The Banter Brief: Bullshit, Grand Designs, And Self Deportation

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1. Most important story of the week

Key economic indicators are now pointing to the likelihood of recession in the very near future. What does this mean? Namely the ‘Trump Economy’ isn’t as incredible as the president claims it is. His never ending trade war with China, reckless tax cuts for billionaires, and failure to do any planning for economy that does weaken is cutting into his popularity with Republicans and independents. Recessions are nothing to get excited about, but it could seriously dent Trump’s chances of reelection in 2020.

Read more: The Trump Economy Is Bullshit - by Bob Cesca

2. Poll Analysis

As the economy sputters and Trump continues doing everything in his power to divide the country along ethnic lines, his prospects in 2020 are looking ever dimmer. Polling firm Civiqs recently published state-by-state job-approval ratings for Trump, and boy are they bad. From NYMag:

Civiqs shows the president’s net approval ratios being underwater (i.e., negative) in 10 states he carried in 2016: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. If that were to represent how the 2020 elections turn out, Trump would have a booming 119 electoral votes. And it’s not as though he’s on a knife’s edge between victory and defeat in all these Trump 2016 states where he’s doing poorly: He’s underwater by 12 points in Pennsylvania, 11 in Michigan, and nine in Arizona, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. And there’s virtually no indication that states that narrowly went for Clinton in 2016 are trending in Trump’s direction: His approval ratios are minus 18 in Colorado, minus 15 in Minnesota, minus 12 in Nevada, and minus 27 in New Hampshire. These are, by the way, polls of registered voters, not just “adults,” so they should be a relatively sound reflection of the views of the electorate.

Trump supporters should be very, very worried by this.

3. Quote of the Week

Tawheeda Wahabzada on self deporting back to Canada:

“The ugly politics of the United States leave me with no desirable choice. I no longer wish to be a bargaining chip for a border wall. I am no longer willing to be another sob story to win votes. I can no longer go to bed every night with the anxiety of such an unsecure future. But I am privileged that by chance I was born in a high-income country to which I can easily return. I am privileged to have the agency to leave. Isn’t that the great irony? To live the American dream of opportunity and autonomy, I must leave.”

Via The New York Times

4. What to watch on Netflix

Grand Designs

Interested in architecture? Love slightly offbeat British television? You’ll love ‘Grand Designs,’ a show about people brave (or stupid) enough to design and build their own homes. From Hobbit houses in the Welsh countryside to completely bonkers underground luxury labyrinths in the center of London, the show taps into the dreamer and builder in all of us. Presenter Kevin McCloud, heralded by Vice as the greatest TV host of all time, is part showman, part architectural critic, and part psychologist. He elevates the show from good to truly great as he wryly narrates the rollercoaster journey people go through financing and building their own homes. In capturing these incredible stories, McCloud doesn’t just help the audience understand what good architecture is, but why it is so important.

5. Good news

The NRA appears to be losing power in Washington in a very big way. According to a new report in Politico, “The disarray at the NRA is alarming allies who say President Donald Trump and Congress appear to have a brief opening to pass legislation while the group is so politically feeble it isn’t able to aggressively lobby lawmakers against proposals or hold them accountable for their votes.”

The NRA has been dogged by serious leadership and management issues, grave financial problems, and public opinion that has shifted quite dramatically on gun control. This is undoubtedly a very good thing.

Happy Friday, and see you next week!

Must Read Articles For Banter Subscribers:

Shaming The GOP Might Actually Be Working - Ben Cohen on why Pete Buttigieg might be on to something.

The Trump Economy Is Bullshit - Bob Cesca on the collapse of Trump’s so-called “economic miracle”.

Did You Think This Month's (So Far) Domestic Terrorism Was Bad? You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Justin Rosario on America’s refusal to deal with White Supremacy