The Man is a Boor and a Bore

 

Let me say first that I still plan on voting for Trump in November. He’s done great things for the economy, for unemployment, new job creation, and has done a pretty good job on coronavirus, sanctioned Iran, supported Israel, as well as other achievements.

But my ability to listen to the man has been tapped out.

I know he can do whatever he wants when he calls a press conference, but he announced he was going to speak about China, which he did for about a total of (generously) 10 minutes of the 52 minutes he spoke, mostly at the end. I was about to tear out my hair listening to the same liturgy about all his achievements; I can almost recite them along with him. And don’t try to tell me that he’s doing it for all those people who’ve not heard him provide his long list of claims. By now, I’ll bet most people can recite them right along with me: more virus tests than anyone in the world, ventilators, respirators, facilities, testing leads to more cases, improved black employment, punishing China. It makes me crazy.

At this point, I realize he will not change his style or content. I know that he loves to hear himself talk. I know that he misses campaign rallies (which was essentially what he gave tonight). I know that he doesn’t care about persuading anyone to vote for him except his base: screw the independents or doubting Liberals.

I also know that many of you will want to persuade me to (1) stop listening to him; (2) accept his job performance, not his personality; and (3) just vote for him in November.

I will vote for him.

But I will go to the polls gritting my teeth.

Published in Elections
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  1. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    I don’t listen to direct statements from the President very often myself.

    I thought that his July 3 speech at Mt. Rushmore was very well done.  

    • #1
  2. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Susan Quinn: But my ability to listen to the man has been tapped out.

    There’s your problem. I very rarely listen to any politician. If I really need to know what they said there’s usually a transcript somewhere. 

    • #2
  3. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: But my ability to listen to the man has been tapped out.

    There’s your problem. I very rarely listen to any politician. If I really need to know what they said there’s usually a transcript somewhere.

    I rarely listen to him and I don’t tweet so I only see the one’s that make the news.

    • #3
  4. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    He must keep repeating himself to get across to the great unwashed of which you Susan are not.

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: But my ability to listen to the man has been tapped out.

    There’s your problem. I very rarely listen to any politician. If I really need to know what they said there’s usually a transcript somewhere.

    Excellent point, @mattbalzer. I think that’s what I will need to do. Then I can skip the aggravating parts.

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    PHCheese (View Comment):

    He must keep repeating himself to get across to the great unwashed of which you Susan are not.

    Thanks, @phcheese, but flattery won’t change my attitude.

    • #6
  7. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    • #7
  8. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    I don’t listen to direct statements from the President very often myself.

    I thought that his July 3 speech at Mt. Rushmore was very well done.

    One good speech does not an admirable person make, Jerry.

    • #8
  9. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    I totally understand @susanquinn. I support him as well but if it’s not prepared material, it is hard on the ears and like watching a train wreck.

    • #9
  10. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her.  But you need to respect and trust them.  In this case, I don’t.

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her. But you need to respect and trust them. In this case, I don’t.

    You’ve made that abundantly clear, Gary.

    • #11
  12. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    What if most of his base doesn’t tune in and he is speaking mostly to people he might convert.

    • #12
  13. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Susan Quinn:

    I also know that many of you will want to persuade me to (1) stop listening to him;

    I did. Quite some time ago. He’s good at reading the teleprompter, but so was Obama.

    (2) accept his job performance, not his personality;

    I’ve worked for and with polite, considerate, well-spoken wastes of space, and with rude, boorish, cantankerous, effective workaholics. Definitely prefer the latter.

    and (3) just vote for him in November.

    Well, yeah.

    I will vote for him.

    But I will go kicking and screaming to the polls.

     

    • #13
  14. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    What if most of his base doesn’t tune in and he is speaking mostly to people he might convert.

    If I were an independent, his boasting and repetition would turn me off. I don’t think he impresses people when he boasts about the best at something, or saying no one else in the world has done what he has done, over and over. Just sayin’ . . . 

    Do you like to hear people boast about themselves, @bobthompson. (That’s different than listing your accomplishments.)

    • #14
  15. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Percival (View Comment):

    I’ve worked for and with polite, considerate, well-spoken wastes of space, and with rude, boorish, cantankerous, effective workaholics. Definitely prefer the latter.

     

    I recognize this and I agree.

    • #15
  16. TreeRat Inactive
    TreeRat
    @RichardFinlay

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her. But you need to respect and trust them. In this case, I don’t.

    Unless he/she opposes Trump, right?

    • #16
  17. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Percival (View Comment):
    I’ve worked for and with polite, considerate, well-spoken wastes of space, and with rude, boorish, cantankerous, effective workaholics. Definitely prefer the latter.

    I’ve worked with difficult, cranky boors, too, @percival, but I can usually develop a personal rapport with them. It’s like in our working together we reach a kind of understanding, and they usually refrain from being so irritating with me. It’s like I’ve got their number, and they know I have their number, and they tone it down. But I don’t have the opportunity to do that with Trump.

    • #17
  18. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    What if most of his base doesn’t tune in and he is speaking mostly to people he might convert.

    If I were an independent, his boasting and repetition would turn me off. I don’t think he impresses people when he boasts about the best at something, or saying no one else in the world has done what he has done, over and over. Just sayin’ . . .

    Do you like to hear people boast about themselves, @bobthompson. (That’s different than listing your accomplishments.)

    Just sayin’. I don’t know who listens to him when he speaks. Someone here went to a rally and really thought it was good. I’ve watched portions of those and I think he does better because he spends more time on pointing out Biden’s fails than his own successes.

    • #18
  19. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Then again, I was an independent consultant most of my working life. One time I told a manager that he should fire an employee because the guy was so disruptive. I swear he kept him around because the guy represented his shadow side. I also got to the point with team conflict facilitations where I would tell the boss that he shouldn’t bother hiring me unless he was prepared to make changes we identified that needed to be made. (At that point I didn’t know what those changes would be.) And they knew I was serious. Interestingly enough, they usually at least initiated the changes. (I had no power to make them change, but they realized they’d be throwing their money away otherwise.)

    • #19
  20. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    TreeRat (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her. But you need to respect and trust them. In this case, I don’t.

    Unless he/she opposes Trump, right?

    No.  I think that you misunderstood me.  I don’t respect or trust Trump and I find his character, integrity and capacity lacking.  I don’t need to like someone to vote for them, but they must have character, integrity and capacity for me to respect and trust them.  Trump doesn’t.  

    • #20
  21. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):
    I’ve worked for and with polite, considerate, well-spoken wastes of space, and with rude, boorish, cantankerous, effective workaholics. Definitely prefer the latter.

    I’ve worked with difficult, cranky boors, too, @percival, but I can usually develop a personal rapport with them. It’s like in our working together we reach a kind of understanding, and they usually refrain from being so irritating with me. It’s like I’ve got their number, and they know I have their number, and the tone it down. But I don’t have the opportunity to do that with Trump.

    In the beginning of Anne of Avonlea, Anne Shirley meets her next door neighbor.

    It’s the beginning of one of my favorite relationships in the books. Him and Diana Barry’s Great-Aunt are some of the best characters in the stories.

    Cranky, cantankerous, boorish, cold, anti-social… it doesn’t seem to make much difference to me if we are “kindred spirits.” Still think Trump and I would get along fine in person.

    • #21
  22. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Stina (View Comment):
    Cranky, cantankerous, boorish, cold, anti-social… it doesn’t seem to make much difference to me if we are “kindred spirits.” Still think Trump and I would get along fine in person.

    As I said a bit earlier, I might very well get along with him in person, too, Stina. But I have to watch him and listen to him at a distance. It’s just hard for me to do.

    • #22
  23. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Gary Robbins (View Comment): I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her. But you need to respect and trust them.

    Hmmmmmm:

    “[Biden is a…] pure demogog—out to save Am. from the Reagan Doctrine.” – President Ronald Reagan (diary entry)

    • #23
  24. 9thDistrictNeighbor Member
    9thDistrictNeighbor
    @9thDistrictNeighbor

    I love listening to him.  He is a New Yorker who plays the press like a Stradivarius.  The press is out to destroy him.  Why shouldn’t he let them sit in the 90 degree Washington sun on a nice July afternoon?  He was generous to take any questions.

    I found it interesting that the one reporter who apparently was from OAN seemed to not be wearing a mask (because she was 20 feet away from POTUS and outdoors) and thus could be clearly heard, was shown only from the back.  

    • #24
  25. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    I agree with you.  I absolutely can’t listen to him unless he is reading a prepared speech.  And it has often made me think wistfully over the past 3 years, that if he were a better speaker and could temper his speech when necessary, he would go down as one of the greats.  But he turns a lot of people off, like someone’s boorish uncle, and that will cost him votes.  But it won’t cost him mine.  Like you, I’ve accepted that he is who he is.

    • #25
  26. Dotorimuk Coolidge
    Dotorimuk
    @Dotorimuk

    I totally agree. But he’s the last man standing.

    I don’t like him. I think he’s totally failed on a lot of things, and succeeded on some. He’s a big spender. He’s an even bigger talker.

    But then there’s Biden and the people pulling his strings, and the hell they threaten to unleash on  a daily basis.

    Go Trump!

     

    • #26
  27. Richard Fulmer Inactive
    Richard Fulmer
    @RichardFulmer

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    What if most of his base doesn’t tune in and he is speaking mostly to people he might convert.

    If I were an independent, his boasting and repetition would turn me off. I don’t think he impresses people when he boasts about the best at something, or saying no one else in the world has done what he has done, over and over. Just sayin’ . . .

    Do you like to hear people boast about themselves, @bobthompson. (That’s different than listing your accomplishments.)

    If he could just clean up his act for the next four months.  Tweet about Biden’s shift to the left, zero in on his crazy patchwork platform (anti-energy, anti-growth, open borders, reparations, etc., etc.), stop whining, stop the conspiracy theories, and get some real work done.  Make the campaign about Biden and his policy proposals and not about either himself or who he’s mad at today.  Do that, and maybe he’s got a chance in November.  But, of course, he’s incapable of doing any of that.  So, the only hope is that Biden crashes and burns in the debates, or that his Bernie Sanders impersonation scares off voters.

    • #27
  28. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: But my ability to listen to the man has been tapped out.

    There’s your problem. I very rarely listen to any politician. If I really need to know what they said there’s usually a transcript somewhere.

    Excellent point, @mattbalzer. I think that’s what I will need to do. Then I can skip the aggravating parts.

    You can also remind yourself that he’s campaigning and when he’s doing a press conference his words will be filmed. The left has found a way to cut off his public access so the press conferences or presentations are all he’s got for the moment. Consider it campaigning. That’s what it is. You don’t have to listen – you know what positions he’s representing. Very few campaign speeches are worth listening to since Lincoln/Douglass. 

    • #28
  29. thelonious Member
    thelonious
    @thelonious

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m reflecting on why I wrote this post. Normally I don’t write posts that will cause tensions between myself and others on Ricochet. But I just needed to get this frustration off my chest. I think that there was a part of me that wanted to see if we as members had grown enough to listen to a person who has good reason to be frustrated (even if you disagree with me) and can take my comments, just as they are, not making me a bad or evil person. I must admit that there is a part of me that still wishes that Trump would change. I really do want to like him, because I know he has good qualities and I acknowledge those, too. Also, I think it’s important to point out that it is possible to dislike the man and still vote for him. I think a lot of people feel they have to like a man to vote for him. I don’t.

    I don’t think that you have to like someone to vote for him or her. But you need to respect and trust them. In this case, I don’t.

    I look at candidates as who’s going to do the least amount of damage. I don’t trust any of em. 

    • #29
  30. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    As I just commented in the PIT:

    My biggest complaint about Trump is that he’s cutting his own throat because he’s completely incapable of making an intellectual case for any of his policies, almost all of which I support. If he’d just shut the [redacted] up he’d probably be coasting to a 5 or 10 point win.

    I am starting to believe some of the people who say that he really doesn’t want to win another term. I do believe he did not expect (or want!) to win the nomination in 2016. He just managed to start a wave and then it carried him along.

    Nevertheless, I will crawl over broken glass to vote for him, because the alternative is Biden and the Nutjob Democrats.

     

    • #30
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