Can you discuss Trump with your liberal and conservative friends?

I've got three sets of buddies:

1. Thinks Trump makes Putin look like Bambi

2. Liked Trump's core conservative policies, sick and tired of his mouth, narcissism and messaging. Wouldn't mind if he got run over by a bus.

3. Thinks Trump is the savior of our country, got robbed of the election...etal.

Don't think I'm going to have any folks change camps here. I will point out that most of my friends also share a long list of common goals. Ex. I can't think of anyone who doesn't want African Americans to thrive, participate in better education, hold good jobs, have strong families. That's a huge benefit even for people who are closet racists.

Post WWII, many Americans held negative views about the Japanese and Germans. We've come a long way since and call me an optimist but I think there's still great hope for different groups to feel accepted and prosper.

That leads me to some realities that might save you some angst reading the news:

• Trump isn't going to get indicted anytime soon. There are plenty of new stories circulating in mainstream media of bad acts that could lead to his being "in trouble". Trust me, that's going nowhere. The Dems messed up Russiagate and therefore inoculated Trump from further investigation. Most Americans thought he was "set up" and aren't going to bite this time.

• Biden on the other hand is going to become further weakened as the dets of Huntergate become public (along with the pre election cover up). Is Joe going to lose office because of this? Nope. But he'll be further weakened.

• Most Americans (rightly or wrongly) are blaming the Dems for spiraling crime, Gov overreach during COVID, inflation, a botched exit from Afghanistan and poor planning in dealing with Putin (blah blah blah) See link below for polling results.

• This means both houses will go Republican this fall. What's next? If:

• Conservatives can keep public sentiment where it is (not screw up for 24 months)

• Trump doesn't get sick or die

• Trump is likely to be elected president again. Various opinion polls strongly point that way.

• If the Republicans screw up, there is a huge opening for a centrist Dem like Manchin to be elected.

If you buy my suppositions, you can relax and stop sweating the small stuff. Ergo, stop chasing all the BS stories designed to ramp up your engagement (with CNN or Fox).

Some polling links:

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/most-americans-think-biden-won-fairly-right

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/archive/mood_of_america_archive/generic_congressional_ballot/generic_congressional_ballot_mar18

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/march_2022/hunter_s_laptop_from_hell_is_an_important_story_voters_say