FoxtrotDeltaTangoThe State of the Union Revealed a Sad Reality. Donald Trump misused the annual presidential tradition in ways so radical as to call the ritual itself into question.
He can tell Americans they are in a new golden age all he wants, his hyper focus on it belies his anxiety.
People will swallow a lot of lies. Immigrants caused you to be poor, trans people pose some existential threat to you, if it were for woke DEI youd be better off.
These lies work because there’s no real way for the listener to validate it, you are giving them some reason why their lousy lot isn’t their fault.
The lie that doesn’t work is “you have it good” because that person you’re lying to knows whether or not they have it good. They are paying the bills and if you tell them “actually the bills are cheap” even the most believing believer will have to compartmentalize that. They will either have to sit with the lie and accept it or contort themselves into a less blatant lie like “things could be worse”
Trump is at the bar chatting up the down on her luck, past her prime, divorcee, telling her how now that she’s met him she’s hot again, everyone is saying how hot she is, everyone is saying how rich she is, everyone is saying how much she’s winning. But when she looks in the mirror, or in the bank account, she has to believe him more than her own eyes.
That’s a tough sell, he has a cult so it might work, but it’s a real tough sell.
I think you underestimate how far in denial some people are, but it’s your prerogative to be hopeful.
I guarantee my MAGA grandparents would believe all hardships they’re experiencing are solely the fault of Democrats, even if I gave them sources about how Trump and the Republicans did whatever is causing that hardship. Their heads are so far in the sand it’s not even worth trying anymore, and there’s plenty of other Fox News brainwashed folk like them.
Fox News isn’t even the worst of it. NewsMax and OAN suck up all the scum that’s too foul for even Fox.
Yeah, he doesn’t even understand how to hit up a divorcee. You don’t tell her she’s young, you tell her that she’s aged like a good scotch, gaining complexity to be cherished by those who understand the value of it. That the subtle sweetness one finds in vanilla notes are much better than that of a saccarine drink for a 21 year old.
He wishes he was president of a thriving country in a thriving time. He will likely never get over the fact that he isn’t JFK but is instead Hoover (for any non Americans, Hoover is the one who really fucked up the great depression in remarkably similar ways). FDR was the sort of man who could not only get that divorcee into bed, but get her to stop living so damn self destructively while doing so, and it begins with an honest appraisal of the situation and seeing the value underneath anyways. Donald Trump has never been someone capable of doing that with anyone or anything.
And yeah, the scotch line has worked for me.
Saving this to remember the scotch line for later, and also to tell you that you should watch FDR: American Badass if you haven’t already.
He wishes he was president of a thriving country in a thriving time.
He’s like a termite that can only thrive where there’s dry rot. The rise to power of someone like Trump is a sign of decay.
He will likely never get over the fact that he isn’t JFK but is instead Hoover
Hoover was an educated man, competent as an engineer, though dull as ditchwater, who (like most politicians of his time) didn’t understand economics. So he made a bad situation worse, and then called out the National Guard on hunger strikers. I’m not saying that Hoover was in any way a good president. But Trump is infinitely worse.
I’ve never tried the Scotch line. Women I socialize with don’t like being compared to high-end consumable products. I’ve had better success offering them a bit of that Scotch, and/or some top-shelf herb. And, of course, conversation.