Trump has never been worse — but his approval is surging, why?

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by Space_Time, Mar 28, 2020.

  1. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    1. I agree with your #1 above.
    2. Biden is competent, just aging. Trump is not competent. Both would have competent advisors around them to help whenever necessary. Biden would listen. Trump doesn't. We've got a lot of good, professional government employees in DC, who can handle almost anything, given the opportunity. Trump spent much of his tenure as President weakening or eliminating those professionals & their departments. Biden would do far better. Biden skunks Trump.
     
  2. Rugglestx

    Rugglestx Well-Known Member

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    To me Biden is clearly showing signs of mental lapses. I think the office would only accelerate that. Not a good mix.
     
  3. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    When Republicans used to include moderate conservatives, I could & did understand their views & reasons for voting the way they did. But since 2010, & the uncompromising Tea Party extremist take over of that party, I've gradually become increasingly incapable of fathoming conservative thinking. Today, I feel they've become so extreme, they no longer have any rational connection to the human or ethical values they used to say formed their core. Now, democratic compromise is completely rejected & viewed as a "weakness." But since any successful democracy requires the willingness & ability to compromise, today's Republican conservatives are in a very practical sense, the enemies of democracy. Their extremism on the issues, coupled with their refusal to compromise, make them so. I am sorry to say I see no connection between today's Republican conservatives & the human values I & their predecessors valued. :(
     
  4. Space_Time

    Space_Time Well-Known Member

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    You may not remember but Max Boot was a conservative columnist until he got 'woke':
     
  5. btthegreat

    btthegreat Well-Known Member

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    You are putting the blame in the wrong place, but you end up where I do anyway. The voters in both parties, keep picking politicians at the fringes over politicians that are moderates, compromisers, or centrists. The most hyper partisans win legislative districts and then they gerrymander the districts to magnify that same affect in the next 4 elections. State Houses and Congress are total war zones and ideological warriors is exactly what voters appear to want when they make their choices in the primaries. Soo Dems should keep giving them what they want until they decide they want legislators instead of these lockstep soldiers of the far left and right. We should sell what they will buy and as long as obstruction and partisanship is fashionable, that is the fabric out of which we should create our clothes. Its on them not either party.
     
  6. Lil Mike

    Lil Mike Well-Known Member

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    The Tea Party is dead, and has been since before Trump came down the golden escalator. It's "extremism" was fiscal, which is now nearly as dead as it is the Democratic Party. I'm curious just what positions, if any, that you find "extreme" within the Republican Party.
     
  7. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    Generally speaking, I agree. It's the extremists who are responsible for the mess we're currently in.
     
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  8. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    I find many of their current stances "extreme." I'll list a few:
    1. Republican determination not to compromise on any issue, & calling compromise itself a sign of weakness. These are extremist views that don't serve the idea of America as a practicing democracy. All democracies depend on constructive compromises for their success or even survival. Extremists of any kind who reject compromise as a weakness, are undermining the foundations of democracy, & encouraging the rise of authoritarianism.
    2. Republican hypocritical charges that Democrats use the courts to interpret the law in ways that benefit liberal views & lifestyles, while they themselves make it their top priority to install conservative judges in courts nationwide, who they believe will do precisely the same thing for them.
    3. Republican dishonesty in claiming they are Pro-Life because they want to save every fetus, while never relenting in their support of more guns for more Americans, regardless of how many innocent Americans, including children, are savagely murdered by sociopaths approved for gun purchases. I find it difficult to understand how this dichotomy demonstrates any real concern for human life.
    4. Republicans seem to think the only answer to criminal behavior is longer & longer incarcerations. They believe harsh punishment is the ultimate answer, & often attack & demean Democratic attempts to use positive programs to re-train criminals for re-entering society. But harsh incarcerations have been proven to be training grounds for hardening & intensifying criminal behaviors, that get released on society after those inmates are discharged. Republican extremism here only makes the problems worse.
    5. Republicans fawn over capitalist business enterprises as if they were the saviors of humanity, while dismissing & demeaning government as a natural enemy of the people. They think the best governments are run as if they were businesses. But the purpose of businesses are to make profits for their owners, while the purpose of government is to provide services to the general public. The purposes of the two are vastly different, & Trump is a handy example of how electing businessmen to head our government is not a great idea. Trump thinks he's the elected head of the gigantic business we call the federal government, & he runs it like that. But in almost every instance worthy of consideration, he's mishandled every action for every issue, & made things worse. He evaluates everything in terms of its monetary value rather than its national or personal value as a service. Governments thrive when leaders utilize the best ideas of everyone involved in whatever issue dominate at the time. Trump distrusts government & its professional staff, intensely, & rejects their ideas out of hand, preferring to trust his "gut" instead. That makes for incredibly poor government actions that do more harm than good. Trump's distrust of government & its workers provides a sorry example for our young people to follow.

    There's much more, but no time. :(
     
  9. Lil Mike

    Lil Mike Well-Known Member

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    I found it interesting that none of your "positions" were actually positions at all, but merely merely your opinions of Republican attitudes.

    The GOP has been pro life for two generations. In what way has that position moved to extremism?

    Republican "no compromise" is simply an opinion not supported by facts, unless you think the GOP wanted a $10 billion loan to the U.S. Postal Service, Extension of $48 million in sex-ed funding, $25 million in “salaries and expenses” for the House of Representatives
    , 25 million to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, $75 million in grants to the National Endowment for the Arts, $75 million in grants to the National Endowment for the Humanities, and $75 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting all Republican priorities that Trump browbeat the Democrats into accepting.

    "Fawning over capitalist business enterprises..." What? Unclear what that means, and what is different from the Reagan era.

    Republicans want judges who actually believe in the laws and constitution, and will make rulings on that basis. Liberal judges don't want to be tied down to that, meaning the entire point of having judges uphold the law is essentially meaningless to them. Again, how has that changed since the Reagan era?

    It's telling that you couldn't name a single political position that the Republicans are more "extreme" on.
     

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