Civility and respect beat political correctness every time

What constitutes "significant"? "Significant" and "widespread" are two different things, imo. I think--and I cannot prove--that there was a significant number of people who voted for Clinton based primarily on her sex. And I think the opposite is true as well: a significant number of people voted for Trump based primarily on his sex. And in the two previous elections, the same could be said of people voting based on race.

Now if you want to talk "widespread," the big issue there is the letter by someone's name. People vote because of the R or because of the D. And I think that, too, is stupid.

The problem with all of this is that if you ask people why they voted for candidate x, they don't always tell the truth. Indeed, there are some people who cannot even admit the truth; they lie to themselves and they do it quite effectively.

Of course, none of us are like that. We're too smart and sophisticated.

"Some of y'all developed post-election amnesia and forgot what sort of pig you were voting for or enabling afterwards."


Some of y'all developed post-election amnesia and forgot that not a single person participating in this thread voted for Trump. Not robeiae or @cassandraw or Vince524 or Christine or Don. And I haven't seen any signs of any of those people being happy that Trump is on tap to be Supreme Ruler or plans to give him a pass for bad behavior.

But don't let that stand in the way of a good rant.

Ohio, every one of the people you mentioned has spent significant time bashing Trump, and perhaps .05% "defending" him in the faintest possible fashion, e.g , " I don't think it was/will be quite as bad as all that".

As far as being secret closet supporters, well... consistently denying one voted for Trump, identifying another person as the one you did vote for, and constantly criticizing Trump before he ever gets into office is a mighty odd way of supporting him. As far as happy goes, I'm not sure where you're seeing it in the people Don listed. The most I could say is that some are more unhappy than others.  

Speaking for myself, it all still feels like a nightmare and it's hard to believe I won't wake up.  I don't know how many new ways I can find to say I find the guy deplorable.

That said, I think your points do apply to many Trump voters out there. A couple of my relatives voted Trump for some not-good reasons, and I don't think it's going to work out well for them.

Given that Trump won, it would be pretty surprising if any of us DIDN'T know someone who voted for him. Haven't you mentioned a Trump-supporting friend of yours? And don't we have a member on this very site who voted Trump? We all know Trump voters. They're not all on the down-low. They just might not be as common in the circles some of us frequent, in real life or online. I'm sure there are plenty of circles where most people voted Trump, and Clinton voters are rare as hen's teeth.

As it is, I'm rather astonished I know so few Trump voters. The only explanation is where I live: bluer than blue Manhattan, where almost no one voted for the man, including Republicans and conservatives. My Trump-voting brother and cousins live in the much redder far west of the state -- in the rust belt, where it's a lot more common to find Trump (and, god help us, Paladino) supporters.  

If you seriously think, after all of my many posts declaring a loathing and contempt of Trump dating back a couple of decades, that I could possibly have voted for the man, you are either deeply paranoid or think I'm the worst of all cowardly hypocritical liars. I am inclined to think it is neither, and that you do not in fact really think I voted for him.

I freely acknowledge, without any shame whatsoever, that I considered voting for candidates that were not Clinton (it being my way not to simply toss third party candidates in the dumpster), though in the end, I voted for Clinton both in the primary and the general election, sent her a check, and both hoped and expected she'd win by a sizable margin.   But never, for a single passing second, did I or would I consider voting Trump.  I cannot think of anyone I'd be less likely to vote for -- and for reasons that go far beyond his professed political beliefs.  I think he's a blowhard, a buffoon, a liar, and a dangerous hothead.  Whatever political beliefs he professed, even if he promised me a pony and a lifetime supply of dark chocolate and salted caramels, I couldn't vote for him.   And that should be abundantly clear from my posts.

You also cannot think I am particularly shy about "admitting" anything online nor that I am afraid to disagree with people. Surely you have noticed me being contentious, controversial, and downright aggressive with my opinions from time to time.

That's fine. But from my perspective, it could just as easily be you who's refusing to own up to voting for Trump. I don't really think that you did, of course. But if I had to lay odds, you're not the least likely to have secretly voted Trump, in my book. That honor would be Don's, by a country mile. You, Christine, or Cass might be next. Again, from my perspective, you're all in about the same place.

But sure, it is possible there's a secret Trump supporter in our midst.* I really don't think so, though. If people say who they voted for, I take them at their word.

Beyond that, I know a lot of people who voted for Trump: family, friends, and acquaintances. They're pretty open about it, both in real life and on social media. To a person, they're all employed and have college degrees. I don't have a problem with them, though, since I'm not one of the people freaking out over a Trump Presidency. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not anticipating the end of the world from it, either.






* They don't need to be, however. People get to vote the way they want to vote and if someone voted for Trump, that wouldn't impact anything here. Their comments and arguments would be no better or no worse, based on this.

Sigh. This is incredibly silly.

It may have escaped your notice, but this is actually not a forum where people catch particular shit for voting Trump. Our avowed Trump supporter has duked it out with a couple of us on a front or two, but I can't recall anyone giving her shit for voting Trump. That's not because we like the guy, but because we recognize there are many reasons for voting for a person, and don't tend to condemn people for not voting our way. (Speaking of which, btw, you'd actually have far better ground for suspecting I'm a secret Johnson voter, given how many times you've seen me fervently defend third party voters and put in a word for Johnson himself. But whatever.)   

It may also have escaped your notice that this board assembles some pretty hard-core debaters who are perfectly willing to dispute an entire message board tooth and nails without backing down. And a number of us are not in the least afraid to defend Trump on the very rare occasions we think an accusation is unjust. Rob, Amadan, Don and I have all gone at you and at one another with talons out on any number of occasions, flaunting our opinions and getting up in people's grills as much as ever you do.  I do not think you particularly stand out in this crowd in that respect, as contentious as you are.  This is one obnoxious crowd.    

So please. Who is it, exactly, we're trying to hide our little secret from here?

I actually think I know most of the people here a good bit better than you do, by the way, having had a fair bit of contact with them outside of political threads. I've exchanged personal information with them off the board, discussed stuff about them and their families, know their tastes in things outside of politics, supported them or been supported in times of trouble and loss.  I've read their books, stories, poetry, and blogs.  Hell, I've even met one member here in Real Life^TM -- likely would have met more if we lived closer together, but as it is, we're scattered across the country (make that globe, since we have a member down under and another across the pond), which makes it difficult.  But I've seen photos of several others, so in fact I would recognize them on the street. Suffice to say that many of our members represent more to me than a collection of political views -- I consider them friends,* even when I am squabbling with them here.   For that matter, I like everyone here -- I just have come to know some better than others.  


*except Angie , of course, she being my mortal enemy.  And robeiae , whom I'm looking to overthrow so I can take over the site and rule alone.  Pretty much everyone else is OK, though.