Excellent analysis. But what is remarkable is not that people like Theil and Elon Musk are such self-centered hypocrites. What is remarkable is that almost half of the population of the United States would drink the Kool-Aid and vote for Trump.
@ 2Peter. As Laurie said, when fully mobilized (as they were in 2016) the ignorant and gullible Trump supporters amounted to about 32% of the voting population (74 million out of 258 million qualified to vote, but nearly half of actual turnout, near 160 million). I don't call them stupid - some have PhDs and/or very advanced training and experience, and people in this group have real problems. No, not stupid in all cases, but very gullible in all cases, to think that Trump's coalition will do anything policy-wise to help them, and very ignorant in all cases, to not realize that the destruction of democracy is not the solution to their problems. I don't think 2024 will bring them out in the same numbers as previously - even gullible, ignorant people can see through the Trump carnival show. Now I worry that the Democrats, perhaps in majority control of the government, won't do enough to reverse anti-democratic trends and capitalistic hollowing out of the USA heartland.
Ben R ; I do not trust the polls aired on TV or any other media owned by the obscenely wealthy. I remember a story buried in the back of the local newspaper when tRump was campaigning several years ago, that said he was caught buying a poll. I believe that if the Supreme Court can be bought, along with seats in government, so can a poll.
Benjamin: there is an important difference between turnout and population. A relatively small portion of the population can be riled up/motivated to vote and have a disproportionate impact on elections. That has been the strategy of the far right for decades.
@Laurie and Harry. Polls can be designed to produce a particular outcome. Hard to trust polls, and the media parades around the polls without providing any critical analysis. Shameful...
Benjamin R Stockton ; Exactly ; polls can be gamed, and, therefore, hard to trust. That is why privately owned media parades around the polls without providing any critical analysis. It is shameful. People consume this misleading hogwash.
@Laurie. No. I took the actual people who voted (rounded off) for Trump of 74 MM divided by the actual number of people who voted overall of (rounded off) 160 MM. But many formal studies have determined the same thing basically. Trump did much better than we like to think!!
Benjamin R. Stockton ; of this 74 million votes, how many would there be that were valid? How do we know there are not dead people voting for Republicans?
@Laurie. Maybe it is hard to believe, but all but 2 or 3 of the Secretaries of State out of 50 states have certified that there were NO errors or fraud in any of the votes that would have had significance to change the outcome. The 2 or 3 who wouldn't certify the vote were election deniers who have been replaced by their own constituents in their own states. The vote count was accurate for Republicans and for Democrats. Biden won. That's it.
That's because the US Propaganda Machine (corporate money behind national media), during the past one hundred years, has conditioned the average reader to admire and want to emulate "successful" people like Theil and Musk ... Read Dr. Noam Choamsky.
Excellent analysis.
But what is remarkable is not that people like Theil and Elon Musk are such self-centered hypocrites.
What is remarkable is that almost half of the population of the United States would drink the Kool-Aid and vote for Trump.
@ 2Peter. As Laurie said, when fully mobilized (as they were in 2016) the ignorant and gullible Trump supporters amounted to about 32% of the voting population (74 million out of 258 million qualified to vote, but nearly half of actual turnout, near 160 million). I don't call them stupid - some have PhDs and/or very advanced training and experience, and people in this group have real problems. No, not stupid in all cases, but very gullible in all cases, to think that Trump's coalition will do anything policy-wise to help them, and very ignorant in all cases, to not realize that the destruction of democracy is not the solution to their problems. I don't think 2024 will bring them out in the same numbers as previously - even gullible, ignorant people can see through the Trump carnival show. Now I worry that the Democrats, perhaps in majority control of the government, won't do enough to reverse anti-democratic trends and capitalistic hollowing out of the USA heartland.
Benjamin R; They must dance with them that brung them ! So many Dems on the take .
Benjamin: I wrote my previous comment before reading this one of yours. We clearly agree.
Benjamin: Some educated tRump voters are voting their wallets, too. The stock market went up for awhile, didn't it?
2peter ; It's more like a weak 3rd of the population.
@Laurie. 46% of turnout. Let's not underestimate the problem...
Ben R ; I do not trust the polls aired on TV or any other media owned by the obscenely wealthy. I remember a story buried in the back of the local newspaper when tRump was campaigning several years ago, that said he was caught buying a poll. I believe that if the Supreme Court can be bought, along with seats in government, so can a poll.
Laurie: One of the things they teach Communications majors is how to construct a poll to get the results you want.
Benjamin: there is an important difference between turnout and population. A relatively small portion of the population can be riled up/motivated to vote and have a disproportionate impact on elections. That has been the strategy of the far right for decades.
Benjamin R Stockton ; 46% of turnout. Was this an exit poll? 🤔
@Laurie and Harry. Polls can be designed to produce a particular outcome. Hard to trust polls, and the media parades around the polls without providing any critical analysis. Shameful...
Benjamin R Stockton ; Exactly ; polls can be gamed, and, therefore, hard to trust. That is why privately owned media parades around the polls without providing any critical analysis. It is shameful. People consume this misleading hogwash.
@Laurie. No. I took the actual people who voted (rounded off) for Trump of 74 MM divided by the actual number of people who voted overall of (rounded off) 160 MM. But many formal studies have determined the same thing basically. Trump did much better than we like to think!!
Benjamin R. Stockton ; of this 74 million votes, how many would there be that were valid? How do we know there are not dead people voting for Republicans?
@Laurie. Maybe it is hard to believe, but all but 2 or 3 of the Secretaries of State out of 50 states have certified that there were NO errors or fraud in any of the votes that would have had significance to change the outcome. The 2 or 3 who wouldn't certify the vote were election deniers who have been replaced by their own constituents in their own states. The vote count was accurate for Republicans and for Democrats. Biden won. That's it.
Benjamin ; The power of fake noose is strong , but has not affected me, I do not watch right wing media.
I do not doubt that the election was valid. Hard to imagine that 74
Million voted for tRump.That's it.
That's because the US Propaganda Machine (corporate money behind national media), during the past one hundred years, has conditioned the average reader to admire and want to emulate "successful" people like Theil and Musk ... Read Dr. Noam Choamsky.