None of these things are true except I do try to get people’s goat at times. But hey, we all do. It’s part of the charm here. Alum himself is certainly no stranger to shitposting.
The response to the address was overwhelmingly positive—Alum finds himself in a very small minority of America Last relics like Nichi who openly root for Europe, Canada, and Mexico because TDS.
Now let's hear from a grownup, who is not a Trump turd-polisher.
Why Trump’s Speech Cheered Me Upby William Kristol
I can’t tell a lie. I didn’t watch Donald Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress last night.
Why make myself miserable by having to listen—for over an hour and a half!—to his lies and boasting, his bigotry and idiocy? Isn’t this, I told myself, why God invented transcripts? The Father of all mercies surely intended for us to read the speech later, with less pain and suffering.
So that’s what I did. I went to sleep unencumbered with visions of Trump speaking. I slept soundly. (Well, as soundly as one does these days.)
And when I was awake and fortified by a large mug of Major Dickason’s coffee, I read the complete transcript. I even watched a few clips to get a sense of how it had looked.
Weirdly, this cheered me up.
Why?
Because the speech was childish, silly, unimpressive—and, I suspect, unsuccessful. Early in the address, Trump boasted about how well he was doing:
In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency—it’s our presidency—is the most successful in the history of our nation. By many.
And what makes it even more impressive is that do you know who Number 2 is? George Washington. How about that? How about that?
How about that? I guess some true believers will agree that Trump is outdoing Washington. But as Sarah Longwell’s most recent focus groups suggest, many of Trump’s more ambivalent and less cult-like voters seem to have qualms about his performance so far, particularly about his administration’s lack of focus and the constant chaos.
The polling numbers confirm the findings of the focus groups.
Trump’s approval rating has been sinking. Four days after his inauguration, Trump had, according to the FiveThirtyEight averages, an approval rating of 49.7 percent and a disapproval rating of 41.5 percent. Now he’s underwater at 47.6 percent approval vs. 47.9 percent disapproval.
Is last night’s speech likely to have done anything to stop or reverse the trend of Trump losing a percentage point a week?
I don’t see it. If you weren’t already on the Trump train, the speech gave you no reason to jump aboard.
And if, as seems to be the case, the economy is slowing and inflation isn’t; and if, as seems likely to be the case, the kleptocracy and plutocracy of the Trump administration become more and more evident; and if, as will surely be the case, it becomes more and more obvious that in foreign policy Trump is on the side of Vladimir Putin—where are Trump’s numbers going to be in three months?
Lower, I think. Trump could have used last night to try to fix some of the perceptions that have been hurting him in the eyes of the public. Instead, he boasted that he’s doing a better job than George Washington. He barely addressed the issue of inflation—casting off responsibility for the price of eggs to Joe Biden and telling farmers and consumers that their lives could actually get a bit more turbulent. That isn’t going to help him with anyone not already in MAGA world. Nor will it help him to keep on highlighting his sidekick, Elon Musk, whose approval ratings are lower than Trump’s.
To stop Trump from doing the damage he could do to this nation and the world, Congress—especially some Republicans in Congress—will have to stand up to him. These are not strong individuals who are used to doing the right thing no matter what. But opinion polls going in the wrong direction for Trump might make it easier to persuade some of these solons to reconsider at least a bit.
None of this is to minimize the damage Trump can do and is likely to do. And none of this is meant to reassure us that progress towards autocracy will necessarily be checked by some erosion in Trump’s poll numbers. The challenges facing us over the next four years are daunting.
Still, last night made me slightly more hopeful that we can meet them.
RecentThe PGA Tour/Golf thread by ThePAMan
WTF happened to the WTF h... by Somewhere in Mn
Total Members: 142