Trump's (blank)hole comment.....

[JaneV2.0]

When all else fails, impugning your opponents' motives can at least offer some measure of solace.

It's not hard to find evidence that many right-wingers are flaming hypocrites, but
heaven knows, I can use all the solace I can get.

[LDAHL]

It's not hard to find evidence that many right-wingers are flaming hypocrites, but
heaven knows, I can use all the solace I can get.

I’m sure you get something out of it; but is it an argument?

[Tammy]

Exactly Willismsmith! Thanks. 😄

[iris lilies]

It's not hard to find evidence that many right-wingers are flaming hypocrites, but
heaven knows, I can use all the solace I can get.

Most of the “hypocrite” charges are a matter of framing the argument and priorities we emphasize.

But go on Jane, tell me my hypocitical views. Pick three. Go!

[JaneV2.0]

Most of the “hypocrite” charges are a matter of framing the argument and priorities we emphasize.

But go on Jane, tell me my hypocitical views. Pick three. Go!

You'll notice I used the qualifier "many." I'm sure no one here on SLN has anything but the purest and most hypocrisy-free motives.

[Alan]

For a lot of Republicans, that veneration of the Constitution is just a pose, much like Christianity, "family values," support for the troops and personal freedoms, "law and order," and others. It's really about money and control, as far as I can tell.

You may be right about the money and control part, that is if by control you mean that the limits the constitution puts on the government should be jealously guarded, and by money you mean that the government's proclivity to see approximately half of it's citizens as a profit center and the other half as voters to be bought with the proceeds from the former should be discouraged.

I think that pretty much sums up the average Republican's motivations, although I can see how progressives might intentionally misinterpret loudly and frantically, as a limited government has a lesser ability to enforce ideologies.

[jp1]

I take issue with a few of your premises.

As far as most conservatives being "perfectly fine" with the president, I would say a substantial number are not and never were: from the "Never-Trumpers" to those who hold their nose and make do with what is available, in the same way a lot of Democrats would have if the election had turned out differently. Questioning the judiciary was hardly considered an existential threat to our freedoms when President Obama wagged his finger at SCOTUS over Citizens United in a State of the Union Address. I personally would be more be more fearful for our liberties if all of government were in perfect accord. And as far as an alternating rocky/cozy relationship with the press is concerned, we're already well into our third century of that with no fatal effects.

I see little possibility that Mr. Trump can topple the Republic by destroying confidence in the constitution. If anything, the Trump Administration will highlight the benefits of the built-n limitations on any one component's power. While the "Resistance" may often be vocal to the point of hysteria, they don't appear to me to be the stuff revolutions are made of.

Fair enough. Obviously everyone brings their own past, own beliefs, hopes and fears, and their own point on the continuum of optimism/pessimism to how they perceive things. I wish I were as optimistic as you but I've always had a fair amount of pessimism.

I don't think, though, that the "resistance" is hoping for a revolution (if I'm understanding your last sentence correctly.) At it's heart I think the resistance wants the same thing as you, the continuance of our institutions in a stable, trust-able fashion. It's just that we're concerned that if we don't fight these gross breaches of our norms that everything will in fact come tumbling down around us.

[bae]

You'll notice I used the qualifier "many."

"Many" is of course a bit of sophistry.

How "many" is "many"? 40% of America seems to self-identify as "conservative", which we might choose to take as a proxy for "right-wing". There are ~246 million adults in the USA. That's ~100 million people who are "right-wing".

How many of those 100 million are "flaming hypocrites"? What *portion* of the 100 million is that? How does that compare to other political leanings?

I mean, yes, if there is a population of 100 million to draw non-random samples out of, it's pretty easy to come up with 1 million extreme cases, and use that to form a narrative "this represents the entire population". Yet those extreme cases, if the trait you are looking for is normally-distributed in the population, are more than two sigma out from the median....

[Williamsmith]

Fair enough.............It's just that we're concerned that if we don't fight these gross breaches of our norms that everything will in fact come tumbling down around us.

We survived the commies........we’ll survive this.

[jp1]

We survived the commies........we’ll survive this.

The commies didn't scare me. I knew how to duck and cover.