b. traven
After the events of the last week, with the turmoil in the Trump administration, I began to wonder how Trump supporters were reacting. It would be interesting to know if there is a possibility that a true believer in MAGA (Make America Great Again) was ready to second guess the great, orange leader.
I had an occasion to explore this sooner than expected when I ran into a crusty old guy who has done some work with me in the past. He is a farm manager, hunter, fisherman, outdoors man – a 70 year old crustacean. In my mind, he is the prototype of the true Trump supporter. Not an ideologue just believes in ‘getting things done’ and does not spend too much time on how that happens in politics. I seldom talk politics with him, but since he is a farm manager in California and employs Mexican labor I asked if any of Trumps policies were having an effect on his labor force.
Well, that opened the door to a reaction that astounded me. He’s a little man, but a straight shooter. He’s not a reader, but a realistic business man tied to the land for his business. I have figured all along that he fit the demographic of a Trump voter.
He burst out with the most emotion I had ever seen from him, with the exception of when he is under the pressure of harvest time. He said, “That crazy guy. I voted for him, but he is nuts. He says one thing one day, but then the opposite thing the next day. He’s a very bad president. I’m sorry I voted for him.” He added that they are all worried about where Trump’s Presidency may lead.
There are still millions who are not so clear thinking, but based on my small sampling there is hope out there!
The Contrary Perspective 
I also had a similar experience with a Trump voter recently. My friend is an elderly white man and evangelical Christian who had never voted before the 2016 election. His church urged him to vote for Trump, but he has had increasing regret ever since. Now, when the news comes on, he switches the TV channel in disgust.
It’s already become impossible to keep track of all the insanity of the current administration, and I think even those of us who knew all along he would be very bad news are a bit taken aback. So I certainly won’t attempt to list many specifics. I must say, though, that I sat bolt upright yesterday (August 1) upon learning the head honcho of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) felt compelled to issue a memo to his employees suggesting they’d be acting DISHONORABLY (his choice of word) if they followed the president’s advice to treat suspects (“thugs” was Trump’s term) with far less than kid gloves. This chap may be the next to see his head roll in the musical chairs Cabinet. When Trump spoke of “throwing thugs into the back of police wagons” I couldn’t help but think he was insulting the family of Freddie Gray, whose neck was “mysteriously” and fatally broken while in custody of Baltimore cops. A crime for which all indicted cops have been acquitted as insult keeps compounding injury in this racist society. I’d say the bottom line is we now have a THUG-IN-CHIEF residing (when not at one of his resort properties) at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Sadly, I must also report that I see no evidence of any significant decline in the enthusiasm of Trump’s supporters. The crazier his behavior, the more loudly many will cheer!
But have the Democrats learned anything? Will they actually run a decent candidate in 2020? Or will we see another Clinton/Gore establishment type? More neo-liberal economics and neo-con foreign policy?
Establishment Democrats are just Republican-lites, dedicated to raising money while posing as anti-Trump. And if we get another one of those nominated by the party in 2020, we may get eight years of the orange poseur.
There are reports afloat that the DNC is shopping for women candidates for 2018 midterms who WON’T defend a woman’s right to choose to terminate pregnancy. Whether they’ll be required to publicly identify themselves as “pro-life” remains to be seen. Since I don’t support either Establishment party, this doesn’t wound me deeply…but still it nauseates me!! On principle!
Here’s Matt Taibbi’s take on any ” awakening”.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/45079-focus-qits-just-an-embarrassing-spectacle-at-this-pointq-matt-taibbi-on-trumps-america
Thanks for link to the Taibbi piece, traven. I don’t follow that author, as I normally don’t have access, but he seems pretty astute. At this point in US history, I think any talk of this being “a democracy” is pretty foolish. We’ve been an oligarchy for quite some time, fast descending into flat-out Kleptocracy. Thoroughly corrupt “leadership” and a largely spineless Congress. When a citizen feels it’s necessary to appeal to a Federal Court to try to force a government agency to live up to its responsibilities (I’m thinking most of environmental issues here), I think this tells us all we need to know about the current state of affairs.
Politics has become Reality TV. With 24×7 news where nuance can’t sell it has to be hysteria all the time. Everything is Breaking News. And the more hysterical the reporting the better for business. How can anyone believe the Times or the Washington Post after all those breathless stories of Niger Yellowcake and aluminum tubes? How can anyone believe anything the government and its intelligence agencies say after Colin Powell’s absurd performance at the UN? How can anyone believe that the rule of law exists when James Clapper is caught blatantly lying under oath about mass surveillance and he gets a pass?
What does it say when the only people calling for not meddling around the world are Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul? Where are the liberal voices against blowing up some poor godforsaken place which the majority of Americans can’t identify on a map?
We are living in Alice’s “through the looking glass” realm. But it’s no fun as a reality. Lewis Carroll meets George Orwell! Forgive me, but I’ve forgotten which Alice character declares “Words mean exactly what I say they mean.” I have trained myself over the decades of my adulthood to read between the lines of what politicians and opinion-molders in the mass media spew. But I know I am a minority among minorities. There is one new wrinkle in the picture, though: the declaration by a sitting POTUS that “The media are the Enemy of the People.” Nixon condemned the media when the details of “Watergate” started getting out, but nothing as sweeping as Trump’s declaration of war. Where we go from here I’ll not even venture to guess, beyond a strong hunch that we’ve not seen the last torchlight parade in the streets of the USA.