Thanks, Rich. Below are a few thoughts on the Trump phenomenon offered by Paul Krugman in a Substack column published today. Krugman does not speak to recent polling data, but I think does a good job of identifying how we got here in the first place. /fb
Anyway, the answer to that question is that there are a lot of potential explanations, ranging from rising income inequality and the power of the plutocracy, to the problems of left-behind regions, to men not working, to the injured pride of white men who feel that they have lost their dignity and their privilege, to the social anomie caused by the Internet. Also, racism never went away and has become increasingly overt again. I take all of these issues seriously, but don’t have firm views about their relative responsibility for our current moment of democratic peril. -- Paul Krugman
Interesting reflection about the relationship between strength and weakness, and how the one might look like the other and vice versa in the current incoherent environment. On that note, I've been tempted to write a piece about the systematic and thoroughgoing strategic incoherence of the current administration--from the beginning of the process of strategic logic to the end. Madness, nonsense, stupidity--in short, incoherence--at every step. Unless, that is, the administration has upended our national security strategy priorities without putting it in writing (yet). Instead of the PRC and Russia and complex global challenges like technology and global pandemics (won't even bother mentioning climate) as the main strategic challenges facing our country, the overarching problem now (according to administration ideologues) are the "enemies within". While that gives all these subsequent perverse-seeming steps (ICE raids, sending national guards to placid Democrat-led cities, gathering all the military top brass in one place...) a semblance of surface coherence, it changes nothing at the core. This administration, in pursuit of invented phantoms (whether they believe in these phantoms or not is an open question and not necessarily germane), is destroying everything we thought we knew about this country. Like a doctor mistaking a head cold for colon cancer, and opting for heavy surgery without seeking other professional opinions, least of all those. Sorry for carrying on; I think I just added another odd and end to your collection.
OK. Rich, you're a smart guy with rare perspective on events. Latest Times poll shows Trump approval at 42 percent, down only a point since April. Disapproval unchanged at 54 percent. Why?
Hi Fred, Thanks. I suspect it's due to a couple of things: the Republicans who voted for Trump are sticking with him, while the independents have yet to experience the full impact of the administration's tariffs and social program cuts. The Democrats who are outraged by Trump were and always will be in the disapproval camp.
Thanks, Rich. Below are a few thoughts on the Trump phenomenon offered by Paul Krugman in a Substack column published today. Krugman does not speak to recent polling data, but I think does a good job of identifying how we got here in the first place. /fb
Anyway, the answer to that question is that there are a lot of potential explanations, ranging from rising income inequality and the power of the plutocracy, to the problems of left-behind regions, to men not working, to the injured pride of white men who feel that they have lost their dignity and their privilege, to the social anomie caused by the Internet. Also, racism never went away and has become increasingly overt again. I take all of these issues seriously, but don’t have firm views about their relative responsibility for our current moment of democratic peril. -- Paul Krugman
Interesting reflection about the relationship between strength and weakness, and how the one might look like the other and vice versa in the current incoherent environment. On that note, I've been tempted to write a piece about the systematic and thoroughgoing strategic incoherence of the current administration--from the beginning of the process of strategic logic to the end. Madness, nonsense, stupidity--in short, incoherence--at every step. Unless, that is, the administration has upended our national security strategy priorities without putting it in writing (yet). Instead of the PRC and Russia and complex global challenges like technology and global pandemics (won't even bother mentioning climate) as the main strategic challenges facing our country, the overarching problem now (according to administration ideologues) are the "enemies within". While that gives all these subsequent perverse-seeming steps (ICE raids, sending national guards to placid Democrat-led cities, gathering all the military top brass in one place...) a semblance of surface coherence, it changes nothing at the core. This administration, in pursuit of invented phantoms (whether they believe in these phantoms or not is an open question and not necessarily germane), is destroying everything we thought we knew about this country. Like a doctor mistaking a head cold for colon cancer, and opting for heavy surgery without seeking other professional opinions, least of all those. Sorry for carrying on; I think I just added another odd and end to your collection.
Thanks, Alexis: i think a piece on that “strategic incoherence” would be great.
OK. Rich, you're a smart guy with rare perspective on events. Latest Times poll shows Trump approval at 42 percent, down only a point since April. Disapproval unchanged at 54 percent. Why?
Thanks/fb
Hi Fred, Thanks. I suspect it's due to a couple of things: the Republicans who voted for Trump are sticking with him, while the independents have yet to experience the full impact of the administration's tariffs and social program cuts. The Democrats who are outraged by Trump were and always will be in the disapproval camp.