Getting rid of Moscow Mitch
jimmurphy said:
On the order of Romney’s “Tell them the truth”, I’d tell them that they need to be retrained because coal and X manufacturing has no future and we’re going to provide retraining in _____. Free community college seems appropriate by right.
How do you get through to them if they don't listen to anything but Right-wing news?
jimmurphy said:
ml1 said:
there are tens of millions of people who literally believe that Democrats, and their cabal of liberals, "elites", people of color, LGBTQ people, "secularists" etc., are hell bent on destroying their way of life. That's going to be hard to get past, when these people truly believe they are on a mission of self-preservation. Donald J. Trump was sent by God to save them from their tormentors, and now he's under siege. Their behavior within this context makes perfect sense. It's not irrational, and it's not illogical if you accept their premise. How do we turn around tens of millions of people who believe people like you and me are trying to destroy them?
I have no idea how to overcome their racism, but appealing to their economic interests seems the best way.
On the order of Romney’s “Tell them the truth”, I’d tell them that they need to be retrained because coal and X manufacturing has no future and we’re going to provide retraining in _____. Free community college seems appropriate by right.
The jobs have been changing, so I agree with retraining, but the jobs have also been concentrating in a handful of metros. I'd like to see steps to encourage a broader job growth. I love the NY metro, but living here shouldn't be the only way to have a shot at well paying work.
(and of course even in the economies that are "working" like NY metro, there's a lot of inequality and bad jobs, which is a whole other set of issues).
jimmurphy said:
I have no idea how to overcome their racism, but appealing to their economic interests seems the best way.
On the order of Romney’s “Tell them the truth”, I’d tell them that they need to be retrained because coal and X manufacturing has no future and we’re going to provide retraining in _____. Free community college seems appropriate by right.
Two thoughts:
1. They've been taught that the racism IS in their self-interest.
2. They've been taught that "coal has no future" and "get educated" are liberal lies.
nohero said:
Two thoughts:
1. They've been taught that the racism IS in their self-interest.
2. They've been taught that "coal has no future" and "get educated" are liberal lies.
I hear you. Although I'm not entirely on board with the education point.
I think there will always remain a significant number of Americans who are explicitly motivated by racism. The aim isn't to overcome that, it's to shut them out of political power. To do that, you don't have to win over the majority of former Trump voters, you just have to cut into their margins by enough that the gerrymanders, voter suppression measures, and other measure Republicans rely on to offset their smaller popular vote share are overcome. Do that for enough election cycles and the Republican party will be forced to try and expand its electoral appeal. Do that and you deny a home for the explicitly white supremacists. You don't suddenly start getting medicare for all or other liberal goals necessarily, but you tamp down the appeal of explicit racism, making space for actual progress.
At that point the danger of the white nationalist getting more violent rises unfortunately, but that exists already, and I'd say a state where both political parties are unified in opposition to violent white supremacists is preferable to one where the president leads them in an insurrection.
The sane conservatives must regain control of the Republican Party and purge the crazies like they did the John Birch Society in the 60s. Alternatively they must leave the Republican Party and form a new one.
That will not benefit the progressive policies I favor but the alternatives are dangerous.
Right now, Republican congress members are actually basing their votes in response to threats of violence against them and their family members. This is untenable.
Biden might have won Alabama and Mississippi.