MTP.. Brokaw says "people in North Dakota care more about soybeans than impeachment..."

[jcgoldie]

Oh goody! Just what I wanted an entire Sunday news segment on how no matter what happens, nobody gives a fuck anyway!

Sorry venting.

[33taw]

1. Talk about the impact of tariffs in ND, not Ukraine.

[TheBlackAdder]

43. Well, Trump permanently screwed the soybean crops to China, now that they buy from Russia cheaper.

.

They did not buy much from Russia a couple of years ago, Trump changed that.

And Russian soybeans are not RoundUp Ready II GMO soybeans sprayed with glyphosate.

.

[33taw]

44. Exactly. Know your audience.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

58. Make Russia great again

[harumph]

60. What a motherfucking flak. That is all.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. They care about tariffs that affect the price of their soy beans.

Maybe they can be persuaded that impeaching and removing from office the guy who imposed those tariffs and is ruining their business is a good thing, even if the reason for removing him is something else.

[SharonAnn]

3. Then they should care about impeachment! 45 is the cause of the problem.

[brooklynite]

4. Doesn't make it not true...

We won 2018 by focusing on pocket-book issues, not impeachment.

[jcgoldie]

5. Its a self fulfilling prophecy

Why devote 10 minutes of a weekly Sunday news show to the topic of how nobody really cares about the news? "Don't pay attention to any of this, enjoy your breakfast because even though Democrats are flailing their arms, nobody really gives a shit about this anyway."

[brooklynite]

6. They didn't say "nobody cares about the news", they told you what news people did care about.

It's a foolish candidate who doesn't focus on the issues the voters care about.

[jcgoldie]

7. Bullshit

How the fuck does Tom Brokaw know what anyone in North Dakota cares about? Its just a way of spraying water on the fire... nothing to see here, nobody cares and neither should you. I don't live in North Dakota, but I do live in rural Southern Illinois and the problem isn't that the motherfuckers at the elevator or the church on sunday care more about soybeans than impeachment, its that they are all in on Trump's racist shit and its more important to them than any law he's broken... they care alright

[brooklynite]

9. Let's see...

ND voted for Trump in 2016.

ND replaced Heidi Heitkamp in 2018.

I'm willing to bet that Impeachment isn't on the top of their list.

[jcgoldie]

10. Thats quite impressive research

Perhaps you should go on national TV and share your rigorously attained conclusions about North Dakota.

[Garrett78]

34. I'm sure impeachment of Trump is why no Democratic presidential candidate has won ND since LBJ.

And it's because all of them have ignored soybeans. And because Democrats go into ND and campaign on nothing but gun control and civil rights, including abortion rights.

Yep, that must be it.

The fact that no Democratic candidate has won the white male vote since passage of the Civil Rights Act is purely coincidental. #IT'S TEH SOYBEANS!!1!

[Igel]

37. Might not be research.

Might just be memory.

[brush]

14. Careful, Brokaw's arguement is repug spin which suggests impeaching the...

crook in the WH is unimportant and not worth bothering with.

Are you actually going there?

[rockfordfile]

45. That's because ND has a lot corrupt pos.

[PragmaticLiberal]

17. "How the fuck does Tom Brokaw know what anyone in North Dakota cares about"

He's a SD native and still lives in the region (Montana).

[OnDoutside]

35. We don't always agree, but on this I 100% agree with you.

[Garrett78]

11. If pocketbook issues were what mattered most, North Dakota and every other state would be blue.

Economics dominated Hillary Clinton's message in 2016. And if people weren't blinded by hate, it would be glaringly obvious that they are much better off when Democrats are in charge.

It's the racism, stupid.

[rufus dog]

29. No matter how politically ignorant, how unplugged from news

Every single tRump voters knew two things.

1. He was the racist driver of Birtherism
2. He was a misogynist and abusive to woman.

So these people freely voted for tRump. Most likely most would have done a bit of research and found a life long history of his racism and misogyny and uncovered his shady and illegal business dealings.

So people like Brokaw believe we need to reach out to these people, understand them, ignore that they use 'moral values' as a hammer against us, and make sure they are made to feel comfortable.

Brokaw and others like him fully know this will alienate many Dems (who didn't immorally vote for tRump) who have the audacity to draw the line at racism and misogyny. Why is that? likely twofold, they are more comfortable with those North Dakota "value voters" and they are weak people. They would rather concede than fight, it is how they made money. Hell they may not even realize how weak they have become. And like the ND voter, they want to be made to feel comfortable.

Go along to get along is their mantra, there are times when strong stands are required. So if a racist ND voter needs for us to ignore impeachable offenses and focus on only their issues, make them happy while ignoring common decency, well that ain't going to happen. They need to expand their horizons, contemplate their beliefs, become a true believer of what made America great.

To others, like Brokaw, who have the education, the wealth, the experiences, the available time to contemplate, .... we ain't here to make you fucking comfortable with your inherent weaknesses. Those people need to talk a lot less and listen a lot more.

[Garrett78]

32. Our focus must be on boosting turnout, particularly among POC, youth and white suburban women.

Last edited Sun Nov 3, 2019, 02:22 PM - Edit history (1)

And on combating voter suppression efforts.

See my other posts in this thread about the absurdity of Brokaw's implication. This shit argument (which boils down to 'Trump "won" because of economic anxiety and because Clinton focused too much on identity politics.') has been made (by right wingers, media members, and - sadly - both left wing and centrist Democrats) and irritated the hell out of me for the last 3 years. No amount of evidence or common sense reasoning seems to dissuade some from subscribing to this false notion.

Brokaw is replacing identity politics with impeachment. But it's the same asinine, disproved argument we've been hearing since 2016.

[Blue_true]

21. Exactly. nt

[ritapria]

8. Tommy Brokaw loves those Trump Tax Cuts

[smirkymonkey]

19. Yep!

Total sellout. He's worthless.

[UniteFightBack]

12. What FUCKING PEOPLE? It's North Dakota...stuff it up high Tom. Not in the mood. nt

[brush]

13. Brokaw is an old-media relic trying to stay relevant in the social media age...

by saying kitchen table issues are much more concerning to most Americans than keeping a corrupt criminal in the WH.

He is in a not too subtle way, defending trump, which is not surprising. He's a staunch repug.

[33taw]

15. I live in rural norther WI. It is the same problem.

pushing the impeachment issue in Northern Wi is a loser. Talk to them about tariffs and impacts and they will care, they will care about veteran benefits at the largest veterans home in the state that voted 100% for the republican candidate because they showed up and the Dems didn’t in the last election. Basically, know your audience. Don’t run to ND and push gun control, abortion rights, and impeachment. Talk about tariffs and the loss of family farms. They love their harleys in the Dakotas, now the costs have gone up.

[gratuitous]

16. Does North Dakota care about pipeline leaks, Tom?

Because they have a doozy of a leak going on right now. Nearly 400,000 gallons. Do you supposed soybean farmers care about that contamination of the soil, or is it just another one of those things that has nothing to do with anything, and it's not fair to remember that the dirty fucking hippies were right about pipelines and their propensity for springing leaks, because they weren't, they just weren't, and stop saying that.

[33taw]

36. Nope.

[Buckeyeblue]

18. I get that. But everything is interrelated

What caused Trump to impose the tariffs? It wasn't to help our economy. All the economists agreed that imposing them was a bad idea. Did he impose these tariffs at the request of another country. Is he trying to gain favor with someone? Is this another quid pro quo? I think everything Trump does needs examined.

[jcgoldie]

39. My theory on the tarrifs

Everytime for months that he said some nonsensical shit out of the blue on the tradecwar with china, the market tumbled about 600 pts in a day... then gradually returned where it was over the following week. Whoever knew when those tweets were coming made an awful lot of money.

[Buckeyeblue]

46. Good point. And yes they did. It would be interesting to see who the big sellers and buyers were.

[dsc]

47. actually tariffs are the one thing he has been consistent about over the decades

I really don't think other countries pressed him to do this.

[TeamPooka]

20. Grandpa Brokaw used to perform fellatio on Ronald Reagan live on TV during interviews.

[Garrett78]

22. First, Democrats can and should impeach Trump *and* campaign on a multitude of issues. Imagine that.

What's that you say, it's possible to do more than one thing at a time? That's crazy!

Secondly, not impeaching Trump isn't going to magically turn a deep red state into a blue state. Not that that's Brokaw's interest anyway.

[JCMach1]

23. F@#k Brokaw

Old, rich and out of touch

[ChubbyStar]

25. And drunk

Always

[Garrett78]

24. If Republican voters were truly driven by "kitchen table issues"...

...hardly any of them would vote Republican. Some still would out of sheer ignorance, but my point is that Republicans aren't in power because Democrats don't focus enough on economics or because right wing economic policy is in the best interests of your average voter. The uber-wealthy and some who don't know any better would vote Republican, but they wouldn't constitute a large enough electorate to sustain the GOP. Racism and sexism sustains the GOP. Absent bigotry, the GOP simply wouldn't be a viable party. 

Economics dominated Clinton's message in 2016. Any suggestion to the contrary is disproved. And any suggestion that Democrats should shy away from talking about systemic racism or sexism, or shouldn't impeach Trump, because "kitchen table issues" are the only thing that matters to people (in North Dakota or anywhere else) is an asinine notion.

We aren't going to win North Dakota and it isn't because of impeachment.

[Me.]

26. And Yet Another Self Important Republican Gives A Biased Opinion

Consider me shocked.

[Snackshack]

27. I agree...

with you 100%. Frustrated and tired of this framework the right and center left uses about holding a person accountable to the rule of law. The Ukraine issue may not be a violation of law but the Emoluments and Campaign violations that DT has clearly broken is. The hush money payment Cohen made and the millions DT has raked in by funneling the business of America to his properties is as well.

Last time I looked the law was not supposed to be enforced only when people thought it important.

[liberalguilt57]

28. Brokaw was #MeToo'd

I’m surprised NBC still has him on air, with all the troubles they’ve had recently over sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations and cover-up claims.
[link:https://www.vox.com/explainers/2018/4/28/17296052/tom-brokaw-linda-vester-matt-lauer-nbc|

[Rstrstx]

30. Don't worry, Trump has managed to screw that up too

Got all the bases covered

[BlueStater]

31. Good thing what the public thinks doesn't factor into defending the Constitution.

Let them stay ignorant.

[not_the_one]

33. to put it bluntly...

Hey, all you ND trump voters!

I don't give a flying FUCK if you have a job, or can put food on the table. YOUR BOY is why your soybeans are not going to China. If you want to blame someone for your plight, LOOK IN A FUCKING MIRROR.

If, due to your support of the TURD, the US of A no longer exists, you are STILL not going to have a job, or food on the table.

I'll take saving the country over saving YOU, in a New York Second.

Now, have a nice day.

[Igel]

38. Note that "people in North Dakota" doesn't constitute everybody.

Exclude them, and you're hardly left with "nobody."

It's useful, though, to at least recognize that there is diversity of opinion, however repugnant it is to consider the views of our inferiors.

[pwb]

40. So who fucked with soy beans Tommy???

Impeachment probably is on a lot of minds in North Dakota. People gave Trump a chance, he fucked it up .

[jcgoldie]

41. Whats silly about "the price of soybeans"

... is how few people it affects directly. Most people in the midwest are not farmers. Most people in even the rural midwest are not farmers. I am a farmer and have taught HS in a town of 2700 for 15 yrs in BFE. Its poor and its rural and there are zero jobs and zero tax base. And its in south central Illinois the most fertile farm country in the world. And yet the number of families actually farming and directly affected by the price of soybeans for their livelihood is less than 5%. The average farm operation covers over 1000 acres. The rest of the people there who all voted for trump work at the damn gas station.

[Garrett78]

42. Those who imply we won't win states such as ND because of impeachment...

...are the same people ignorant enough to believe "economic anxiety" is why no Democratic Presidential candidate has won the white male vote (or North Dakota) since 1964.

[brush]

52. Thanks, Garrett78. I've never seen it put quite so succinctly about whie men...

Last edited Mon Nov 4, 2019, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)

that the majority haven't voted for Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. Why isn't that the year LBJ recognized Fannie Lou Hamer's Freedom Democratic Party and sat them at the Dem convention, and also when the white dixiecrats began to desert and go over to the repug party?

This of course shows it's definitely racism and not "economic anxiety'' as some like to say. And it's the white male demographic from around the country not just southern white males (thenk God for the 35% white male progressives who have remained sane and Democratic).

LBJ predicted that the Democratic Party would lose the South for a generation. He was right but didn't go far enough as it's now several generations.

[Garrett78]

56. And it's not just the South.

But, yeah, it's not a coincidence that we haven't won the white male vote (or North Dakota) since the Civil Rights Movement.

[ecstatic]

48. I can't stand when journalists and talking heads brings up the politics.

MULTIPLE CRIMES AND ABUSES WERE COMMITTED, DAMMIT! I'm not ready to accept that trump is above the law and "nobody cares," so it's OK. NO! It's NOT OK to ignore trump's crimes. I don't give a damn who cares and who doesn't!

[live love laugh]

49. Fuck bloviating Brokaw. nt

[Mc Mike]

50. And Rump is failing, criminal, and incompetent on that issue, too.

[samnsara]

51. oh they care.. they are just skewing the polls..

[kacekwl]

53. Everyone cares about their own issues but

other than the very wealthy and bigots who is benefiting from a trump presidency ?

[jcgoldie]

54. Folks who fear the loss of white privilege

[Proud Liberal Dem]

55. Well if you say so, Mr. Brokaw

Does that mean that we just ignore everything? Trump can do anything he wants and it's pointless to try to hold him accountable because people seem to care more about soybeans?

Riiiiiiiight.

[maxsolomon]

57. The people in Seattle care about Impeachment

And there are just as many of us inside the city limits as there are in the entire state of ND.

[redstatebluegirl]

59. I hate to burst your bubble, but he is most likely correct.

People care about what impacts them personally. Right now, the stuff Trump is doing with tariffs are dong more damage to farmers and ranchers than the Ukraine. I know that isn't what you want to hear but it is the fact of the matter. Most people don't have time to follow all of this like we do, or they just aren't interested. They have lives to live and that might not be your cup of tea but it is the truth.

Do I like the fact that they don't pay attention, no, but I understand why they don't.

[Yavin4]

61. A certain percentage of Americans would be happy to live under an authoritarian govt

so long as they benefit.

There were Americans perfectly happy under British rule.

There were Americans perfectly happy with slavery and Jim Crow.

There were Americans perfectly happy with denying women the right to vote.

There were Americans perfectly happy with denying basic citizenship rights to the LGBTQ community.

[jcgoldie]

62. I hate to post your bubble but the percentage of the population who are farmers

... and give a shit about the price of soybeans is minuscule... even in North Dakota.

That is "the fact of the matter."