My parents have had complete TDS for years now. Literally, if POTUS came out in favor of breathing they would frantically call me to stop breathing.
Yesterday, I was able to convince my father that Trump has done at least 2 good things. He agreed that his hardline approach to China over human rights violations and the massive crackdown on human trafficking (things he hadnt heard about from lamestream media) were good. I took him from drumph is Hitler reborn to Trump has done some good as POTUS.
I count this as a major victory pedes! We can break though TDS with honest polite conversations.
A lot of people with TDS hate Trump mostly because of his perceived behavior/demeanor. They have this high expectation of what a president should be, even if it is all smoke and mirrors. It is best to neutralize that first, so you can get thru people's heads and have objective discussion about policies (no personalities involved).
"I don't need the plumber to have good personality. I just need him to do a good job."
Next is to focus on things that a person considers important. Some people don't like wars. Some people care about economy. Use that as way to soften them up. Don't go raw with conspiracy shit (yet).
It sounds like China is a good attack point. Argue that whatever progressive issues one considers important, will all be banned once China is the military and economic superpower of the world. Whether its LGBT issues, climate change, freedom of press, freedom of religion (Uighurs), gender equality, race equality, political correctness, etc.
All of it (even mere debate/discussion) goes out the window once China is king.
Fun fact: Our second and third Presidents (Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) hated each other's guts, to the point where they led opposing political parties from almost the instant Washington retired.
Both sides even launched negative PR campaigns against the other, with Jefferson saying Adams had a
while Adams retorted that Jefferson was
The Presidency has been low-brow and dirty basically since its inception.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/12487/adams-vs-jefferson-birth-negative-campaigning-us
Thanks! That was a great article, I had no idea they went that low.
Later in life, they made up. They were great friends during the Revolutionary War but their political differences divided them until their later years.
Reminds me about how Clinton knew Trump prior to the election, and they weren't "friends" but they knew eachother and didn't hate eachothers guts.
The comparison with Trump and the Clintons is appropriate though I have a much harder time putting the Clintons in the same company with Jefferson and Adams than I do Donald Trump.
Very good advice. You should make a dedicated post for this comment.
That's the thing I find amusing about people talking about Trump's "brutish demeanor" when can't rub two braincells together concerning the other candidate. Biden sniffs children and has a literal junkie of a son that had a crack pipe left in a rental car. Let's not forget the Ukraine dealings, or the fact during the 0bama administration there where countless scores of dead Ukrainian women found in cargo containers in Houston, multiple times. Dear God let's not have a President that tells it like it is and doesn't pander to a literal mob, no sir.
very true. Most say "he is not presidential, or he is stupid and says stupid things." I bring up what he has accomplished and they just sweep it under the rug. With my fellow Christians I always bring up Matthew 7. Needless to say they do NOT like it LOL
TDS sufferers want their politicians to say what they want to hear in a slick, polished manner, while ignoring their actions no matter how rotten or ineffective.
Trump supporters want their politicians to do what we want you to do in a strong and effective manner, while (sometimes) ignoring or overlooking their less-polished words.
Leftists go by words, not actions.
Trump supporters go by actions, not words.
That's partly why the two sides have been screaming past each other for the last four years.
They don't understand why polished, feel-good words are not enough for us, and we can't understand why mere words are enough for them.
When they defend Obama, they're usually saying something like, "He was so polished and eloquent! He said such wonderful things! Drumpf is so horrible and mean and crude!"
All they cared about what hearing what they wanted to hear and feeling good about that - nothing more.