Party is always looking for that star at the top, like another JFK, Bill Clinton or Obama to pull the team along.

    The Democratic Team has no plan of attack other than running against the Trumpet (aka Agent Orange). So many issues and as you mentioned. Enthusiasm for the Democratic Party is waning among millennials as its candidates head into the crucial midterm congressional elections, according to the Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-millennials/exclusive-democrats-lose-ground-with-millennials-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN1I10YH

    This poll should be a very loud warning from the crows nest to the DNC and DCCC, you know ice berg dead ahead!!! However with Captains Pelosi and Schumer at the helm they will steer into the ice berg. We had the “Blue Wave” in 2008 led by Obama, but in 2010 the tide promptly went out.

    Issues that could benefit the people and especially millennials like Universal Health Care, reducing the costs of prescription drugs, a Free College or Vocational School tuition will not be permitted, by the Democratic Political Establishment.

    All the finger pointing to The Trumpet (aka Agent Orange) does not hide the fact the Democratic Party has no plan.

  29. The Emperor has no clothes so we can easily see how
    underendowed He is.
    Little wonder nudity is verboten!
    But we are nauseated nevertheless.
    Why? What else miniscule do we see?

  30. Jane is right. The focus of our action is to stop Republicans in the house and senate in their defense and enabling of Trump. Maybe we can do something about super majorities in a few state legislatures at the same time. Very simple action list. Get as many people to vote democratic as is possible. It has never been this clear and simple.

  31. William – I’m not a Donnelly hater! In fact I am awed by his courage to run as a Democrat in, of all places, Indiana, while he has not read the Democrat Party National Platform. I’m sure he’s a nice GOP-Lite politician who will garner some GOP votes among those who are fed up with GOP trashy insanity.
    As a Democrat I hope we will have a real Democrat candidate on the ballot so that I will truly have a choice. But, not to worry, Joe, as a straight ticket anti-GOP you will have my vote to push back on the Trump GOP brigade.
    But, I hope Joe, when we unseat the GOP majority, you will review your support for the DNC national Platform; much heroism, pain, sweat and tears have contributed to it.

  32. ML my perspective has always been that no progress on any real issue is possible with the membership in all three branches of federal government that’s currently enthroned.

    So in extremist language any alternative improves the odds. (I sort of dismiss more local elections because participants here come from all over.)

    Can we also take on other issues in the next 6 months? Possibly, but if we lose focus on job 1 there will be no second chance.

  33. Monotonous,

    “This poll should be a very loud warning from the crows nest to the DNC and DCCC, you know ice berg dead ahead!!! However with Captains Pelosi and Schumer at the helm they will steer into the ice berg. We had the “Blue Wave” in 2008 led by Obama, but in 2010 the tide promptly went out.”

    You’re exactly right, they only TAKE the good. When they finally see the iceberg ahead, they will continue to steer into it like you said and then jump ship at the right time, just like Ryan has. Just like him, they have “no skin in the game.”

    I warned four months before Obama was elected the first time, in The Nation Magazine, that he would be facing an “iceberg.” The” iceberg” was later called the Tea Party. The only response was an editorial in The New York Times criticizing my warning [un-American] which came into fruition just a few months later.

  34. Marv, we are already a wreck on the iceberg of GOP imperialism. Please, Marv, let’s keep our sights on what the people need: Unseat the aptly called moronic GOP idiots.

  35. It seems that Marv and I disagree about the level of incompetence among the current national senior management.

    Frankly I have a hard time finding any evidence of liberal democracy governing competence in DC since 2016.

    What am I missing?

  36. William, I just received in today’a mail some campaign literature from Donnelly for Indiana. I have searched in vain for any specifics concerning his platform of ideas and issues. Back when I was in school we selected topics and then had to submit a persuasive paper to convince others of my position. If Joe Donnelly’s campaign paper was submitted to a teacher , it would receive a zero.

    He does have this: Core tenets Hard work, common sense, and Hoosier values. WOW!! Glittering Generalities anyone. Truly a one legged table.

    Michelle Wolf’s performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) in Washington DC on Saturday night, has come under rapid fire from all over.

    See said the following: We’ve got our friends at CNN here. Welcome, guys, it’s great to have you. You guys love breaking news, and you did it. You broke it. Good work. The most useful information on CNN is when Anthony Bourdain tells me where to eat noodles.

    We also have Rachel Maddow. We cannot forget about Rachel Maddow. She is the Peter Pan of MSNBC. But instead of never growing up, she never gets to the point. Watching Rachel Maddow is like going to Target. You went in for milk, but you left with shampoo, candles and the entire history of the Byzantine Empire.

    There’s a lot of print media here. There’s a ton of you guys, but I’m not going to go after print media tonight because it’s illegal to attack an endangered species. Buy newspapers. There’s a ton of news right now; a lot is going on, and we have all these 24-hour news networks, and we could be covering everything.

    But, instead, we’re covering like three topics. Every hour, it’s Trump, Russia, Hillary and a panel of four people who remind you why you don’t go home for Thanksgiving.

    You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you.

    He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him.

    https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/29/1760841/-Rob-Reiner-lights-up-Twitter-with-dead-on-tweet-about-Michelle-Wolf?detail=emaildkre
    =======================================
    As Glenn Greenwald twittered – To many in the US media, the worst sins aren’t bombing and killing people or embracing policies that cause mass suffering. Those are often virtures (“tonight, Trump [by bombing] became our President”). The worst sin remains: breaching civility protocols to protect DC elites.

  37. Here’s a little something for this May Day,why is the McMedia ignoring The Mountain Valley Pipeline protests? I guess we are simply to assume all Southern Virginians and West Virginians are Trump supporters,have no teeth,are inbred rednecks,supporting of unbridled corporate “progress” and are justifiably poor.

    The divisive balkanization of people along with a compliance(silence) of the media companies creates a nice environment for the investment-class. It’s good to be king.

    When and if Trump is gone,what in the hell will we talk about? Discuss? Go back to the good old days of 92-2000 and claim America is already great?

  38. William, incompetent government has always been, perhaps second only to bad weather, humanity’s greatest topic to bitch about. This is the first time in my nearly ancient memory where it’s been elevated from “not good for me” to “not good for us”.

    That can be viewed as progress. We finally have a shared experience with bad government.

    As entertaining as this is I’m ready to return to bitchin’ ‘bout the weather after November.

    Climate change then also promises a trip from “not good for me” to “not good for us”.

  39. Donnelly’s Core Tenets: “Hard Work, Common Sense, and Hoosier Values.”

    That is just so awesome! Who knew? He’s a veritable Mr Smith. I’m now absolutely excited to cast my vote for him. I’m sure there are plenty of examples of his Hard Work,Common Sense and Hoosier Values on record! Btw,what in the hell are Hoosier Values? Getting a divorce? A DWI? Having a GF and a Wife? Accepting a layoff with glee? Willful acceptance of having third-world mortality rates within the state? Taking the wife to church on Sunday and taking the GF on Wednesday? Planting corn? Planting soybeans? Exploiting low wage labor? Right to work? Who is an appropriate example for this amorphous phenomenon called Hoosier Common Sense? John Mellencamp? Mike Pence? Charles Manson? Stephen Goldsmith? DC Stephenson? Dan Burton? Perhaps it’s Joe Donnelly himself for enjoying those swanky cocktail parties with those lovely lobbyists in DC while his state is faced with third-world mortality rates?

    Has there ever been a more precise,valid and transparent list of reasons a candidate has given to solicit one’s support for him/her? I think not.

  40. Speaking of having no clothes…

    Why is it at the time when the Latino and African American populations are rising that there has been a strident aversion to the prospects of the ideals of Bernard Sanders? And, not so much from the right, but from Democrats? Hmmm.

    You would think a milieu consisting of affordable college (we’ve been there before–until Reagan) genuine healthcare (everyone else can do it,but..)and a jobs program (been there before as well,WPA) would be very beneficial to everyone involved,especially to our growing populations….Yet Sander’s ideals are met with derision. Hmmm. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so worried about the racism from rural PU driving rednecks with confederate flags as much as we should be worried about the racism coming from college educated Caucasians working the HR departments at our nation’s companies? Racism isn’t confined to the right. There are plenty of examples of racism coming from the Democratic Party. If we continue to point our fingers at the Republicans,we’ll never have to address the racism within our party.

    Here’s Rednecks by Randy Newman,it’s certainly appropriate..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWvVTvglsWQ

  41. Don’t let an imaginary monolith stand in the way of a real victory.

    “Political figures in both parties, aided and abetted by media figures unwilling to trust their eyes, insist that Trump voters were motivated by economic uncertainty.”

    But they WERE motivated by economic uncertainty! Enough of them, at least, to have made the difference in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida. A robust passion expressed by Hillary for working and lost-job blue-collar people may not have moved the red monolith but it would have moved enough of it–especially the Trump democrats— to produce a Hillary landslide. Telling voters that what they want to hear is in the platform was a loser-strategy.

    It is a mistake to think and poll and produce data in an effort to pinpoint a MONOLITHIC reason for candidate preferences among voters; a bigger mistake to conclude that NONE of those voters could have been persuaded to prefer a different candidate.

    Don’t let an imaginary monolith stand in the way of a real victory.

  42. I agree that racism and fear of lost dominance had much to do with Trump support, but part of that lost dominance is also the anxiety of economic displacement. So many have lost jobs, home ownership, and economic security due to jobs moved out of the USA. So many worry that pensions, health insurance, and other workplace benefits are becoming a thing of the past and their children will be poorer than their parents. So many are working multiple jobs and still can’t make the mortgage payment.

    Donald Trump exploited racism and immigrants as scapegoats, but Ms. Mutz’ study notwithstanding, I’m convinced the underlying economic anxieties permitted and fueled racism and xenophobia to take flight. WWI’s economic devastation permitted Hitler to exploit anti-Semitism in much the same way.

  43. Re: Donnelly, ‘perfect’ candidates, and running as a Dem in Indiana. I also said, we have to hold them accountable to their voters, did I not? I’m quite sure Mr. Donnelly recalls the dinner in French Lick, when he thought yet another star-struck Dem was coming toward him to shake his hand, but instead it was me, coming to tell him that he could not vote to defund Planned Parenthood based on his personal anti-abortion feelings, or doctored videos that had not yet been vetted. We had what was, for him, a very uncomfortable discussion where he was NOT let off the hook, and was NOT allowed to pivot to his talking points.

    DINO or not, he is one notch above every one of the Republicans running, who are clamoring to prove that they are further up Trump’s ass than the others.

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