Friday, January 29, 2016

Ignorant? Yep

I got into a twitter conversation with a Trump fan, and I used the word ignorant to describe Trump supporters.  The supporter then used it to describe me when I answered her question about who I supported (more on that later).  Who used the word correctly?  Well, me, of course.

From wikipedia:
Ignorance is a state of being uninformed (lack of knowledge). The word ignorant is an adjective describing a person in the state of being unaware and is often used to describe individuals who deliberately ignore or disregard important information or facts.
I can be confident that I am not so ignorant since I have a pretty good understanding of the policies my preferred candidate advocates because, um, that person has actually specified the policy stances and has a track record.  And I pay attention, more or less, to politics all the time,  not just every four years.

Do Trump fans know what Trump's record is?  What he will do if elected?  Mostly not. How can I be so sure (I am not ignorant but arrogant, sure!)?  First, Trump does not have much in the way of established policy stances--he mostly has a series of inconsistent statements.  Second, as Colbert has shown recently, Trump tends to take conflicting stances so that it really depends on which day you catch Trump--some days he might support the policy ignorant Trumpkin might like and then oppose them a few days later.    

More importantly, the second part of the definition above applies so very strongly to Trumpkins.  When I raised Trump's xenophobia, racism and misogyny, the Trump fan said that his employees liked him.  WTF?  A) Really?  Do his employees (the ones who still have jobs, not those who lost them in various bankruptcies) really find Trump's management to be so swell?  B) Holy deliberate disregard for the important info--Trump's frequently slurs towards pretty much anyone who is not-white.  I mean, the white supremacists get it, as they see Trump as their best recruiting tool (which gives them something in common with ISIS).

When I mentioned that Trump is actually behind what he would have earned had he just left his money play in the market (he inherited billions and then has lost billions), that he has bankrupted several times, the response is everyone gets a few do-overs.  No, it strikes to the core of his message--that he is a good businessman.  No, he is not.  He is a great self-promoter, but his business acumen?  Meh.  Also, politics is not business, so even if he were a good businessman, so his governing would be a nightmare.

Why do I bother with this?  Just getting it of my system.  I know that the Trump fans will not read this.  I know that they will not seek out the real info about Trump and his stances.  They just want to be entertained and hear someone who can be angry, who can be racist, who can be misogynist, and get away with it.