What is "Trumpism"?

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Kraken
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What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Kraken »

I hope this will be a short thread. I just want to poll the room. :)

The term has legs. IDK if it will wind up in the big-boy club with "fascism" or "communism" because there seems to be no underlying ideology. But both its advocates and its opponents keep bandying it about, so it will probably find some lasting niche among the -ism's.

I think it's a special blend of authoritarianism + racism + xenophobia + exceptionalism + nativism, but I'm sure trumpists must have a very different definition. When trumpsters endorse trumpism, what do they mean?
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Skinypupy »

Making America Great, obviously.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by malchior »

Not having an ideology is probably right. It is a classic personality cult. I don't think you could get two Trumpers to describe it the same way unless they were standing next to each other because it is largely incoherent and self-defeating. They'd say something like 'tough on China', 'not letting other countries take advantage of us', 'making sure jobs aren't stolen by illegals', etc. It is mostly chest thumping stupidity.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Defiant »

Kraken wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:09 am I hope this will be a short thread. I just want to poll the room. :)

The term has legs. IDK if it will wind up in the big-boy club with "fascism" or "communism" because there seems to be no underlying ideology. But both its advocates and its opponents keep bandying it about, so it will probably find some lasting niche among the -ism's.

I think it's a special blend of authoritarianism + racism + xenophobia + exceptionalism + nativism, but I'm sure trumpists must have a very different definition. When trumpsters endorse trumpism, what do they mean?
Also, celebrity-ism. And anti-establisment-ism.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Jaymann »

What malchior said. I have seen interviews of those dolts standing side by side contradicting each other. It's like the rubes who got fleeced by his underhanded contribution scams but still love Florida Man.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Kraken »

Jaymann wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:59 am What malchior said. I have seen interviews of those dolts standing side by side contradicting each other. It's like the rubes who got fleeced by his underhanded contribution scams but still love Florida Man.
"Reaganism" became a thing because there was an ideology behind it -- small government, low taxes, trickle-on economics. If trumpism has one unifying principle, it's stigginit to the libs. All of those dolts will agree on that much.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Alefroth »

Anti-intellectualism
Authoritarianism
Projection
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by hepcat »

I would say it's primarily impulsive reactionism.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by ImLawBoy »

It's a demagogue-led version of America First. Heck, you could probably get both pro and anti Trump people to agree on the America First part (they just disagree on what America First really means). If any part of Trumpism survives, it will be the America First part (because the demagogue-led version is highly dependent on the wanna be demagogue).
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Trumpsim is an excuse. It's an excuse to be racist or believe Qanon shit or reduce taxes or whatever.

It's a convenient broad brush to use to oppose conservativism.

Eye of the beholder type stuff.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Isgrimnur »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:45 amTrumpsim
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Holman »

ImLawBoy wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:20 am It's a demagogue-led version of America First. Heck, you could probably get both pro and anti Trump people to agree on the America First part (they just disagree on what America First really means). If any part of Trumpism survives, it will be the America First part (because the demagogue-led version is highly dependent on the wanna be demagogue).
I think what most MAGAs believe is that America has been somehow taken advantage of by international agreements, regulations that other countries don't have to follow, norms of respectable national behavior, and especially the attitudes of elites whose loyalty is to abstract principles rather than to American pre-eminence. If we were just tough enough, they believe, we would swing our dick around and win in all these areas where they believe we are losing.

The basic fallacy of America First is a belief that diplomacy, international economy, and domestic policy are all zero-sum games.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Paingod »

Alefroth wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:11 am Anti-intellectualism
Authoritarianism
Projection
Don't forget thinly veiled racism. And maybe "Fuck you, I'm getting mine-ism"

And pickup trucks with "Trump 2020" flags.

I pass by someone every morning on my way to work who's still proudly flying his Trump flag as he drives in the opposite direction. Every morning I want to throw up a little in my mouth. It was bad enough pre-election, but clinging to "the dream" now is just ... wildly maladjusted.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by YellowKing »

There used to be a time when someone had an opposing political party sign in their yard, I'd think "We disagree on politics," but I made no judgment on their character.

Now when I see someone still flying a Trump flag I think, "You're a racist selfish asshole who probably has a diminished mental capacity."
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LordMortis »

Paingod wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:35 am Don't forget thinly veiled racism. And maybe "Fuck you, I'm getting mine-ism"
I don't know about the fuck you part, but "Mine!" does a good starting job of summing up Trumpism, I think. A deeper look makes it more complex but Mine is at the core. From Mine comes the organizing in groups to protect it. From Mine comes the perception of entitlement and taking what you think you are entitled to from those outside (and potentially turning on others in your group). From Minecomes the idea that taking from you is an act of aggression and you are the cause of all of the things and deserve them and no one else does because those things came from your pocket. Trump, directly, is a "fuck you" and that appeals to radicals but I think cult of Trump is bigger than the "fuck you" part. I think many Trumpets want to be left alone with theirs and well, the minimum for taxes can go to roads and roads cannot cost much when you pay for them and that's about it. They don't even want to pay for their thin blue line they purport to love until it stands between them and theirs.


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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Unagi »

LordMortis wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:42 am I don't know about the fuck you part
Oh, you don't? I think it was pretty overt.

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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LordMortis »

I don't think "fuck you" is a necessary conditional for being a Trumpet, even if the ven diagram of "mine" and "fuck you" has a heavy heavy overlap. A bet with excellent odds? Yes. Easy to paint the picture. Youbetcha. Part of the defining characteristic. I don't think so.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Skinypupy »

LordMortis wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:33 am I don't think "fuck you" is a necessary conditional for being a Trumpet, even if the ven diagram of "mine" and "fuck you" has a heavy heavy overlap. A bet with excellent odds? Yes. Easy to paint the picture. Youbetcha. Part of the defining characteristic. I don't think so.
I disagree. If I were to define the core tenet of Trumpism in a word, it would "STIGGINIT". Anything that makes liberals angry/unhappy/suffer is good, even if that comes at one's own expense.

Every other objective seems to be quite secondary, imo.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Octavious »

Skinypupy wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:55 am
LordMortis wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:33 am I don't think "fuck you" is a necessary conditional for being a Trumpet, even if the ven diagram of "mine" and "fuck you" has a heavy heavy overlap. A bet with excellent odds? Yes. Easy to paint the picture. Youbetcha. Part of the defining characteristic. I don't think so.
I disagree. If I were to define the core tenet of Trumpism in a word, it would "STIGGINIT". Anything that makes liberals angry/unhappy/suffer is good, even if that comes at one's own expense.

Every other objective seems to be quite secondary, imo.
I agree one of their core goals is to just stick it to the libs. Doesn't matter how or if it impacts them too as long as it makes the others upset.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Grifman »

Kraken wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:09 am I hope this will be a short thread. I just want to poll the room. :)
I think it's a special blend of authoritarianism + racism + xenophobia + exceptionalism + nativism, but I'm sure trumpists must have a very different definition. When trumpsters endorse trumpism, what do they mean?
You are missing the forest for the trees. You left out the most important thing - Trump himself. Yes, he stands for all of those things but without Trump, it's not the same. It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Little Raven »

Grifman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:42 pmYou left out the most important thing - Trump himself. - It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
This guy gets it. Trump pulled various subcultures into his orbit, but for Trumpers, it's all about Trump.

Nothing else matters.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Grifman wrote:
Kraken wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:09 am I hope this will be a short thread. I just want to poll the room. :)
I think it's a special blend of authoritarianism + racism + xenophobia + exceptionalism + nativism, but I'm sure trumpists must have a very different definition. When trumpsters endorse trumpism, what do they mean?
You are missing the forest for the trees. You left out the most important thing - Trump himself. Yes, he stands for all of those things but without Trump, it's not the same. It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
I wish that were true, but I disagree 100% with that premise.

I know a LOT of Trump voters. Lots. They love the ideas and attitudes of Trump, and as someone mentioned upthread, the excuse he gives people to say out loud the nasty, selfish things they’ve been thinking for years.

Sure, some of them worship HIM, the person as if he were a God (like the video of the guy praying to Trump to deliver him from the police breaking into his car), but I think most are in love with his horrible IMO beliefs.

Being a super strong vessel for STIGGINIT sure didn’t hurt.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Holman »

Little Raven wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:11 pm
Grifman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:42 pmYou left out the most important thing - Trump himself. - It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
This guy gets it. Trump pulled various subcultures into his orbit, but for Trumpers, it's all about Trump.

Nothing else matters.
I don't think it's about Trump. It's about who Trump gives them permission to be.

Every other Republican candidate has for decades claimed (even when their own policies contradicted it) to support tolerance, justice, and supporting the aspirations of all Americans. They reminded us that we are all created equal, and that we all have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. They presented themselves as alternatives to Liberals in methods, not in ends.

Meanwhile, huge portions of the Republican base have been on the wrong side of history for decades on Civil Rights, women's equality, international cooperation, economic opportunity, the climate crisis, etc. Many of them still remember hating the uppity black radicals who made America so complicated in the 60s and 70s, and then the whining feminists and gays and activists who did the same later on.

Then Trump came along and told them that *they* were actually right all this time. "Making America Great Again" means reversing course on every single issue where reactionaries have had to give ground for the past two or three generations. Every GOP candidate who ever mouthed platitudes about equality instantly became cast as not just a fraud but a RINO.

Trump let bigots be bigots and promised that they needn't be ashamed of it. Think of the incredible relief that must be for people who've been holding it in all this time.
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Re: What is

Post by Little Raven »

Carpet_pissr wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:28 pmI know a LOT of Trump voters.
Yes, but don't confuse Trump voters and Trumpers. One is a very small subgroup of the other.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Jaymann »

Holman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:32 pm
Little Raven wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:11 pm
Grifman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:42 pmYou left out the most important thing - Trump himself. - It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
This guy gets it. Trump pulled various subcultures into his orbit, but for Trumpers, it's all about Trump.

Nothing else matters.
I don't think it's about Trump. It's about who Trump gives them permission to be.

Every other Republican candidate has for decades claimed (even when their own policies contradicted it) to support tolerance, justice, and supporting the aspirations of all Americans. They reminded us that we are all created equal, and that we all have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. They presented themselves as alternatives to Liberals in methods, not in ends.

Meanwhile, huge portions of the Republican base have been on the wrong side of history for decades on Civil Rights, women's equality, international cooperation, economic opportunity, the climate crisis, etc. Many of them still remember hating the uppity black radicals who made America so complicated in the 60s and 70s, and then the whining feminists and gays and activists who did the same later on.

Then Trump came along and told them that *they* were actually right all this time. "Making America Great Again" means reversing course on every single issue where reactionaries have had to give ground for the past two or three generations. Every GOP candidate who ever mouthed platitudes about equality instantly became cast as not just a fraud but a RINO.

Trump let bigots be bigots and promised that they needn't be ashamed of it. Think of the incredible relief that must be for people who've been holding it in all this time.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LordMortis »

I missed the memo but today I noticed Trump flags up again, an upside down US flag, a blue line flag

This flag

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Flag

This flag (sort of. It was a really cheap looking pine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Tree_Flag


Is it flag of month club day? Is this a Chauvin conviction reaction thing?
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Kraken »

Grifman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:42 pm
Kraken wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:09 am I hope this will be a short thread. I just want to poll the room. :)
I think it's a special blend of authoritarianism + racism + xenophobia + exceptionalism + nativism, but I'm sure trumpists must have a very different definition. When trumpsters endorse trumpism, what do they mean?
You are missing the forest for the trees. You left out the most important thing - Trump himself. Yes, he stands for all of those things but without Trump, it's not the same. It seriously could stand for almost anything at this point - I've seen Trump change positions on some issues and his cult just follows after him, regardless of the inconsistency. It's all about Trump, nothing more, nothing less.
Then can trumpism outlive Trump?

Reaganism came to mean low taxes, small government, nationalism, and individualism, and people still use the term. What will trumpism mean in 20+ years? Or will the term die with him?
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Holman »

LordMortis wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:56 pm I missed the memo but today I noticed Trump flags up again, an upside down US flag, a blue line flag

This flag

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Flag

This flag (sort of. It was a really cheap looking pine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Tree_Flag


Is it flag of month club day? Is this a Chauvin conviction reaction thing?
QAnon and associated theories have made huge inroads into the Christian Right.

Their biggest event recently was the "Health and Freedom Conference" last weekend, where QAnon media heroes spoke up and doubled down on theories of Biden election fraud and Satanic-Democrat child abductions. Former Trump lawyer Lin Wood announced that leftist elites (meaning every elected Dem, for a start) kidnapping and torturing children for their adrenochrome should all be summarily killed by true patriots.

Since even politically active Christians haven't heretofore felt the need to fly alternative flags, I'm going to assume that Christian-political flags indicate allegiance with this movement or something like it.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Little Raven »

Kraken wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:16 pmReaganism came to mean low taxes, small government, nationalism, and individualism, and people still use the term. What will trumpism mean in 20+ years? Or will the term die with him?
I suspect that, like Reaganism today, how Trumpism will be used in 20 years will be highly context dependent. It'll be used to invoke celebrity culture spilling into the political sphere, cults of personality, nativism, populism, isolationism. Social media campaigns, no-nothingism, and the chasing of outrage for the sake of outrage.

And whether or not Trumpism will survive Trump will depend on which of those contexts you want to use. Because Trump really did shake up the game in a fundamental way - genies don't just go back into bottles. But while elements of Trumpism will no doubt survive, his movement is nowhere near cohesive enough to stay together once he's out of the picture. Reagan was the front-man for a group of very entrenched, very politically savvy insiders who could keep his ideals moving forward without him for decades. There's no equivalent behind Trump. We'll see plenty of people who will try to grab his cult to use for their own ends....but so far nobody looks like they're going to succeed.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Paingod »

Holman wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:23 pmQAnon and associated theories have made huge inroads into the Christian Right.
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Now all my allies are bat shit insane, but at least we're on the same side.
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Re: What is

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Little Raven wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:33 pm
Carpet_pissr wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:28 pmI know a LOT of Trump voters.
Yes, but don't confuse Trump voters and Trumpers. One is a very small subgroup of the other.
Yep, good point, important distinction.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Kraken »

The tension between Trumpites and Trumpians

Interesting distinction that I hadn't thought much about.
In their 2018 book, “The Rise of Andrew Jackson,” historians David and Jeanne Heidler make a distinction between Jacksonites (the Tennessean’s supporters in the 1820s and “those willing to use Jackson’s popularity to achieve political power”) and Jacksonians (those who supported his ideological precepts, including universal white manhood suffrage, territorial expansion, and opposition to the central bank of the time).

With Trump’s presidency two years in the past but with his influence still strong and his ambition to return to the White House unabated, it now is possible to see that the Jackson phenomenon has a Trump analogue. We might think of contemporary Republicans as Trumpites (those willing to use his popularity to achieve political power) and Trumpians (true believers in election denial, assaults on the conventions of American civic life, and rejection of established international institutions).
...
The tension between Trumpites and Trumpians is perhaps the most important inflection point in contemporary American politics. It was the leitmotif of the Trump presidential years and is even more important in Trump’s post-White House period, when his influence as a kingmaker has waned and increasing number of Republicans believe he is an anchor, rather than a rocket booster, for GOP candidates. Every prominent election denier whom Trump supported in last year’s midterm elections was defeated.

As a result, while the number of Trumpians has remained steady, the ranks of Trumpites have been seriously depleted.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LordMortis »

The tension between Trumpites and Trumpians is perhaps the most important inflection point in contemporary American politics.
Gawd, I hope that is an overstatement.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Pyperkub »

LawBeefaroni wrote:Trumpsim is an excuse. It's an excuse to be racist or believe Qanon shit or reduce taxes or whatever.

It's a convenient broad brush to use to oppose conservativism.

Eye of the beholder type stuff.
IMHO, also an excuse for the GOP/ conservatives to ignore what they did to their party.

It will be very convenient, and very wrong, when they try to attribute this period in politics to Trump alone.

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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by malchior »

A big problem here is that he seemingly links the 'Trumpian' position as tied to Trump. The "Trumpian" position as defined is describing the GOP agenda at large for a long time. I also don't know how anyone can say that the 'Trumpite' cause is in decline when so many of them are paying lip service to Trump. He still very much has power in the base whether we like to acknowledge it or not.

I don't see elected folks at large abandoning talk of election illegitimacy which we've heard in escalating terms for 50 years on the right, they have uniformly been waging a fight on rights of minorities and women, and have been undermining institutions for decades. They are presently arguing to defund the IRS, tear down the Department of Education, and preparing to prioritize spending in ways to undermine institutions. I can't read the whole piece behind the paywall but if this snippet captures his thesis it is a pretty...weak and easy to argue against.
Kraken wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 11:15 amEvery prominent election denier whom Trump supported in last year’s midterm elections was defeated.
This is the zombie idea of the election IMO. It keeps getting kicked around a lot in the press but when you look at the big picture it's really tough to make. A strong counter-case IMO to this 'prominence' arguments is that hundreds of election deniers that Trump supported sit in the House and Senate right now.

If prominence alternatively maps to 'MOST IMPACTFUL' for stealing an election in 2024 outright then perhaps there is a case here. But that's pretty thin gruel. IMO this is in a raft of talking heads opinions that focuses too much attention on Trump as a singular force. He is very important but still he was the channeling something that already existed and *still exists* out on the right which has steadily radicalized independent of Trump in the past and continues to do so even while he stews in Mar-a-Elba.
As a result, while the number of Trumpians has remained steady, the ranks of Trumpites have been seriously depleted.
I think this model is a distinction without much usefulness. Despite disturbances like the Speaker nonsense and talk of GOP civil war, the GOP will flock to whomever holds the standard next year.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by LordMortis »

malchior wrote: Tue Jan 17, 2023 12:30 pm It keeps getting kicked around a lot in the press but when you look at the big picture it's really tough to make. A strong counter-case IMO to this 'prominence' arguments is that hundreds of election deniers that Trump supported sit in the House and Senate right now.
Agreed. Pragmatically, democracy both did not collapse in 2022 and it was not saved. It did better than I had hoped for but as it turns out democracy may just embrace corrupt authoritarianism that seeks to gain and keep power at any cost and end up being a bad call from where I sit.
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Smoove_B »

I think this goes here?

Political and legal experts are sounding the alarm after a New York Times deep dive details how Donald Trump and his top allies are planning to massively reorganize the entire executive branch to hand him unprecedented power and decimate the constitutional basis of checks and balances should he win re-election next year.

"Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands," The New York Times' Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman report.

...

The New York Times' report on Monday reveals Trump and his allies' "plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control."

Trump, for example, would bring what Congress created to be independent agencies, like the "Federal Communications Commission, which makes and enforces rules for television and internet companies, and the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces various antitrust and other consumer protection rules against businesses — under direct presidential control."

He would "impound" taxpayer funds Congress appropriated and refuse to spend them, a practice outlawed under disgraced President Richard Nixon.

...

“The president’s plan should be to fundamentally reorient the federal government in a way that hasn’t been done since F.D.R.’s New Deal,” said McEntee, "who is now involved in mapping out the new approach," The Times reports.

“Our current executive branch,” McEntee added, “was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. It’s not enough to get the personnel right. What’s necessary is a complete system overhaul.”

Russell T. Vought, who lead Trump's Office of Management and Budget, told The Times: “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them.”
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Alefroth
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Alefroth »

I'm convinced Trumpers would be happy with a king if it was Trump.
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Carpet_pissr
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Not even a doubt about it.
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Pyperkub
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Re: What is "Trumpism"?

Post by Pyperkub »

Please distinguish from the currents which have always run through America. Per Heinlein in the 1950's, courtesy of Brin:
“As for … the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past.

“It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.

“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. This is equally true whether the faith is Communism or Holy-Rollerism; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so. The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.

“Nevertheless this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country — Sunday closing laws here and there, birth control legislation in spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva’s Zion, Smith’s Nauvoo, and a few others. The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.

“Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not — but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday’s efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck.

“Throw in a Depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negrosim, and a good large dose of anti-“furriners” in general and anti-intellectuals here at home, and the result might be something quite frightening — particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington.”
Tho Heinlein was writing about his conception of the Reverend Nehemiah Scudder from Revolt in 2100, Trump is the same thing - tho not even anywhere near religious or devout (and '50's McCarthyism leaned into this too).
Black Lives definitely Matter Lorini!

Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
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