If You Want to Understand Trumps Continued Appeal to His Base, Read Bandits by Eric Hobsbawm
Here, I’ll make it easy for you. This is the Amazon link.
https://www.amazon.com/Bandits-Eric-Hobsbawm/dp/1565846192/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486170977&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=bandits+hobsbaw2n
Too bad it isn’t on Kindle, then you could get to work right away delving into the minds of the people who still think the sun shines from Trump’s ass two weeks into his administration when his disapproval rating is greater than 50% and 40% of registered voters want him impeached!
With so many people so very, very angry and afraid of Trump, why do your relatives who watch Fox News still cheer for him? Are they stupid? Are they being paid? No, they belong to subset of Americans who read and hear the same news that you and I read and hear and react to it in an entirely different way.
These are the American peasants, rural downtrodden workers (and by “rural” l I mean “small minded” not small town) who dream about an idyllic past when everything was peachy for them and the tiny group with whom they identify---usually their family, maybe their church or social circle or profession or town if they really are from a small town. And then, the snakes crawled into Eden and stole their birthright, and they were cast from the garden. Now, helpless, friendless, hopeless, all they can do is pray that someone---a King will come to stamp out the snakes and restore their Eden. And, since the “snakes” have official titles like “officer” and “boss” and “judge”, the King will have to be a rebel. He will have to be willing to break the law, like Jesus in the Temple. He will have to be a Bandit King.
For Trump’s supporters, up is down and right is wrong. Trump’s supporters are the kind of folks who automatically cheat on their taxes, steal internet access, leave their bills unpaid, file frivolous lawsuits. Lying comes as naturally to them as breathing. That’s because they know in their hearts that there is something wrong with the world. In a just and right world, they would be happy. If they are not happy, then something is wrong with the world, not them. And their religion---apocalyptic—teaches them that it is right and virtuous to destroy anything that makes them unhappy or even uneasy. Make that anything they do not understand.
Here is a quick list of things which Trump’s base do not consider sins in a Bandit King.
1.Nepotism
2.Cheating
3.Recklessness/Impulsivity
4. Being Spiteful
5 .Lavish Spending
6. Crimes
7. Lies
8. Promiscuity
9. Vulgarity
10. Poaching public lands
11. Bigotry
12 .Egotism
Note that much of what normal people hate about Trump’s first 14 days falls into one of these categories. We hate his bigotry towards Muslims and Latinos and women. We hate his lies. We despise his massive ego. We cringe whenever he tramples over the rule of law. His tweets are infuriating. The way he openly profits from his position of power, the way he rewards his family and friends—to ordinary, reasonable Americans these are the signs of an unfit political leader. We worry that he will lead us into war. We worry that he will kill us or bankrupt us. We worry that the world as we know it will come to an end on a whim of the enormous man-child whom the Russians have installed as our president.
But to one of the peasants who has been longing for the coming of the Bandit King, these vices are all virtues.
What would make the peasants change their minds? Very few things, actually. Bandit Kings are cut lots of slack. However, even Bandit Kings have to follow certain rules. Trump’s base will abandon him if he is ever proven to be guilty of
1. Rape
2. Cowardice
3. Injustice (towards his supporters )
4. Being stingy (towards his supporters)
5. Double dealing and backstabbing (his supporters)
Not much to work with, I know. Journalists who really want to drive a wedge between Trump and his base should probably concentrate on how individual hardworking Americans are suffering from Trump’s policies. But be warned. Bandit Kings have a nasty habit of dying and turning into legends.
P.S. Note that the Evangelicals who are hoping Trump will bring Armageddon only showed signs of abandoning him in the primaries over one thing--the whole "pussy grabbing" affair that was awfully close to rape. But then the FBI and the MSM got the topic of conversation back to Hillary the Witch's Emails and the Evangelicals forgot about the rape. The way to knock Trump out of power is to prove a rape allegation.
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