This regime's incompetence and corruption

[RockyRoadTravel]

For the fall elections, I think the winning message is speaking to the incompetency and corruption of this current regime in Washington DC.  

The economy, this is the second time The Incompetent has been handed a growing economy and then completely fucked it up. The first time with the disastrous response to COVID, the second time with the tariffs and attacking our allies.  He's been an economic incompetent.

Foreign policy, The Incompetent likes dropping bombs.  He likes causing chaos in other countries, he likes causing chaos at home.  A negotiated peace?  He's incapable of that, it's win or lose with him and a negotiated peace deal is beyond his abilities.  His incompetence is going to lead us into another forever war.  The spin off of insider trading amongst his buddies with the Friday afternoon peace pronouncements before TACO Tuesday brings us back to reality - that's just a bonus for The Incompetent.

Incompetency and corruption - the twin pillars of his triumphal archway.   

[stevenkesslar]

4 hours ago, RockyRoadTravel said:

The economy, this is the second time The Incompetent has been handed a growing economy and then completely fucked it up. The first time with the disastrous response to COVID, the second time with the tariffs and attacking our allies.  He's been an economic incompetent.

Spoiler alert:  rant incoming.

I don't disagree that Trump botched COVID.  There were many nails in his coffin in 2020.  And that was for sure one of them.  

But one of the reasons he won again in 2024 is people remember that "the Trump economy" from 2017 to 2020, pre-COVID, seemed to be pretty good. 

I'm not making a statement about whether that is objectively true.  I am making a statement that polling showed that is how people remembered it.  I'm pretty sure a lot of that feeling was that the inflation that happened under Biden - and to the whole world thanks to COVID - just was not a reality during Trump 1.0.  Susie Wiles was sure able to help capitalize on that in campaign messaging, when Trump listened to her.

I've had a nice but weird series of discussions with one of my brothers about this, who I refer to as a McCain Republican.  He's really mostly apolitical.  But he loved John McCain as a fellow Navy guy.  So this brother voted for Trump in 2016.  When I asked him why, he said, "Whatever he does, it's going to be interesting."  I said, "Yes.  Nuclear war is interesting.  It doesn't mean it's good."  That zinger of mine still might prove prescient.  I think being an infrequent voter who like most people isn't a fan of  government my brother just liked the "break the glass" quality about Trump.

That changed bigly by 2020.  By then this brother was raging way more than me, the real lefty in the family, about how Trump was a "megalomaniac."  He now despises Trump.  He of course voted for Biden in 2020, and Harris in 2024.  But when I asked him who he would have voted for in 2020 if he had only voted on the economy, he immediately said, "Trump."  When I asked him why, he said, "my retirement account was worth a lot more."  Stock market did pretty well under Trump.  And Biden, too, of course.

I'm sure this was a huge part of why young Zoomers who had no real recollections of Trump 1.0 when they were in high school were willing to give him a chance.  The economy, stupid.  They for sure didn't like high rent and mortgage rates under Biden.  Even my left-of-center nieces and nephews who were paying high rent or high mortgage rates were not happy with Biden at all.

Final point, which was an interesting poll outlier.  In every election since 2004 CNN asks if you are better or worse off than four years ago.  No surprise, people who say they are better off vote overwhelmingly like 2 to 1 or more for the incumbent party.  People who say they are worse off vote overwhelmingly against the incumbent party, also 2 to 1 or more.  People who say they are the same as four years ago usually split their vote 50/50 or so 

But 2020 was different.  So this is the third question down in that exit poll.   No surprise, people who felt better off financially under Trump 1.0 voted like 3 to 1 for Trump.  And people who felt worse off voted 3 to 1 for Biden.  Note that even in Nov. 2020 after months of COVID 40 % said they felt better off and only 20 % said they felt worse off financially after four years of Trump.  Had this been like 2004, 2008, 2012, or 2016, Trump would have won.  In all those other years the people who said they were about the same financially split their votes 50/50.  But for some reason in 2020 people who said "about the same" voted overwhelmingly for Biden, 65 to 34.

I think it was Trump's craziness that nailed his coffin shut in 2020.  That was for sure true in the family example I gave above. 

Another indicator of it in this same 2020 survey is that 49 % of voters said only Biden had the right temperament to be POTUS, and they all voted for Biden.  39 % of voters said only Trump had the temperament to be POTUS, and they all voted for Trump.  People who said either "both" or "neither" had the right temperament still voted heavily for Trump.  But the math problem both in 2020 and 2024 is about half of America is deeply convinced Trump is a lying dangerous asshole not fit to lead.  He is an idiot who bombs innocent girls and lies about it.  Why would any sane country want this piece of shit as their leader?  Other than America, of course!  🤔

So sorry for rambling.  But I hope Iran does not return the favor and assassinate this piece of shit.  I want to see him bleed out like the worthless piece of shit he is.  In 2020 I think the economy mostly did work in Trump's favor.  Even if it was just his good luck to inherit an economy that Team Obama, and/or time, healed.  But now the piece of shit has both a shitty economy in the eyes of a majority, and his own evil temperament.  So he is headed to a worse fate than 2020, I think.

Please Iran, do not assassinate Trump the worthless piece of shit.  Yes, he is warmonger who kills Iranian leaders and Iranian girls.  He is a weak pathological liar who can not even admit he kills children and lies about it. 

But don't you think he deserves to suffer the one thing he can't stand?  That the whole world increasingly views him as a failed worthless piece of shit?