Trump approval ratings thread 1.3

[GeorgiaModerate]

I get it man. I hate him too, and I’m not voting GOP for a looooong time after the cowardly way they’ve acquiesced to his nonsense in return for the crumbs of their agenda. But considering the macro environment, 42% approvals and a -10 on average net rating is BAD. A President Romney or President Rubio would, conservatively, be in the high 50s

This sums up something I've been thinking about for a while.  I grew up as a Republican and was a member of the party for a long time; except for a brief fling with Libertarianism in the 1980s, it's the only party I've ever formally belonged to.  I still get mail from the RNC.  But above all I'm a centrist, and as the GOP moved further and further to the right, I started calling myself an Independent.  However, my policy has always been to vote for the candidate, not the party.  In recent years I've voted for more Democrats than others, because they're now closer to the center; but even within the last couple of elections I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats (and Libertarians and Independents, for that matter).

When Trump was elected, I hoped that it would just be a brief aberration, and that decent men and women in the party, of which there are many, would act as a check on his excesses.  Instead the GOP has consistently rolled over for Trump, and very few of them have been willing to put principle over partisanship (there are some exceptions, such as McCain voting to defeat the repeal of the ACA.)  The party as a whole has abandoned any pretense of honor or decency.

So my message to the Republican Party is this: We're done.  I'm divorcing you due to irreconcilable differences.  My new policy is that I will not vote for any Republican candidate for any office under any circumstances.  If you ever get over Trumpism, feel free to give me a call and we'll talk about it.  But it's up to you to make that move if you ever want my vote again.

[BundouYMB]

If the market doesn't crash before November I'll be pretty surprised... if it doesn't crash before 2020 we probably all died in a nuclear war. The market is already overdue for a correction. I can't imagine Trump will have the economy to brag about for much longer.

[junior chįmp]

If the market doesn't crash before November I'll be pretty surprised... if it doesn't crash before 2020 we probably all died in a nuclear war. The market is already overdue for a correction. I can't imagine Trump will have the economy to brag about for much longer.

Trump recession imminent

[KingSweden]

If the market doesn't crash before November I'll be pretty surprised... if it doesn't crash before 2020 we probably all died in a nuclear war. The market is already overdue for a correction. I can't imagine Trump will have the economy to brag about for much longer.

We are literally a few hundred points away from formal correction territory already, btw. All major averages have entered correction several times since 1/26, only to come back out shortly thereafter.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

If the market doesn't crash before November I'll be pretty surprised... if it doesn't crash before 2020 we probably all died in a nuclear war. The market is already overdue for a correction. I can't imagine Trump will have the economy to brag about for much longer.

We are literally a few hundred points away from formal correction territory already, btw. All major averages have entered correction several times since 1/26, only to come back out shortly thereafter.

My impression was that the tax bill was, among other things, an attempt to spur the market to push the (inevitable) downturn at least past November of this year if not more.

[bandg]

I get it man. I hate him too, and I’m not voting GOP for a looooong time after the cowardly way they’ve acquiesced to his nonsense in return for the crumbs of their agenda. But considering the macro environment, 42% approvals and a -10 on average net rating is BAD. A President Romney or President Rubio would, conservatively, be in the high 50s

This sums up something I've been thinking about for a while.  I grew up as a Republican and was a member of the party for a long time; except for a brief fling with Libertarianism in the 1980s, it's the only party I've ever formally belonged to.  I still get mail from the RNC.  But above all I'm a centrist, and as the GOP moved further and further to the right, I started calling myself an Independent.  However, my policy has always been to vote for the candidate, not the party.  In recent years I've voted for more Democrats than others, because they're now closer to the center; but even within the last couple of elections I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats (and Libertarians and Independents, for that matter).

When Trump was elected, I hoped that it would just be a brief aberration, and that decent men and women in the party, of which there are many, would act as a check on his excesses.  Instead the GOP has consistently rolled over for Trump, and very few of them have been willing to put principle over partisanship (there are some exceptions, such as McCain voting to defeat the repeal of the ACA.)  The party as a whole has abandoned any pretense of honor or decency.

So my message to the Republican Party is this: We're done.  I'm divorcing you due to irreconcilable differences.  My new policy is that I will not vote for any Republican candidate for any office under any circumstances.  If you ever get over Trumpism, feel free to give me a call and we'll talk about it.  But it's up to you to make that move if you ever want my vote again.

Out of curiosity, how is voting against repealing the ACA "standing up to Trump", when every GOP member including McCain campaigned on this issue for 7 years? What "excesses" of Trump do you want the GOP to check specifically, and what would you have them do?

[OSR stands with Israel]

I get it man. I hate him too, and I’m not voting GOP for a looooong time after the cowardly way they’ve acquiesced to his nonsense in return for the crumbs of their agenda. But considering the macro environment, 42% approvals and a -10 on average net rating is BAD. A President Romney or President Rubio would, conservatively, be in the high 50s

This sums up something I've been thinking about for a while.  I grew up as a Republican and was a member of the party for a long time; except for a brief fling with Libertarianism in the 1980s, it's the only party I've ever formally belonged to.  I still get mail from the RNC.  But above all I'm a centrist, and as the GOP moved further and further to the right, I started calling myself an Independent.  However, my policy has always been to vote for the candidate, not the party.  In recent years I've voted for more Democrats than others, because they're now closer to the center; but even within the last couple of elections I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats (and Libertarians and Independents, for that matter).

When Trump was elected, I hoped that it would just be a brief aberration, and that decent men and women in the party, of which there are many, would act as a check on his excesses.  Instead the GOP has consistently rolled over for Trump, and very few of them have been willing to put principle over partisanship (there are some exceptions, such as McCain voting to defeat the repeal of the ACA.)  The party as a whole has abandoned any pretense of honor or decency.

So my message to the Republican Party is this: We're done.  I'm divorcing you due to irreconcilable differences.  My new policy is that I will not vote for any Republican candidate for any office under any circumstances.  If you ever get over Trumpism, feel free to give me a call and we'll talk about it.  But it's up to you to make that move if you ever want my vote again.

The GOP has opposed Trump on the issues where he went against GOP orthodoxy


- The budget bill they passed in March basically banned him from using that funding to build the wall

- They opposed him when he came out in favor of the tariffs

- The condemned him for Charlottesville response



Actually, Trump has rolled over to the GOP more than the other way around

- the Tax Reform was a standard Supply Side Marco Economic Policy

- GOP has supported repealing Obamacare long before Trump, and if you remember Trump ran to the left of the vast majority of Republicans on the issue of healthcare

- GOP has long supported deregulation

- Trump has morphed more into a neocon




I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

[Virginiá]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I felt Gilisipie campaign in VA resembled HW 1988 campaign more than Trump 2016.

[pbrower2a]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

Trump ran as a populist, something that Republicans have not been except in places with large fringe constituencies (ethnic and religious bigotry). But we need to remember that the economic elites behind the GOP are clearly for cheap, cowed labor that it can work to exhaustion.  Donald Trump has a slogan perfectly tuned to bringing back the Gilded Age on behalf of people whose greed and economic sadism constitute their soul. This elite wants the common man to endure the 60-hour workweeks and wants kids back in the factories and mines. They want to exempt themselves (after all, their power, profit, and indulgence are to them the sole objects of human existence, especially for the working poor) from taxes. They want enhanced technology solely to enhance their gain, which means selling off such infrastructure as highways to themselves to be transformed into monopolistic gouges. Guess who profits, and guess who gets the gouge!
 
It's hard for us to believe that there are people so reactionary even if technology renders such a reactionary agenda ludicrous. Of course if one has absolute power (the GOP has yet to establish itself as the 'Leading Force in American politics, but it is working on that) one can enforce the cruelest and most absurd of policies.

[Inmate Trump]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

I disagree. They’ve morphed into something unrecognizable from what they used to be. They’ve sunk to a low never before seen in American politics. Anyone who would rather allow *Russia* to interfere in our elections than actually do something to thwart it is unpatriotic; therefore the GOP of today is unpatriotic.

[pbrower2a]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

Should Donald Trump prove the catastrophic failure as President that most liberals think he is, then his mark (actually, stain) upon the GOP will come off far faster than the reputation of the GOP for Trump.

Trump knows that talking about gutting social programs and ravaging the environment for quick bucks is unpopular, but maybe he can implement such and make such implementation stick. Maybe he dreams of a supermajority for corporatist Republicans that can amend the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights for wealth.

[KingSweden]

I felt Gilisipie campaign in VA resembled HW 1988 campaign more than Trump 2016.

I’d be intrigued to have this theory explained

[Person Man]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

Should Donald Trump prove the catastrophic failure as President that most liberals think he is, then his mark (actually, stain) upon the GOP will come off far faster than the reputation of the GOP for Trump.

Trump knows that talking about gutting social programs and ravaging the environment for quick bucks is unpopular, but maybe he can implement such and make such implementation stick. Maybe he dreams of a supermajority for corporatist Republicans that can amend the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights for wealth.

Or a constitution that enshrines an absolute right to property but nothing else.

[pbrower2a]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

Should Donald Trump prove the catastrophic failure as President that most liberals think he is, then his mark (actually, stain) upon the GOP will come off far faster than the reputation of the GOP for Trump.

Trump knows that talking about gutting social programs and ravaging the environment for quick bucks is unpopular, but maybe he can implement such and make such implementation stick. Maybe he dreams of a supermajority for corporatist Republicans that can amend the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights for wealth.

Or a constitution that enshrines an absolute right to property but nothing else.

Like... the right to not deal in unions and the right to get the aid of law enforcement to suppress strikes. The right to squelch criticism of corporate policy. The right to veto an employee's move to another company. The sorts of 'labor peace' that some fascist regimes offer.

[Person Man]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

It's really too early to say one way or another. You can't honestly make that call before even the first midterm of the post-2016 era. As for what you said - it sounds about right. Trump has rolled over a lot, but in some ways it's hard to know exactly what he was ever serious about. He seemed in line with tax cuts, the devil was just in the details. Immigration seems like a bigger issue now due to him, even if he won't get his wall. Candidates are trying to replicate his success by acting like him in some places (Clinton this, culture wars that). As for Trump trying to neutralize the issue of social programs - again, he never even seemed serious about this. He knows it's not popular to talk about gutting social programs, so he lied about it but basically signaled that he would sign bills if they got to him after taking office. At the end of the day, nothing has changed here. Republicans are still against the safety net but too afraid to do anything about it. Any lasting legacy from Trump on this is that they may be more open to straight up lying about their position on it and then trying to sneak through changes later on.

Trump is leaving his mark on the party, but it's much too early to know what it looks like in the future.

Should Donald Trump prove the catastrophic failure as President that most liberals think he is, then his mark (actually, stain) upon the GOP will come off far faster than the reputation of the GOP for Trump.

Trump knows that talking about gutting social programs and ravaging the environment for quick bucks is unpopular, but maybe he can implement such and make such implementation stick. Maybe he dreams of a supermajority for corporatist Republicans that can amend the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights for wealth.

Or a constitution that enshrines an absolute right to property but nothing else.

Like... the right to not deal in unions and the right to get the aid of law enforcement to suppress strikes. The right to squelch criticism of corporate policy. The right to veto an employee's move to another company. The sorts of 'labor peace' that some fascist regimes offer.

Absolute rights to the point that they are privileges.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I would say the GOP is still more the party of George W Bush than Trump (which is a good thing).

I disagree. They’ve morphed into something unrecognizable from what they used to be. They’ve sunk to a low never before seen in American politics. Anyone who would rather allow *Russia* to interfere in our elections than actually do something to thwart it is unpatriotic; therefore the GOP of today is unpatriotic.

The mueller investigation still hasn’t  implicated him so they really can’t impeach for Russia yet.

And they passed new sanctions on Russia as well

[OSR stands with Israel]

I felt Gilisipie campaign in VA resembled HW 1988 campaign more than Trump 2016.

I’d be intrigued to have this theory explained

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-virginia-governors-election-is-just-like-the-1988-presidential-race

[BudgieForce]

I'm very curious to see Gallup's numbers tomorrow. It was one of the first polls to show Trump with a significant bump so it'll be interesting to see if its held up over the week with North Korea out of the headlines.

[KingSweden]

I'm very curious to see Gallup's numbers tomorrow. It was one of the first polls to show Trump with a significant bump so it'll be interesting to see if its held up over the week with North Korea out of the headlines.

I think their previous sample was too D-friendly fwiw

[Progressive Pessimist]

This thread is peak Atlas seriously.

Shrug. Sad to see such indifference from a fellow red avatar though.

Nobody is indifferent. some of us are just not going to melt down over a poll that even the pollster thinks is a probable outlier (and credit to Reuters for including a Disclosure and releasing it anyways). A 5-6 point spike in a one day sample is just not realistic, not compared against real but much more modest rises among other pollsters.

It is more than one poll. Nearly 18 months into this administration, which has been a revolving door of corrupt and incompetent cabinet members, a slow revelation of the campaign's cooperation with a hostile foreign power during the election (FFS, we have a known meeting between Don Jr, Kushner, Manafort, and a Russian agent IN DRUMPF TOWER AFTER THEY WERE PROMISED DIRT ON HILARY CLINTON, and yet 2 out of those 3 are still actively involved in either the day-to-day operations of the White House or in the public messaging aspect of the administration, meanwhile the other is probably going to spend his life in a fukcing jail, when was the last time that happened to a major presidential campaign manager), not to mention the ethical dumpster fire that is Donald J. Drumpf, a serial liar, philanderer, and wanna-be authoritarian, and his approval ratings across the board are still basically 40%. Had Barack Obama been responsible for anything that had occurred in the last 18 months, he would've been forced to resign by now, after having an approval rating that fell to about 2%. I would never have continued to support him, after all of this. The same fate would befall almost any other leader of any organization, had they been saddled with similar baggage or found to have been involved in such widespread wrongdoing. But this tangerine fartbag just gets to keep being president, and have a 40% approval rating too. No consequences, no oversight. Nothing. Its maddening, frankly.

I feel your pain. The frustration is real for people like us, but unfortunately we have become a  rarity. The American people have become apathetic and that is fueling Trump and his normalization. I wish more people cared about Trump's lifelong objectionable behavior but it is just not the country we are living in anymore. Hell, it extends to other countries too. Just look at the UK, The Philippines, Italy, Hungary, and so on. Humanity in itself is having a political crisis that it doesn't seem wary enough of. It's a damn shame to have to think like this about our fellow humans who are so easily manipulated by con artists, but it is the truth. It's a truth I have become resigned to. It shouldn't be irrational to feel anxious about the conduct of our leaders, but it almost feels like it is. Are we the ones who are abnormal after all? Is humanity devolving back into its most primal, tribalistic, instinctual form? Am I being over dramatic? I don't feel like I understand anything anymore.

[Person Man]

This thread is peak Atlas seriously.

Shrug. Sad to see such indifference from a fellow red avatar though.

Nobody is indifferent. some of us are just not going to melt down over a poll that even the pollster thinks is a probable outlier (and credit to Reuters for including a Disclosure and releasing it anyways). A 5-6 point spike in a one day sample is just not realistic, not compared against real but much more modest rises among other pollsters.

It is more than one poll. Nearly 18 months into this administration, which has been a revolving door of corrupt and incompetent cabinet members, a slow revelation of the campaign's cooperation with a hostile foreign power during the election (FFS, we have a known meeting between Don Jr, Kushner, Manafort, and a Russian agent IN DRUMPF TOWER AFTER THEY WERE PROMISED DIRT ON HILARY CLINTON, and yet 2 out of those 3 are still actively involved in either the day-to-day operations of the White House or in the public messaging aspect of the administration, meanwhile the other is probably going to spend his life in a fukcing jail, when was the last time that happened to a major presidential campaign manager), not to mention the ethical dumpster fire that is Donald J. Drumpf, a serial liar, philanderer, and wanna-be authoritarian, and his approval ratings across the board are still basically 40%. Had Barack Obama been responsible for anything that had occurred in the last 18 months, he would've been forced to resign by now, after having an approval rating that fell to about 2%. I would never have continued to support him, after all of this. The same fate would befall almost any other leader of any organization, had they been saddled with similar baggage or found to have been involved in such widespread wrongdoing. But this tangerine fartbag just gets to keep being president, and have a 40% approval rating too. No consequences, no oversight. Nothing. Its maddening, frankly.

I feel your pain. The frustration is real for people like us, but unfortunately we have become a  rarity. The American people have become apathetic and that is fueling Trump and his normalization. I wish more people cared about Trump's lifelong objectionable behavior but it is just not the country we are living in anymore. Hell, it extends to other countries too. Just look at the UK, The Philippines, Italy, Hungary, and so on. Humanity in itself is having a political crisis that it doesn't seem wary enough of. It's a damn shame to have to think like this about our fellow humans who are so easily manipulated by con artists, but it is the truth. It's a truth I have become resigned to. It shouldn't be irrational to feel anxious about the conduct of our leaders, but it almost feels like it is. Are we the ones who are abnormal after all? Is humanity devolving back into its most primal, tribalistic, instinctual form? Am I being over dramatic? I don't feel like I understand anything anymore.

Maybe the problem is them, not us? At a certain point, you just have to focus on saving yourself.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This thread is peak Atlas seriously.

Shrug. Sad to see such indifference from a fellow red avatar though.

Nobody is indifferent. some of us are just not going to melt down over a poll that even the pollster thinks is a probable outlier (and credit to Reuters for including a Disclosure and releasing it anyways). A 5-6 point spike in a one day sample is just not realistic, not compared against real but much more modest rises among other pollsters.

It is more than one poll. Nearly 18 months into this administration, which has been a revolving door of corrupt and incompetent cabinet members, a slow revelation of the campaign's cooperation with a hostile foreign power during the election (FFS, we have a known meeting between Don Jr, Kushner, Manafort, and a Russian agent IN DRUMPF TOWER AFTER THEY WERE PROMISED DIRT ON HILARY CLINTON, and yet 2 out of those 3 are still actively involved in either the day-to-day operations of the White House or in the public messaging aspect of the administration, meanwhile the other is probably going to spend his life in a fukcing jail, when was the last time that happened to a major presidential campaign manager), not to mention the ethical dumpster fire that is Donald J. Drumpf, a serial liar, philanderer, and wanna-be authoritarian, and his approval ratings across the board are still basically 40%. Had Barack Obama been responsible for anything that had occurred in the last 18 months, he would've been forced to resign by now, after having an approval rating that fell to about 2%. I would never have continued to support him, after all of this. The same fate would befall almost any other leader of any organization, had they been saddled with similar baggage or found to have been involved in such widespread wrongdoing. But this tangerine fartbag just gets to keep being president, and have a 40% approval rating too. No consequences, no oversight. Nothing. Its maddening, frankly.

I feel your pain. The frustration is real for people like us, but unfortunately we have become a  rarity. The American people have become apathetic and that is fueling Trump and his normalization. I wish more people cared about Trump's lifelong objectionable behavior but it is just not the country we are living in anymore. Hell, it extends to other countries too. Just look at the UK, The Philippines, Italy, Hungary, and so on. Humanity in itself is having a political crisis that it doesn't seem wary enough of. It's a damn shame to have to think like this about our fellow humans who are so easily manipulated by con artists, but it is the truth. It's a truth I have become resigned to. It shouldn't be irrational to feel anxious about the conduct of our leaders, but it almost feels like it is. Are we the ones who are abnormal after all? Is humanity devolving back into its most primal, tribalistic, instinctual form? Am I being over dramatic? I don't feel like I understand anything anymore.

It feels to me like a pattern. Our collective Id is on the rise, because most everyone who remembers the last time this happened is dead or soon will be. The last round of similar behavior (the rise of facism and much other nastiness in the 20s and 30s) is fading out of living memory. So we're making similar mistakes as a species.

Only this time we have nukes, genetic engineering, and virtual telepathy. And a whole lot of people who really aren't remotely psychologically prepared for the personal sacrifices that would be required for any all-out war efforts. What will actually happen, or is likely to happen? I have no idea.

Personally, I'm worried. Nuclear war seems like a real, if currently remote, possibility. (Think of the chances of a shooting war with Russia or China starting, even for stupid reasons. And then realize that when wargamed out, even one tactical nuke always leads to both sides using everything they have.) And then there's the question of how far down America will go. Are we going to crash economically in ways that will make the Great Recession seem like a speed bump? Are we going to actually become full-on theocratic and/or totalitarian in ways that the current GOP awfulness is only a whisper of? Will I have to worry about random bands of red-hat thugs (or cops, if there's even a difference) burning my house down with me inside it because of a post I made years earlier mocking Dumb Leader?

[Person Man]

This thread is peak Atlas seriously.

Shrug. Sad to see such indifference from a fellow red avatar though.

Nobody is indifferent. some of us are just not going to melt down over a poll that even the pollster thinks is a probable outlier (and credit to Reuters for including a Disclosure and releasing it anyways). A 5-6 point spike in a one day sample is just not realistic, not compared against real but much more modest rises among other pollsters.

It is more than one poll. Nearly 18 months into this administration, which has been a revolving door of corrupt and incompetent cabinet members, a slow revelation of the campaign's cooperation with a hostile foreign power during the election (FFS, we have a known meeting between Don Jr, Kushner, Manafort, and a Russian agent IN DRUMPF TOWER AFTER THEY WERE PROMISED DIRT ON HILARY CLINTON, and yet 2 out of those 3 are still actively involved in either the day-to-day operations of the White House or in the public messaging aspect of the administration, meanwhile the other is probably going to spend his life in a fukcing jail, when was the last time that happened to a major presidential campaign manager), not to mention the ethical dumpster fire that is Donald J. Drumpf, a serial liar, philanderer, and wanna-be authoritarian, and his approval ratings across the board are still basically 40%. Had Barack Obama been responsible for anything that had occurred in the last 18 months, he would've been forced to resign by now, after having an approval rating that fell to about 2%. I would never have continued to support him, after all of this. The same fate would befall almost any other leader of any organization, had they been saddled with similar baggage or found to have been involved in such widespread wrongdoing. But this tangerine fartbag just gets to keep being president, and have a 40% approval rating too. No consequences, no oversight. Nothing. Its maddening, frankly.

I feel your pain. The frustration is real for people like us, but unfortunately we have become a  rarity. The American people have become apathetic and that is fueling Trump and his normalization. I wish more people cared about Trump's lifelong objectionable behavior but it is just not the country we are living in anymore. Hell, it extends to other countries too. Just look at the UK, The Philippines, Italy, Hungary, and so on. Humanity in itself is having a political crisis that it doesn't seem wary enough of. It's a damn shame to have to think like this about our fellow humans who are so easily manipulated by con artists, but it is the truth. It's a truth I have become resigned to. It shouldn't be irrational to feel anxious about the conduct of our leaders, but it almost feels like it is. Are we the ones who are abnormal after all? Is humanity devolving back into its most primal, tribalistic, instinctual form? Am I being over dramatic? I don't feel like I understand anything anymore.

It feels to me like a pattern. Our collective Id is on the rise, because most everyone who remembers the last time this happened is dead or soon will be. The last round of similar behavior (the rise of facism and much other nastiness in the 20s and 30s) is fading out of living memory. So we're making similar mistakes as a species.

Only this time we have nukes, genetic engineering, and virtual telepathy. And a whole lot of people who really aren't remotely psychologically prepared for the personal sacrifices that would be required for any all-out war efforts. What will actually happen, or is likely to happen? I have no idea.

Personally, I'm worried. Nuclear war seems like a real, if currently remote, possibility. (Think of the chances of a shooting war with Russia or China starting, even for stupid reasons. And then realize that when wargamed out, even one tactical nuke always leads to both sides using everything they have.) And then there's the question of how far down America will go. Are we going to crash economically in ways that will make the Great Recession seem like a speed bump? Are we going to actually become full-on theocratic and/or totalitarian in ways that the current GOP awfulness is only a whisper of? Will I have to worry about random bands of red-hat thugs (or cops, if there's even a difference) burning my house down with me inside it because of a post I made years earlier mocking Dumb Leader?

The feats we pull off in the coming years collectively appear to be ones you can only do once. Much like the tide pod challenge.

[KingSweden]

Gallup:

42 (-)
53 (+1)

Essentially noise