Alright, so I’ve been seeing these videos floating around where people are legitimately surprised by things Donald Trump has done—things he actually promised to do during his campaigns. The common thread in all of these reactions is something like, “Well, he said he’d do it, but I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it!”

And here’s the thing: if someone votes for a politician who doesn’t follow through on their promises, isn’t that kinda bad? Like, wouldn’t you want the person you voted for to keep their word? So why is this a thing now? Is this just people messing around and trolling, or did they genuinely think Trump wasn’t going to do what he said he’d do?

I mean, maybe it’s because of how unpredictable Trump was during his presidency. He had a habit of saying things one way but then doing the opposite, which could’ve made some people doubt whether he’d actually follow through on his big promises. But now that he is following through on some of those things, it seems like people are genuinely caught off guard.

So here’s what I’m wondering: is this something to celebrate? Like, is it a good thing that people didn’t think Trump would keep his word? Or is it just another example of how the political landscape has changed in ways no one expected?

  • Snot FlickermanEnglish
    51·
    6 hours ago

    TL;DR for Americans: American citizens are the biggest idiots on the fucking planet.

    I think the reality is that the vast majority of US citizens are abjectly fucking stupid who have no clear understanding how absolutely anything works or any understanding of how consequences follow actions. They literally cannot piece it together. Kind of related to how often correlation and causation are confused by these bumbling fucking buffoons I’m surrounded by.

    https://web.archive.org/web/20170519174502/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/09/06/hussein-link-to-911-lingers-in-many-minds/7cd31079-21d1-42cf-8651-b67e93350fde/

    Nearing the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, seven in 10 Americans continue to believe that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein had a role in the attacks, even though the Bush administration and congressional investigators say they have no evidence of this.

    Sixty-nine percent of Americans said they thought it at least likely that Hussein was involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, according to the latest Washington Post poll. That impression, which exists despite the fact that the hijackers were mostly Saudi nationals acting for al Qaeda, is broadly shared by Democrats, Republicans and independents.

    I’m just so fucking tired. It’s literally mentally fucking exhausting to be surrounded by this many fucking idiots for four decades. It’s literally bad for my mental health and I can’t escape it. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills and yet I’m the one who has to go to therapy to fix myself while all these idiots get to just blithely continue to be fucking idiots.

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida

    “I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” Minton told Mazzei. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

    Fucking eat shit Crystal Minton you fucking travesty of a human being.

    • Tehdastehdas@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      4 hours ago

      Increased blood lead level in children has been correlated with decreases in intelligence, nonverbal reasoning, short-term memory, attention, reading and arithmetic ability, fine motor skills, emotional regulation, and social engagement. … The effect of lead on children’s cognitive abilities takes place at very low levels.

      High blood lead levels in adults are also associated with decreases in cognitive performance and with psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning#By_organ_system

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–crime_hypothesis

      • Snot FlickermanEnglish
        3·
        2 hours ago

        That explains the boomers and the older cohort of Gen X but it really doesn’t explain consistently dropping educational success in the past 20 years.

        Maybe microplastics?

        Also, I’m not sure statistics on aggression actually say much about education levels or understanding of propaganda techniques and so on.

    • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
      28·
      6 hours ago

      TL;DR for Americans: American citizens are the biggest idiots on the fucking planet.

      As an American, I can confirm this.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        23·
        6 hours ago

        America isn’t the only place with stupid people.

        And, Americans are some of the most heavily propagandized people in the world. it’s subtle, but it doesn’t have to be subtle for it to be effective. It just has to be pervasive.

        Is there a problem with poor education? absolutely. Are stupid people voting for trump? absolutely.

        This isn’t saying Americans aren’t stupid. we are.
        This is a warning.

        it can happen anywhere. And it will happen everywhere people believe it can’t happen.

        edit: to add, it’s really only a relatively large handful of americans that are shocked by this. Most of the people being surprised wanted to hurt people- and are really just being surprised he’s also hurting them. they thought they were “special” and that “he loved them” or something. stupidity and bigotry go hand in hand. Others knew it would maybe make things worse, but it was some how “worth it”. Others are in a christian fundamentalist cult and convinced to vote that way because some asshole preacher told them they’d go to hell if they didn’t. Others- the rich fucks- all want this to happen.

        • aturtlesdream@lemmy.world
          3·
          2 hours ago

          Speaking as a Canadian, there is also some much arrogance and ignorance about things outside of your country that baffles my mind (not from all but from a large portion of the population). American exceptionalism and decades of really effective propaganda that has gotten increasingly more unhinged from reality and crumbling education system probably isn’t helping either. (I don’t mean that as an insult, every country has issues, and we were very good neighbors and allies until recently)

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            2 hours ago

            That superiority enables leaders to be assholes. It was an intentional effect of the propaganda, and is a standard part of the Asshole-Authoritatian™️ playbook!

            But, eh, America is truly exceptional- in how fucked up it is.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            5 hours ago

            Somebody else dropped that elsewhere and the trailer for it, made me think of like a very dark version of the Dead Poets Society.

            A, uh. Very dark version. Gonna have to watch it soon.

        • Snot FlickermanEnglish
          9·
          6 hours ago

          It isn’t just propaganda, though. Our education system has been being slowly dismantled since Reagan and was kicked into high gear with Bush’s No Child Left Behind where they would shut down schools with bad grades. This lead to a lot of grade inflation to make sure schools could actually keep their funding. It hasn’t even been law since 2015 but the effects still reverberate.

          Yes, though, this can happen anywhere. It’s humans that are the problem, not Americans specifically. The dismantling of education and a propagandized populace can happen anywhere. Pretty sure the same shit is on display in Russia we just don’t hear about it as much.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            6 hours ago

            I’m not saying it’s not a problem. I’m saying that stupid people exist everywhere, and yes, you’re right about education being intentionally dismantled to enable all the propaganda to take hold.

            But that can happen literally everywhere. and like falling prey to scam artists (which is really what this is,) if you believe yourself immune, you’re the easiest mark.

            • Snot FlickermanEnglish
              2·
              6 hours ago

              Perhaps I wasn’t clear in my response. I do agree it can happen anywhere.