Pally: “The idea of Trump being re-elected is horrific, but it’s not as if I’m living in denial of that possibility, or of why it might happen. And as much as I dislike the New Woke Times, there has been plenty of analysis in there — or, at least, some — that acknowledges the possibility that Trump could win. I think the media recognizes that this is a genuine race, and that it’s going to be close.
“The mainstream media won’t say that the wokeness factor hurts Democrats. And yet, ironically, everyone who’s not a woke ditto-head knows this is true. Woke fascists like Mark Harris represent about three or four percent of the people. They speak for next to no one. Unfortunately, those woke fascists have infiltrated the media. But the people understand. I don’t think the people are in a bubble. Only the woke fascists are.”
Pessimist: “The other point of view [is that there are] people who think Trump is the better option. But you can’t find that [opinion] anywhere unless you listen to those people who are [regarded as] verboten. If 60% of people are afraid to say what they think online then we have no fucking idea what they think. If they’re afraid to say what they think online it’s likely about the left since there is not a very high price to pay online for not supporting Trump. 60% of this country are white people. Most of the swing states are white people. Trump’s voters are enthusiastic. So what I’m doing is looking at their side of things. Because I can no longer trust our side to tell me the truth about anything. We say what we want to be true.”
Pally: “With respect, I simply don’t agree with you. And the reason I don’t agree with you is that seeing Trump as the better option is a mental illness. It’s not rational. It’s cult thinking. There is no ‘reasonable’ defense of it.
“I don’t say that as a wokester. I’m a middle-of-the-road centrist-liberal, always have been. I’m willing to listen to ‘the other side’ and always have been. But two-fifths of the country is living in a cult of personality. That’s seriously what it is. I don’t think there’s a more empathetic explanation for it.”
Pessimist: “A lot of people see him as the better option simply because he [stands for] stopping the left. And if we do not understand this basic concept we are ignoring a major element in the race.”
HE to Perssimist: “I don’t know what kind of data you need to see in order to ease up on your doomsaying. Seriously — you seem determined to deny or refute all polls that strongly suggest Biden enjoys a fairly solid and steady lead. You nonetheless seem locked into a doom & gloom scenario because of the BLM rioters & wokester shitheads effect. It’s a very disturbing situation, agreed, but no one outside the idiotic Trump base is buying Trump’s claim that Biden is taking his marching orders from the radical Left.”
