If Trump stood in front of a large banner with the word “HATE!!!” on it, you would want evidence that he himself painted it, wouldn’t you? :rolleyes:
I think he’s going the “deliberately and cynically appealing to bigots” route, without necessarily holding bigoted beliefs himself.
I’m fine that the bigots are exposed so that they can be criticized, but Trump is not doing a good thing by advocating for bigotry. Even if 30% of America thought the Holocaust was okay, that wouldn’t mean it’s morally okay for anyone to advocate for killing Jews. They’d deserve harsh criticism, as does Trump.
I’ve spoke against statements like that about Republicans on the Dope just like I do about bullshit fake-Democratic straw-manning. Such statements are always bullshit – I’ve criticized you for them as well.
Repeating racist propaganda is a racist action. It’s not lynching, and not slavery, and doesn’t deserve execution, but it does deserve criticism. If someone who’s not a racist accidentally repeats racist propaganda because they misunderstood the source, they should apologize profusely and vow to improve themselves. That’s what decent people do – decent people occasionally do or say bad things, even racist things, but decent people recognize mistakes when called upon it and apologize and try to improve themselves.
I think you have a blind spot to this. Where do you disagree with the above paragraph? Do you disagree that the stats were racist propaganda? Do you disagree that it’s, in a minor way, racist to repeat racist propaganda? Do you disagree that decent people apologize and try to improve themselves when they make a mistake, including a racist mistake?
Yeah, but Trump never apologizes so it’s not evidence of anything other than the fact that he never apologizes.
So it’s OK that blacks have killed only 40% of white homicide victims???
Would it still have been RACISM! If Trump cited the correct statistic?
Seems to be much more outrage over his recent Muslim comment than there was over his Mexican and Black statements, so apparently, people hate Muslims less than they hate Hispanics and Blacks.
Weird…
That’s evidence of his (lack of) decency and character, as are his appeals to bigotry and bigots.
i’d probably be wondering which Democrat he was talking about and what they were saying about which Republican.
It’s a good strategy. When you ignore the calls to apologize on anything practically you cut off from your opponents one avenue of attack. Wasting no time backtracking is working for The Donald.
It won’t get him very far. Imagine if Obama hadn’t apologized for his special olympics comment. Trump’s problem is that he fights every battle like it’s life or death. Sometimes you got to decide you’re not going to die on an unimportant hill.
Mistake #1 is your assumption that people that seek power over others are decent. There’s a reason why the founders desperately tried to restrict power from the federal government. They understood the nature of man far more than any naive, modern statist.
When have I assumed that? Decency and character are relative. Apologizing for a mistake and trying to avoid doing or saying racist things is more decent and demonstrates better character than not doing so, all other things being equal. This is just one of many things to judge someone by. Some people and some politicians are worse than others. I generally try and vote for the least bad option.
It won’t? His overall strategy is winning so far. Hard to say what portion can be attributed to his obstinance. I know many on these forums don’t know a single Trump supporter. I do. And they like that he doesn’t apologize. They like that he says what’s on his mind. The strong man appeal is not limited to the Middle East and Africa.
You arent as cynical as I am. I think they are all corrupt to some degree. Some just hide it better.
Decency comes in shades. Even if you assume that those who seek power are inherently indecent (a sentiment I reject wholesale, by the way), Trump is still far further down the scale than, say, John McCain.
Where in my post do you think I disagree with any of this?
That’s a very valid point of view. Again, I’m admittedly cynical and distrustful about politicians. So, if I have to choose I’m choosing the scum that makes the nation ever more powerful instead of the scum that will weaken it. I’m not sure The Donald has any real plans though.
I don’t know if you disagree with the quoted post. I just am distrustful of politicians to the point that I don’t trust that their apologies reveal anything positive about their character.
Did he apologize for it? Serious question; I don’t know. If he did, I’d be willing to give him a pass. If he hasn’t… well, we can only assume he stands by it.
“Sorry, it’s only 40%.”
So you have to go then to still exaggerate the numbers, Why?
The FBI reported that the number is closer to 15%.