Current Events > Johnstown Never Believed Trump Would Help. They Still Love Him Anyway.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800

JOHNSTOWN, Pa.Pam Schilling is the reason Donald Trump is the president.

Schillings personal story is in poignant miniature the story of this area of western Pennsylvania as a wholeone of the long-forgotten, woebegone spots in the middle of the country that gave Trump his unexpected victory last fall. She grew up in nearby Nanty Glo, the daughter and granddaughter of coal miners. She once had a union job packing meat at a grocery store, and then had to settle for less money at Walmart. Now shes 60 and retired, and last year, in April, as Trumps shocking political ascent became impossible to ignore, Schillings 32-year-old son died of a heroin overdose. She found needles in the pockets of the clothes he wore to work in the mines before he got laid off.

Story Continued Below

Desperate for change, Schilling, like so many other once reliable Democrats in these parts, responded enthusiastically to what Trump was sayingbuilding a wall on the Mexican border, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, bringing back jobs in steel and coal. Thats what Trump told them. At a raucous rally in late October, right downtown in their minor-league hockey arena, he vowed to restore the mines and the mills that had been the lifeblood of the region until they started closing some 40 years ago, triggering the American carnage Trump would talk about in his inaugural address: massive population loss, shrinking tax rolls, communal hopelessness and ultimately a raging opioid epidemic. When Trump won, people here were ecstatic. But theyd heard generations of politicians make big promises before, and they were also impatient for him to deliver.

Six months to a year, catering company owner Joey Del Signore told me when we met days after the election. A couple months, retired nurse Maggie Frear said, before saying it might take a couple years. Hes just got to follow through with what he said he was going to do, Schilling said last November. Back then, there was an all-but-audible or else.

A year later, the local unemployment rate has ticked down, and activity in a few coal mines has ticked up. Beyond that, though, not much has changedat least not for the better. Johnstown and the surrounding region are struggling in the same ways and for the same reasons. The drug problem is just as bad. Theres nothing good in the area, Schilling said the other day in her living room. I dont have anything good to say about anything in this area. Its sad. Even so, her backing for Trump is utterly undiminished: Im a supporter of him, 100 percent.

Lmao this stupid fucking country
---

"Everybody I talk to, he said, realizes its not Trump whos dragging his feet. Trumps probably the most diligent, hardest-working president weve ever had in our lifetimes. Its not like he sleeps in till noon and goes golfing every weekend, like the last president did.

I stopped him, informing him that, yes, Barack Obama liked to golf, but Trump in fact does golf a lot, toomore, in fact.

Del Signore was surprised to hear this.

Does he? he said.

Yes, I said.

He did not linger on this topic, smiling and changing the subject with a quip. If I was married to his wife, Del Signore said, I dont think Id go anywhere. "
---

THIS is why trump was elected.

Morons who hate anything remotely liberal or pro-minority.
---

Country bumpkins keep on bumping their kin.
---

Why do they think Trump is the most diligent, hardest-working president in their lifetimes when he has literally golfed more than any president in our lifetimes so far?
---

davyheinz posted...

Country bumpkins keep on bumping their kin.

Johnstown is a city, but don't let me stop you from looking stupid.
---

He would have fixed things by now if those OBSTRUCTIONIST DEMOCRATS!!!!!!! wouldn't stand in his way.
---

Anyways, I was actually born in Johnstown and grew up a half hour away from that shithole. The demographics of that city are really fucking strange. People often joke that Johnstown is such a shithole that it's "the town so nice that God flooded it twice" (lookup the infamous Johnstown floods to get the joke).

I used to go out of my way to avoid that miserable run down city. Westmont is still a really nice suburb though but you have to be pretty wealthy to live in that section so it keeps the riff-raff out.
---

CableZL posted...

Why do they think Trump is the most diligent, hardest-working president in their lifetimes when he has literally golfed more than any president in our lifetimes so far?

Because a good portion of this dumbass country gets their info from Fox News...and I thought it was minorities in the south were "low information voters"

Yet you have people in these small towns across the country who not only voted for trump based on childish levels of ignorance, but downright abandoned that once it became apparent Trump wasn't following through

But hey, he's sticking it to NFL players, so they got his back!
---

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

davyheinz posted...

Country bumpkins keep on bumping their kin.

Johnstown is a city, but don't let me stop you from looking stupid.

Its in the middle of PA....which is already Alabamavile with a population of only 20k. Thats small as hell.

Imagine if a fire in this coal mining town were to trigger otherworldly activity. And some sort of tetrahedron based creature roamed with a giant sword?
---

CruelBuffalo posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

davyheinz posted...

Country bumpkins keep on bumping their kin.

Johnstown is a city, but don't let me stop you from looking stupid.

Its in the middle of PA.....

Except it's not.... It's in the southwest corner of the state. And don't ever compare my home state to Alabama. It's not that bad.
---

gunplagirl posted...

Imagine if a fire in this coal mining town were to trigger otherworldly activity. And some sort of tetrahedron based creature roamed with a giant sword?

We actually have a coal mine in PA that's been burning for 50 years and is projected to burn for another 250 years. Someone dun goofed.
---

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

CruelBuffalo posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

davyheinz posted...

Country bumpkins keep on bumping their kin.

Johnstown is a city, but don't let me stop you from looking stupid.

Its in the middle of PA.....

Except it's not.... It's in the southwest corner of the state. And don't ever compare my home state to Alabama. It's not that bad.

I worked in York and Lancaster. Yeah the middle of PA is that bad. Confederate flags everywhere despite being a state in the union

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

gunplagirl posted...

Imagine if a fire in this coal mining town were to trigger otherworldly activity. And some sort of tetrahedron based creature roamed with a giant sword?

We actually have a coal mine in PA that's been burning for 50 years and is projected to burn for another 250 years. Someone dun goofed.

I know. <.< but they don't have monsters. This one clearly does, as evidenced by this article.
---

Some of the later-in-life blue-collar workers who are still here can be loath to learn new trades. Weve heard when working with some of the miners that they are reluctant because theyre very accustomed to the mining industry, said Linda Thomson, the president of JARI, a non-profit economic development agency in Johnstown that provides precisely the kind of retraining, supported by a combination of private, state and federal funding, that could prepare somebody for a job in Polaceks plant. They really do want to go back into the mines. So weve seen resistance to some retraining.

Can you imagine the vitriol from white america if Politico went to say, Detroit or Baltimore, talked to unemployed black people who were asking for help, yet refused opportunities to learn new skills?

This. Is. Privilege.
---

More than anything, what seemed to upset the people I spoke with was the National Football League players who have knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

As far as Im concerned, Frear told me, if I was the boss of these teams, I would tell em, You get your asses out there and you play, or youre not here anymore. Theyre paying their salaries, for Gods sake.

Shame on them, Del Signore said over his alfredo. These clowns are out there, making millions of dollars a year, and theyre using some stupid excuse that they want equalityso Ill kneel against the flag and the national anthem?

Youre not a fan of equality? I asked.

For people who deserve it and earn it, he said. All my ancestors, Italian, 100-percent Italian, the Irish, Germans, Polish, whateverthey all came over here, settled in places like this, they worked hard and they earned the respect. They earned the success that they got. Some people dont want to do that. They just want it handed to them.

Like NFL players? I said.

Well, Del Signore responded, I hate to say what the majority of them are He stopped himself short of what I thought he was about to say.

Schilling and her husband, however, did not restrain themselves.

The thing that irritates me to no end is this NFL shit, Schilling told me in her living room. Im about ready to go over the top with this shit. We do not watch no NFL now. Theyre Dallas Cowboys fans. We banned em. We dont watch it.

Schilling looked at her husband, Dave McCabe, whos 67 and a retired high school basketball coach. She nodded at me. Tell him, she said to McCabe, what you said the NFL is

McCabe looked momentarily wary. He laughed a little. I dont remember saying that, he said unconvincingly.

Schilling was having none of it. Youre the one that told me, liar, she said.

She looked at me.

The NFL?

[REDACTED] for life, Schilling said.

---

Privileged and racist. Yep. They're the real monsters.
---

gunplagirl posted...

Privileged and racist. Yep. They're the real monsters.

I think the word you are looking for is "victims".
---

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

Anyways, I was actually born in Johnstown and grew up a half hour away from that shithole. The demographics of that city are really fucking strange. People often joke that Johnstown is such a shithole that it's "the town so nice that God flooded it twice" (lookup the infamous Johnstown floods to get the joke).

I used to go out of my way to avoid that miserable run down city. Westmont is still a really nice suburb though but you have to be pretty wealthy to live in that section so it keeps the riff-raff out.

A shithole city with people who live like they are country? That doesnt really make what I posted stupid. Kind of enforces it, but maybe you are just a little defensive.
---

davyheinz posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

Anyways, I was actually born in Johnstown and grew up a half hour away from that shithole. The demographics of that city are really fucking strange. People often joke that Johnstown is such a shithole that it's "the town so nice that God flooded it twice" (lookup the infamous Johnstown floods to get the joke).

I used to go out of my way to avoid that miserable run down city. Westmont is still a really nice suburb though but you have to be pretty wealthy to live in that section so it keeps the riff-raff out.

A shithole city with people who live like they are country? That doesnt really make what I posted stupid. Kind of enforces it, but maybe you are just a little defensive.

Yeah I am I was born in a shithole. I don't live there now though.
---

CruelBuffalo posted...

I worked in York and Lancaster. Yeah the middle of PA is that bad. Confederate flags everywhere despite being a state in the union

Neither of which are anywhere near Johnstown. I'd be afraid of getting shot if I had a Confederate flag in johnstown, not that I'd ever want that shit.

All im arguing is that Johnstown isn't anywhere close to the middle of PA, which is important because the Pittsburgh and Philly areas of PA are polar opposites of the middle of PA.
---

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

davyheinz posted...

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

Anyways, I was actually born in Johnstown and grew up a half hour away from that shithole. The demographics of that city are really fucking strange. People often joke that Johnstown is such a shithole that it's "the town so nice that God flooded it twice" (lookup the infamous Johnstown floods to get the joke).

I used to go out of my way to avoid that miserable run down city. Westmont is still a really nice suburb though but you have to be pretty wealthy to live in that section so it keeps the riff-raff out.

A shithole city with people who live like they are country? That doesnt really make what I posted stupid. Kind of enforces it, but maybe you are just a little defensive.

Yeah I am I was born in a shithole. I don't live there now though.

Im glad you got out of there, tbh. If its recognized as a dump by the people who live there, I can only imagine resentment from people who didnt leave like you did, people who want to leave and cant. But I was shitposting anyways so fair call on your part.
---

FrisbeeDude posted...

THIS is why trump was elected.

Morons who hate anything remotely liberal or pro-minority.

Do you not think the increasing level of in-your-face SJWism made some people vote? Think about what you're saying. There is nothing "remotely" pro liberal or minority. The left is using extremist politics and the right is fed up.
---

Anteaterking posted...

"Everybody I talk to, he said, realizes its not Trump whos dragging his feet. Trumps probably the most diligent, hardest-working president weve ever had in our lifetimes. Its not like he sleeps in till noon and goes golfing every weekend, like the last president did.

I stopped him, informing him that, yes, Barack Obama liked to golf, but Trump in fact does golf a lot, toomore, in fact.

Del Signore was surprised to hear this.

Does he? he said.

Yes, I said.

He did not linger on this topic, smiling and changing the subject with a quip. If I was married to his wife, Del Signore said, I dont think Id go anywhere. "

Good lord...
---

I read title as Jonestown.
---

gunplagirl posted...

Privileged and racist. Yep. They're the real monsters.

Nah man, it's economic anxiety!
---

FrisbeeDude posted...

JOHNSTOWN, Pa.Pam Schilling is the reason Donald Trump is the president.

I like how they imply that PA gave him 35 electoral votes.
---

southcoast09 posted...

FrisbeeDude posted...

THIS is why trump was elected.

Morons who hate anything remotely liberal or pro-minority.

Do you not think the increasing level of in-your-face SJWism made some people vote? Think about what you're saying. There is nothing "remotely" pro liberal or minority. The left is using extremist politics and the right is fed up.

LMAO. So they voted out of spite. You reap what you sow.
---

southcoast09 posted...

FrisbeeDude posted...

THIS is why trump was elected.

Morons who hate anything remotely liberal or pro-minority.

Do you not think the increasing level of in-your-face SJWism made some people vote? Think about what you're saying. There is nothing "remotely" pro liberal or minority. The left is using extremist politics and the right is fed up.

And that using that excuse to vote for Donald trump is dumb as fuck
---

Bump
---