Asked whether they believed Trump has or has not “committed serious federal crimes,” 54 percent of poll respondents replied that he had. But 19 percent of them confirmed they’d still vote for this criminal ex-president in 2024. Along the same vein, 13 percent of those who believe Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results “threatened American democracy” still plan to vote for him next year.
For all of you kids out there - back in the Reagan days, the republicans spent a lot of time and money convincing “blue collar” people to vote against their interests. People that would benefit the most from public healthcare, better environmental standards, higher taxes on the obscenely wealthy, and a more just legal system began voting against all those things.
It was as fucking stupid then as it is now, only since the TEA party creation, they’ve gone full batshit and there’s no ideal or central mission to anchor them.
I’m saying it’s been forty years and it’s only gotten much worse. This insane death dance with Trump is the unfortunate result, and they refuse to stop it.
What you need to understand is that people who voted for Reagan weren’t voting to screw themselves; they were scared and wanted a “strong leader” who looked good. Even Gorbachev talked about how magnificent Reagan looked and sounded.
Don’t get me wrong, I consider Reagan one our worst Presidents and a scoundrel, but if you listen to some of his speeches, you’ll understand how people would trust him.
Sure. Then you’ve got Donald “cofefe” Trump. They’re baskets of deplorables, plain and simple. Hillary had it right all along.
You can argue that Reagan was an effective president because he did look and communicate the part. Whether you agreed with his policies or not, he was “presidential” and had huge standing both locally and internationally
https://www.reagan.com/the-great-communicator-ronald-reagan
Compare that to the ever shrinking Republicans since, where their image and prestige on the world stage is just less and less over time…. Until you have an embarrassment to the nation and five year olds everywhere
Just because I like this story.
First meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan. Protocol was set in advance. Americans show up to the meeting place, talk to the reporters, then wait for the Russians to arrive. Gorbachev and his people arrive, walk over to where the reporters are waiting, and then suddenly Reagan comes outside and walks down these beautiful marble steps to greet the Russians.
The reporters go nuts, because this kind of picture never happens. The Russians are standing there with their mouths open, looking like stooges, while Reagan stands there looking like a King who has summoned some peasants for a banquet.
That a story Gorbachev told about what it was like dealing with that dirty so-and-so.
Not only has the GOP had forty years to perfect their propaganda skills, they’ve also used that time to gut education in every state they’ve gained control in. That has allowed them to undermine the critical thinking skills of a huge swath of the population. In fact, in the 2012 Republican Party of Texas platform they said the quiet part out loud and explicitly opposed the teaching of critical thinking.