“As long as a politician convincingly says he will do stuff that you agree with, you will give him a tremendous amount of benefit of the doubt.”
That’s the old model. It lies in shards on the floor.
“And that goes for both sides.”
Trump’s nomination shows that it no longer does. For that matter, that Gingrich was kicked to the curb years ago shows that it wasn’t as true for the Stupid Party as it remains for the Evil Party.
“You see, politics (i.e. perceived self interest) trumps everything.”
And that is what Trump supporters have rejected. If your perceived self-interest trumps your love of country, you have no moral right to draw the breath of life.
“By the way, I’m a big Trump supporter, but I’m a realist, too.”
That reality no longer governs, at least for now.
“That’s the old model. It lies in shards on the floor.”
Oh really! So you like Trump because you disagree with him and you haven’t given him a pass (or rationalized away) the fact that he was a big Hillary and other dem donor, thought that Bloomberg was a great mayor as well as endorsing DeBlasio?
“For that matter, that Gingrich was kicked to the curb years ago shows that it wasn’t as true for the Stupid Party as it remains for the Evil Party.”
That’s right, that’s why the republicans selected as their nominee the original author of ObamaCare - Mitt Romney.
“If your perceived self-interest trumps your love of country, you have no moral right to draw the breath of life.”
You have a very narrow, naive and shortsighted understanding of “self-interest”. Self interest is not just about what I can finagle from someone tomorrow. The wise person sees self interest in much broader and longer terms than some monetary recompense. It’s recognizing that promoting the right cultural values is in your long term interest. As for love of country, what does that mean? When I say that I love this country, it hasn’t much to do with its geography (great as it is). It has to do with loving what used to be its dominant culture and values. The respect of freedom WITH RESPONSIBILITY (something usually left out), respect of the individual, of property rights, of limited government, and the rights enumerated in the bill of rights. These are the things that define MY LONG TERM SELF INTEREST. If they exist, my short term interests are much more easily taken care of.
“That reality no longer governs, at least for now.”
You should try to be more honest with yourself (Not an easy thing to do, I know). Also you should have a better and more fundamental understanding of terms like “self interest”, “politics”, “love of country”.