Trump Will Likely Win

[Swammerdami]

You folk need to stop looking at the polls. You're going to give yourselves ulcers. Frankly the polls are bullshit.

Yes, the polls are probably way off -- But in which direction?

One thing we do know is that polls overestimated the Democratic vote (and/or underestimated the pro-Trump vote) in 2016 and in 2020.

 

[Tigers!]

With the way American voting works...

Point of information: American voting doesn't work.

I assumed that Spacetime Inhabitant was being ironic.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If George Mason is right, Harris is winning the election, tightly but winning it., with Harris at 49+% in all the right states.

 

[SLD]

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

Maybe he’s just bi-curious.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

I'd note it is 2024, and gay jokes are like 30 years past their prime.

I find it more of an antiquated way to define a male's "manhood".

Arnold Palmer was famous because he was an incredible golfer. People didn't care about his genitals. Trump brought them up because he thinks proportion is what makes a man a man. And also, you'd only make such a statement if you were uber confident in how massive your own were... and as typical, likely a bluff on his part.

 

[TV and credit cards]

.

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

I'd note it is 2024, and gay jokes are like 30 years past their prime.

I find it more of an antiquated way to define a male's "manhood".

Arnold Palmer was famous because he was an incredible golfer. People didn't care about his genitals. Trump brought them up because he thinks proportion is what makes a man a man. And also, you'd only make such a statement if you were uber confident in how massive your own were... and as typical, likely a bluff on his part.

Guy code dictates that a heterosexual male should never compliment another man's penis.

 

[thebeave]

.

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

I'd note it is 2024, and gay jokes are like 30 years past their prime.

I find it more of an antiquated way to define a male's "manhood".

Arnold Palmer was famous because he was an incredible golfer. People didn't care about his genitals. Trump brought them up because he thinks proportion is what makes a man a man. And also, you'd only make such a statement if you were uber confident in how massive your own were... and as typical, likely a bluff on his part.

Guy code dictates that a heterosexual male should never compliment another man's penis.

There must be some truth to that. In 50+ years of locker room nakedness, its never happened to me.

 

[laughing dog]

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

Maybe he’s just bi-curious.

Or envious.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

.

I'd note it is 2024, and gay jokes are like 30 years past their prime.

I find it more of an antiquated way to define a male's "manhood".

Arnold Palmer was famous because he was an incredible golfer. People didn't care about his genitals. Trump brought them up because he thinks proportion is what makes a man a man. And also, you'd only make such a statement if you were uber confident in how massive your own were... and as typical, likely a bluff on his part.

Guy code dictates that a heterosexual male should never compliment another man's penis.

Trump loves the benefits of self association with groups that he doesn't belong to. Like going to rich people charity events that he doesn't give to or the big dick club.

 

[pood]

At 538, Harris is ahead in 40 national polls, behind in 9, and even in 5. But yes, national polls don’t count in the end. So we will see.

Yeah but using 270towin’s interactive map, and 538’s state polls, Trump eeks out a victory 281-257.

270toWin has Harris ahead 226-219, with the rest tossups.

Right. But I put in the latest poll results from 538. Then you see that Trump wins PA. And this the White House. But it’s incredibly close.

Last I looked 538 was showing tied races in at least four swing states, among them PA I think.

I looked at electoral-vote.com today, and between that, 270 to Win, RCP, and a few other sources I'm thinking I could sell my house and move to one of those "best places for American expats to retire" for at least a few years. I hear Portugal is nice...

Maybe. I think Harris will win. We’ll see.

I hope the polls are wrong, and as I've said before, the "walk-up" (voters who hold off until election day) is still a major factor, but I'm still worried.

Side note about Trump's McDonald's stunt: Back in the mid 80s, I also worked in a golden arches location like Harris did. It was just off a major freeway exit, and the lunch rush was so busy I actually blacked out most days while working the grill. I'd start flipping burgers furiously at about 11:30am and then suddenly it would be 1:00pm and it was like "WTF just happened?" One of the clips I saw of Trump was the manager (?) tying his apron for him. If it were real, he wouldn't last a single shift.

It was all a stunt. Trump served no one anything. They closed the store to customers to film him pretending to serve customers. Everything about his miserable life is a con and a grift.

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

You make some fair points, and there are some loons in college who say whites are oppressing POC simply by being white, but this is not a message that the Democratic Party is spreading. It is the right-wing echo chamber “news” media and associated bottom-feeding, conspiracy-theory-spreading web sites that TELL working-class white people this, and eventually the brainwashing works.

 

[Gospel]

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

Historically marginalized groups in America—whether Black, Indigenous, or immigrant communities—have not collectively sought to destroy the nation or its democracy. On the contrary, they've fought for equal treatment, civil rights, and inclusion under the same democratic principles America claims to stand for. Movements like the Civil Rights Movement and others have been about securing basic rights that were promised but denied, not about revenge or dismantling the country.

What you're describing, however, is a reaction from those who feel attacked for their identity. But we should question what that says about those people. Instead of seeking justice or fairness, there's a rush to undermine democracy itself. This shift towards authoritarianism isn’t about fairness, but a rejection of progress toward equality. The fact that people who feel 'demeaned' are willing to support leaders and policies that endanger democratic principles speaks volumes about their priorities. While marginalized communities have sought equality through democratic means, those defending this reaction seem to justify extreme measures in response to feeling unfairly criticized. Shouldn't that make us question their commitment to the ideals they claim are being threatened?

 

[pood]

It is a fact, however, that white people do have a leg up simply by being white, and that has always been true in this country. This is not the same thing, however, as suggesting that white people are oppressing POC simply be being white. I don’t think a majority of whites are “oppressing” POC at all, but rather are passive recipients of a leg up by virtue of their race.

 

[thebeave]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

You do know that you are now going to get accused of "white fragility" for saying this, right?

I went to college in the late '70's, early 80's and thankfully missed the nonsense you went through. Then again, I was mostly in math and physics courses and its not easy to shoehorn SJW stuff into that (though I understand some these days are trying).

I heard a "white privilege" story about two weeks ago from a work colleague. Her husband (Randy, a white guy) was at his gym's sauna trying to relax after a workout, and a Hispanic guy came in and started playing loud music in the sauna. After several minutes, he politely asked him to turn off the music or use earbuds, as this was not the proper venue for loud music. The guy refused and claimed Randy was trying to assert his "white privelege" and he should (paraphrasing) "fuck off". Things got tense, and Randy (smartly) just left. Its stuff like this that is souring regular, everyday people from embracing the left.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Doesn't matter. If you're white folk watching Fox News, all Fox has to do is put up a picture of Kamala Harris talking to whatever group with a bunch of Black women behind her. They don't even need a narrative. The narrative may not even be heard by the Fox audience. All they see is this Black woman running for president who is going to do for those people but not for them. And here they are working their asses off, living paycheck to paycheck.
Being a Black woman, I think she needed to address America in a general sense and not visit any particular minority groups. But that horse has left the barn.
This isn't about right or wrong. This is about getting votes. I doubt many white guys are comparing their lot to any Black man. They probably compare themselves to their father's achievements. So while you may have a Black man seeing the advantage his white counterpart may enjoy, the white guy does not see it. It is just the way his life has always been, not particularly advantaged but always the majority.
This is a problem that has to be seen from two different perspectives.

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

Claiming that Jamie Lee Curtis isn't a woman sounds like something a right-winger would say. Also, even if the professor made those claims about whites and POC does not mean that he was a leftist. It is certainly not a leftist position. Also one can't judge a whole class of people based on what one person says or does. He might have been a provocateur.

 

[Gospel]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

You do know that you are now going to get accused of "white fragility" for saying this, right?

I went to college in the late '70's, early 80's and thankfully missed the nonsense you went through. Then again, I was mostly in math and physics courses and its not easy to shoehorn SJW stuff into that (though I understand some these days are trying).

I heard a "white privilege" story about two weeks ago from a work colleague. Her husband (Randy, a white guy) was at his gym's sauna trying to relax after a workout, and a Hispanic guy came in and started playing loud music in the sauna. After several minutes, he politely asked him to turn off the music or use earbuds, as this was not the proper venue for loud music. The guy refused and claimed Randy was trying to assert his "white privelege" and he should (paraphrasing) "fuck off". Things got tense, and Randy (smartly) just left. Its stuff like this that is souring regular, everyday people from embracing the left.

I would agree that the behavior of a few individuals defines reality if I were biased enough to make that assumption. Unfortunately, I've encountered people like that gentleman across various racial backgrounds, so it's clear that it has little to do with 'white privilege' and more to do with someone simply being inconsiderate. This applies to many situations, including working-class white Americans voting for Trump. They aren't representative of all working white Americans, just as one or more person's rude behavior doesn’t represent an entire community.

 

[thebeave]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

Claiming that Jamie Lee Curtis isn't a woman sounds like something a right-winger would say. Also, even if the professor made those claims about whites and POC does not mean that he was a leftist. It is certainly not a leftist position. Also one can't judge a whole class of people based on what one person says or does. He might have been a provocateur.

The JLC story is kind of old. Supposedly, she is a hermaphrodite though I don't think that's been confirmed. At any rate, its pretty reckless for a prof to even bring it up in a classroom...its a private matter. Even if she is, so what? It sounds more like a left-winger thing to do, not a right winger. The left kind of obsesses about there being more than two genders and/or sexes, not the right, and hermaphrodites and other such oddities of nature are frequently cited as proof. And its pretty much a certainty that he is a lefty if he brings up the "white oppressor of POC" topic. Unless he was trolling or was being taken out of context.

 

[thebeave]

It's not strange. It's a diminution of the things that white people go through too. When you essentially tell someone who's struggling that their struggle isn't real because other people have it worse then the response is going to be a gigantic Fuck You. And "Fuck you" is what Trump has inspired in these people.

But Democrats aren’t telling white people that. If they somehow are hearing that, maybe they have been brainwashed by Fox News?

I hate Trump with every fiber of my being. I hate what he's inspired, but what he did tap into was decades worth of dismissive ridicule at the hands of the left.

It simply isn’t true that the “left,” whatever that is — it certainly is not mainstream Democrats — have dismissively ridiculed working-class white people. Maybe they THINK Democrats have done this, because for four decades Faux News has been TELLING them this.

The vast, vast majority of white people aren't privileged. It's an absurd notion, and no one should be expected to tolerate absurdity of any kind. Throw in actual racism, shocking ignorance, and poor reading skills, and what you're going to get is the hate that Trump has so successfully tapped into.

Throughout our history, white people have been racially privileged. That is true regardless of a white person’s economic status.

I see nothing willfully malicious in seeking a just society for all.

Democrats have indeed done this. It sure isn't the Communist Party USA that has perpetuated it.

I went to college relatively late in life. I'd always dismissed conservative concerns about universities teaching wacky leftist nonsense. Well, it turns out there is some merit to that. I had to sit through a "Keystone"* course where the professor claimed Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't a woman and that "The white people in this very room" were oppressing POC simply by being white. That actually happened. Sociology was especially bad to the point that "soft racism" is an appropriate term to describe it.

It didn't cause me to retaliate by running to Fox News and voting Republican, but I did come away with a more informed understanding of what conservatives were talking about.

The term "white privilege" does come from the left and your comment that whites have always been privileged regardless of economic circumstances is exactly what I'm talking about. It is dismissive and woefully inaccurate.

Certainly Fox News and the shrieking dildo Rush Limbaugh that helped spawn FN shares a lot of the blame for us being on the brink of authoritarian conservatism. However, it's reasonable to wonder that had so many millions of white people not been so demeaned and ridiculed for no other reason than for being white, would we being fretting over battleground states right now where a few thousand votes may be the end of America's democracy.

As a liberal, it's easy and accurate to point out how awful Trumpism is, but the lack of self reflection pertaining to this issue may very well be the last little stone that helped tip the scales in favor of authoritarianism.

*To be fair, one of the Keystone courses wass about South American cultures and racial diversity. It was taught by an old guy anthropologist who dressed like Indiana Jones. I came away from that course feeling very enlightened on the subject. I appreciate that I was made to take that class. No one was bashed, no one was blamed. That's the way awareness and diversity should be taught.

You do know that you are now going to get accused of "white fragility" for saying this, right?

I went to college in the late '70's, early 80's and thankfully missed the nonsense you went through. Then again, I was mostly in math and physics courses and its not easy to shoehorn SJW stuff into that (though I understand some these days are trying).

I heard a "white privilege" story about two weeks ago from a work colleague. Her husband (Randy, a white guy) was at his gym's sauna trying to relax after a workout, and a Hispanic guy came in and started playing loud music in the sauna. After several minutes, he politely asked him to turn off the music or use earbuds, as this was not the proper venue for loud music. The guy refused and claimed Randy was trying to assert his "white privelege" and he should (paraphrasing) "fuck off". Things got tense, and Randy (smartly) just left. Its stuff like this that is souring regular, everyday people from embracing the left.

I would agree that the behavior of a few individuals defines reality if I were biased enough to make that assumption. Unfortunately, I've encountered people like that gentleman across various racial backgrounds, so it's clear that it has little to do with 'white privilege' and more to do with someone simply being inconsiderate. This applies to many situations, including working-class white Americans voting for Trump. They aren't representative of all working white Americans, just as one or more person's rude behavior doesn’t represent an entire community.

Agree totally. The incident in the sauna is not representative of a whole population. And in fact, its certainly possible the Hispanic guy is just a plain old asshole using the white privelege concept to get his way. Who knows. But incidents like that can ruin your day (like it did with Randy), especially if you are someone who has embaced diversity and gone out of your way to befriend and help POC.

 

[Politesse]

the leading candidate talks about a dead golfers penis and the speaker of the house blows it off

Wait, the speaker did what!?

I knew this happen. Butt, are not most republican leaders cock suckers?

He does have an obsession with cocks. Do the gays on this board also find it . . . Gay?

Maybe he’s just bi-curious.

No. His fascination with cocks is entirely competition-based. Typical frat boy behavior.