No. We aren't.

Probably should have changed it to, "there are people"

But no doubt speaking to my friends in the UK that they want to just poke an American Trump supporter with a stick and see what happens.

i'm pretty sure your friends are extremely weird dudes. i have never met a person who would want to have any kind of engagement with a trump supporter.

like, we're out here on this internet with y'all. we know who they are and why they are, and would prefer you keep them as far away from us as possible.

Maybe in for that Akira thing if I get a lab coat.

there are plenty of old people who support Trump who are decent people, just brainwashed/too far down the rabbit hole.

being a youngish trump supporter is a much bigger red flag.

sorry but gotta give a huge LOL @ the idea any trump supporter, at this point, is a decent person

That's not quite the same thing. (And it's not so much 'poke them with a stick,' it's 'sink a hatchet into their fat stupid face.') No one is interested in meeting such people. They're not interesting. They're backward white Americans, so they're paranoid inbred racist Fox-watching gun-loving Bible-bashing slavery-nostalgists. Yeah. We know about that. And it's boring.

They wish.

Don't know what to tell you. I'm sure if you live in diverse countries for long enough, you'll run into nearly every kind of person out there. I've only seen one American Trump supporter in the UK myself (or at least one open enough to be wearing a white MAGA t-shirt). It was an obese tourist in Edinburgh during last year's Fringe eating a cheeseburger and fries at some restaurant in the city. I overheard his conversation though it seemed to be more of a monologue as the other person wasn't responding. I wasn't sure if the other person wasn't listening or was in shock at the verbal diarrhea being shat out of his mouth.

It was pretty embarrassing. I'd like to think that Americans try to represent themselves well overseas. At the youth hostel I worked at, they're generally sociable, open-minded and willing to go with the flow. I suppose with money and age comes demands for countries to adjust to them rather than the other way around.

I always hate the narrative of costal elites having to soul search and understand fly over racist Trump supporters. They should try to understand us as a means to improve since they are so angry and have such crappy lives.

Really depends on your definition of decent. On the surface, many Trump supporters aren't horrible people. You can talk about the weather or cars without them going off about Muslims or Benghazi. But that's the thing. It's the surface view. Gain their trust and dig a bit deeper to see things that'll make you question their character and intelligence.

Very much so. They seem to be a mix of those who post on TheDonald and 4chan.

There are varying degrees of Trump support among deplorables. If deplorables had Madden-esque player attributes, not every supporter would have a 99 in every category like you imply. Some people would score in the 20s in anti-semitism but in the 90s in anti-Muslim bigotry while others would be the opposite. Some score much lower in all areas and would be last taken in the franchise mode fantasy draft if they're taken at all. Still all deplorables but to different degrees and in different ways. Some know how to operate in social situations without going off. Others walk around attached to an IV bag full of anger.

I think, at least initially, that this narrative was pushed by optimists who believe (believed?) that all people are inherently good and that maybe the reasons that back up their beliefs can allow us to make sense out of what we perceived as nonsense. You know, like everybody has their own version of Hillbilly Elegy.

Should be kept in mind that I'm a year behind the other Americans here in this discovery. I'm speaking to these people in person for the first time during the Trump administration. I'm sure what I'm saying is nothing mindblowing or shocking to you. To me, it is a new experience to witness it up close.

In BFI toothsayer attempted to make the argument that the rent is too damn high because Obama allowed in too many illegals. When confronted with information that the illegal population decreased under Obama he ignored it. I know he’s not American but he is pure deplorable.

I was in Vegas for the grand finals rodeo week(had no idea it was on and was staying in MGM to boot), I wouldn't mind meeting a few more cowgirls.

Missed something.

Amazing post, deserves love.

.

can't believe that was 10 years ago

back story? I think I remember something about gobbo and perhaps his mother getting a 2+2 account, but my memory is kind of hazy and I don't remember anything about friends..

ehh, i'm hazy on details but the jist of it is

-gobbo gets 2nd place in aussie millions, has some other noteworthy tournament showings
-discussions between gobbo and an envoy to FTP about sponsorship ensue
-envoy emails howard lederer, howard accidentally replies to all or something and rationalizes not sponsoring gobbo because he "seems to be a bit of a freak and a very weird dude" or something like that
-gobbo takes it like a big boy and makes a thread about it, turning it into a joke that lives on in infamy on 2+2 for a decade

The customer rep guy forwarded gobbo's inquiry about sponsorship to Lederer and was like "what do you think?". Lederer replied "absolutely not, that guy is a freak and a very weird dude". Customer rep then replied to gobbo saying "Sorry we have no sponsorships available at this time", but unfortunately included the whole email chain in the reply. Gobbo posted to BBV, a meme was born.

lol lederer family is like a mini wannabe version of the trumps with generous proportions of hustler, con, scam, and douche bag in the blood.

Too weird for poker? What the hell.

He's also quite young

Coastal elites have more tools to overcome tribalistic impulses. It is their biggest strength.

Whether you want to say people are inherently good or not doesn’t matter much IMO. What seems important is to recognize that the groups are full of the same people.

A person in universe A starting from the assumption that there is some essential self at conception will come to a very different conclusion than that same person in universe B starting from the assumption that the moment of conception is just a biological process.

One or the other might be right but neither is deranged.

(None of this is new obviously. It’s just that the longer people see the other side campaign against things they know will help, the easier it is to forget it seems.