>>Bill's point is that there are atrocities and deaths that were set in motion long before Trump, that ought to occupy national discourse. Which attention in turn would enable/shame politicians (including Trump to a limited extent, but mostly in the House) to act.
>>
>My point is a practical one.
>If you don't like Trump (I haven't met many people who do) it's might be a good idea to look at what made so many people desperate enough to vote for someone like him.

We know what made people vote for Trump - stupidity of the voter and the Russian meddling.

>Saying the US voter is stupid for voting for someone like Trump doesn't lead to a course of action.

..it does if you educate the stupid voter on the facts.

>Understanding that the US has been mired in senseless wars for 16 years and that the standard of living for a large portion of the population has been declining steadily for 40 years is a good place to start.

..more than 16 years.

>California is a good place to look back at.
>in 2003, things were so desperate there the people threw out the machine politician and brought in Arnold the gropinator.
>Nobody who voted for him seriously thought that he could run the state- but it was a clear message to the established parties.
>The gropinator was a lousy governor and the democrats got their act together.
>Now California - led by a machine politician who happens to be capable- is one the most flourishing states in the US.

..and the states are supposed to be the 'laboratories of democracy'....you try something at the state level,it it works then you implement at the national level...so perhaps it would be a good idea to look at those lab results hmmm??? When the republicans were in power and used their 'trickle down economics' -- what happened? California was in dire trouble economically. What happened when the voters kicked them (and their policies) out? Economy turned around. So learn from this and do the same thing nation wide. ... but the GOP hasn't and won't do that though will they? So obviously the wrong guys are in power at the national level.

>>Instead, bubble attention is firmly fixed on WHADABOUTTRUMP. Hundreds of thousands of innocents dead of starvation or curable disease in Iraq? WHADABOUTTRUMP. Entrenched hostility towards the US in large parts of the world? WHADABOUTTRUMP. ISIS enabled/armed/encouraged by ham-fisted uncoordination and hawk arrogance towards Iran and Russia? WHADABOUTTRUMP.