Are Trump voters ruining America for all of us?

[Cashew]

... but The_Donald on reddit or Brietbart bans anyone who criticizes or makes fun of Trump.

Do they really ?
So if I were to go there and refer to trump as "an orange-haired clown" like I do here, they would ban my username ?
I cant believe they would do that.

FWIW I got banned on freerepublic for criticizing Trump's inauguration crowd size obsession.

[Associate Justice PiT]

This article is really unnecessary.

1. When Trump voters voted for him, he was expected to lose. Hence, the moment the election was called for him, he already 'delivered' more for his supporters than they expected, while Hillary delivered less. For them to regret their votes, they would have to fall below the level of faith not only of November 9, 2016, but of November 8, 2016.

2. No one likes to admit they made a mistake. Asking someone if they regret their vote is probably a good way to elicit a 'no' response.

3. A lot of Trump voters were voting against Hillary. So just because they don't regret their vote, it doesn't mean they will always support Trump. Since the election, Hillary has been tarred as a loser, and criticized extensively, bringing her favorables down. In order for them to regret their vote, their drop in faith in Trump would have to overcome that.

So to sum, in order for a Trump supporter to regret their vote, their drop in faith in Trump would have to be substantial enough to (1) overcome the fact that Trump won, (2) overcome their own hesitating at admitting a mistake, and (3) overcoming the fact that Hillary lost.

Finally, after being tarred and insulted as "deplorables" who are "ruining America" for years, admitting that they regretted their vote would be a humiliating concession that the people calling them these names were, in some way shape or form, right, even if not in their direct attacks. For that reason alone, Trump voters may resist reevaluation.

Conversely, liberals have a perverse need for validation. Unrealistically soon after the election, I noticed articles zeroing in on supposed Trump regret stories. These articles reassure liberals that despite losing the election, they have won the argument after all, and tomorrow is a better day. When polls like this take that reassurance away, the liberal has a psychological crisis and lashes out at Trump voters with articles like this.

Part of the problem with liberals is that they place a very high emphasis on self-image. To them, Trump voters are the ugly, uneducated, boorish uncle who you wish you weren't associated with but have to anyway. And Trump is the manifestation of that relative's flaws on the highest stage, airing the dirty laundry for the entire world. He is an everyday reminder that this country doesn't live up to the image that liberals want it to have. He embarrasses them. And this embarrassment causes them to become angry at the voters, the people who put him there. Not realizing that the more these voters are castigated, the more they dig in their heels.

The bubble must end. The reflexive contempt that liberals have for anyone who does not think like them must end, for it is a block. When I first joined this forum almost 14 years ago there was a lot more debate, and discussion, between liberals and conservatives. We exchanged ideas, evidence, arguments. As the years have gone by I have seen more snark, opinion stating, and expressions of contempt without any content. This tendency is degrading our discourse. We must learn to talk to one another as equals again and engage in a dialogue of back and forth.

     This is the best post I've seen in a long time. Your last paragraph in particular is really on point, and describes a phenomenon has driven a huge wedge between me and the left. I never agreed with them, but I used to respect them and value their opinions. Today, with a handful of exceptions, I really don't respect liberals or value their opinions, and I know the feeling is mutual.

     The effect of this is that I am largely relegated to discussing ideas with people on my own side, which naturally generates groupthink as ideas are not properly challenged. People become increasingly extreme as they hold to specious notions that are neither realistic nor well-conceived. Our country is in a hole, and de-escalating this partisanship and breaking down the echo chambers is the only way to dig it out of there. Yet, with how influential the internet has become and how easy it is to simply block your adversaries and ignore their opinions, this task will not be an easy one.

Thank you. You have always been one of the more reasonable conservatives around here. Be careful though, Trumpism thrives on incivility and hyperconfrontationism (which is why many of his supporters did so well in GamerGate, which was minimum substance and maximum drama/outrage) if what I advocated comes about, I think he would lose.

     If that happened, I would be fine with him losing. He has no real solutions and I didn't think he did. More than anything, he is simultaneously a symptom of the problem and a reaction to it. As much as I disagree with him otherwise, I credit Michael Moore for recognizing this in advance of the election when he said that Trump was a grenade for the angry and disaffected people to throw at the status quo. We wouldn't have had to come to this if people believed that they could be heard otherwise.

[Inmate Trump]

If that happened, I would be fine with him losing. He has no real solutions and I didn't think he did. More than anything, he is simultaneously a symptom of the problem and a reaction to it. As much as I disagree with him otherwise, I credit Michael Moore for recognizing this in advance of the election when he said that Trump was a grenade for the angry and disaffected people to throw at the status quo. We wouldn't have had to come to this if people believed that they could be heard otherwise.

I think there's a lot of truth to this, but I just want to point out that (so far) there hasn't been any change in Washington--it's still a rich-only club full of old white men who are governing for their own interests, and not anyone else's.

[Hindsight was 2020]

If that happened, I would be fine with him losing. He has no real solutions and I didn't think he did. More than anything, he is simultaneously a symptom of the problem and a reaction to it. As much as I disagree with him otherwise, I credit Michael Moore for recognizing this in advance of the election when he said that Trump was a grenade for the angry and disaffected people to throw at the status quo. We wouldn't have had to come to this if people believed that they could be heard otherwise.

I think there's a lot of truth to this, but I just want to point out that (so far) there hasn't been any change in Washington--it's still a rich-only club full of old white men who are governing for their own interests, and not anyone else's.

Not true a (R) who makes libs miserable is in office an for many that's all the change they wanted

[pbrower2a]

They have -- that's for d@mned sure.

The problem is that they have no clue about what they have done -- at least if they don't reject him yet.

[Inmate Trump]

If that happened, I would be fine with him losing. He has no real solutions and I didn't think he did. More than anything, he is simultaneously a symptom of the problem and a reaction to it. As much as I disagree with him otherwise, I credit Michael Moore for recognizing this in advance of the election when he said that Trump was a grenade for the angry and disaffected people to throw at the status quo. We wouldn't have had to come to this if people believed that they could be heard otherwise.

I think there's a lot of truth to this, but I just want to point out that (so far) there hasn't been any change in Washington--it's still a rich-only club full of old white men who are governing for their own interests, and not anyone else's.

Not true a (R) who makes libs miserable is in office an for many that's all the change they wanted

So as long as they annoy the other side, that's all that matters when you're selected a leader?

You should not be allowed to vote.

[Torie]

Torie, just curious why you edited my original post saying it was a copyright violation?

I've seen other people post articles, and copy/paste it in their post, but not be edited for a copyright violation. What gives?

The posts that did that were probably not reported, and thus not noticed. Dave Leip set a standard that no more than 20% of so of an article may be copied and pasted, and if a long article, the percentage is lower, particularly if it copies and pastes the most salient bits. Copyright infringement is not allowed on this site. This site gets a lot of traffic, and Dave does not want to get into legal trouble. So please respect this rule. Thanks.