The MSM always just dismisses Trump’s internet supporter’s energy as “racism” and “rage”, which is obvious bs. I always see tons of Trump memes and comments everywhere, and online his supporters are always the most passionate. Unfortunately, there aren't that many MAGA/KAG guys around in my area that I can talk to and discuss ideas with, and I also don’t have the time to spend all day browsing the forums online, so I’ve always been curious about what got other guys out there excited about Donald. I have a bunch of questions, feel free to answer whatever you want.
What do you think the best way to reason with a liberal friend/relative is? How do you know which media sources are real, and which are fake news? What do you guys think about Republicans like Mitch Mcconnel, Lindsey Graham, etc, those guys have been in congress a very long time, were they part of the deep state/swamp or were they always good guys? What exactly is the deep state? What gets you excited to talk about him online? How do you respond to liberals who don’t trust him? Before Donald made America great again, was America just ok, or was it bad for you? How much time do you think you spend online that is related to him? How much has YOUR life actually gotten better since he became POTUS? A little? A lot?
I'm always rather suspicious when a brand new account pops up asking all sorts of questions. Why not just sit back and soak up the memes? Read the news for a few days. Post some comments. As Yogi Berra said, you can observe a lot just by looking.
Sorry about that. I'll read the posts for a while and see if I can figure this stuff out. No harm intended.
No problem. I’ve got two questions for you. Do you consider yourself to be a Trump supporter? Are you more liberal or conservative, and why?
I like some of Trump's policies, and I dislike others. I have never met him in person so I can't speak to his personal qualities.
I can't list all of my policy views, but here are a few I feel strongly about.
His North Korea policy has made massive strides towards building a stable relationship. Obama never had the balls to even try to challenge the authority of the Military Industrial Complex. As a South Korean-American, that alone is something that I am deeply thankful for.
I appreciate his appeal to working Americans. Before Trump became POTUS, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan were completely ignored. Now, politicians actually pay attention to what "common people" actually have to say. Its completely changed the political conversation in this country.
I appreciate that he never insults the intelligence of his audience by trying to fool his supporters with words he thinks they don't understand. Its a common political trick I saw more than enough of under Obama,
I support his plan to increase medical cost transparency, and I believe its long overdue.
I'm pretty frustrated by the fact that he seems willing to take boat loads of cash from various lobbying firms and industries. I'm not saying that he can't take money to fuel his campaign, but it sets a bad precedent for the future of money in politics, particularly when most Americans want money OUT of politics.
As for economic policy, I fundamentally disagree with his handling of the economy. I'm a capitalist, but I think that many of Trump's economic choices seem to be motivated by appealing to an electorate rather than building for the future. Since the recession ended under Obama the economy has steadily been getting better. I'm no economist, but I like to study it as hobby, and among other things, I appose his plan to lower interest rates to almost zero, and his de-facto subsidization of the farming industry.
I am strongly pro 2A and pro legalization of Marijuana. On these issues he has done fine.
I'm not sure if I'm more liberal or conservative. I think the problem with labels like these is that they force you to put your opinions in a box. I lean liberal on many policies, but If I just said "I'm a liberal" you would probably assume I'm anti 2nd Amendment and anti capitalism, which I'm not.
I believe that many of Trump's policies are courageous, and I think that other policies are impulsive and poorly thought out. Does that make me scatterbrained? No.
If you wanted a summary of my political leanings you might describe me as a supporter of regulated(but not subsidized) capitalism, non interventionist foreign policy, expansion of entitlement programs for the elderly and disabled, and a hands off social policy(no intermingling of church and state, no 2nd amendment restrictions, legalization of marijuana, legalization of prostitution), lastly I support tighter regulations on campaign finances and political dark money, and I want the Mccain-Finegold act reinstated.
I appreciate the long reply, but you have not answered either question: Do you consider yourself to be a Trump supporter? Are you more liberal or conservative, and why?
I do not consider myself a Trump supporter, but I hope that he stays in politics regardless because he has moved the Republican party in a positive direction(at least on foreign policy). I will never donate to his campaign.
I consider myself conservative, America has always valued freedom of expression, strict protections of civil liberties, and a transparent, responsible government. These are conservative ideas, and these are all things I support. However, keep in mind that just because I consider myself a conservative does not mean that you define conservative in the same way. Since the 1980s the Republicans have been a scourge on conservative ideals by both expanding the national debt and the powers of the executive at a ludicrous rate. In my opinion the last "Real Conservative" was Senator Barry Goldwater. Maybe Rand Paul today.
I don't even really consider Trump a "real" conservative in any area except foreign policy and regulatory rollbacks. He has made no serious attempts at balancing the national budget and has assumed executive control over many state programs(like the SNAP Standardization program that goes into effect April 1st) , and subsidized farmers and coal miners(a form of borderline socialist market intervention). He's also in favor of allowing the Federal Reserve to adjust interest rates to adapt to market conditions(Typically a liberal idea) I don't fundamentally disagree with all of these policies, I am however concerned that he is continuing a trend(Obama also did this) of stretching executive power and interfering in the economy in order to produce short term benefits, which is exactly what conservative capitalists are against.
Don't take him to seriously. Your welcome to comment and post as much MAGA as you would like even if that involves questions on how to red pill others.
I got the same vibe, but the talking points raised aren't too bad. Come on LoneStarWinner, jump in with some answers.
Be calm and collected. Liberals by themselves thrive on outrage and hatred. They'll likely be pissed off at you first when you first debate with them on politics but when they put their big boy pants on, they'll come back to you again likely a little more reasonable than previous.
It's pretty easy to tell. CNN is fake news and I get most of my information from here and podcasts only. Fox is okay and a few other places but that's about the end of the line.
I don't know enough about them. I'm not super political. I'm just more of a common sense person with logical ideas, an iq over 60, and a distrust of government.
The deep state, of what I understand, are the long time politicians on capital hill as well as the crooked, two faced, lying, and corrupt ones.
I actually get to meet people who don't become outraged and call me racist, sexist, homophobic whenever we have a discussion. I go to a very liberal college (thank god i'm transferring) and if I said anything pro Trump, my truck would get keyed in the parking lot if I'm not assaulted in public.
There's some reasonable but most very unreasonable. If the opposite person in your discussion with them isn't asking questions and wanting honest feedback but rather just insulting and being ignorant, ignore them. They're not worth your time and effort.
Somewhat little. I just like Trump because he's a good man, he knows his shit, he's a businessman, and unlike many politicians, he's actually done or is currently doing what he has promised which makes me respect him a ton. He's also the monkey wrench in a nonstop system of gears of corruption in capital hill and this is proving to be true.
My life has been great. My mothers' start up company went into the black while he was in office, my father got a big time job promotion, I'm in college doing well, and I have more job offers and opportunities than ever before.
Thanks for such well thought out responses. Congratulations on your career success. Ever since the economy rebounded I've been hearing more stories like yours. A tricky thing with the economy is that its difficult to convince liberals its thanks to him because the rebound started under Obama. A corrupt government and CNN actually seems to be things that many liberals are frustrated with as well, indicated by Bernie's nationwide lead among dems.
I live in Oregon, surrounded by those people. I tell them that I support Trump because I'm a Democrat. That I think he is the most progressive president we have ever had.
No really. Black unemployment. Hispanic unemployment. Wage growth. Jobs returning. Strong borders. Americans first. Lowering medical costs. These were the things that Democrats stood for once upon a time. Ideals I still believe in. Trump didn't move to the right. He pulled the party left. Back to sanity. Republicans once stood for corporations and war.
A lot of people have issues with his mouth and his attitude. I would direct them to the words of Hamilton, Washington, Jefderson, Franklin, Kennedy, Lincoln and many more who have been rude, direct and most off all, effective.
I would also point out the many awards he won before president from communities that were minority majority. Winning an award next to Rosa Parks for instance.
Correct the things they hate. Focus on that. "The economy is good but he has an attitude." Focus on that. "The economy sucks" focus on that.
Be polite and know when to push and when to back off. If they are media savvy recommend Tim Pool. Let them know he is a liberal. Tim will do the rest and introduce red pill seeds. Contrary to most peoples opinion here, he has a job and he does it well
That's an interesting perspective. Trump has made medical cost comparisons a lot easier. As a democratic Trump supporter, in the past did you support the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act? It was intended to lower medical costs, which you mentioned was something you support.
I did not actually. I think that a person can correctly identify a problem while proposing the wrong solution. The answer to high medical costs is actually more capitalism rather than more socialism.
This is why Bernie resonates with people. They cannot surmise that he has the wrong solution however they know he identifies the correct problem in so much of education and medical costs
We're knocking the meme, news, and satire posts out the park, but I would love to see more discussion. I'll take a shot at answering these:
The best way to reason with a liberal is to slowly drop red pills without them realizing the color of pill. For example, when your liberal globalist coworker starts yakking about how it's no big deal for manufacturing to be sourced out, you plainly bring up the reality of a major war and USA not being able to manufacture. It's a long process but the red pills will slowly chip away their brainwashing.
The ability to spot fake news has gotten a lot easier thanks to Trump. TDS is a roundabout truth serum which has caused many in media/journalism to slip mask and create obvious fake news. It's all about being skeptical though and doing your research when you can. You'll eventually find a few folks that are putting out credible stories the other media outlets won't touch.
When you've decided that an outlet is producing fake news, do you stop paying attention to whatever that outlet does in the future or do you continue to absorb its content regularly in order to maintain a balanced perspective?
Pay even more attention! It's like a fake news rabbit hole. The beauty of fake news is that it's a window into bias. If you know an article or piece of news is fake, and it wasn't a one-off mistake, you know the author had a motive. Now you see that article through the opinion lens. Now think about all the articles like that, and notice the patterns. You'll eventually start to see past the black and white fake news, and dive into the gray. For example the news is real, but the piece/article uses selective truths to weave a narrative. This is the fake news you really need to worry about. It's where multiple sources reporting the same things give you a larger picture to compare. If the whole story is a face. Why did outlet A only focus on the eyes? Why did outlet B talk about everything but the eyes? Why is outlet C telling you what eyes like that mean instead of just showing you the face and letting you decide?
1-show then the media bias. Truth wins 2-real news puts real sources. You’ll have to sift through different takes of the same subject and make up your own mind. Take everything with a grain of salt unless you can watch unfiltered content or can see the source documents first hand 3- McConnell and Graham are definitely part of the swamp but they’re playing their only hand right now and that’s side with Trump I think.
Thanks. 1- Just for a start, what news sources do you recommend? I'm not online a whole lot and most traditional news media is MSM. With media sources outside of MSM, its hard to confirm credibility. 2- As for source documents, how do you know which ones to trust? Photos and docs can easily be altered. The MSM pulled up photos of Trumps inauguration that had less people in it then the one that the WH released. In a case, like that, how can you tell for sure which one is real? 3- That makes sense. I feel like McConnell and Graham have never really had the peoples interest in mind. It bothers me a little that some swamp monsters are kinda getting off easy though.
Oann, whatfinger, the conservative treehouse, Breitbart seem to be solid. Breitbart gets click baity imo sometimes though. American Thinker isn't too bad either.
I’ll read any news source but it’s fairly easy to tell if it’s fake or not and usually there is another source to get another point of view on the same subject. I always look at how their article is sourced and what kind of bias their source may have. It’s easy to tell when the author starts injecting opinion over fact so that’s always considered also. Political source material that is on an official .gov website is ideal and video evidence is usually best. Photos like Trumps inauguration have many, many different shots and perspectives from official photos to photos from peoples social media that attended the event. Just takes a few extra steps to figure out is all. Unfortunately that’s the world we live in but it’s good practice anyway so long as you have the time
Thank you for the analogy.
Your point about the lack of clear moral boundaries is a good one. When I discuss politics with hardcore Democrats or hardcore Republicans, and I ask them to define corruption, their answer is usually just whoever is in the party they don't like, which is obviously a silly and simplistic way to view things. One thing I have noticed, is that just about everyone agrees that the absurd amount of money that both Democrats and Republicans can make from corporate contributions and the lobbying industry is a serious problem, and is a primary contributor of the intense corruption in Washington DC. The Supreme Court Ruling on Citizens United Vs. FEC was a pretty big enabler for for these kinds of political gifts.
POTUS has been a strong ally of business, and as a result has received massive support from various interest groups, according to the Federal Election Commission and the Center for Responsible Politics. Some of these contributions would not be possible without the Citizens United Ruling, so for some Trump supporters I think that it raises some questions about whether corporate donations and SuperPAC funding should be more strictly regulated or if its better to just allow Trump to use his business savvy to raise as much cash as he can from various industries without having his hands being tied.
I've never donated to a political campaign before Trump, and I'm sure he has brought many first timers like me into the fold. The great thing about capitalism and conservatism is that you can be pro-worker and pro-business at the same time. Liberal propaganda would have you believe that trickle down economics is a debunked conspiracy theory. However when you take down barriers and let businesses thrive unhindered in economy it's so much better for the skilled worker. With more jobs filled the skilled workers dry up. Demand for the skilled worker goes up and you start to feel like a superstar athlete entering free agency. Young people entering the work force don't get it because they aren't a skilled worker....yet. Enter liberal activist professors and teachers preying on this vulnerable minds.
I agree with you about the duality of being pro worker and pro business simultaneously. Capitalism always works the best when as few obstacles as possible are in the way to prevent it from taking off.
My problem is primarily with industry subsidization and government sponsored bailouts. Both Democrats and Republicans jump to the rescue of any mismanaged, antiquated, farm, factory, or coal plant whenever votes are on the line. Trump has done nothing to stop this, and has recently dumped significant amounts of tax payer money into subsiding the farm industry and coal industry. Coal can't compete with natural gas and foreign oil. Its why so many coal mines are failing. Trump has lifted almost all of the coal regulations but right now foreign oil is so cheap and so plentiful that he's just tied coals dead carcass to the economy. The same is true for farms. Farmers can't survive right now because we have a market surplus. That is normal. That means that many farms will be forced to close, but is not the taxpayers job to sustain them when they are no longer needed. I understand that many communities are dependent on the survival of these businesses, but capitalism can't be interfered with, natural evolution of the market happens, and industries that are no longer sustainable die naturally in order to meet the laws of supply and demand. If people absolutely need their factory job or coal plant job in order to survive, government benefits should be robust enough to help them until they can get back on their feet. And not surprisingly, these massive corporations that need the government to swoop in and save them(such as G.M or Bank of America) often contribute handsomely to political campaigns, further encouraging government intervention in a ideally free market system.
Really, that's my main problem with Trump. He promised to allow American capitalism to flourish, but instead he's bailing out companies that should naturally die(using our tax money) so that the people reliant on those jobs will vote for him and using the Federal Reserve to adjust interest rates to adapt to market conditions(again, direct government intervention in the economy). Its disappointing. I support so much of what he does, but I think that in the long term continuing the "normal" political bailout routine is a recipe for a future recession.