There’s no shortage of revulsion to Donald Trump’s win for the White House, but it was anything but surprising.
For four years after being elected in 2016, Trump made regular headlines for his endless trail of gaffes, gaslighting and gasbagging.
Twice impeached, Trump talked a lot, nearly endlessly. However, he did almost nothing as president. Mexico never paid for the wall, which cost American taxpayers close to $15 billion by 2020. He talked down the “China Flu” until he could no longer deny it was a global pandemic caused by the COVID virus.
Finally, he lost his re-election campaign to an elderly, inconsequential, retired senator and vice-president who offered Americans little more than a sane and relatively honest alternative to Trump.
Trump’s finale was the Jan. 6 insurrection. A bi-partisan congressional investigative committee convicted Trump of marshaling the stunning attack on the government.
Yet, he prevailed.
He nearly became as influential running a GOP shadow government from his house in Florida as he was as president. And all the while, he racked up a litany of criminal charges and convictions long enough to put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Although Trump is a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and unapologetically claims, daily, that his political success is all about him, it’s really not.
It’s about the people who voted for him, because of what they think he can do, even when he can’t.
It’s actually about hope, or false hope.
There’s no doubt that propaganda machines like Fox News and Twitter-X owner Elon Musk make it easier for con-men like Trump to advance false promises based on lies. But by Election Day, many people voted for Trump just hoping he could do what they care about most: lowering prices and getting rid of immigrants.
Biden didn’t do that. It’s not the “economy,” stupid. It’s the price of gas and half-empty bags of potato chips.
Most voters don’t understand, or care to understand, that all this talk about “inflation” isn’t about addressing the current cost of living. They don’t care that the pandemic essentially nuked the national — and global — economy, and that the consequence was a massive hike in the price of just about everything.
They just want it to go away.
And while Democrats and experts are correct in their assessment of a solid U.S. economy and relief from future inflation, they continue to talk around what people only truly care about: their personal finances.
Trump has promised all kinds of things he says he can do to “make America affordable again.”
Savvy and educated people know he’s lying. The last president who earnestly tried to push down prices was Richard Nixon, and it was a disaster. Windfall-profits taxes have had mixed results for generations and have made Republicans cringe since Jimmy Carter tried it in 1980.
In free markets like the United States, we exist in a legalized game of profiteering, one the government has had little success in addressing. Consumers have far more power than the government at pushing down prices, and we surrender that power every time we pull up to a gas pump.
Trump is a con man. American history is filled with tales of people who drew the faithful and foolish by telling them what they wanted to hear.
I believe that people really do care that Trump is racist and populist con, but, hey, we’re talking about the price of almost everything here.
If Trump had lost his primary to Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, having made the same false promises, would be measuring drapes in the Oval Office.
Most American voters just don’t want to deal with climate change, the complexity of gender dysphoria and the real or imagined threats from immigration.
In two years, when Trump is still blaming Biden, the weather, the French and the Constitution for things being much like they are now, voters will look for something else, again.
American voters are no more loyal than Trump.
For now, real journalism has never been more important. Americans may be selfish and inattentive, but they’re not stupid.
All Americans, and responsible journalists, know that winning the election did not absolve Trump of his past, nor change who he is. He is not just another U.S. politician and president. The slate was not wiped clean on Nov. 5.
Our job in calling out Trump’s lies and disinformation won’t turn around voters who passionately support him. But for those voters who resigned themselves to him on their ballots, just hoping the price of gas drops by at least a dollar a gallon, fact-based journalism will help them realize and understand the con they fell for last week.
Out of all the quotes from human history trotted out to during the past week seeking to offer context on Trump’s persistence, this one by Thomas Jefferson rings truest after this and every election.
“The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
That’s how democracy works.
Follow @EditorDavePerry on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com
How can you be so wrong for so many years and still have a job?
More sour grapes and finger pointing outward, instead of looking in the mirror and some badly needed self-criticism. Guess we’re still in the anger stage of grief management.
The stupidity of people. You sit there and bash Trump and all the while you have a Venezuelan gang running rampant in your city. Smart.
Apparently you aren’t from Aurora because if you were you would know that the Venezuelan gang takeover story was made up. A hoax. A political stunt fabricated by City Council member Danielle Jurinsky. The mayor and the police chief both confirmed that it was false weeks ago. Come see for yourself. Aurora is, and will continue to be, just fine. Trump also knew that it was false but he ran with it because he knew he could get some much needed attention.
LOL, we’re back to the “there’s no gang members in Aurora” lie again?
That’s not what he said.
Maybe you need new glasses. And a book on how the English language works.
That’s exactly what he said. Maybe you need a colonic, Jeffy-poo.
Well said, Dave.
Your predictions for the next four years are right on. The biggest problem with Trump supporters is that most of them do not understand basic economics. Pandemics cause inflation and often lead to recession. The Biden administration gave us a soft landing when it came to the economy. Inflation has been lowered to 2% and there was no recession. Unemployment is also low. Compared to the rest of the world we are in very good economic shape right now. They are also apparently unaware that a President does not control egg prices or gas prices. You can blame corporate greed for that. However when a President assesses high tariffs on imports from other countries it will result in higher prices and higher inflation for consumers. I can’t wait to see how he handles his promise to eliminate EV credits with Musk now kissing his butt. So I hope all the MAGA lovers are ready to pay more for just about everything and see the stock market and your 401K tumble at the same time. This great economy is about to get ugly.
Nothing you posted here should be taken seriously. If you were that smart, you would have seen this spanking coming already.
The salt mines have officially re-opened!!
First, many people who voted for Trump can’t stand him. That should tell you something about how bad a candidate Harris was and how much people disapprove of many of the woke things you advocate. If you were a journalist, you would do an in-depth examination of the Police Reform Bill that put the public in significant danger. The Democrats will not talk about the actual details of SB217. It drove thousands of officers out of the job and still leaves law enforcement tied up with vague and dangerous guidance for the police. The result is great suffering for the public due to criminal activity. There are so many stupid things in the bill that no one can tell you what it means. The bill is full of undefined terms and also advocates minimal force. Minimal force is always open to opinion and is also a dangerous concept that allows minor situations to evolve into deadly incidents. Police legal advisors and attorneys cannot tell you what the bill means. They can only say that officers will have to wait until they are charged or sued to establish the case law. Why would I try to enforce the law and use necessary force in that case. Many police leaders just told their officers that they did not know what the bill meant and to not stop anyone. In the past, when a person who had just killed someone was running toward a school with a gun in hand, the police could shoot that person. No longer. In the past the police could use some force, even if just pushing, to move a riotous crowd away from your business. No longer. In the past, the police could use reasonable force to maintain order. No longer. In the past, a police officer could expect some reasonable review before he/she lost their job permanently. No longer. If the chief dislikes you, he can tell IAU to call something you did excessive force and you are done. In the past, if you fell on top of the suspect and momentarily affected their breathing, it was not a problem. Under the vague definition of the Choke Hold, you are in violation if you affect their breathing in any way. Everything is a use of force under the bill. If I touch you to move you out of the way in at a fire scene, I have violated the law. Use of force to do any normal police order functions are not permitted by the bill. I haven’t even touched the fact that the bill seeks to eliminate Implied Immunity for police officers. The public, and apparently our legislature, have no understanding of Implied Immunity. Implied Immunity was created by the courts to protect officers in cases where the law was not clearly established. It is decided by the courts on an individual basis. Generally, Implied Immunity has been allowed by the courts in only about one third of the cases. The courts decide the matter and they more often do not allow Implied Immunity for officers. So, our legislature is saying they don’t trust our judges. I could go on. The people do not understand what our legislature has done to the police ability to protect the public. The Colorado Democrats certainly are not going to tell you. It is a statement about how integrity and moral courage have disappeared in our public officials, including the leaders in law enforcement. So, Mr. Upright and Conscientious Journalist, do some investigative reporting that actually helps the public.
Don, Don, Don, Don – edit, edit, edit, edit.
[edited version] Don, edit.
One item in the article resonated with me. It is the need to support real news outlets during this term of the decline in local news. I support public media, reputable national news outlets, and the Aurora Sentinel. Please join me! It is imperative we have freedom of the press. I won’t guarantee that you’ll be happy with every article, but if you read with an open mind, you’ll learn things you didn’t already know and purhaps it’ll cause you to change your mind! There’s nothing to fear from that, it’s called growth!
Go ahead and get it all out Dave, you may be forced to leave your fantasy world and write about reality later.
I am betting that Dave has this right. Let’s see everyone back on here in a couple years.
Dave. You put it all down very logically. Too bad we see the other side contain denial. But its all coming home to roost. I mean Gaetz for US AG???
Seriously???
Where oh where will the Sentinel find some real journalists and why start now?