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That interview with the store owner is really something else. I think this shows a problem in our public education system, though he might have gone to an elite Ivy League school in New England for all I know. Regardless, he nicely illustrates how people are sometimes completely unable to see the horrible disconnects within (or the absolute insanity of) their positions.
As for your discussion with the first guest, I could never buy the ticket for the rebranded red train either, Michael. Like you, I really tried to find a box car where I’d fit, but even though I love many a rider who figured out how to hop on board after the primary (and who would normally have saved a seat for me), that proved to be a completely impossible and bewildering prospect. The only thing I could do was wave at the riders speeding by.
The truth is, I feel like I have been walking in the lonely weeds for a long while since, even when I hear the red train making toot-tooting sounds in the distance that I find familiar and good. (We all know the train has sometimes moved in the right direction, whoever is driving, and I’m glad for that. I am. Even though I keep walking.)
Of course, I can’t get on the blue train either, because that one’s full of crazy.
I’m even allergic to the apples Billy is selling.
Trump Train cars that were available to board during the general election campaign:
Used Apple Store: “Our bigotry only extends to Republicans. We dislike others (e.g., butchers), but we only admit that we hate all Republicans.”
We’re Used Apple Store. We’re nice. (@0:11)
That car derailed and was replaced with the Grab your Guns car and the Amnesty Car. Also the Planned Parenthood does good work car.
Not during the general election campaign.
Of course, that isn’t really true, is it? You could get on either train. You could also choose neither, which you did, but the result of that is that you’re not affecting the outcome. I understand not wanting to support either option. At the same time, since there’s no third choice, refusing to endorse either is functionally equivalent to granting tacit consent to both. That’s not necessarily an unreasonable position. It makes sense if you think there’s no significant difference between the degree of harm which the two trains would cause, and I believed that in 2016. I don’t now.
.
Actually, PP does do some good work. That isn’t false. It’s just that the bad work dwarfs the good. Ivanka tried to negotiate a deal with Cecile to split the two apart, which was naive. Still, if it’d worked I’d happily support higher funding for the part that did contraception, pap smears and STD treatment.
Remmber that he also said women should be punished for getting abortions. He’s not going to become pro-choice. States can now legally defund PP. That is progress. The pain capable bill could not get past a filibuster, which is not Trump’s fault. The federal defunding isn’t either. That is because of the two lady squishes in the Senate: Murkowski & Collins.
You’re wrong to see Trump as an opponent. He’s just woefully uninformed, inexperienced, and incurious. While that isn’t good, I better than someone who deliberately works against you. He’s predisposed to be on your side, but he doesn’t always understand what that is.
Look, I’ve certainly been wrong before, but I think you (and Howe) are looking at this the wrong way. Remember when immigration hawks burned their MAGA hats? I think that the problem is that he thinks standing up to the NRA will help him politically much more than it’ll hurt him.
He’s been getting mixed messages from his base. People on Fox have argued for the age change. Last week @michaelgraham was saying he should ignore the gun nuts and do something. As a result, I think that the MSM was able to trick him into thinking that only a tiny fraction of the population and the professional ‘gun lobby’ will object.
As long as he sees that the measures he talked about won’t make gun control advocates any more likely to support him and his supporters threaten to quit him, then he’ll correct course.
People I love got on those cars, and that’s fine. I understood why they did, and I still understand why they did. I was more concerned with who was in the engine room, so I didn’t climb on board.
And that guy disgusts me.
It was very predictable that some of the cars would decouple from the train.
If you think my one vote in Texas would have affected the outcome in either direction, I have much more power than I ever realized.
Still, I weighed all my options. I deemed both trains as malfunctioning. I got on one of those third party cars, which doesn’t have an engine… just two people pumping a handle up and down on the track.
Thereby, I did my duty as a citizen, which is the only thing anyone can ask of me.
Oh! And I didn’t throw rocks at the bigger trains. (Maybe pebbles) :)
It doesn’t fit their business model, and it would have highlighted exactly how essential abortion is to them, a primary service. But I’d’ve supported a complete separation as well. I can see PP does some good things, too. The murder kinda mitigates it.
I don’t see him as an opponent. I see him as a weathervane. Let the wind blow in a different direction, so goes he. I can’t follow wind… even if in a train..
He has been steadfast on the nomination of constitutionalist judges – even more than GWBush was.
He has been steadfast in his opposition to burdensome regulation – even more than Reagan was.
He has been steadfast in promoting tax cuts.
You just feel better about yourself for criticizing him.
LOL- I guess pebbles can’t hurt anything. That’s essentially what I did too. I had serious concerns about the kind of damage Trump might do. So far <knock on wood> he’s been better than I feared.
I don’t think it’s as random as the wind. I think it’s more like he’s a giant mastiff that loves to fight but isn’t very bright. You have to be very clear about what you want and you may have to tell him over and over again before he figures out what to do. If he does it, then he expects a treat and lots of affirmation. If you’re against him, there’s no chance to get him to do anything you want. You’re lucky if he just growls at you. He can smell hostility and warns you off with a lot of barking. Taunt him and he will bite if you get close enough
Pretty sure I’m doing a fabulous job of
this ‘do something’ about school shoot-
ings trick. A tremendous job. The best.
Ask anyone. Why am I not getting
pats on the head?
Um. I like all those things and have said so. Lots. Yay for that, President Trump! I approve!
But even if I hadn’t written about how those things are good things, whatever opinions I hold about the president have absolutely nothing what-so-ever to do with how I feel about me or any need I might have to “feel better.”
After all, I also don’t care if people love his every move. I mean, it doesn’t impact my feelings about those people either if I know them in the real world, though I may argue with them about what I think are rationalizations on their part.
This is because I believe we can all assess this fellow differently and still get along just fine. Free societies are all about the proliferation of different opinions, right???
To summarize: when I criticize President Trump, it is because he is imminently criticizable, and I believe the majority of Trump supporters know this. (At least, that’s what they say, though they close ranks around him as well.)
If I have to pretend Donald Trump is something he isn’t to be accepted by some more ardent Trump supporters, then those Trump supporters have a lot in common with the apple guy who scorns a group of people simply because they don’t agree with him.
But then in the real world I also don’t hold Democrats’ votes/opinions against them, though I may argue with them, too, about what I think are rationalizations or poor policy choices. I might even give furtively nasty looks to someone wearing a “Not my President” shirt because… gosh… that’s stupid.
Geez.
@contrarian compared Trump to a giant mastiff because of the blazing displays of intellect!!!
Contrarian has a sense of humor.
I can work with that. :)
And I can happily admit Trump’s been less bad than I feared, too.
I’m laughing my hashtag off.
I’m sorry Lois, I mistook you for JuliaBlaschke. My sincere apologies.
Well, it doesn’t make me feel better about myself for criticizing him. It makes you feel better to cast aspersions on people who criticize him.