A recent, lengthy screed from Lincoln Square argued that voters in 2024 had “signed up for the myth of the businessman president,” an assertion with which I take issue. I do, however, agree with the ensuing observation that what those voters got was the guy who “bankrupted casinos and decided the solution for a hurting country was to blow up the economy for a jacked-up economic theory from the 17th century, build a ballroom, and hide the books.”
I also agree that Trump’s economic incompetence is enraging voters, and that “None of the culture war crap, the performative yelping about the Deep State, the liberal media, or whatever else tickles MAGA Twitter’s happy place” will save Republicans in 2026, when they will encounter “the oldest rule in politics and business: eventually, the mark realizes he has been conned.”
And when that happens, it is not just the con man who pays the price. It is everyone foolish enough to stand next to him when the lights come up, and the check arrives.
Trump is too old to pay that bill…and doesn’t pay his bills in any case.
But the MAGA GOP sure as hell will. That sound they hear in the distance is a mob, hungry and furious, approaching their palace.
With pitchforks…
I am increasingly convinced that the author is correct about voters’ current fury, but I am equally confident that Trump’s narrow victory in 2024 was not founded on his economic promises. Political science research overwhelmingly points to a different–and very depressing–reason people voted for Trump: racism.
Adam Serwer addressed that racism in the Atlantic, in an article titled “Why Doesn’t Trump Pay a Political Price for His Racism?” The article was triggered by Trump’s publicized rant, during a Cabinet meeting, calling Somali immigrants “garbage” that we don’t want in our country. Serwer noted that no one in the Cabinet reacted negatively to this latest expression of gutter racism, and worse, that “Vice President J. D. Vance enthusiastically banged on the table.”
This expression of animus toward all Somali immigrants came in response to the shooting of two National Guard officers by a Somali, and a fraudulent episode involving some Somalis living in Minneapolis. Rather than decrying the criminal actions of those individuals, Trump reacted with his usual racist stereotyping.
Serwer points to the obvious: we don’t hold White Americans as a whole responsible for Trump’s dismantling of the federal capacity to fight white-collar crime and corruption, for his “doling out of pardons for people who donate money or commit crimes on his behalf, or his scandalous profiteering.” Most Americans don’t look at Donald Trump or the collection of clowns and grifters with whom he’s surrounded himself and conclude that their behaviors are due to something inherent in White culture. We simply–accurately–see them as reprehensible individuals.
Watching Trump’s repeated attacks on Somalians—the latest group of Black immigrants to be targeted by the president—I can’t avoid the conclusion that the government of the United States of America is in the hands of people who believe that they can apply a genetic hierarchy to humanity, and that American laws and customs should recognize and serve that hierarchy…
The logic of this racism is relatively simple—the individual bears the guilt of the whole, and the whole bears the imprint of some alleged crime that deserves collective punishment. Blaming the egregious behavior of men such as Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on their German or Norwegian backgrounds would sound comical to the same people who treat the president vomiting out similar generalizations about Somalis as sound observation.
This reaction is consistent with Trump’s constant Hitler-like accusation that immigrants with “bad genes” are “poisoning the blood” of the nation. As Serwer concludes, the fact that he’s paid virtually no electoral price for his very overt racism says something shameful about today’s America.
The U.S. abolished immigration restrictions based on nationality in 1965, recognizing that such restrictions were inconsistent with who we purport to be as a country. Until that change, promising scientists from Asia would be rejected in favor of illiterate farmers from Germany, because immigration laws considered race, national origin and culture to be immutable traits inherent in the populations of entire countries. Accordingly, entire (usually non-White) nationalities were deemed unfit for American citizenship.
Trump wants these racist (and ridiculous) assumptions to once again govern U.S. immigration policy, and his MAGA voters enthusiastically agree.
I’m ready to buy my pitchfork and march on the castle. Metaphorically speaking, of course…
Every time I hear the phrase, “It’s the economy stupid!”, I think, “NO! It’s the racism stupid!!” We must acknowledge and address why we are where we are: RACISM. Otherwise, we won’t survive.
And, the media factions never told the American people why the Somalis were here in the first place. Same for Western Europe. The US military has occupied Somalia for 35 years. It is another proxy war. We’ll see more of these as Trump/Hegseth/Rubio start focusing on eliminating China and Russia from the Western Hemisphere. When you begin wars, economically and then militarily, residents will leave, especially those with mobility.
The Venezuelans aren’t leaving because of Maduro’s government. They are leaving their country because the US has put massive economic sanctions on the country. This CAUSES the migrant flows. The same is coming into Western Europe, and that’s why the US is abandoning Europe as a whole. When you look at the 25 National Security Strategy, they don’t even perceive Western Europe as allies in the future due to the “Muslim people erasing WASPS.”
And, yes, the Republicans know the angry mob is coming, which is why many are bailing. If you caught MTG’s interview, she shreds the MAGA Republicans. “They bow to Trump in person, but mock him behind his back.” #ouch
The inner administration is clueless. I strongly encourage everyone to read Bondi’s memorandum to the FBI about compiling an enemy list of people and organizations related to Antifa and Antifa-related entities. Bondi has declared that anybody who protests against Trump’s fascist regime is an enemy of the state and, therefore, is labeled “domestic terrorists.” They are planning tip phone lines and monetary awards for MAGA “citizen journalists.”
Here comes that civil war everyone is predicting…
Two can play the racism game. Who gave us Adolf Hitler and Mussolini? Who gave us Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, George Bush and Trump? Who gave us the Civil War? The KKK? The “Christian Right”? Who gave us corporate greed and the Wall Street 2008 housing crisis? The WHITES did, that’s who. So, the next time someone goes after the Somalians or any other dark skinned immigrant group, feel free to use the above argument as a comeback.
You’re welcome.
Yeah. Racism. And Apathy. When over 50% of the electorate can’t get their asses off the couch and VOTE for SOMEBODY, this is what we get. The racism has always been there. Even LBJ knew that when he pushed and passed civil rights legislation.
Nice try Lincoln Square, but our electoral pony has several tricks to consider.
Lori is 100% correct; his racism has stopped the citizenship swearing in of immigrants in Boston who have studied for years and been totally vetted for citizenship. What more proof do we need about his lies regarding the aim of his ICE troops only rounding up criminals?
Those voters in 2024 voted for a convicted felon and rapist whose legal sentencing was postponed till after the election by the McConnell years of padding the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, with questionable hearing results to seat them. McConnell then stepped down from his controlling position in the Senate, as minority and majority party leader, and is laid back watching the results of his fraudulent years in action.
Metaphorically marching on the castle may not work on the current escalating Fascist control now with freedom of the press in their cross hairs; Trump admitting his action in this takeover which openly includes his son-in-law. We are now faced with the looming strong possibility of losing trusted news sites as movie producers and billionaires are in a bidding war to buy out the controlling interests in their stated goal of moving all news productions to the right. Will the fear of Trump retaliation control this anti-freedom of the press business action as it does in the current federal government?
His first term gained him the historical recognition as the first president to run this nation out of toilet paper; he is now aiming at removing even outhouses as we are circling the bowl and he is laughing from his gold plated seat in the White House. There appears to be no awakening from this Trump/Musk/MAGA nightmare.
Add sexism to racism. And blaming the apathetic is like screaming at a crying infant to be quiet.
Not to pick nits but the Guard shooter was Afghan not Somali. Still, to trump and the MAGAots who could not find either country on a map if they were clearly labeled they aren’t white so they are automatically less than
Jeff, a Somali, scammed the Minnesota medicaid department out of millions of dollars. Trump then slandered the whole group when he called them “garbage” and told them, “Go back to your horrible country.”
That was a green light to his bigots to cause harm.
As we approach the celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence America needs to also unflinchingly face the truth of our country’s “original sin” that we are still strugging to erase – the slavery of kidnapped Africans, the attempted genocide of indigenous Native Americans along with the seizure of their lands. Is that even possible with a racist at the helm of the ship?
And we have to remember that he used the fundamentalist Xtians with their ever-so-Jesusy attitudes toward anyone who fails to share their mission…that being the UNITED STATES OF OUR JESUS…
It’s racism, plain and simple, something Trump learned at his father’s knees, as he was preparing to be the worst president we’ve ever had. His ignorance of the world is astounding, his ability to manipulate is astounding, his incompetence and lack of care are astounding, his degree of mental illness is astounding, and it all feeds the racism, bigotry and misogyny, that had been bubbling under the surface.
Sadly, that combination of characteristics appealed to the too many here, white and ignorant, from too many states with massively poor education records, who saw him as their savior.
trucking is dead, except fulfillment(amazon) and keeping you alive(food gas) standards. the rate to haul if you can find something wont pay for your operation and insurance. throw in the goons at brokerage services that deny access to direct hauling via lobby in DC, and ya get failures. the fact is, 3 year old trucks are selling for half price. usually a $200.000 new truck in three years will sell for $140/160.000.
the freight issue is the reason why we exist. now trumps tariffs, manufacturing,infrastructure,etc etc games, have decimated trucking. saturation in the media of folly trump doesnt get our shade. but as i talk with owner/operators,who are the target here,(credited to the hilt to run our shit show) they are finally relizing the image they were sold. losing your buisness that requires constant work to succeed has halted. we are selling our equipmemt at all new low of firesale prices. (and if ya wonder why banks dont finance trucks,)you dont see the outcome due most here rely on amazon style service. we are the transports of industry. we are next to failure. the game the 2025 bunch are playing is killing Amaericans economically. and the domino affect is in full tilt.
denial sucks, it dont pay the bills, but when 85% of these owner/ops voted the now obvious trump bigot ticket,we all now pay.
more thought. i work at times on a prevailing wage, trucking in highway const.
trump dropped the prevailing wage back in april for gov employees in DC like janitors and lower wage work. from $17.50 t0 $12.43. we are expecting this across the board next year nation wide. im sure the contractors who pay us will still bid the higher wage , and keep the profits in their pockets. expect to be driving over bridges built by $12,00 and hour cheap labor soon..
drive save yall!
Todd :
you oughta here the talk here in NoDak. about the Somalis. if you look at the track record,lutheran social services did all the paper work and lobby to bring them here over christains stuff happening over in Africa. im sure theres far more white white collars who have scammed far more. like,trump and his demon seeds.
HCR, today, details how corporate right wing media fed too many Americans the fairy tale of how bad those “others” were, and how anyone but a white, devout Republican was bad for the country.
While Democrats seem to be gaining some ground in recent elections and instilling a little hope for 2026 there is the reality that none of his lies have been retracted, nothing he has destroyed has been renovated or replaced, he continues running the government by Executive Orders, bypassing Congress and seeking and getting support from the Supreme Court to overturn legal court decisions against him. We are marching in place and congratulating ourselves for not marching backward. Trump continues making negative, destructive history with the possibility of no future history books recording or reporting the demise of democracy, Rule of Law and ignoring the Constitution of the United States with red states ignoring their own Constitutions to please him.
Speaking of making history; in Indiana the Legislature was called back in session to begin the 2026 Legislature to replay the already denied 2025 gerrymandering of this state. Has any other state or the federal government “recalled” their Legislature to session for the following year to deal with a current year issue which was resolved by denying the redistricting years early of the designated post-census results?
All of Trump’s anti-isms can be summed up by denying the meaning of “woke” and anti_DEI is a Bingo cover all win for him.
HCR, today, details how corporate right wing media fed too many Americans the fairy tale of how bad those “others” were, and how anyone but a devout Republican was bad for the country.
The real problem we’re facing now is the control of media by supporters of Orange Jesus. Ellison wants to have over dominion over CNN, Netflix, Paramount, and HBO MAX. Since Netflix is not technically a network, the approval has to come from Justice. If there’s anyone out there who thinks Pam Bondi will see this as an antitrust case (which it clearly is) and pursue it from that angle, well I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can get you real cheap.