If him being a bigot who encourages bigotry every chance he gets isn’t the top reason to hope he has a devastating loss in November, then I really don’t know what else is. Few if any of his proposed policies have a chance of getting past Congress.
Gary Johnson has finally come out and said it: “Trump is a racist”.
I applaud his honesty, but am surprised that he has (apparently) decided that none of his votes will come from those undecided and/or independent voters considering pulling the lever for Trump. He will be alienating those voters by so clearly labelling Trump.
Oh it is. But the fact that his bigotry includes my particular group, a group that at this particular point in place and time is not at serious risk government action that actualizes the bigotry, and a group that he dog whistles against less than those whose status in this country is more marginal, is not the biggest issue to focus upon.
As an American Jew I do not fear Trump as representing a risk to the safety and well-being of my extended family. As far as that goes he is at worst a typical neo-Nazi buffoon. An ineffectual clown. I’ve always known there are many anti-Semites in this country including among the rich and powerful and even among the liberal and well-educated; that aint news to me. If that was all he was selling then pointing and laughing would not only suffice but would be the most effective weapon.
I do fear him as a risk to the safety and well-being of many other groups in this country though.
If you think Trump doesn’t pose a risk to American Jewry, you’re not paying enough attention to history. It’s been well under a century since antisemitism in America was completely acceptable. How many different civilizations tolerated and even embraced us for that length of time? It’s Trump, and those like him, who will usher in that sort of thing by making OPEN antisemitism mainstream in America once again, and from there it’s not a particularly long road to the pogroms.
Now, I agree that he poses a greater immediate threat to other minorities in this country. Just don’t for a moment believe that we are exempt.
I’m getting sick and tired of people claiming to be sick and tired. You’re sick? Okay, we’ll assume you’ll also be tired, probably due to the sickness. You don’t have to spell that out. It’s redundant. I can’t remember a time when I was sick and not also tired. Due to the sickness, of course. Sick implies tired. Ever hear of anyone being sick and perky?
And then there’s people who are tired but not actually sick. These people are making a false claim if they say they’re “sick and tired.” Where’s the doctor’s note? I expect to see a doctor’s note if you claim to be sick and tired for more than three consecutive days.
And then you get the ones that are neither sick nor tired, even if they claim to be. Done people are in good health and sleep eight hours a night, yet they’re still sick and tired. Better get that checked out. Maybe aliens are sucking the life force from your body. Or maybe you’re just irritable, not sick and not tired. Maybe it would be more honest to say, “I’m an intolerant jerk and this is what I believe.” At least it would be more honest, and save that other phrase for the legitimately ill and sleep deprived.
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How about fed up? Can I still say I’m fed up even if I could stand to have a snack?
I think an atmosphere of attack on any minority encourages attack on others.
I hear you, but to me, his anti-Semitism is simply a symptom of a broader Christian white male supremacist ideology. If his supporters start seeing this ideology as attractive rather than scornful and or at least outdated, then that’s just emboldening McVeighs, Bundys and other nutjobs to take up arms against the emasculated mud people-loving, Jew-controlled government that Trump is gallantly fighting against.
This week, the topic is his view towards Jews, next week it could be some other historically marginalized group. These distinctions don’t matter to him. Anyone who isn’t a straight white male is a safe target, and they will be the targets of his radicalized fan club.
Oh I do not. I qualified with “at this particular point in place and time is not at serious risk” for a reason. I am very aware that acted upon anti-Semitism is never far away and has often followed quickly upon periods in which Jews were accepted and respected members of society. I lost extended family in HaShoah. My father pretended to be Italian on sales leads. I’ve been called “Jew-boy” myself. Derleth’s post which included: “Every story needs a villain, and the Jews have been a very convenient villain for a very long time.” was very well made. The hate, the resentment, the fear are real, and are still there. And the willingness of many, including members of marginalized groups, to believe the classic canards and worse, is sad. But right now other others are preferentially villainized and at more risk.
That is the point. His main explicit targets have been Muslims and Hispanics, but the audience also is very equal opportunity … they resent and/or hate/fear every “other” … some are just easier to say it about than others.
Yes, once people are encouraged to start thinking that they themselves bear no responsibility for what’s unsatisfactory in their lives–that The Other is responsible for all ills–then life becomes nothing but an exercise in finding and destroying that Other.
As we know, for centuries authoritarians have been using scapegoats to control populations. All those who are not Us becomes a very large accumulation of a wide variety of demographic scapegoat groups–which, handily, can be blamed for the authoritarian government’s own ineptitude and looting.
I think all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not! And I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.
Why always both though? When someone wants to emphasize how upset they are, they claim to be “sick and tired” when they may not actually be sick and if they’re tired, well they’ve still got enough energy to complain about it.
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Personally, I’d appreciate a little peace and quiet over this sick and tired issue.
Here’s what I think, and pardon me if someone has already opined it…
See, what he did was cruise those white supremacist websites who mock Muslims, Jews, mud-people and Democrats, looking for the next outrageous thing he can use to monopolize the news for the next few days - aha! there’s Hillary and a six-pointed star atop a pile of money, that’ll do the trick. He shares it, with no mention of its origin, and one little free tweet lets him dominate the media over the 4th of July holiday … then he can milk it several more days by blasting ‘crooked Hillary’ for using ‘false anti-semitic attacks’ to divert attention away from her ‘dishonest behavior.’
That way he rallies the support of the Nazi’s because he shared their Hillary meme (his eventual disavowal of them will fall on deaf ears, ‘he has to say that’) - and the evangelicals cheer him for his pro-Israel statements (Ivanka is a Jew, sad about Elie Wiesel).
He’s a master of this media game … even withdrawing the star and replacing it with a circle gets another round of coverage …good or bad, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s free, as long as they keep talking about him.
You folks give him too much credit. He’s hollow and shallow and has no stable political positions. He has expressed opinions on both sides of all the hot button issues, and he doesn’t care if you call him out on it … all the more attention, and he’s very good at double-talk.
He wants to be all things to all people, but first and formost he wants to be the center of attention, he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. It’s the race that excites him, he basks in the love of the crowds, and he wants it to go on forever. He’ll worry about being president tomorrow.
Oh fates that be, please let me live long enough to see how this turns out…
Sorry, no, this is actually important.
It’s important because it demonstrates how close the GOP sits to some very nasty groups these days. It’s implicit in the Southern Strategy, really: They can’t dogwhistle to racists without being closer to them than good people would want to be. However, they can hide how close they are to the Fourteen Words groups and at least maintain a decent front. They can rely on their votes without otherwise acknowledging their existence. And, if they’re good enough at it, most people are never aware of how close their ideas are to what the far-right believes.
With Trump, we have someone who can’t play that game and has no interest in learning how, so we can see the machinery without its usual veneer. We can see how similar the ideas are, and how little of a gap there is between the normal ordinary responsible Republican and the person who believes their first duty is to the White Race, narrowly defined.
The Republican Party just nominated a man who employs people who literally use the imagery of White Supremacist message boards. This is evidence of a deeper problem, and it isn’t going to go away.
True narcissism. Trump is in this for Trump, his only motivation for anything he’s ever done.
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I don’t think he’s good at it. I think his supporters simply don’t care, and the media has reasons for ignoring it at times.
I would just like to add a complaint about shows which have too many complaints in them as they get very tedious for the average viewer.
No, you’re not.