What scares me most about the Brexit? ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

I heard a comment out of the British media ... the commenter said 2 things are becoming clear: First, the electorate did not know what they were voting on ... Google released UK numbers on "Brexit" searches. The numbers were flat for weeks, then spiked ... an hour AFTER the polls closed.

Secondly, the people promoting the exit had/have no plans for the post-referendum "And then, what?"

That seems too much like the Presidential race here ... we have an electorate that is supporting a candidate that steadfastly refuses to speak to his "And then, what?"

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Yep

They are the same people that focus on twitter for their news/ideas/what to be happy about vs angry about.

It's a 140 character mindset.

[bigbrother05]

4. The MSM replay Trump's tweets endlessly while HRC does commercials

Anyone watching cable or network news will get the full force of Trumps simplistic thoughts during the body of the program with only a sampling or reference to "HRC responds with an ad". We all know how much attention is paid to the commercial breaks and the HRC campaign places their ads in specific markets.

My concern is that the HRC campaign "doesn't do Twitter" will lead to a significant gap in messaging. Unless they figure out how to condense and spread their message in 140 characters as well, they will share Jeb! style success. Spending millions on commercials while Trump is pasted across the spectrum on free media.

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. HRC campaign doesn't do twitter? Who told you that?

https://twitter.com/hillaryclinton?lang=en

[JustAnotherGen]

12. Thanks for this

Wasn't sure to do with that. And if Trump is the basis for 'how to do it' - she can literally 'post' the words "Word America Salad" and win on peeping alone. ;_-)

[bigbrother05]

24. That was part of the MSM messaging, discussing Trump's tweet followed by a HRC ad

Clearly the HRC campaign does tweet, but my concern centered on coverage. Every time Trump burps on Twitter, the news cycle repeats it endlessly, reinforcing his "thought?" while paying minimal attention to our Dem candidate's message/response. This played out in the primary, don't want our side ceding any venue to that blowhard. A crushing defeat in Nov is the best way to put an end to the orange menace.

Don't expect a he said/she said exchange, just something pithy. BTW, Warren has gotten plenty of coverage for her tweets, so maybe it's not a R vs D thing as much as pushing something that fits in a 5 min segment to draw viewers.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

2. Surely, more people are waking up to

Trump's ignorance.

I have neighbors who supported Cruz , who decided reluctantly to support Trump. Now, it seems that they are going to sit out the election unless the party removes him.

Trump has his core supporters, but he is losing his outer ring of support quickly, imo.

I saw a video of Trump when he appeared on the Oprah Show several years ago, and was surprised that he was espousing a lot of the things he does now.

What struck me, however, was he completely calm, relaxed demeanor. The old Trump was someone I disagreed with, but I didn't think he was crazy.

Now, I think he's crazy and completely out of control, and it terrifies me to think that this man could be in charge of our military! He also seems to have become more ignorant, which is worrisome in itself considering his father had Alzheimers.

[Kelvin Mace]

3. You described a non-trivial portion of the American electorate

They are completely out of touch with reality and somewhat unhinged.

[safeinOhio]

5. for the most part

they have never voted and never will.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. The non-voting group

is disengaged for whatever reason: Can't get to polls, too much trying to just make ends meet to worry about politics, demoralized, uninformed, justifiably/unjustifiably angry at government, etc.

The uninformed, unhinged, delusional VOTING group are problematic.

[treestar]

23. if they are right wingers

then their justifiable anger is at the government regulating and making a safety net for perceived others.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

15. These folks are very active.

Just loved seeing Cruz's mug on their Facebook page.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. And, your fears are sadly all too well-founded, 1SBM.

[KT2000]

9. low information, emotional voters

is what we have in the US supporting trump. They are not thinking of consequences here either.

[Rex]

10. Sounds like republicans.

They love to vote without having any facts on what they are voting for.

[Binkie The Clown]

11. People get the government they deserve. n/t

[Hekate]

13. You're saying we "deserved" George W. Bush and Dick Cheney? Please proceed.

[Binkie The Clown]

16. The people who didn't bother to get out and vote against Bush, got Bush.

Unfortunately, the rest of us got stuck with him as well.

However, "the people" as collective term, rather than referring to isolated individuals, always get the government that they, as a collective people, deserve.

No, those of us who did not vote for Bush didn't deserve Bush, but "The American People" did deserve what they, collectively, voted for.

[RAFisher]

17. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000. Doesn't seem comparable.

He lost the popular vote to Gore. The people deserved Gore because that's who they voted for.

[PufPuf23]

14. Brexit is mindless destruction based upon fear and anger.

There are two not very related antecedents.

Not so latent ubiquitous racism encouraged to fruit.

Anger at the lack of economic justice from neo-liberalism.

Brexit is an expression and acting out of the racism but supports rather than addresses the social injustice of neo-liberalism.

What I am most concerned about Brexit is that the social turmoil serves to turn the UK especially England into a neoliberal shooting gallery to the degree that the UK collapses.

[davidn3600]

18. There is far more here than you see....

First off, there is a reason Winston Churchill said:
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

It's the responsibility of each voter to be educated on the issues. But you also have to understand that in politics, 2+2 doesn't always equal 4. And what I mean by that is people see things differently. Everyone has a different opinion.

To some people the idea of the EU is bad. They believe it removes autonomy and attacks national sovereignty. Several countries in Europe are opposed to EU membership. Switzerland will not join it because they love their philosophy of remaining neutral. Norway won't join it. Iceland won't join it. Those population DO NOT want to join the EU. And those countries have been that way for generations.
To other countries, the idea of a EU is unity, peace, equality, and the promotion of the common good.

Britain has never really been fully on board with the EU. They refused to give up the British Pound in favor of the Euro. They also didn't like the idea that France and Germany tend to have more powerful voices in the bloc.

The Brexit vote dealt with independence. And people tend to be more emotional when voting on issues of independence. Governments are not popular entities. And this vote goes beyond xenophobia. The EU has failed on the migrant crisis. They have failed on the issue of terrorism. There is a flood of immigration and the governments don't seem to have an answer when people ask important questions:
Where are these people going to work? Where will their kids go to school? Where will they go when they are sick? How long will they stay here? Who is going to pay for them? These are legitimate question that deserve an answer. But the EU has no answer. In France, more than 50% of immigrant Muslims have no employment. They are living off government benefits in what has become slums outside the cities. This is putting a strain on the social services.

Multiculturalism in Europe is going to fail. And it's going to fail not just because of racism, but because the governments are pursuing bad policy and refusing to take human nature into account.

[bhikkhu]

19. Yes, when you vote out the status quo, it matters what you replace it with

having no plan isn't good, and having a bad plan isn't good. There are plenty of people here who are fed up with the status quo, but I haven't heard much in the way of planning for what it would be replaced with. Criticism of the TARP plan is one example - "let the banks fail!", but then what? "Let the automakers go bankrupt", but then what?

Which is why I tend to favor incremental change - the ACA was a good step, if the states all accept the medicaid expansion it will be better, and universal single payer will be a no-brainer at some point. The states legalizing marijuana is a good step, along with the feds backing off. At some point we will have national legalization, a lower prison population, and all the economic benefits. Raising the minimum wage is a good step, and $12-15 is a reasonable scale depending on area...and so forth.

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. My thoughts exactly ...

"let the banks fail!", but then what? "Let the automakers go bankrupt", but then what?

And I could go on to list most of the bottom-line positions of the most progressive of DU.

When your plan is dependent on a (or a series of) unlikely event(s), your don't have a plan; you have a wish or a desire or a dream.

Sadly, the internet encourages such false bravado where you can repeatedly yell such unthinking comments and walk away without having to hear the embarrassing impotence of your own "And then, what" explanation.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. Phrased another way- Continued and racially skewed arrest and ajudication of citizens for

marijuana is a good step, to decrease cannabis arrest and incarcerations right now would deprive a hungry system of fuel!!!!

I see no benefit at all when some kid goes to jail for cannabis. Can you explain those benefits and why it's best to keep up the arrests and jailing for an unspecified amount of time?

[SoLeftIAmRight]

20. lol

fear fear fear