Donald Trump has it. Bernie Sanders has it. Charisma.
Star power. The ability to inspire others. The ability to draw followers.
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| Linda Hugle |
There is a large group of people want fundamental rebalancing of the power of corporations versus employees and substantial re-distribution of incomes. Corporate power is the enemy of the people. They have a spokesman: Bernie Sanders.
Meanwhile, Trump. People appalled by Trump have a hard time recognizing his talent for persuasion. His supporters must be nuts, they think, to follow such a charlatan narcissist. That is actually the point, that he connects with people--some people--and they close their eyes and accept Trump's alternative fact world. He makes them nuts.
Linda Hugle writes today making a point some will find offensive per se, that Trump and Sanders have something in common, an extraordinary ability to attract devoted supporters. She is a retired educator, most recently principal at North Valley High School in Josephine County, Oregon. Her volunteer work includes an Exchange program to expose local youth to urban, multi-ethnic experiences. She write an education oriented blog--Education Blog-- and a political one--Politics Blog.
She is more pessimistic than am I about the ability of Democrats to unite, but she might be right.
She is more pessimistic than am I about the ability of Democrats to unite, but she might be right.
Linda Hugle Guest Post:
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*****Any newspaper or TV station that criticizes him is untrustworthy. His supporters do not trust mainstream media and are only exposed to sources that confirm their biases.
*****Any politician he has criticized is unworthy.
*****Any politician or organization that does not endorse him or his policies is beholden to corporations or other corrupt forces.
*****All of his political rivals are treasonous, criminal, corrupt or deceitful.
*****Russia didn’t influence the election in 2016. It was Hillary, a weak candidate with a history of secret crimes.
*****He is infallible.
Who can this be?
You would be correct in guessing Donald Trump. His followers do exhibit this cult-like reverence, worshipping the man and ignoring the mountain of lies, corruption, racism and bullying behavior. Nothing he does seems to affect the 40% who consistently support him. He’s a victim, under perpetual, undeserved assault from the jealous liberals.
But it’s also true of the devoted followers of Bernie Sanders. Now Sanders is not Trump. He doesn’t dwell in that swamp. But his followers also shun mainstream media, seek out and share critical articles about all other candidates, see non-followers as corporate lackeys or seriously naïve, and admit no faults in their candidate.
He’s a victim too – of a devious party apparatus, of rigged primaries in 2016 (every one he lost was rigged), of an unfair selection process by the Working Peoples’ Party (they chose Elizabeth Warren), of a media that ignores his obvious advantages if he runs against Trump.
Most of us (Democrats) look at the Democratic field and see one or two candidates we like best. We may send them money or promote them on social media. But we aren’t blind to their drawbacks and may not like some of the policies they promote. Not true of either Trump’s or Sanders’ followers. They are so attached to the individuals that their likes and dislikes are manipulated by their heroes.
Trump praises dictators like Putin, Kim, Erdogan, Bolsonaro and Duterte. His followers shrug. He enriches himself by using his family’s hotels and golf courses every opportunity he gets. “All politicians are corrupt,” they insist. He criticizes China and suddenly his followers hate everything Chinese.
Though Cory Booker co-sponsored Bernie’s Medicare for All proposal, he has also taken a pragmatic approach and supported other options. Bernie blasted him for that and his followers turned on Booker right afterward.
Those of us on the left who decry what looks like a Trump cult would do well to examine our own ranks. There is a similar cult of personality within our “tribe” that likely will not support the eventual primary winner. To many of them, the Democratic Party is a worse foe than the Republicans or even Trump. After a year of exposure to negative press about all of the other choices and a propensity to see conspiracies when their guy doesn’t prevail, their important votes cannot be taken for granted.
14 comments:
https://schools.oregonlive.com/school/Three-Rivers-Josephine-County/North-Valley-High-School/
Linda Hugle oversaw one of the worst-performing high schools in southern Oregon at North Valley High School, where her students had a 31% pass-rate in 2019, while only 23% passed in 2018. That means that more than 3/4 of the students failed. In light of that, why should anyone care what a left-wing teachers union hack thinks about anything? Ms. Hugle should look hard in the mirror before she defames conservatives.
Why are the today's Millennial screwed-up? Look at who their teachers were in school, and start with Linda Hugle. Her Marxist article is the kind of propaganda nonsense (and untruths) that students are force-fed in schools.
"Betsy",
I hate to bust your ill informed, derogatory bubble, but Linda Hugle retired some 5 or so years ago.
To try to blame her tenure for the current or recent status of North Valley High School, is to show your profound ignorance in a weak attempt to drag a good person down.
My youngest daughter attended North Valley High during Linda's time there and while, as active parents, my wife and I did not always have our thoughts aligned with Linda, she proved herself to be thoughtful, caring, hard working educator. My daughter graduated with honors and several college credits on her resume. She went on to nursing school and is currently an RN and at age 24, is fill in Charge Nurse on her floor in times of need.
I also served for 8 years on the Three Rivers School Board during Linda's tenure and found her to be an honest, hard working, caring educator that I did not always agree with.
In a nutshell, you are wrong.
Linda writes a clear-eyed commentary on the problems on our current presidential candidate selection process. Playing out as it does in front of the nation on live TV. Reactions to stagecraft and celebrity-like personality add the dimension of real-life reality TV. Who will be voted off the island today? Oh NO you can’t do that to him/her! Will that’s it! Not my favorite program anymore. That network is biased. They’re taking a popularity poll. All they care about is ratings!
Now, in the above stream of words substitute Democratic presidential candidate; and, for networks The DNC. Yes, we are approaching our Presidential Election as a reality TV show. Emotion and passion rule. Reason and responsibility are throwing away for the quick feel-good moment. Dashing off that one Tweet, FB post or snarky comment is supposed to right the Ship-of-State and make America shine again. This will not end well.
Though it has zero to do with what I've posted above, I will correct you nevertheless. I'm very proud of the progress North Valley made while I was Principal. When I retired in 2010, North Valley's test scores exceeded all other Josephine County high schools in Reading and Science and all but one in Math. We also exceeded the scores of all of the Jackson County districts (combining high schools within districts) with the exception of Ashland and kudos to them.
Now let's debate the points I made above. Disagree? Lay out your facts.
Linda is correct. The Berners are way out there also. Sad for both parties, our country, and our future.
ARE YOU KIDDING!!?? Bernie is the anti charisma curmudgeon candidate! Haven’t you heard - “It’s not about me (Bernie). It’s about us.”
It’s a movement against corrupt crony capitalism. If you anti Berners would just admit you don’t like him because you’re doing just fine and are scared of true structural change, we might listen.
I do like the Warren margarine, though. That might suffice for my toast (but it wouldn’t taste as good as pure Bernie butter).
Bilbo, why would you deny Bernie’s obvious crowd-motivating appeal. His curmudgeon truth telling persona is genuine and genuinely appealing. It is praise. You appear to be so eager for Bernie to be disliked/rejected that you cannot take a compliment. For what it’s worth I like Bernie and will happily vote for him, encourage others to support him, and give him money if he will accept it from a moderately prosperous white male. I think Warren and Klobuchar would be a stronger candidate against Trump.
Not voting for Bernie and could notbe doing much worse: Permanently disabled; homeless for 6 months; tried to commit suicide twice; was physically dumped out of the mental hospital after both attempts; stuck on Medicaid with the worst doctors and the worst coverage; forced to live in the ghetto with addicts, alcoholics, criminals, and the very seriously mentally ill; denied disability by Social Security.
First of all, any discussion of a person's career may or may not have anything to do with their ability to predict in politics! The first person commenting is way off base.
Secondly, Linda Hugle is correct. I have said as much about trump and Bernie being cult figures on my facebook page several times.
I will happily vote for whoever is selected to be the Democratic party nominee, but for now ... Warren is high quality butter!
The Berners think they are smarter than everyone else and that people who don't support Bernie just don't "get it" or are too rich. They are unable to see shades of gray. They are arrogant and obnoxious. Their condescending, rude, snarky attitude is enough to turn off many "non-believers."
Bernie is just trying to get us back to the party of FDR, for those of us who can remember or who have studied history, prior to the corporate coup d' etat that took over our government. Does the phrase "Not Me, Us" mean anything to those who fear the "Bernie cult?" Lose the pragmatic cynicism, and ego projection and be bold and compassionate and be ready to get to work after Bernie Sanders wins the election and begins a "Marshall Plan" to restore the American Dream for everyone, not just the wealthy few (who are themselves victims of unbridled capitalism). Bernie Sanders isn't a cult leader; he is just at the front of the parade, a part of a movement. Think of it as the "Battle for Seattle" 3.0 or "Occupy 2.0," if you like.
Andy Seles
Sorry to provoke your condescension, Peter. I guess I’m just too stupid to realize that equating Bernie with Trump is a compliment.
Thanks for white man splaining that, though.
A do send in a check - it will go farther than wasting it on Amy.
"Trump Supporters"? They're Called the Republican Party
Let me make two friendly amendments to Linda Hugle's sober analysis highlighting equivalencies among political partisans of all stripes.
First, the term "Trump supporters" has become a pejorative way of describing "Republicans", a pretense that bolsters our Democratic denial that the full GOP stands behind the President. We live in a delusion that any day now real Republicans will come to their senses and turn Trump out. Polls showing Trump GOP support holding at 90%, and the lockstep of the GOP senate show that Trump is the GOP and the GOP is Trump, united in their causes for border sovereignty, robust military, religious liberty, pro-life, gun autonomy and American exceptionalism. Republicans supporting Trump aren't some aberration, they are the actual party, united and organized for 2020.
Second, these Republicans don't just read and ape FoxNews, nor do they blindly follow anymore than Democrats blindly follow their presidents. Trump Republicans are the subscriber base to the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Washington Times, and Federalist Society, and are regular contributors and reader commenters to the New York Times and Washington Post. FoxNews, Brietbart and Drudge heavily report Trump criticisms, keeping their readers well informed on both sides of every important issue. These Republicans are equivalent intellectuals with Democrats and are as highly effective and principled debaters as any on our side. Their work-a-day base may be ignorant or crass, but no less so than our base, nor less opinionated. They are equally gender balanced, and of course far whiter.
The Trump mouth-breather/deplorables stereotyping that makes so many of us feel smug was already our undoing in 2016, and this continuing self-delusion obstructs creative strategic response to "Trump supporters"-- they are the actual Republican Party. Dismiss and underestimate them at your own risk.
This comment has been edited by Peter Sage and re-posted. Ralph Bowman is the author to it. He writes in a kind of free-form rant. It reminds me of Gertrude Stein and Hunter Thompson. It reflects his thinking, not mine:
The church of Donald and Bernie, I agree. Both have followers that shall lead us to the promised land ...out of this downward spiral called by whatever name you want to call it, with guns, with welfare, free education, slaughter of Guatemalan babies, lots of fuck yous, and eat shit mutha fukas, and , I hope not, kool aid and armed roving bands of camo youth under mini war lords racing through the floods, draughts, fires, and pestilence of climate extinction.
These are the last days. Ask a teenage kid. Ask a community banker. Ask a scientist. Ask the Pentagon. No solutions from the leaders of years and years of corruption and exploitation. Ask the homeless. Ask a single mother. Ask a small merchant on any side street.
FDR AND REAGAN were cult leaders...still are. But the distinction is the Don is a liar and con man and Bernie, the Jewish Prophet, is honest and a has always drummed the one note of authenticity over and over again. Like it or not...middle of the road might just get swept away. Look at Hillary attacking Tulsi, a warrior woman, trying to save GI lives from endless wars. The establishment doesn’t get it. The party is over. New ideas or else. Bland is gone. It didn’t work. Jeb and Hillary washed away. Bye,bye.
Ralph Bowman
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