In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal John H. Cochrane explains why, despite his what might generously be referred to as his flaws, many Americans continue to support Donald Trump:
Democrats and traditional Republicans are flummoxed. How are 4 in 10 of our fellow citizens ready to vote for Donald Trump? Democrats deplore Trump supporters as racists who must be saved from their ignorance. Traditional Republicans dream that some policy plan or another attack on Mr. Trump’s character might sway his voters.
We ought to listen instead. What motivates Trump supporters? Simple: They want their country back.
They might have lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan. What was the sacrifice for? In the botched peace and withdrawal, they concluded that the foreign-policy elite don’t know what they’re doing. They are hesitant about Ukraine, Iran and Taiwan because the same crew is in charge. They’ll back an America that fights to win, but they don’t want their sons and daughters to die for America only to lose slowly.
In the 2007-08 financial crisis, they lost a house, a job or a business. They learned that the people in charge of the financial system don’t know what they’re doing. ObamaCare sent them a health-insurance card that doesn’t work well when they get sick. They wonder: Do any of the policy wonks who promote this stuff actually use it themselves? They looked at Hillary Clinton and saw her insincerity, her nonprofit collecting millions, the way she said Trump supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables.” They gambled on Mr. Trump.
Then the establishment blew up. They saw the Federal Bureau of Investigation harass Mr. Trump’s appointees, much of official Washington fashion itself “the resistance,” the Russia-collusion hoax, years of pointless investigations.
In 2020 Covid hit. Trump supporters initially went along, trusting institutions. But the pandemic soon exposed the politicized incompetence of the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the scientific establishment. Lockdowns destroyed lives. Officials made up rules and ramped up censorship. Inquiries about whether the virus came from a lab leak, or anything negative about masks or vaccines, became “misinformation” subject to censorship. Trump supporters saw media, tech companies and national-security bigwigs suppress the news of the Hunter Biden laptop just in time for the election.
When schools went remote, parents found out what was actually going on inside the classrooms. Teachers were coaching students to hate themselves, their country and their religious traditions and sexualizing young children. The FBI treated angry parents as domestic terrorists. After Oct. 7, Trump supporters learned that universities are incompetent and politicized and disdain people like them. They saw that once-trusted mainstream-media outlets had become political advocates long ago.
Voters see the chaos of a dysfunctional immigration system spill into their neighborhoods. They see crime overwhelming and shutting down cities where officials refuse to enforce laws. They see the homeless invading public spaces.
They aren’t proud of Mr. Trump’s actions after the 2020 election. But 91 felony counts, some brought by prosecutors who campaigned on a promise to get Mr. Trump, and most unrelated to the election? Bonnie and Clyde didn’t have this much legal trouble! And now disqualifying Mr. Trump from the ballot? “Destroy democracy to save democracy” is no longer a joke. The existence of the deep state seems to be confirmed with every outrage.
Why I continue to oppose Trump and will not vote for him is explained by a passage from the New Testament, Matthew 7:18:
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
I do not believe that Mr. Trump is a good man. Furthermore he does not have the personal skills or understanding of the law and the federal government to accomplish even what his supporters reasonably want. I don’t believe that any good can come from a second Trump term.
Very little of what he wrote is true, it’s just what Republicans believe. They believe a lot of that stuff because Trump told them it is true. That still doesnt mean the world hasn’t changed. I am sure they would like to have their (pseudo)Christian beliefs made into law again. Have the women stay home and take care of the 3 kids then care for their husband when he gets old. They dont want any Muslims around, gay people should be back in the closet and absolutely no gay people. No more eternal wars? Get rid of the neocons. Still, if his point is that Republicans actually believe all of these fake grievances, he is correct. I just dont know how you address fake stuff. They cant be convinced it’s not true.
Really, they want an idealized version of the 50s. You have to exclude the Korean War since that was another slow now we didnt win either.
Also, this is incredibly laughable. “years of pointless investigations.”
The Mueller investigation was about 1 1/2 years long. The Lois Lerner investigation was about 5 years long, if you count the period of time before they just dropped charges against her conceding that they didnt have any reason for charges. Plus, Trump was in office so they didnt need her fo fundraising anymore. Have I ever mentioned the 8 Benghazi investigations? The there were the investigations by Bull Durham (Dunham?) that took about 5 years that resulted in one (2?) convictions of people in very minor roles. Heck, DeSantis just had a grand jury investigation into the handling of covid. Can anyone rationally think that a grand jury is the right venue to evaluate covid management. Fake investigations have become the sine qua non of the GOP.
Steve
Partisan rant.
The article said that people aren’t happy with Federal level leadership or the elite Leftist extremism permeating academia.
Trump’s not going to win and I think you’re going to miss your favorite piñata.
The country has NEVER been what we think it was, government is less responsive to citizens every cycle as corporate power continues to ascend.
We all learned from the fiasco in Minneapolis that fire and rocks will get you satisfaction quicker than dialogue, and once that lesson is learned, it’s going to be repeated again and again.
Democracy isn’t dying, it’s stone cold dead.
The natural attractor for political power has always been hidden-hand, mafia-style governance, irrespective of whatever label the political system happens to be wearing.
Historically, the usual political response is a parasitic weakening of the local host (under brazen corruption), until central collapse revitalizes the breakaway periphery. Like the series of bubbles in a rolling convective boil, but in exceedingly slow motion.
Question is, will exponential technology force a better, win-win solution this time, like some kind of superheated fluid societal dynamics, or will we all go FOOM at once?
Either way, the phase change is nearly upon us.