Why Do Trump Voters Still Support Him?

Why do Trump supporters still support him in spite of the overwhelming amount evidence of not only his treason, incompetence, and corruption but his generally horrific character?  It's an often asked question.  And to be clear his character traits are not debatable at this point.  There is a mountain of factual and video evidence staring everyone in the face that Trump is simultaneously:

• Sexist
• Racist 
• Hateful
• Vengeful
• A liar  
• Corrupt 
• Ignorant
• Beholden to a foreign power
• Boastful 
• A philanderer 
• Cheater 

Yet his supporters still continue to support him to the toon of 36% to 41% of the population.  What's more, his supporters are people who in many cases call themselves Christian value voters.  So what gives?  Several theories have been given:

Theory 1:  Judges and Tax Cuts
This theory is that Trump voters will support whatever he does in order to get conservative right-wing judges on the Supreme Court and tax cuts.  The problem with this theory is that it immediately fails by half because Trump voters don't actually receive benefits from his tax cuts.   Trump voters, by and large, are overwhelmingly NOT millionaires.  As a result, they don't get more than a couple hundred dollars a year from his tax cuts.  Conversely, the damage done to the deficit and the financial outlook of the US Government, and the resulting attacks on Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs greatly and directly affect Trump voters.  Contrary to popular belief, and the conservative meme, Trump voters benefit greatly from food stamps.  So if they're voting for billionaire tax cuts they're voting directly against their own interests.  I don't buy it...

Second half of the theory is that they want conservative judges.  But for what issue(s)?  The two that jump immediately to mind are abortion and gun rights.  But only 30% of Republican men want to ban abortion.  Some 43% of Republican women do, but that's still a minority of the overall GOP voting block, so that's not it either.  So maybe gun rights?  59% of Republicans actually want stricter gun laws.  So that can't be it either.     

Theory 2:  Racists 
This theory is harder to swat done.  There is no doubt that a significant proportion of Republicans are flat-out racists.  They're bigots.  According to 2016 exit polls, 1 in 5 Trump voters believe African-Americans should still be slaves.  38% actually wish the Confederacy had won the Civil War (I guess that 18% difference is Southern whites who don't think people should be slaves but just hate the fact that their great grandfather got his ass kicked at Antietam?  Who knows...).   I'm not saying all Republicans are racists, but if you are a racist, you sure as hell are a Republican.

But even if you double those number, which I think is fair since sane people don't generally like to admit they're bigots, you still only have about 40%-50% of Trump voters covered.  So why do the others stick with the fat orange madman? 

Theory 3:  Hate the Libs
I have an additional theory.  Much of Republican-ism is simply opposition to, and hatred of, the dreaded "Libs" or liberals, in other words the left and the Democratic Party.  Most GOP positions and policies are just an opposition and aversion to what they perceive are the "libs."  I say "perceive" because many, if not most, Republicans actually don't know what Democrats stand for or how they live and what they believe in, their understanding of the "libs" is warped and highly tainted by Fox "News" and others;  but that's a essay for another time.  Be that as it may, they hate the "libs" and Trump hates the "libs" and sticks it to the "libs" and therefore they love and support him.

Just look at all the promises Trump made on the campaign trail and is trying to execute now.  They weren't policies people are in favor of or that help his voters.  They were just tirades against Obama, the libs, and promises to do the exact opposite reflexively no matter what, including:

• Oppose DACA 
• Oppose Paris accords
• Oppose Iran deal
• Oppose TPP
• Oppose free trade
• Oppose NATO

And on, and on, and on.  The reasons these positions and policies are so shocking and incoherent is because they're not actually based on anything but doing the opposite of Obama and the libs.  Can someone have a philosophical opposition to TPP or free trade?  Sure.  But are you going to tell me that Trump has actually thought through these ideas and has any idea what they are?  Hell no...  Trump doesn't care about anything and has no core beliefs.  The only question he asks himself is "did Obama do it" and if so I'll do the opposite.  Obama stopped Iran from getting Nukes?  I'm against it.  Obama stopped deporting children under DACA?  Let's start rounding them up.

Fox "News" is the single biggest culprit behind all of this.  For years they hated Obama and opposed anything he supported reflexively no matter what it was about.  They had to in order to vilify him daily, hard to hate someone when you agree with his policies.    Obama wants to pass a GOP healthcare plan?  Now we oppose it.  Obama wants free trade?  Now we're opposed to it.  Obama wants a second Mother's Day?  Outrage!  We oppose it.  Obama wore a tan suit?  Impeach!!!  Fox "News" has trained its viewers on all of these issues never based on the policy merits but strictly attack Obama and make their viewers loath him and support the GOP.  All Trump did (and does) on the campaign trail was parrot the Fox "News" line, lines that all his red-capped followers already knew all too well.

So what of the polls I quoted above?  Polls are taken in isolation, typically by phone.  When presented with a question in a vacuum by someone they don't know, most people will think about the question and answer honestly and dispassionately.  So if you ask someone if they're in favor of banning abortion they say "no."  But if you ask them if they're in favor of a judge who agrees with their abortion stance but was Democrat or appointed by a Democrat they'll immediately, reflexively oppose them.   Simple as that.

And therefore they stick with him no matter what.  Because to abandon him, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of what he is, would be to tacitly admit that the Libs were right and that they themselves were wrong or had made a mistake.  And that shakes them to their core because their entire political belief system is, once again, built on opposition and hatred of Libs and Democrats.  To admit the Libs were right is emotionally extremely difficult for them to accept. 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Modern Day Goebbels or Baghdad Bob?

It's hard to know where to start with the indictment of Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  Not because there's any lack of issues mind you, quite to the contrary.  Its precisely because there is so much that you barely know where to start.  I don't hesitate to say that she is the most vile, inhuman, disgusting, lying press secretary I have ever seen in my lifetime from any country and that includes "Baghdad Bob" who worked for Saddam Hussein.

For those of you who need a refresher, Baghdad Bob used to shill absurdities for Hussein before and during the war that were so clearly disingenuous and provable lies it was laughable.  And that's why people kind of gave him a pass I suppose.  When he said, in front of an out door press conference on the Tigres river in Baghdad, that the US Army was no where near Baghdad and was actually losing the war, while all the while US M1 tanks were rolling by behind him visibly on the other side of the river it was phenomenal comedy.  It would have been sad if it was us, but it was Iraq and we were destroying their army so it just came off as absurd and funny rantings of a shill or a crazy person.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders can't come off that way because it's too serious, it's serious as cancer and it's plainly not funny.  And she's not as charming as Baghdad Bob (not that that's a high bar).  But the conclusions are the same, she's either:  (i) a knowing shill happily destroying her country with her blatant lies; or (ii) she's the craziest/dumbest person in the administration bar perhaps the orange man himself.

No one makes my skin physically crawl more than Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Not even Trump. Every word that comes out of her mouth is a lie, vile, hate filled, condescending, venomous, contemptuous, corrupt, disgusting, traitorous, invented, childish, grating, her very voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, and I could go on, but space is limited.

For some time I thought it was just me.  But then I saw this great painting that absolutely incapsulates her ignominious vileness:

Glad to know it's not only me. . .

The Defining Lie

Just when you thought your image of Donald Trump, his lies, and his blatant treason couldn't get any worse, tonight, the New York Times reports:

Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election.

The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.

Mr. Trump sounded grudgingly convinced, according to several people who attended the intelligence briefing. But ever since, Mr. Trump has tried to cloud the very clear findings that he received on Jan. 6, 2017, which his own intelligence leaders have unanimously endorsed.

In other words: Donald Trump KNEW FOR A FACT a year and half earlier that Putin had directly ordered the attack on our electoral system, an ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY in order to directly benefit Trump and get him elected. And yet he not only demanded a summit with the murderous dictator, he met with him behind closed doors (no witnesses allowed, need to collude), and then publicly vouched for him in front of the world, denying that Russia and Putin had anything to do with the attacks on our country, but throughout his entire presidency he has KNOWINGLY LIED to the American public, KNOWINGLY LIED FOR 18 MONTHS!  He not only sided with the enemy over our own intelligence teams on Monday, he's known SINCE DAY 1 and been lying every single day to the American people, BOLD FACED LIES!.

We always knew Trump had been briefed, time and time and time again about Russia's attack on our election to benefit him.  And we always knew that he had been lying about everything.  But the specificity of the damning facts that came out today just prove that he is aiding and abetting the enemy.  Donald Trump is an accomplice after the fact to crimes against America. His denying and covering for Putin is obstruction of justice and a felony that gets you imprisoned for years to life.  And it is well beyond anything that would constitute "high crimes and misdemeanors" under the Constitution and justify his impeachment.

Impeach this traitor now before he does even more irreparable harm!!!

Why is it Always Russia?

Why is it that every single scandal that involves this President personally, and his election, comes back to Russia? To be clear, I'm not ignoring Scott Pruitt and the other morons he's put in Cabinet positions, but we'll get to those in a separate blog. What I'm referring to his all the members of his inner circle and his own activities and how systematically they all come back to Russia and Putin as the protagonists.

Let's recap to illustrate:

* Who bought $100MM in Trump condos - Russia

* Who loaned Trump money for his real estate ventures post '90s - Deutsche Bank (Russian money launderer)

* Who did his National Security Advisor (Mike Flynn) consult for - Russia

* Who did his Campaign Chairman (Manafort) consult for - Russia

* Who did he ask for help publicly to hack the DNC & Clinton - Russia

* What is the one country he always apologizes for and credits - Russia

* Who did Donald Trump Jr. meet with at Trump tower - Russia

* Who did Trump call on in 2015 during his NRA speech in Kentucky - Russia Spy

* What country did he change the 2016 GOP platform in favor of - Russia

* Who did Kushner try to establish a secure line of communication with - Russia (Kremlin & Putin)

* Who did Trump call to congratulate after his stolen election - Russia

* Who did Trump meet with in the WH immediately after the inauguration - Russia

* What investigation was Trump trying to stop when he fired Comey - Russia investigation

* What country does Trump apologize for their interference in elections - Russia

* What country does Trump excuse for invading Georgia - Russia

* What country does Trump excuse for invading Ukraine/Crimea - Russia

* What country murders UK citizens and Trump ignores - Russia

* What country imprisons and murders the press and Trump excuses - Russia

* What country shoots down a civilian airliner and Trump ignores - Russia

WAKE UP AMERICA!!! This man is owned and controlled lock, stock, and barrel by Putin. He makes Benedict Arnold look like a patriot. And if he can make an extra buck or protect himself by selling you and this country down the river he won't hesitate. He MUST be stopped.

Trump is a Traitor to the United States

Monday's horrifying display in Helsinki Finland leaves no doubt that Donald J. Trump is guilty of treason against the United States of America. In front of his spy handler slash boss, Vladimir Putin, Trump not only ignored all the horrors that Putin has conducted over the past decade (more on that in another blog) but publicly promoted and accepted Putin's denial of Russia's interference in the 2016 elections (to specifically benefit Trump) in spite of the FACT, universally accepted by 17 different US intelligence agencies and the United States Senate, as well as ALL of our foreign allies including the UK, France, Germany, Israel and others, that Putin and Russia did just that: they attacked our very democracy.

Put more simply: he sided with the KGB and Russia who attacked us over the FBI, CIA, NSA, NSC, US Senate, Mueller investigation, and the American people he is sworn to protect. He violated his oath, he betrayed this nation, and sided with a dictator that committed an ACT OF WAR against the United States. He should be impeached and tried. Nothing more will suffice. He is guilty of TREASON, he has betrayed this country in the simplest and most fundamental way.

Trump even said that Putin was "strong and powerful" in his denials. What is it with this moron about "strong and powerful" Putin? Why not just get out the knee pads and service him publicly. You clearly are privately and at the detriment to the American people.

In his absurd pseudo-apology tonight trying to correct the record, Trump asctually ereased a line saying he would bring all of those guilty of attacking that to justice. A POTUS is saying he will not bring our attackers to justice! He will NOT PROTECT the American people!!!

And why does he betray the United States? There are four generally proffered explanations:

(i) he's the dumbest mother fucker ever created; OR

(ii) all his money and financial dealings are in Russia and controlled by the Russians; OR

(iii) he's so vain and insecure that he can't accept the idea that his election in 2016, by a 3 million vote deficit, isn't legitimate (which it isn't) because of Russia's attack on our democracy; OR (iv) he's entirely compromised as an asset of the Russian government and Putin by either his business dealings or other "kompromat" including the infamous "pee tape".

I've never understood why one would obviate the other. It is CLEAR he is ALL three. He is both, the dumbest mother fucker we have ever known, completely in debt to Russian oligarchs and Putin without whom he'd be living under a bridge, completely insecure and insane about his illegitimate election in 2016 (clearly because he knows it was illegitimate) and he, lastly, also fucked hookers, took money, peed on a bed, colluded with the FSB/KGB throughout the election on multiple levels for MONTHS including changing the entire GOP platform and took their money and help to get elected to boot. He's a four-fer of a monster any of one of which is enough to have him impeached and in prison for life.

Mueller Investigation: Recap of Where We Stand

*Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is currently in jail awaiting trial on multiple charges relating to his relationships with a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin and the former leader of Ukraine, widely considered a Putin puppet.

*Trump’s deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, pled guilty to lying to the FBI and conspiracy to defraud the United States, and is now cooperating with Mueller.

*Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, and is now cooperating with Mueller.

*A Trump foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with various Kremlin-connected figures and is now cooperating with Mueller.

*Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian associate of Manafort’s, was indicted on obstruction of justice charges.

*Richard Pinedo pled guilty to identity fraud for selling stolen identities to Russians connected to the Mueller probe.

*Alex Van Der Zwaan, a Dutch banker and son-in-law of a Russian oligarch, pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his work with Manafort and Gates, and was jailed briefly and then deported.

*Thirteen individuals and three companies were indicted for their participation in a Russian scheme to conduct “information warfare” during the 2016 election in order to push voters away from Hillary Clinton and toward Donald Trump, as well as undermining trust in the electoral system more generally.

*And now, eleven Russian military officials have been indicted for hacking into the email systems of the Democratic National Committee and various people connected to Hillary Clinton, including her campaign chairman, then disseminating the materials in carefully timed releases meant to maximize the political damage to Clinton. Two Russian officials have been also been indicted for hacking into the systems of state election agencies.

Why Trump is a Nazi

When I started this blog I was criticized by some on the left for equating Donald Trump to a Nazi. Notably, a lot of that criticism has died down over the past several months (putting children in cages tends to have that affect on people).

Here are the rough criteria of being a Nazi. Let's examine how Donny Trump checks off the boxes:

* Racism - Check!

* Dictatorial rule - Check!

* Nationalism - Check!

* Aryan supremacy - Check! Check! Check!!!

* Hatred of foreigners - Check!

* Hatred of gays/lesbians - Check!

* Hatred of non-Christians - Check!

* Militaristic - Check!

* Anti-intellectual - Check!

* Generally unintelligent - Check! Check!! Check!!!

* Against independent judiciary - Check!

* Jails political opponents - Wants to, Check!

* Against independent press - Check!

* Lies - Check! Check! Check!!!

* Creates strawmen to rail against - Check!

* Propagandist - Check!

* Blames everything on "others" - Check! Check!! Check!!!

I'm sure I'm leaving some criteria out, but those are the basic elements of being a Nazi. And duncy Donny checks the box on every single one. So, can we once and for all accept that he is a Nazi and stop equivocating about it please? The sooner we label him what he is, the sooner we can get to the more important work of stopping and destroying him and everything he represents.

Oh, and before some idiot tells me "well, he hasn't killed Jews yet" replace the word Jew with "muslim" or "latino" or "brown" and stress the term "yet." Hitler didn't start gassing Jews until the 1940s. Took him ten years in power before he got to that point. Anyone want to tell me they're positive Trump wouldn't execute Muslims or immigrants after a decade in power as a dictator? That's what I thought....