I didn't write that about Nazis, but I'm sure some of them were. Many of the very nice Trump supporters I know do not wish harm on anyone, and honestly don't believe Trump does either - despite all the things he's said to the contrary. One has a gay daughter and I'm fairly sure (although I haven't asked her) that she doesn't think the Trump administration will make her life harder or worse. That doesn't seem like a reasonable assumption to me, but then I get my news from the BBC and other reputable places, and my identity is not tied up in being a lifelong conservative.
I saw something earlier today that talked about how hard it is for humans to change our minds (although I do it all the time, when new information comes in, and I know plenty of others, such as yourself, who do the same), but also how hard it is to give up an identity once it's been established. This whole debacle is (I think) an object lesson in that, as well as in cognitive dissonance.
The US economy is the strongest it's been for a long time, and consumers are opening up their wallets to spend in a way they haven't since before the pandemic - but even so, prices are still high (not something the President has any control over) and big businesses are reporting record profits. The labor market is robust - but the perception is lagging behind the reality, and because people like to make up stories that feel right to them, rather than actually interface with facts and data, they are pretending that an overwhelmingly failed businessman who has lost the vast majority of the fortune his father left him, can somehow improve that. I think that's unlikely, although when the perception of how robust the economy is catching up with the perception in 6-8 months, a lot of numnuts will undoubtedly credit Trump.
The majority of Americans are in the political middle somewhere, which is why the crazies (on either side) have to yell so loudly, to try to invent a divide that is only a little bit there. I didn't want Trump to win, but since we don't yet know what is to come, I'm saving my bandwidth for when there is something concrete to oppose or protest. In the meantime, I still like my right-wing friends, and although we don't talk politics often, I try to ask pertinent questions when it's appropriate. Getting to better know and understand each other is the only way forward, I think - short of dividing the nation into two separate states. I don't see that being all that practical, so I think we need to keep talking to each other.
