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Why are Democrats protecting government waste and fraud, when most voters are against it? — 25 Comments

1. Karp may, possibly, have Ben Stein’s dad’s Law floating round the back of his mind regarding “Democrat leaders are capable of dropping these agendas and trying to appeal to the voters with logic and good will”. It mayn’t be so much “capable” as, eventually, cannot go on.

   On second thought, good will needn’t (and probably won’t ever) play any role in that.

2. Your evaluation is thorough and likely accurate. I myself have formed the opinion that democrat opposition is based on two things. First, for many, there is their bond with the cult, or if you will, tribal loyalty. Democrats are no less members of a cult/tribe than the aborigines who formed cargo cults and their ratiocination is about on the same level. It’s “gut feelings” all the way; democrat good, everyone else bad. Second, and for most of the upper echelon in the democrat cult, there is the simple fact that they have, for decades, made bank off the lax accounting practices of the federal government. That is precisely why our Constitutionally mandated budgetary system has been cashiered in favor of overwhelmingly bloated “continuing resolutions” where money can be squirrelled away for every politician’s favored constituencies who, in turn, donate to said politician’s reelection campaign fund (or as it more accurately denominated, his or her retirement program).

3. The donkey party exists on election fraud and money laundering.

4. @sdferr – Given the current state of the Democrats at this point, I question their capability of applying “logic” as well. It appears as if the bulk of the powers-that-be within the party have been reduced to highly irrational beings who have become too used to getting their way for so long that they no longer have the capability of constructing reasoned arguments that would appeal to most voters. They’re like undisciplined children who up until now have always gotten what they’ve wanted by throwing tantrums. They have squandered the trust of the American voter.

5. “They have squandered the trust of the American voter.”

   Indeed…but with some notable exceptions:
   THIS should be, um, interesting…
   (that is, if the suicide of Fox can be considered “interesting”)…

   “Fox News Heir Vows to Radically Change Network”—
   https://www.newsmax.com/us/murdoch-family-succession/2025/02/18/id/1199543/

   Hmmm. What do you get when you cross “King Lear” with “Dallas”?
   (OTOH, NOW might just be the time to invest in Newsmax….)

   File under: Not just your ordinary billionaire psychopath….

6. Take my opinion for what it’s worth, but I like Neo’s recent tendency to make lists of causes. As a teenager trying to understand history, I fell into a similar habit. I used to say “it’s never just one thing.” The formalists call it causal density.

   My method’s next step was to assign a pseudo-quantitative score to the items on the list. Nobody wanted to read that, so the third step was to go back and re-write a narrative based on the scoring results.

   It’s a tedious process, but it forced me to examine my assumptions. Maybe that’s why I don’t do it anymore.

7. Re. #5[A]* — “Billionaires are evil, unless they’re billionaires who are earning virtue by supporting Democrats.”

   I would phrase this as “…billionaires who are *buying* virtue…”. It’s like term life insurance; when you stop paying the premium the coverage stops. No retained value to you.

   * You have two 5s. 🙂

8. DOGE is identifying areas of obvious waste and fraud. And dems are crying. Just wait until they get into the DOD which hasn’t passed an audit in years. Then we will hear true bipartisan crying.

9. The most simple and obvious reason is that it is Democrats who profit most from some elements of what others consider waste or fraud. Many many of their “progressive” programs depend on government funding, particularly of the hidden type. They don’t want the details revealed.

   The above is a huge factor. Some smaller portion is outright fraud that doesn’t even have a plausible “program” fig leaf, but most I imagine goes to NGO’s or what the Euro’s call QUANGO’s.

   (2) Anything Trump does must be opposed.

   This one is interesting to me because I can see two different ways of looking at it. A) Whether it George W. Bush, or Newt Gingrich, or Trump. Anyone on the right exercising some semblance of broad leadership will be attacked with this level of vigor.
   B) Trump is a relatively successful corp. CEO, who has made the transition to the Presidency. If the electorate can get to a place where they can intelligently select CEO or former CEO types to the Presidency for a few terms; they might be so happy that they will never go back to selecting sleazy failed lawyers and lifetime pols to congress and the presidency.

   Who better to run a massive federal behemoth than someone who has successfully run a corporate behemoth?

   There’s also the factor that many Dems hate everything associated with capitalism.

10. He’s on something, IMHO

11. A part of it all is that it’s largely tribal. It’s *my* kind of people (white collar, redistributionist, clean fingernails), as contrasted with *those* kind of people (blue or pink collar, trying to make ends meet for me and mine, dirty fingernails) — Peter Strzok’s worst nightmare.

12. An interesting question would be why a Federal Government feels it needs to spend billions going to Mars or running military bases all round the world. The concentration of wealth in Washington, the $31 trillion of debt …. For what?

13. I go with 2) for the Dems I know. As I’ve documented, they reflexively oppose anything Trump does with no thought at all, or if presented with a contrary evidence, the rationalization quickly begins.

14. Follow the money. They’re using tax money to enrich themselves and their families and groups of supporters, and to push their ideology on the American and international public. Naturally they don’t want to see the scam exposed.

15. The solution is obvious.

    All references to Trump, written, audio or video, must include trigger warnings.
    _________________________________

    This content may include discussions or depictions of Donald J. Trump, which could be triggering for some individuals. Please take care of your mental health and consider stepping away if you feel uncomfortable.
    _________________________________

    I googled for “trigger warning template”.

16. I’ve come to the conclusion that a large segment of the political Left/liberal/progressive movement in the US suffered a collective nervous breakdown following the 2016 presidential election. So much of what they do is just so bat sh*t crazy even Bill Maher has taken notice.

17. An explanation that seems to incredible to entertain is “Mass Formation.”

    However, “mass formation” specifically gained attention through the work of Matthias Desmet, a professor of psychology at Ghent University, who popularized the term during discussions about societal responses to events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s how Desmet describes “mass formation”:
    Characteristics of Mass Formation:

    Lack of Social Bonding – Society becomes increasingly atomized, where individuals feel disconnected from each other.
    Sense of Meaninglessness – People experience a lack of purpose or significance in their lives.
    Free-Floating Anxiety – Anxiety that isn’t tied to a specific cause but pervades the population.
    Free-Floating Aggression – Similarly, aggression or frustration without a clear target.

    When these conditions are met, a narrative or focal point can emerge that channels this anxiety and aggression, leading to:
    Mass Formation Psychosis – A state where a significant portion of the population intensely focuses on a particular narrative or issue, often leading to conformity, fanaticism, and sometimes irrational behavior. This can manifest as:

    Blind adherence to the narrative without critical questioning.

    Demonization of out-groups or individuals who do not conform to the narrative.

    Loss of individual autonomy as people merge their identity with the collective.

    Resistance to counter-narratives or facts that challenge the collective belief.

    Examples:
    Historical: The rise of totalitarian regimes where mass formation was used to unify and control populations through propaganda and fear.
    Contemporary: Discussions around public health measures, political movements, or social media-driven trends where groups rally around a cause, sometimes with exclusionary or extremist behaviors.

    I’m hearing a recurring theme on podcasts from health care providers of a significant sense of anxiety/depression/almost hopelessness from the left since President Trump was elected. We see it as irrational– but the grip of the narrative created by the legacy media of Trump as Hitler has created a near hysteria that their lives are in physical danger.

    In this country, there are counter factuals available to break “the spell”, but since the narrative exists that the narratives on the right are disinformation/lies conservative sources are dismissed completely.

18. Regarding reason (2) “Anything Trump does must be opposed,” I just now spotted the following headline on newsnationnow dot com:

    “Trump signs executive order at Mar-a-Lago expanding IVF access”

    Looks like the left-leaning crowd is now going to have to oppose expanding IVF access. But! . . . will the IVF issue be critical enough for them to take to the streets?

19. Brian,

    I remember mass formation from the Covid days. I think that maybe that is happening with a large segment of Democrat voters.

20. Karp is making some valid points, but let’s not get all gooey about him and Palantir.
    That company has been the CIAs go-to for spying on the American public. Constitutional good guy, he’s not.

21. When I lived in San Francisco, over half the liberal women I knew were stuck on antidepressants. The gays I knew were half-expecting Republicans to put them into camps or let them die of AIDS.

    I was a progressive activist and I lived in a state of panic much of the time. I too sought therapy for depression (though I wouldn’t take the damn pills).

    I agree we are now seeing a big inflection of panic among the woke. However, I say this is standard operating procedure on the left.

    What I find interesting is that they are not Taking It to the Streets. They seem to know the turnout would be discouraging. Which is part of the sadness and madness.

    Shrieking online is about all they have.

    For me one of the best things about turning conservative was that the Emergency Alert Siren in my head finally quieted down.

22. Thanks for that information from direct experience, huxley.

    What a sad way to live. I guess what bothers me is to see it happening to 4 really good friends; one was my best friend since 5th grade…60 years. OK, we may have disagreed on politics in the past but it didn’t affect the relationship. Now it’s like they went into Mordor and aren’t coming out.

23. Can’t anyone say anything nice about Democrats?…
    Well, how about they have nicer hair?
    Oops, I guess Trump broke that rule too…?

24. I’d say (6), but with a caveat. The bureaucracy is the left’s crowning achievement. I don’t think that the left has any mental framework for processing a reversal of its growth.

25. physicsguy:

    It does sound like you’re getting hammered harder than usual.

    For your possible amusement. In the early 70s Jim Carroll, writer/poet/rocker, tells the story of a conversation he had with poet, Allen Ginsberg:
    ______________________________________________

    After heating some tea and playing Allen The Who’s new L.P., I show him a new poem of mine the in the recent issue of “Poetry Mag.” He keeps mumbling things like, “You’ve got some great lines here, some really great haikus within the overall work, but what are you going to write when they throw us in the concentration camps?”

    Terrific. Real solid literary criticism. I could have gotten better advice from Leon Trotsky, for God’s sake. I tell Allen to speak for himself… I’m not planning on grabbing the bus to the camps myself. Fucking politics… I mean does he really mean it when he spouts that shit. Worse yet, could he possibly be right? Have I not been paying attention somewhere?

    –Jim Carroll, “The Downtown Diaries: 1971-1973”
    ______________________________________________

    ‘Twas ever thus.

    The movie, “The Basketball Diaries,” shows Leonard DiCaprio playing Jim Carroll in his teen years.

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