RiverDog wrote:I agree that Trump's an anomaly, at least I sure hope he is. It's been one of the biggest shocks in my lifetime, how anyone can so blatantly lie and twist facts like he does yet maintains such a tight grip over so many people. It's shaken my confidence in the judgement of the American people to its core, that they have such a difficult time separating fact from fiction. That's why I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell of him getting removed from office in a 2nd term. If his behavior over the past 3.5 years wasn't enough to get him booted, I can't imagine it ever being bad enough to get him in a 2nd term. The bar for removal from office is just too high, especially as divided as this country is nowadays.
But the washing out of that bad taste in Republican's mouths, at least publicly, won't occur until Trump is either defeated at the polls this November or he leaves office 4 years later.
Look, I have no idea why you don't want to buy into this other than you dislike him, but Trump has a weird charismatic intensity. He's not as evil as someone like Hitler, Mussolini, or Stalin, but he has that kind of charismatic intensity. It's why he does so well in front of the cameras and has his whole life. The closest American comparison would be Huey P. Long or a less likable Kennedy. The difference between Kennedy's charisma is that Kennedy had a likable personality and a way of speaking that was used to unite the nation. Whereas Trump uses his charisma to rile people up against each other and sell people that he is this powerful leader standing up to America's enemies, against the leftists progressives looking to tear down our nation's history and power, and that he will lead them to prosperity and greatness again against all Americas enemies foreign and domestic. He is driving the right against the left.
What else do you call that type of ability? A guy who can sell nearly half the nation on his ability to provide them with what they seemingly desire in terms of politics. A guy who can convince someone like
IDhawkman to practically worship him and view him as better than Reagan. A guy that can rile you and
c-bob and
I5 and so many people up. The man has a powerful personality, whether you are for him or against him. He's used it well to build himself up into this Trump character he plays on TV. I have no idea if he even believes half of what comes out of his mouth. I know he's always had that magnetic, charismatic personality that attracts many and repels many. He's a different kind of uniquely American persona we won't see again in our lifetime after he leaves the presidency and passes.
I doubt the Senate or House flips enough to take Trump down unless he does something more obviously criminal. Right now most Trump supporters I know think that Trump showing Joe BIden's son was engaged in activities they view as criminal in Ukraine believe Trump was trying to do the right thing by calling out Joe Biden on his Ukraine dealings, which the Democrats did not do. In their minds the Deep State aka the Democrats are more criminal than Trump and have done more wrong that no one in the government but Trump is investigating. That narrative is very easy to build on because Hunter Biden's dealings in Ukraine are very shady, even if the Democrats claim they are legal.
I find it hard to believe that you and
Hawktawk think that Hunter Biden's Gazprom's activities were ok. I understand why
c-bob and
I5 don't are much about the Democrats illegal activities as I've never heard either question the Clinton's criminal activities or any of the Democrats shady dealings, but you and
Hawktawk surprise me as you should be able to see through the game. I can only imagine you're so focused on the Trump hate, you're willing to ignore all the shady Democrat moves in this whole situation. For someone like me though, the government has done nothing the past 20 years now but show me that Democrats and Republicans are both a group of shady, entrenched characters running our government for interests other than common, working Americans who throw us scraps, while the wealthy and powerful collect just about every other part of the meal for our sacrifices. Neither of these parties are a worth much when it comes to helping regular Americans have a country they can believe in and is run well with good values. They're just different ways of screwing us over, while they line their pockets and the pockets of their rich friends.