General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYou have no idea what hell it is...
living in trump hillbilly hell South Western Pennsylvania. Trump 2020 flags in the front of houses. Pick up trucks with trump 2020 stickers. Checking out at the grocery store this evening, a big man with a white beard wearing camo, in his brand spanking new trump 2020 hat , was in line behind us..
This used to be a beautiful area and always went blue. When Richard Mellon Scaife bought up every local newspaper, things got ugly. He would never allow a Democrat on the front page of any of his newspapers and allowed no anti republican editorials in his papers. Now the Pittsburgh Post Gazette has been bought by trump humpers. Also, Westmoreland County is filled with several huge, money making Evangelical churches
Unfortunately, we are retired and cannot afford to leave the area at this time. Please show us some pity.
FM123
(10,054 posts)Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)Plus my good liberal friends that live here.
leftieNanner
(15,209 posts)We live in a tiny blue island in a sea of red in Southern Oregon. The scariest thing we saw driving around this summer was a truck emblazoned with swastikas. One of our very popular local stations has become a Sinclair station and they air all of their toxic crap. Our local newspaper is leaning that way too.
We are retired as well. Hope things get better for you.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)We have absolutely no diversity here. If you walk into a restaurant, it is a sea of white. Very few people of color... I taught in a very large school district that had maybe 20 black students. Most of them still keep in touch with me because my library was a haven.
safeinOhio
(32,763 posts)I wear. When some one ask who it is, I say the greatest Republican General of all time. The guys with Confederate flags never get it.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,931 posts)Best trolling ever.
MontanaMama
(23,369 posts)I feel you! If I didnt live in a little blue bubble, I would have lost it by now. DU is a lifesaver.
Atticus
(15,124 posts)dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)they are pre-election months.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)And that horrible moron Reschenthaler as our Reps. Does absolutely no good to call them.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)He who gave us Stephen Miller.
and of course Roy Moore.
Alabama actually went blue for Doug Jones for Senate.
The saving grace for us in this lil rural town is that politics and religion is not a topic for general conversation, otherwise it would be civil war every day.
PA Democrat
(13,225 posts)during the various impeachment hearings. He spent most of his allotted time to brag about himself and to inflate his resume.
I've called his office several times to voice an opinion and I think the cretin gave my phone number to the NRCC because since then I regularly get calls for donations.
handmade34
(22,759 posts)I realize that I am relatively fortunate... yesterday I was driving behind a truck with a trump sticker and it was uncomfortable... I would have a very difficult time if it surrounded me
mahina
(17,778 posts)So thank you. Very sure youre right, I dont think I could imagine it
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)But obviously, they do not get off their lazy asses to vote. Plus, gerrymandering is a nightmare in PA.
PandoraAwakened
(905 posts)Moved to Arizona when it was solidly red. It's been a hard fight (because with Rethugs you're always going up against corruption), but now we're purple. If you were blue before, you can get back to it. Arm yourself with info on local Rethug corruption. Then, if you interact with a tRumphumper, pretend you "get" where they're coming from, and then slide in a little "but" zinger about drawing the line at [insert local corruption issue]. It's a slow roll, but it works.
mountain grammy
(26,677 posts)Denver was Democratic but the state was red. Weve changed. Dont give up..
bluestarone
(17,149 posts)I hear ya! Nothing worse than having to live around IDIOTS! This site is MY LIFE SAVER!
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)ismnotwasm
(42,030 posts)I live in Seattle, and while its more politically schizoid than People think, its NOT Trump country.
iamateacher
(1,090 posts)Eastern Pa. has gone blue. Hope it will balance out.
mcar
(42,478 posts)but it's in West Central FL. Was solidly Southern Dem when we moved here. But, it's a retirement community and not upper income. Here, it's all about taxes and abortion.
mshasta
(2,108 posts)will be worry about abortion is not like they can get pregnant ....or will be paying child support for 18 years,
and taxes they keep voting for lower tax on the rich like themselves will be rich one day....
idiots
mcar
(42,478 posts)I've watched people here, who were always Conservative but not crazy, go full on Tea Party, and now full on IMPOTUS cult.
johnp3907
(3,737 posts)You have my sympathy.
mshasta
(2,108 posts)and follows by a complete collapse and it will be ugly for them ,
the rest of America is better than that, we will prevail, you stay strong, after this nasty dark episode in American History we will come out better and stronger.. we are with you!!
from California
Aristus
(66,531 posts)Hang in there.
As you can see, we are with you.
BBG
(2,569 posts)We absolutely are with them. Now to get my PA voter registration, dog and driver license and new plates for the car.
Red Mountain
(1,742 posts)Slap a few stickers up on stop signs. Or close to. Cheap. You can do it. I'm going to this fall.
I believe minor acts such as this make people think.
Our current predicament will only be solved by people thinking for themselves.
Questioning. It's there. YOU can help it surface.
Martin Eden
(12,888 posts)Inhabited by shitheads.
If those people were ever normal human beings, maybe they can be again.
Clash City Rocker
(3,402 posts)A friend of mine from Pennsylvania says its Pittsburgh on one side, Philadelphia on the other, and Alabama in the middle.
MLAA
(17,376 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,122 posts)I live in South Alabama. Mobile, to be precise. I know what it feels like to be surrounded by idiots.
GaYellowDawg
(4,452 posts)East Tennessee.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,514 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,568 posts)and don't allow their intolerance to get you down. Maybe some of this will rub off on them, or remind them of an earlier time in their lives.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,931 posts)which is reliably Democratic and reasonably progressive.
However, I will say that there is a disturbing amount of corruption here, and it is mostly the Democrats. Being in a solid majority for a long time is not necessarily good. We have a state Senator who recently served four days in jail for a DWI. And this is a man who pontificated about drunk driving until he was stopped, basically three sheets to the wind, last year. Changed his story about how much he'd consumed, refused the breathalizer, failed the field sobriety test, and went to a bench trial. What's sad is that the judge, who could have given him six months, gave him a few days in jail. The good news is that he has a challenger in the primary later this year.
Turin_C3PO
(14,156 posts)more corruption wed have if Republicans ran the state. Scary thought.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,931 posts)really is a lack of a viable two party system. It's helped that the state is not very populous, and (certainly here in Santa Fe) so many people know each other or are related to each other. When I first moved here I was told not to even bother to apply for jobs with the city or the state, as certain families basically have various departments under their control. I don't know how true that is, but I didn't seek out any such jobs.
There's a lot of turning a blind eye to things until it gets just too blatant to ignore, such as Senator Martinez's DWI. Or the Santa Fe sheriff who was caught selling county property on ebay.
JHB
(37,166 posts)One can't simply "put it out there" and expect the MSM to pick it up. You have to have your own apparatus to push your viewpoint.
BBG
(2,569 posts)We moved from Seattle to the Pittsburgh Northside last month. Lo and behold the movers actually moved the household and a couple of progressive thinkers (and voters) as well as the socks and dinosaurs.
Im sure we will be making visits out to the south hills. Will drag out the Conor Lamb t-shirt to wear and share when we do. Rest assured you are not alone and there are more of us here now than there were just a month ago.
dustyscamp
(2,228 posts)Hopefully one day we can make it right and save your city from them
blue neen
(12,336 posts)...and he spend his children's inheritance to do it. Hateful, spiteful man.
Guy Reschenthaler makes me gag. He's a joke. What a shame that we are stuck with him.
Hate the Trump signs, hate the bumper stickers, hate the effing billboards.
I 100% feel your pain.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)I hate it.
progressoid
(50,031 posts)Blue collar workers who used to be Democrats are now Trumpanzees.
Our newspapers aren't as bad but we still have AM radio polluting the airwaves.
liberaltrucker
(9,131 posts)Having grown up in Alabama and now live just north of you in Butler County.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)I have nieces and nephews there...some are trump humpers...rarely see them.
Dukkha
(7,341 posts)Between Tampa and Orlando I was witness to this pukefest roadside known locally as the "I-4 Trump Trailer"
I was visiting my mother in her retirement home who's always badgering me about not visiting. I was immediately reminded why when driving there.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)Red, white and blue with a 15 foot high trump statue. His cult go and visit it and then put pictures all over facebook.
Dukkha
(7,341 posts)Q: What's the difference between the Trump House and the Mansu Hill Grand Monument?
A: Not a damn thing!
spinbaby
(15,095 posts)Im in Washington County. Yes, its bad, but I recently drove through West Virginia and western Virginia, and its worse there, if thats possible. Im amazed at how many large roadside signs proclaim Jesus and how often these signs are paired with a Trump sign.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)I live in Arizona. Vote to send the bums home for an early retirement.
KT2000
(20,609 posts)Scaife was a mess of a person but he knew how to control the message. Rupert Murdoch, Sinclair, FOX, etc. have tied this country up for the conservatives. They captured the dark side and people jumped on board.
getagrip_already
(15,002 posts)There aren't more of them, they are just bolder. Pride cometh before the fall......
doc03
(35,459 posts)same here. There are several of us maybe 6 to 10 that meet up for coffee in the mornings. There are only three of us that
are not Trump humpers. Ten years ago it would have the opposite. It is always the Republicans that try get a political argument going. You can't argue with them, they are armed with alternative facts they hear on Fox and they will not accept the truth.
Here is an example of how stupid these people are: One of them the other day said Trump sent him a coupon for $70 off on
a Trump watch. All he has to do is send $9.95 and shipping to get an $80 watch. (made in China for maybe $3) He already has a
Trumpy Bear.
spinbaby
(15,095 posts)Here in the Washington, PA area, the Trumpsters are all excited because a Trump bus is parked at a gas station in Eighty Four and is selling Maga merchandise. Theyre all convinced somehow that its an official part of the Trump campaign and not just some huckster making a buck selling Chinese merchandise.
doc03
(35,459 posts)rallies. On the street there were several vendors selling Trump shirts and what not. Almost all the vendors were black I suspect they really didn't back him probably just taking the suckers money I hope. No I wasn't there for the rally.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)It is a daily challenge to be sure. Hang in there!
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)I live in SW Missouri. Roy Blunt was the representative around here. Now it ks Billy Long. My partner went to the same high school that John Ashcroft had attended. Headquarters of the Assemblies of God. Multiple megachurches. Jim Bakker has himself set up a few miles away. AM and FM bands full of RW hate and evangelical claptrap. Plenty of Trumpist deplorables.
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
I think many of those people are angry, frightened and confused. There are many issues that can induce a strong, cognitive dissonance and they require more in-depth evaluation and analysis, which is not necessarily an interest of the folks you are describing.
In no way am I sympathizing with them or condoning their capacity to reinforce their narrow, confirmation biases, but I do feel that, if things were not so skewed and economically distressing, they would not be so easily swayed to play Stockholm Syndrome with a bloated tyrant in order to feel safe or reassured; particularly because that is really such a false sense of either and an assurance that there are much deeper rings to the inferno for us all to plunge into.
PandoraAwakened
(905 posts)NCLefty
(3,678 posts)Of course, I always think about that Trump bomber's van when I see a car with stickers now.
He's doing 20 for mailing pipe bombs to prominent Democrats:
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/05/748420957/cesar-sayoc-florida-man-who-mailed-bombs-to-democrats-and-media-gets-20-years
a la izquierda
(11,803 posts)Ive never hated living in a place as much as I abhor living here.
But Im moving soon, thank the gods.
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)Tracer
(2,769 posts)Back in 2016, there was a Trump yard sign a couple of streets away and also a billboard-sized Trump sign in the front yard of a house in the next town.
Those were the only signs I ever saw --- and they are both long GONE.
Maybe you could move to a bluer area?
Freedomofspeech
(4,230 posts)Our moron neighbor surrounded our house with trump signs. We happily burned them in our fire pit.
marlakay
(11,545 posts)I think I am grateful to my gramma for moving to CA when her husband died. She actually would have stayed but zero support for widows back then and her mother n law didnt like her because she was more progressive back then.