I'm an American. I grew up down south in Arkansas. I just visited last week with my relatives. I used to be a Republican until Donald Trump hijacked the party. I can give you my opinion as to what is happening in America but I'll give a little background first.
When the Don ran in 2015, I was working with a guy that said he was going to vote for him. I was shocked! This was a conservative guy with common sense. I asked him why he was going to vote for him and his answer was 'he's going to shake up Washington.' Then I mentioned all the things he said and his reply was 'Nah, he doesn't really mean that. What he actually means is...' And every single time I asked someone about what Trump said, the answer kept being 'He doesn't mean that. What he really means is....' They put their thoughts into what they thought he was going to do even though I kept screaming that he is going to do what he says he is going to do.
When Trump was President, all I heard was 'I wish he'd get off Twitter and stop talking.'
During his 1st administration, he had some 'grown ups' that kept him from doing what he really wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, he was doing some evil things that the Republican party knew about and was 'ok with.' For instance, the Republican party always respected the veterans. Donald cares nothing about veterans and so the party lurched that way.
Covid came. Trump tried to kill the entire world and so he lost to Biden.
Biden was ok but that debate was a killer. It was devastating. The Dems through out Harris for President and I thought she actually had a chance.
But she had three major things going against her. 1) she was female. 2) she was black. 3) Americans are stupid. (I say that as an American loving born and bred on the farm patriot. We simply do not think anymore.)
So, Trump ran. I thought he'd lose. But when I asked my friends why they were voting for him, they always said one thing: I had more money in my pocket when Trump was President.
And I thought about that and it was 100% true. Americans were rolling in money when Trump was President. But not because of him. Actually it was in spite of him.
Americans only remember the 'good' part of Covid. In America, student loans were paused, evictions were stopped, unemployment was to the point that you made more money not working than you made working because of the extra government subsidies, companies didn't have to worry about payroll because of the PPP (Payroll Protection Plan), and everyone was getting stimulated from the government stimulus checks. So we were getting all this money...and we had no way to spend it. Couldn't go out to eat. Couldn't go to the movies. Couldn't go on vacation. The money just piled up.
And that is what too many Americans remember about the first Trump administration.
Now, Trump is doing exactly what he always said he was going to do. He's been screaming tariffs since the mid-80s. Voters that actually paid attention to him knew it was going to happen. My opinion is that many people voted for him not realizing they were voting 100% against their own interests. Trump doesn't care about anyone except those who bend the knee to him.
So, what do his MAGA loving voters think now? They're a bit confused. Turns out tariffs really are just a tax on the American people. (who knew??) And maybe getting rid of the educational system isn't the best idea. Unfortunately, things are happening that will affect them but they don't know it yet. Why? Because his MAGA peeps are all about FoxNews. And FoxNews only tells them the good things. Even when they were talking about tariffs on cars, my friend was trying to convince me that car prices were going to go down!!! it was the craziest conversation ever. But that's exactly what he was told on FoxNews and Trump has convinced all his voters that any other new source is fake news. (Dictator 101 - control the message)
And one more thing about Americans that the world probably already knows. When we go places, we expect everyone to speak 'American' and do what we think they should do. Why? Because Americans only know America. I've traveled through Europe and was amazed at how much other people in other countries know about America. We know NOTHING of history. Hitler was bad. That we know. What Hitler did to gain power (which is similar to what Trump is doing) we're clueless about. We are 'told' that Russia is bad. Trump is now saying 'Russia isn't that bad.' Americans don't know about the Soviet Union and Stalin and the history of totalitarian countries. I mean, we 'know' but we choose to think 'that would never happen to us. We're America!'
Even the Democrats - the opposition party - is clueless. Their belief is to wait until Trump does something and then run to that place screaming 'look at what he did!' We need real opposition! (Not violence. I don't believe in violence) But we need the students at the universities like Poland in the late 30s. We need the Dems to 'infiltrate' the Republican party so that they will know what is going to happen before they find out about it on CNN (Cable News Network). We need them to work with the Republicans that don't believe in Trump. There has to be a ton of Claus von Stauffenberg's in the Republican party. And, more importantly, the Democrats need to be in Germany and Hungary asking them how to stop Trump. Trump isn't new. It is impossible to believe that Germany can't look back in their history and say 'this is what you need to do NOW!'
So, that's a lot and probably went waaaay off the original topic.
But America, shockingly, has not gone as low as we are going to go. Trump has said publicly that he would consider a 3rd term. Some Republicans, the party of law and order, don't have a problem with that. Republicans in Congress want to pass a law to remove judges they don't like. The groundwork is already being laid...
Which is why I'm in Canada now. To support your businesses and get away from the crazies for a few minutes.
en.wikipedia.org
