Conscience of a Trump Supporter and its Strategic Implications, Indictments and Rearing Technology's Ugly Head

Indictments

Watch FoxNews to see how trivial, how unimportant, how minor-league, Special Prosecutor Mueller's indictments are.  Only the gullible will believe that.  Reminds me of a friend's father who, back in World War Two days, was involved in the wholesale meat "black market."  They never managed to put him away for his law breaking in that area, but instead, turned to his tax returns instead which were how they ulltimately got him.
JL  

Democratic Strategy

More and more, I believe that I am on the right track in suggesting to Democratic candidates at all levels to challenge their G.O.P. opponents with a demand that they clearly state their position in regard to the President of the United States.  I started saying this months ago on this blog.  I say it again.  That is the only route to success.

Forget Trump's "programs" which domestically are in line with what Republicans have been advocating for years (and rarely accomplishing).  Of course, Republicans will support them ... but how do they feel about the man in the White House as a person?  That is the question.  Do they support him as the Messiah bringing fruition to years of G.O.P. efforts ... or are they ashamed of him?

Would they want their kids to look up to him?  To see him as an example?  Compare him with the George Washington who after chopping down a cherry tree, admitted it, saying "I cannot tell a lie."  See the difference between the "George" and the "Donald"?  Would they ever want Donald Trump's image on a piece of currency?  Okay, "Monopoly" money maybe, but U.S. paper dollar denominations?  Get them to take a stand!  Trump has demeaned the office he holds and the world knows it.  How do Republican candidates feel about that?

There will be two kinds of Republican candidates.  One kind will have their doubts about Trump, and say so.  Republican voters like the fictional one whose conscience is bared in the next article will not vote for that candidate.  Another kind will staunchly stick with the President.  As a result, Republicans with minds of their own (I mention a few conservative columnists below who fit that description) and those who think like Senators Flake and Corker ... and like former President George W. Bush does, will shun such candidates.  All this will benefit  Democratic candidates at all levels.  This is what 2018 will be about.

And Democrats must avoid emphasizing their contrast with Republicans in regard to economic and social issues.  Pushing these issues to "grow" the Democratic base beyond the choir to which Democrats usually preach can serve to mightily energize the conservative voter, as described below, who otherwise might stay away from the polls, if the Republican candidate is not to their liking.  Similarly, meaningless issues like Civil War monuments can be used to energize them.  That's why squabbles over statues of Robert E. Lee are to be avoided by Democrats.  They only serve to bring Republicans to the polls.

Jack Lippman

Back in the 1960's, Barry Goldwater wrote a book entitled "Conscience of a Conservative."  Senator Jeff Flake borrowed that title for his 2017 book.  But today's "conservatives" don't believe in the kind of conservatism these two have written about.  In fact, today's real conservatives are suspicious of any thing in the form of a "book," a form of communication usually reserved for liberals and elites.  

Liberals like Thomas Friedman, E.J. Dionne, Paul Krugman and conservatives like Michael Gerson, Kathleen Parker and David Brooks can pontificate with literate, well-reasoned journalism until the cows come home.  Trump voters never even get near these Republican opinion makers.  Of course,they do sometimes watch Sean Hannity and the Breitbart-based clones, however, and in my opinion, they prefer to have something like the following as the basis for their ideas.  So read on about ....

The Conscience of a (hypothetical) Trump Voter:

"I don’t like paying a big chunk of my earnings in taxes, particularly if a lot of that money goes to provide people with stuff for free that I have to pay for.  By that I mean Medicaid, Aid to Dependent Children, Food Stamps (or whatever they are called today), unemployment benefits and someone getting to the front of the line because life has shortchanged them, possibly their own fault, so that I have to take what’s left over.  I don’t like the idea that I have to pay to send my kids to private school, or find a charter school that fits their needs, because they are busing a load of semi-literate, ill-prepared, kids into the school in my neighborhood, lousing it up.  

Politically, I blame the Democrats for all of this kind of thing so that is why I wouldn’t vote for a Democrat, even for dog catcher.  They’d probably set up a nutritional program for stray dogs and cats with my money.  Trouble is that the Republicans I always vote for, once elected, usually end up supporting these kinds of things too, taking money out of my pocket, as part of a deal with the Democrats so that the Republicans can get something in exchange to benefit the fat cats who pay for most of their campaign expenses.   I guess all of these elected officials can be lumped as the “establishment” and they’ve been running the country, and running me down, for years, regardless of party.  Running the country, "ruining" the country:  Take your choice.

I know Donald Trump probably knows less about this stuff than I do. But down deep, he’s like me. He made his money screwing people like me, but now he’s on my side.  I don’t believe half of what he says but he’s a hell of a lot better than the Republicans who turn out to be just as much part of the mess in government as are the Democrats.   Some of the people he has brought along think that government is the problem and are busy ripping it apart.  Wrong or right, that doesn’t bother me, so long as it saves me money.  I can take care of myself.  Bottled water is fine. This scares the hell out of these Republican “establishment” dudes who are really little better than Democrats, who pretend to support Trump just to get votes from people like me.  But now I see through them.  I've had enough.  

I will continue to vote, as all good Americans should, but only for Republicans (Democrats can go to hell…  they’re only good for immigrants, queers and minorities) who really and truly support Trump, and for those who understand what government is really all about and battle its continued waste of money on stuff with which it should have nothing to do like healthcare and rules and regulations  for businesses. It’s all very simple.  Just read the Constitushun.  It says it all.  And none of that stuff is in it.

Believe me, I can take care of myself and my family, if the government will only let me.  And if worst comes to worst, thank God for the Second Amendment.  I have a couple of weapons and loads of ammo at home which I would only use to hunt for food and for self-defense.  Like I said, just read the Constitushun.  It says it all."
JL

Jack's Conclusion

The way I see it, intelligent voters who examine both Republican and Democratic economic positions will usually make a choice for the Democrats.  Same goes for social issues.  The G.O.P.'s line always comes down to tax reduction for the very rich and companies so they will have money available for investment in growth, which is supposed to trickle down to working people in the form of higher wages and more jobs.  Factor that into Republican tax reform ideas, which is what they are doing, and the G.O.P. position looks great!  Unfortunately, it never has and never will work out that way.  It's a dream to deceive the gullible, like the Trump supporter whose conscience is explored above.  Sadly, the "evangelical" voters are conned into going along with this because of grossly misrepresented issues such as abortion and freedom of religion.  They should know better but they don't.

Working people, women, retirees, liberals, the LGBT voters, environmentalists, union members, those at the bottom of our socio-economic ladder, academics, health care workers, doctors and lawyers (often for the wrong reason) generally can be counted on to vote Democratic, without even having to be convinced to vote that way.  But that won't be enough to capture the House and Senate, and some state legislatures in 2018 unless the split between Trump lovers and Trump haters in the Republican Party can be fully exploited.   That is the only way to overcome the new version of the "Conscience of a Trump Voter" which has become the mantra of what used to be the Republican Party.

I hope I've said enough about how to accomplish that.  The best and perhaps the only way to beat them is to split them.
JL

Resenting Technolgy and an Apology for Google

The other afternoon I got into my car.  Knowing my mobile phone wasn’t fully charged, I plugged it into the car charger.  As soon as I did, a message popped up telling me the best route, and the time it would take, to get to the place where I was about to drive.  Apparently, every time one does something “on line” or through their smart phone or tablet, it gets noted somewhere out there in cyberspace and somewhere, some kind of software is doing something with that information, something I never asked it to do.   In this case, “it” (1) knew I was in my car, (2) it was Friday afternoon when I usually drive off to visit my friend, and concluded that was where I was going and graciously provided me with helpful information about my trip.  Nowhere was this trip scheduled in an online calendar to clue “it” in.  Bottom line:  I resent this uninvited intrusion by software into my behavior.  What if I had decided to go somewhere else other than my usual Friday destination?  Would it store that information or report it to someone?  Technology exists to help us and not to control us.  Be careful.

And while on the subject of technology, let me apologize for some of the advertisements which “Google AdSense" has been including on this blog.  I choose to include these ads because they produce income which I turn over to charities.  That’s why I encourage you to click on them to learn about the products and services which they are offering.

But from what I have been hearing and reading, I now conclude that some of the advertisements posted by “Google AdSense" on this blog, particularly those of a political nature, just may have been originated by groups outside of the country, possibly in an effort to influence our electoral process.   Apparently, Google had not properly vetted the origin of those advertisers.  Hopefully, in the future they will.  For the time being, however, I would recommend that you ignore any advertisements of a political nature on Jackspotpourri.com.  I stand behind the legitimacy of the “editorial content” which I personally include on the blog but I cannot say as much for any ads which "Google AdSense" provides to the blog.

Jack Lippman

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