Let us no longer beat about the bush -- Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. In terms of popular vote, he lost it by just over 7 million popular votes. (He lost the 2016 popular vote by nearly 3 million). In 2020, the Electoral college was 306 Biden, 232 Trump. (The reverse of 2016.)
I have spoken here before about my notions about what humans "believe," and it seems clear to me that there are two sorts of belief -- the stuff we're "supposed" to believe, and the things that we really do believe, in our very heart of hearts. One example I've used: I believe that when my stove burner is glowing red, it would be a very, very bad idea for me to put my hand on it -- and trust me, short of physical violence, nothing will get me to do it! I also believe that it's a stupid waste of money to buy lottery tickets, but then, I think, there's always a slim chance, and it's only a couple of bucks, and so I go ahead and buy them. (And, of course, always lose, or one in a while win a free ticket or $2, whoopee!)
I think it is true of both religions and politics (when humans divide themselves up into sects or parties), that there's a lot of stuff in there we're supposed to believe, but really don't, not down deep, not like the stove burner. Every Christian knows it's wrong to kill, yet a huge number of them favour the death penalty. It took until 2022 for the US, a presumably "Christian" nation, to pass a law against lynching!
I think that Donald Trump's real (and only) skill is an ability to read the hypocrisys of others (easy enough, when you're a garden-full of them yourself), and realized that most of what Republicans say they believe and defend -- well, they really don't! They're mostly "marketing slogans." The "party of life?" Nope, they favour the death penalty. The party of "small government?" Nope, they want government to interfere in people's private lives, including who they can marry.
Trump has learned what the rest of us should have by now -- the majority of Republicans (and I grant this may be true of Democrats, too!) are really only about retaining for themselves the power to direct how everybody else lives. And getting huge donations from the plutocrats who will scorch our earth for their own profit, the future of the planet be damned.
I have spoken here before about my notions about what humans "believe," and it seems clear to me that there are two sorts of belief -- the stuff we're "supposed" to believe, and the things that we really do believe, in our very heart of hearts. One example I've used: I believe that when my stove burner is glowing red, it would be a very, very bad idea for me to put my hand on it -- and trust me, short of physical violence, nothing will get me to do it! I also believe that it's a stupid waste of money to buy lottery tickets, but then, I think, there's always a slim chance, and it's only a couple of bucks, and so I go ahead and buy them. (And, of course, always lose, or one in a while win a free ticket or $2, whoopee!)
I think it is true of both religions and politics (when humans divide themselves up into sects or parties), that there's a lot of stuff in there we're supposed to believe, but really don't, not down deep, not like the stove burner. Every Christian knows it's wrong to kill, yet a huge number of them favour the death penalty. It took until 2022 for the US, a presumably "Christian" nation, to pass a law against lynching!
I think that Donald Trump's real (and only) skill is an ability to read the hypocrisys of others (easy enough, when you're a garden-full of them yourself), and realized that most of what Republicans say they believe and defend -- well, they really don't! They're mostly "marketing slogans." The "party of life?" Nope, they favour the death penalty. The party of "small government?" Nope, they want government to interfere in people's private lives, including who they can marry.
Trump has learned what the rest of us should have by now -- the majority of Republicans (and I grant this may be true of Democrats, too!) are really only about retaining for themselves the power to direct how everybody else lives. And getting huge donations from the plutocrats who will scorch our earth for their own profit, the future of the planet be damned.
