What Now

[dantana]

I think my first step in the coping process is going to be to quit watching MSNBC. I was watching them a bit today and they are more doomsday than a Mormon survivalist at an Ammon Bundy rally. Kinda sucks though as I like some of those folks. Katy, Nicole, Ari. All except for Joe Scarborough. Won't miss him.

[Doctor Steuss]

I think my first step in the coping process is going to be to quit watching MSNBC. I was watching them a bit today and they are more doomsday than a Mormon survivalist at an Ammon Bundy rally. Kinda sucks though as I like some of those folks. Katy, Nicole, Ari. All except for Joe Scarborough. Won't miss him.

I stopped listening to NPR after being a commute listener since I was a teenager, and I stopped watching any News commentary shows. I'll do a search for "News" each morning, using incognito mode, through a VPN as to not fall into curated algorithm results. I'll choose 3-5 national articles, and 2 local articles, and that's it for the most part. Naturally I'll encounter stories online through Facebook, TikTok, and message boards, but those are easy to scroll on by if I don't have the bandwidth.

When a significant portion of America doesn't care if someone is a serial sexual abuser who has been endorsed by the leader of the American Nazi Party, as long as they are promised that they might save a couple of bucks, the best course for sanity can be to disengage as much as possible.

Can you imagine finding out that someone was not only raped, but the perpetrator bragged on tape about doing it to other women, and reacting by telling them "Yeah, but your rapist said he can get me a good deal on a car"? Yet, that's where we are as a nation. I don't know that I'll ever be able to process it fully.

[Marcus]

...When a significant portion of America doesn't care if someone is a serial sexual abuser who has been endorsed by the leader of the American Nazi Party, as long as they are promised that they might save a couple of bucks, the best course for sanity can be to disengage as much as possible.

Can you imagine finding out that someone was not only raped, but the perpetrator bragged on tape about doing it to other women, and reacting by telling them "Yeah, but your rapist said he can get me a good deal on a car"? Yet, that's where we are as a nation. I don't know that I'll ever be able to process it fully.

THIS. I don't get it either. AT. ALL.

[canpakes]

...When a significant portion of America doesn't care if someone is a serial sexual abuser who has been endorsed by the leader of the American Nazi Party, as long as they are promised that they might save a couple of bucks, the best course for sanity can be to disengage as much as possible.

Can you imagine finding out that someone was not only raped, but the perpetrator bragged on tape about doing it to other women, and reacting by telling them "Yeah, but your rapist said he can get me a good deal on a car"? Yet, that's where we are as a nation. I don't know that I'll ever be able to process it fully.

THIS. I don't get it either. AT. ALL.

And then it turns out that he won’t be able to get anyone a good deal on a car, anyway. Nor does he care.

[Physics Guy]

Americans collectively have made their choice, which was up to them. The world probably won't end in four years, or two if there's a mid-term swing.

My expectation is that Republican policies, and Trump's leadership, will not work out well. So if the American electorate's choices are really as bad as I think, then it should become obvious to most voters that they could do better next time. If it doesn't turn out that badly, then perhaps it wasn't as bad a choice as I thought.

The fact that Republicans will now control the whole government should not be so alarming. Most countries' systems just don't have the gridlock of American checks and balances, and in most of the world the whole government changes at almost every election. What happens in this kind of winner-take-all system is that the winning party has no excuses for failing to deliver on its promises or for mishandling problems. A party that talks big and wins power and then fails badly may not be re-elected for decades. So parties can't afford to get too far out of touch with reality, the way they can when divided government lets everyone duck responsibility.

That's the silver lining for the Democrats now, that the Republicans won't be able to dodge blame if bad things happen. They have enough rope to hang themselves.

[Gadianton]

The fact that Republicans will now control the whole government should not be so alarming. Most countries' systems just don't have the gridlock of American checks and balances, and in most of the world the whole government changes at almost every election. What happens in this kind of winner-take-all system is that the winning party has no excuses for failing to deliver on its promises or for mishandling problems. A party that talks big and wins power and then fails badly may not be re-elected for decades. So parties can't afford to get too far out of touch with reality, the way they can when divided government lets everyone duck responsibility.

This is one of the most noteworthy points made in this forum over the years that goes against the way I've always thought about it, that I've filed away for further reflection.

[canpakes]

The fact that Republicans will now control the whole government should not be so alarming. Most countries' systems just don't have the gridlock of American checks and balances, and in most of the world the whole government changes at almost every election. What happens in this kind of winner-take-all system is that the winning party has no excuses for failing to deliver on its promises or for mishandling problems. A party that talks big and wins power and then fails badly may not be re-elected for decades. So parties can't afford to get too far out of touch with reality, the way they can when divided government lets everyone duck responsibility.

This is one of the most noteworthy points made in this forum over the years that goes against the way I've always thought about it, that I've filed away for further reflection.

Remember, though, this is ‘Murica, and MAGA. Trump’s base could slide further into economic peril as a direct and incontrovertible result of his policies, but that base will still grind their mental gears on overtime justifying that Democrats are somehow still to blame, and then will pledge even greater fealty to Trump.

[Marcus]

... So if the American electorate's choices are really as bad as I think, then it should become obvious to most voters that they could do better next time...

You give Trump-supporting Americans far too much credit.

[Gadianton]

but that base will still grind their mental gears on overtime justifying that Democrats are somehow still to blame, and then will pledge even greater fealty to Trump.

This is true for the base. I'm thinking of the 80 million who voted for Biden a few years before even though Trump had a horde of unhinged supporters. I don't think those who swung to Trump are stage 3 MAGA navigators yet. I've now seen more indication that Trump Latinos somehow think they are special. The narrative that there is this horde of criminals who are the real target apparently has been interpreted differently than I anticipated. I was thinking, how can you people smile as he tells you that you are all a bunch of criminals? The way they apparently took it is, "I'm not a criminal, and by golly, those who are criminals should go, Trump is right!"

Should Trump's plan actually move forward, which is an open question now that he's filling his cabinet with Twitter Nazis, they will find out the hard way.

[dantana]

I'm sure glad to see Physics Guy offer up some reassurances, because our future gloating won't be gloating, it will be more akin to the guy whose gravestone reads - I told you I was sick.