Decency, Trump and Obama.

[Dill]

(03-13-2017, 03:43 AM)hollodero Wrote:
- So if one can argue that the president acts as mouthpiece for Breitbart or Alex Jones (who now obviously is some kind of Trump adviser, probably on Sandy Hook conspiracy and gay frog issues), sensible people might actually think a bit harder about that one. While, as is demonstrated widely, they don't really are inclined to do so regarding other quite valid points (valid to us at least), as your follow-up post shows. They seem to snap back to the defending state; which, of course, is mind-boggling.

I would not say that Trump acts as a mouthpiece for Breitbart or Alex jones so much as I would say both respond primarily to the same political base. 

For them the issue is less Sandy Hook than immigration and Muslims first, then after that a range of threats to white working class masculine identity, ranging from feminism to smart liberals who ignore their issues to gun control.  I am speaking of the "core" here. There are also Trump voters who, uninformed but hurting because their jobs are gone and they lack healthcare, took a leap in the dark and voted for the very party now primed to remove the last social protections they had. They will turn from Trump when his healthcare scam hits them, but the core will not.

That political base are not necessarily all avid followers of Breitbart or Infowars. Many may not even use the internet. but they are fellow travelers in their incapacity to vet conspiracy theories that support policies they would like to see--like the exclusion of (Latino) immigrants and Muslims.

That's why the 3,000,0000 to 5,000,000 claim does not undermine Trump's credibility for that group. Rather, for them, the credibility of institutions based upon social science is undermined where they challenge Trump and Infowars. 

If you don't really understand the social skill and "government literacy" it takes to get branches and department of government working together to effect policy, then it may not set off alarm bells when a candidate post's pictures of other candidates' "ugly" wives or parades Clinton accusers at a national debate, or likens the CIA to Nazis or accuses his predecessor of felonious wire-tapping and asks the Senate and House to investigate. A president can just do things, right? Doesn't have to gain support for his policies or even listen to people who don't agree. If 1,000 state department employees sign a letter of protest and critical mid-level managers resign, it is not because they see real problems ahead, but because they are biased, like the MSM.

Right wing radio pounds this audience daily with claims that Trump is resisted only because people (the Democrats and "establishment" Republicans) don't want to see "change," not because knowledgeable people everywhere recognize he is doing harm to the nation.  If anyone pointed out to Trump that his Muslim ban EO would not stand up in the courts, his hangers on could just step up and repeat--"They said he wouldn't run, then they said he wouldn't win the primary, then they said he wouldn't win the election . . . ." --convincing Trump himself that he need not listen.

What will happen when this guy has to address the N Korean problem now? Will we have anymore leverage with China at all? Maybe he can get Taiwan to stop trading with them.