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Assault on Democracy?

We completed a new book about the Trump Era.  The name is Neighbors Talking About Trump: Letters to the Editor Published in the New Jersey Hills Media Group Newspapers.  The lively exchange between residents in central NJ comes from Letters to the Editor in some 17 newspapers around the state.  Analysis of the topics that emerge and the debates are given along with an assessment of Trump's impact on the thinking of citizens.  

Find it at http://www.amzn.com/B0BBQDFRHF

Need to know what people are really thinking about Trump and what he is stilling doing? Read the conversations of your local neighbors from the past six years.  A new book, called Neighbors Talk About Trump, studied the Letters to the Editor printed in some of the seventeen local newspapers in central New Jersey over the period 2016 to 2021 printed in the New Jersey Hills Media Group newspapers.  This material covers Trump’s first campaign, his presidency, and his election loss.  Letters to the paper doubled in number and ranged over the entire political spectrum.

 

This lively book pulls comments from hundreds of local citizens in central NJ.  What did we say to one another about the Trump Twitter posts, China tariffs, election fraud, immigration, BLM protests, and crime.  Major national issues were filtered through the local point of view.  The book also provides insights from the disciplines of cognitive science and information behavior to discuss the nature of these communications and their effectiveness.  It clearly shows Republicans differed greatly from the Democrats in their choice of topics and words. 

 

Most surprisingly these local writers provide us with a rich tapestry of political insights, citizen concerns, American history, and current information ready for discovering.  The author, Mark S Thompson, is a professional researcher and writer, who grew up in Bernardsville, and has written five other information related books. 

Example Quotes from the Letters

Pro and Con along the entire continuum of the political spectrum.  There are many insights, facts about history and politics, you will be amazed about the richness of what contributors offer to us.  The Bernardsville News and the citizens of Bernardsville and Basking Ridge are the key contributors for the quotes.  

CON

Trump appeals only to our worst values and to the worst that lurks in all of us;” and “He may be disorderly, he may be warped, but he is in my opinion, evil, and a menace to our society, our rules, our way of life.”

PRO

Trump puts himself and his base first. No independents, no moderates, no Democrats, no life-long Republicans, no true conservatives. Only him and his base!

CON

Here and now, however, I am a partisan. I say vote for candidates from any party but the Republican Party, which has sold its soul to Trump and Trumpism

PRO

Donald Trump says he will “drain the swamp.” I believe it. He will fight for term limits. He will appoint justices to the Supreme Court on the model of Justice Scalia that are faithful to the U.S. Constitution.

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