Seriously, 45 has the intelligence of maybe a 12 year old-and not a very bright one

[JaneV2.0]

I think goldensmom is simply too nice to tell you. I don't think her comment was directed at anyone thinking he was a horrible person, it's more likely the bit about not understanding how any intelligent person could not be just as bothered as you. You gotta admit that's a pretty superior attitude, and if it helps I could probably help you understand, some of us ignorant deplorables simply aren't as emotional as our betters. I honestly believe that's why we can't be Democrats, our limited, yet rational minds won't allow it.

I'm arguably great at logic, but it's hard not to get emotional when everything decent is being torn down around you--environmental laws, fair immigration policies, safety regulations, school equity, tax fairness, affordable health care, voting rights...and the man in charge is openly courting the worst kinds of dictators (Duterte! Putin!) and snubbing longtime allies like Angela Merkel. There seems to be a new outrage every day. I'd really like to think we will survive this.

[JaneV2.0]

It has nothing to do with not being rational versus emotional. How can any rational person vote for Trump after seeing how he acted during the campaign?

Good point--his mocking of a disabled newsman would have been enough for me. Or his many recorded misogynistic boasts. And he's ramped way up from there.

[CathyA]

I realize that I shouldn't have used the word "intelligence". I should have used a different word, like maybe anyone who has any sensitivity to Trump's inconsistencies and logic.

Would that be less of a superior attitude? Another thing is much gets lost on the flat screen. It probably sounded a lot more arrogant, than I really sound. Yes, we can have a big difference in what we perceive as acceptable. I don't have any feelings of kindness or mercy for Trump. Because of who he appears to be to me, I think he's a very selfish, self centered, manipulative person who, like Jane said, is tearing down many things that are good in this world.

What happens to countries who have citizens who can't or won't speak out about injustice when they see it? How can we just sit back and be "kind"?

[CathyA]

I think goldensmom is simply too nice to tell you. I don't think her comment was directed at anyone thinking he was a horrible person, it's more likely the bit about not understanding how any intelligent person could not be just as bothered as you. You gotta admit that's a pretty superior attitude, and if it helps I could probably help you understand, some of us ignorant deplorables simply aren't as emotional as our betters. I honestly believe that's why we can't be Democrats, our limited, yet rational minds won't allow it.

What can I say? We have different genetics and different minds. Some of us have more emotion than others. It's not always bad. In fact, I would have missed out on helping a lot of people in my nursing career if I hadn't had such an emotional nature.
It doesn't mean I can't accept "facts", or be scientific in my assessment of some things. In fact, in many areas, I'm very analytical. It doesn't have to be extremes on either end of the continuum. And you are not an ignorant deplorable, nor am I better than you.

[LDAHL]

I come to this as an old-fashioned conservative. I'd love to see another Reagan on the scene (or better yet, another Coolidge).

I hold the view that Donald Trump was a bad candidate and is shaping up to be a bad president. I thought the best choice last November was the guy who didn't know what Aleppo was. It doesn't follow from that, however, that I believe all Trump voters are irredeemable, deplorable, racist ignoramuses who are incapable of determining their own best interest. That view strikes me as almost comically supercilious. It certainly doesn't seem to be a winning electoral tactic. Smug isn't a strategy.

On the other hand, I also have a problem with anti-anti-Trumpism simply on the grounds that it upsets all the right people. The enemy of my enemy may simply be another enemy, and there's little to be gained for the conservative cause (at least as I conceive it) by supporting Trump against people dramatically styling themselves as "the resistance". Opposing identity politics with a different version of the same thing doesn't interest me. If the GOP is rendered useless as the best vehicle for American Conservatism, we may need to find a different one.

[bae]

Well said, LDAHL!

[early morning]

LDAHL, while I disagree with your politics (personally, I think Reagan was the worst president we had in the last century), I agree that not ALL Trump voters are

irredeemable, deplorable, racist ignoramuses who are incapable of determining their own best interest

. I actually know quite a few who are horrified by his actions of late and several have actually voiced their embarrassment at having been taken in by his celebrity status and "businessman of the people" pose. They aren't likely to become liberal, and that's ok - but I think they will be less likely to jump on a bandwagon just because it seems to have picked up steam (unless of course it's digital, lol...).

[CathyA]

LDAHL, while I disagree with your politics (personally, I think Reagan was the worst president we had in the last century), I agree that not ALL Trump voters are
. I actually know quite a few who are horrified by his actions of late and several have actually voiced their embarrassment at having been taken in by his celebrity status and "businessman of the people" pose. They aren't likely to become liberal, and that's ok - but I think they will be less likely to jump on a bandwagon just because it seems to have picked up steam (unless of course it's digital, lol...).

When I hear people who voted for him be horrified by his actions, it is those people who I feel better about........because they are responding in a manner that seems reasonable to me. Those people give me hope that Trump can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes. (So is this statement by me bad?) When Trump says things that make no sense, or indicate he doesn't know what's going on, or doesn't care for the condition of many of the people who voted for him, but people continue to say he's doing a great job..........that really concerns me....that they're holding on to him, when he is distancing himself from them and their possibilities.

[Rogar]

It has nothing to do with not being rational versus emotional. How can any rational person vote for Trump after seeing how he acted during the campaign?

I saw a poll from the last couple of days saying the Trump approval rating among Republicans is 84%, even though his overall approval is at record low. It's not so much that people voted for him, but that he continues to have support from his base in spite of all that's transpired since the election. Or maybe it's just that they don't like the liberal view point and are aligning themselves with the ideology of the party party rather than a person. I personally think T is way over his head intellectually, morally, and especially with technical issues, but there is a large bunch of people whose brains are wired differently. who had a different upbringing, or came from a different sort of culture that thinks he is doing just fine. I can only grasp part of that, but I don't think it can be totally explained away thinking they are irrational and I'm not.

[UltraliteAngler]

I saw a poll from the last couple of days saying the Trump approval rating among Republicans is 84%, even though his overall approval is at record low.

Depressing but not surprising at all.