Quote (Black XistenZ @ Oct 28 2020 07:37pm)
I am indeed upset with the political landscape. The policies or ideologies which are commonly referred to as "right-wing populism" are my political home, and they were under- or unrepresented for the longest time. It seems, however, that I'm not alone in this sentiment. These right-wing populist parties have popped up across the world in recent years. Many of them saw unprecedented success. There must be a reason for this global political trend, a reason which goes beyond Trump or his personality cult. The emergence of right-wing populism has to do with the state of the (western) world and the direction its mainstream political leaders want to steer it. Voters from all around the world did not all of a sudden become childish, there are good, substantive reasons for this frustration with the (old) political landscape.
No, it does not. Let's be real for a second here: I defended Trump's endless controversies and shitty behavior for all those years because I like his policies and put policy over personality. Do you seriously think that I enjoyed having to do that, do you seriously think I enjoyed having to bend over backwards and push the boundaries of my own integrity to defend the man I wanted to see succeed, no matter how big his personal short-comings were?
Ideologically realigning the GOP in a direction that I preferred on policy grounds, and potentially bringing some Democrats on his side to form a lasting majority coalition, similar to FDR's new deal coaliton or Reagan's silent majority - that's indeed what I had hoped for at the start of Trump's presidency. In hindsight, this hope was always unrealistic. I still believe that the opening to do just that was there, but I should have seen that Trump's personality would always stand in the way and prevent him from ever forming a majority coalition.
I'm not so sure about the importance of the personality cult vs Trump adjusting his policy position to the sentiment which is already prevalent among the base. It imho is also totally up in the air whether the ideological realignment of the GOP under Trump will persist after he's gone, or if the party will revert back to where it was under Bush or Romney.
I could see a right-wing populist politics that would be healthy for the country and the GOP. Trump didn't represent that though. He brought a dark form of populism.
Well, you may not have enjoyed defending it, but I do think you probably enjoyed watching Trump be nasty to the politicians you hate.
Quote (bogie160 @ Oct 28 2020 07:40pm)
Was Romney treated with civility and decency? Was coverage fair? When Trump challenged the left's orthodoxy on immigration, what was the response?
There is a belief, which predates Obama, that leftism is some sort of inexorable force. That the role of the right is to play loyal opposition. Some of us reject it. It is for them to prove.
There was a basic level of civility and decency in politics when Romney was running that is no longer present today. Romney's a great example... he's a civil and decent politician. Just because he was unfairly criticized at times doesn't mean things back then we're surely better than today. Obama was a civil and decent politician as well. He certainly wasn't treated decently by Republican politicians and the right-wing press for those 8 years.
I don't know what leftism has to do with this discussion. These values I mention aren't a partisan thing.
This post was edited by IceMage on Oct 29 2020 04:57pm