The question “How did Trump win?” has various answers. One of the most compelling, because its truth is on display daily, is that Republican voters don’t care a fig about supply side economics, they just want to Own the Libs.
It’s no accident that the eventual winner of the GOP candidate scrum was the one Democrats found the most loathsome of the lot. And it’s no accident that Trump’s administration, staffed as it is by the rump of the party’s apparatchiks, along with a coterie of outright nutjobs, has no real agenda beyond continued Owning of the Libs.
A pair of stories last week illustrate the point (no pun intended). The first was about the administration’s removal of one of the regulations Republicans despise so much (though when challenged they can never name any) — the ones that phased out incandescent light bulbs in favor of much lower-energy LEDs. Because LED bulbs are more efficient, they reduce the demand for electricity, which also saves consumers money. But remember that anecdote about the white guy in Tennessee who didn’t care that he was going to die of hepatitis C, he didn’t want Obamacare because that would help “Mexicans and welfare queens.” What’s a higher electric bill compared with that kind of dedication? Higher electric bills are a small price to pay if it Owns the Libs.
In the same vein, Josh Marshall wonders why the White House is bothering to put together a task force of climate deniers, to be headed by a physicist who doesn’t understand applied science. As Marshall points out, whatever such a panel produces will be ignored by the rest of mankind, so why bother? The answer is obvious: This jackwad’s appointment got plenty of coverage, every word of which made liberals angry. And the panel will get more coverage when (if?) it produces reports, because liberal anger drives page views. Consider the libs owned again.
Trump’s so-called base — which appears to be people with lots of opinions based on very few facts — have no other agenda. They don’t understand the issues well enough to discuss them. Their every position boils down to “everything is fine, stop stirring up trouble.” When Trump rolls back, say, vehicle fuel efficiency standards, he’s obviously doing automakers a favor. But there’s no constituency for incandescent light bulbs — did I mention they cost consumers more to operate? It’s a petty, cosmetic move motivated by nothing more than spite.
I guess when you’re not allowed to own actual slaves, Owning the Libs is the next best thing.