Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Friday, August 03, 2018

Is this really true?

This Washington Post-ABC News poll is actually good news. Restores my faith in humanity, it does.

On the "generic ballot" question, white women with a college degree support Democrats by a net 50 points. Fewer than 25% pick Republican:





White men without a degree are still drinking the Trumpian Kool Aid, but as Kevin Drum notes at the linked post, maybe reality will sink in for them at some point. Yeah, Trump is racist, which is what they like about him, but there's no wall, NAFTA is still in effect, their pay still hasn't gone up, and Uncle Vlad has him by the nads.

In fact, the cognitive dissonance required to continue to worship the Orange Deity is such that many of the cultists have embraced a batshit crazy conspiracy theory that explains why he only appears to be a feckless idiot and a stooge.

Despair not, fellow citizens, time is on our side.

Update: For those who may be under the misapprehension that Cheeto Benito has actually delivered for his supporters, I refer you to a couple of actually smart people.

Nomi Prins, at TomDispatch. From her introduction:

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, entropy is “a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder.” With that in mind, perhaps the best way to predict President Trump’s next action is just to focus on the path of greatest entropy and take it from there. Let me do just that, while exploring five key economic sallies of the Trump White House since he took office and the bleakness and chaos that may lie ahead as the damage to the economy and our financial future comes into greater focus.
The great Krugthulu:

Message to those in the news media who keep calling Donald Trump a “populist”: I do not think that word means what you think it means. It’s true that Trump still, on occasion, poses as someone who champions the interests of ordinary working Americans against those of the elite. And I guess there’s a sense in which his embrace of white nationalism gives voice to ordinary Americans who share his racism but have felt unable to air their prejudice in public. But he’s been in office for a year and a half, time enough to be judged on what he does, not what he says. And his administration has been relentlessly anti-worker on every front. Trump is about as populist as he is godly — that is, not at all.
You have to read the whole essays, of course. That requires a bit of an attention span.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...


It's not too tough to understand why Trump has hit an RCP job approval average of 43.3%, higher than Obama's at this point in his presidency.

You may not like what he does, but has delivered to those who voted for him. This president has only been in office for a little over 1.5 years and he has delivered on many o his promises.

Tax cuts - Check

Smokin' economy - Check 4.1% growth.

Ban Travelers from dangerous Muslim countries - Check

Roll back unnecessary federal regulations - Check

Pull out of Paris Climate deal - Check

Nominate Conservative SC Justice - Check

Addressed unfair trade with out partners - In process

Bomb ISIS into oblivion - Check

Withdraw from Trans-Pacific Trade deal - Check

Recognize Jerusalem and move embassy - Check

Build Wall - In process, pressuring R's by threatening to shut govt

ObamaCare - In process, eliminated mandate

Renegotiate NAFTA - In process

And there are things that he didn't promise that his supporters like such as confronting NKorea and their bad behavior.

You are correct that Trump has not delivered on all of his promises, but he's made a good start for being in office for 560 days and that's what makes him popular.











Don Quixote said...

Yes, time is on the side of reason. To quote a friend of mine, "The noose is tightening."

I heard Shitler before the election say, "I won't release my tax returns now because I wouldn't get elected."

I guess folks are selective about what they choose to hear.

Mark P said...

Let's see ...
Undermining democratic norms and practices in the United States - Check!
Undermining trust in the judicial branch - Check!
Lying continuously to the public - Check!
Violating the Constitution's emoluments clause - Check!
Turning Hispanic children into orphans - Check!
Making racism and bigotry mainstream everywhere in the US - Check!
Encouraging nazis - Check!
Destroying the West's trust in the US - Check!
Undermining our allies and strengthening our enemies -Check!
Being a patsy and a sycophant for dictators and murderers - Check!
Damaging American industry and agriculture - Check!
Suppressing minority voting - Check!
Yes, indeed, he has kept him some promises! And I'm sure he'll do even more in the months and years to come!

Anonymous said...


You may characterize the president's promise-keeping any way you wish, just as I do and did with the last administration.

But the fact is, Trump's job approval says it all and the vast majority of Americans don't believe any of that. Clearly, the numbers demonstrate that yours is an outlier opinion.

So, now all you have is to rail on the American people that elected and support him. "They're all stupid", "They're all rubes", "They're all racists", etc.

How'd that crap work out for ya' in 2016?

Love him or hate him, President Trump will turn out to be one of the most consequential presidents in modern history.

Mark P said...

Donald Trump is not only the most intelligent person who has ever been president, he is the most popular person in the country and the whole world! He is the best person in the world! He is doing god's work! You can ask any person at any Klan rally in the country and they will agree! They don't even have to be in the Klan to agree! They can be just regular, civilian, man-on-the-street racists!

Anonymous said...


And communists supported Bernie and Clinton. That doesn't make Clinton or Bernie a commie, does it? You say some silly stuff!

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-31/communist-party-leader-voted-for-sanders-will-back-clinton

"John Bachtell, national chairman of the Communist Party USA, says he cast a ballot for Sanders in the Illinois primary in March, but that the self-styled democratic socialist's loyal backers should temper their criticism of Clinton as a warmongering Wall Street puppet.

Mark P said...

Oh yeah, well so what if Trump is a racist? Most racists think it's perfectly fine for him to be a racist. In fact, probably every racist thinks that. And most nazis, too, and why wouldn't they?

Don Quixote said...

Well, today's news about Shitler's mocking of Don Lemon and LeBron James clears up any doubts as to whether Shitler is a racist or not.

Yes, he is.

Mocking the intellect of LeBron James is like mocking the shortness of Kareem Abdul Jabbar ... or the weakness of Mike Tyson ... or the trashy nature of William Shakespeare's writing ... or the stock, unoriginal phrasing of Louis Armstrong ... or the poor acting of Denzel Washington ... or the awful career of Frank Sinatra ... or the awful voice of Placido Domingo ...

You get the picture. Shitler must think he's so clever, responding to a criticism leveled at his use of sport (and everthing else!) to divide the country ... by "tweeting" an attempt at diving the country by using a sports reference to pit one "brown person" against another!

Yes, he is an overt racist. That's just how it is. But we've always known this. The US government doesn't generally file lawsuits against realtors who don't discriminate based on skin color.

The man will be impeached ... unless he resigns first. He is a shit, his family are shits, everyone who associates with him is a shit. I'll be glad when he's in prison. QED

Anonymous said...


Mark,

I understand that many on the left are dumbfounded why people don't clutch their pearls and with face agasp aren't categorically rejecting those who you deem 'racists'.

They simply don't believe you.

We all used to understand the term to mean someone that prejudges others, makes decisions based upon a person's skin tone. However, that doesn't seem to be the definition anymore.

People today see the term used as a political weapon, applied only to certain groups, but not to all. They see bad faith.

Say 'racist' twenty times really, really fast. That feeling that the word loses all meaning after a while is how many feel when it's used over and over and over.

That's why nobody cares.

I don't care.

Don Quixote said...

Charles Murray is an asshole. An educated asshole. He's wrong. Period.

rac·ist
ˈrāsəst/Submit
noun
1.
a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.
"the comments have led to her being called a racist"
synonyms: racial bigot, racialist, xenophobe, chauvinist, supremacist More
adjective
1.
showing or feeling discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or believing that a particular race is superior to another.
"we are investigating complaints about racist abuse at the club"

Don Quixote said...

The entire concept of "race" with regard to humans is bogus. "Feeling" any other way doesn't make it any different, just as "feeling" that one is a banana instead of a person doesn't make it so. It is a mental illness. Racism is a mental illness based on self-hatred and projection. Trying to legitimize it by saying that "the definition has changed" is bullshit. It still means the same thing.

There is one "human race" extant: Homo sapiens. About 200,000 years old. "Feeling" the world was created 6,000 years ago doesn't make it so. There is no "black" or "white" or "Asiatic" race. (BTW, there are no "black" or "white" people.) There is one species. Geniuses and stupid people occur in all varieties of humans.

In Nazi Germany, there were plenty of Nazi psychologists to confirm that Jews were an infestation--hence, racism was justified and correct!

Wrong.

Good! Einstein left and kept the bomb out of Hitler's hands. (Unfortunately, now the bomb is in Shitler's hands.)

There will always be racist people who try to justify racism. But moreso, there are racist people who don't even know they're racist.

Yay for words! They have meanings!

Don Quixote said...

And yay for free speech! So ignorant people can express their ideas, no matter how invalid or loathsome. Now, we need education so people can listen to ignorant ideas and know them for what they are.

Anonymous said...


nobody cares

get a job, Sweetheart

Mark P said...

How dare you say that merely because Donald Trump prejudges others, makes decisions based upon a person's skin tone that he is a racist! Why, that would make all his supporters racists, and they certainly don't believe that! That's utterly absurd! I am sure, and I'm sure you're sure, that they're sure that black and brown people actually are inferior to white people, and how could that make them racists? Why, it's racist to even suggest that!

Anonymous said...


Mark,

Because you only apply these standards to your perceived enemies and not hold everyone to the same standard, you will forever be disappointed when no one cares.

A really good example of this would be the recently hired member to the NYT editorial board who has made multiple hate-filled statements disparaging an entire racial group. Instead of rising up against racism, NYT, Vox and other liberal media (and commenters on blogs) are willing to give this person a pass.

You seem like a smart enough guy to see why people will dismiss your charges of racism when it's used as a political weapon against only certain groups and not as a standard you wish to enforce with everyone.

You can't change the way people are. If they see you as a dishonest broker, favoring only the groups/people you hate and not holding everyone to the same standard, they will not give a shit about what you have to say.

Just trying to explain the world to you, Sir.

Don Quixote said...

LMAO! The above post is from a commenter who has no fucking idea Mark is being ironic! I am beginning to believe that ignorance is physiologically-based. There is no other conceivable explanation ...

"Anonymous" once again needs to stop commenting on my posts. In a battle of wits, he's tragically unarmed.