# Trump says hard to unfiy country without "major event". **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487 "2018-03-13T14:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/21 "2018-03-13T21:33:44Z")
> [@split\_p\_j](#): > > I know Trump is an idiot, but even he has to know… So many well-meaning sentences begin like this ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/22 "2018-03-13T21:40:00Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the sad thing is I think he’s right. however, _wishing_ for such an event is terrible. Where did you get that he was “_wishing_ for such an event”? The article said the opposite: > [@](#): > > I would like to do it without that major event because usually that major event is not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/23 "2018-03-13T21:44:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > That’s because you Americans are wilfully so divided. Americans seem to be unable to see beyond D or R unless slapped in the face. > > “Wah wah, stupid evil Democrats.” > > “Wah wah, stupid evil Republicans.” > > Look in the mirror: you are the problem; you are also the solution. “Bothsides” is right wing rhetoric, not the reality. It’s what people use to deflect criticism of the Republicans; since the Republicans _have no_ virtues to use as a selling point, their defenders claim that the Democrats are just as bad instead. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/24 "2018-03-13T21:48:31Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Of course it does help in situations in which one side very much does it and the other side doesn’t. Let me see if I can guess which side you’re talking about… The other side Right? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/25 "2018-03-13T21:55:48Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Where did you get that he was “_wishing_ for such an event”? The article said the opposite: You left out the first part. > [@](#): > > “I would love to be able to bring back our country into a great form of unity,” Trump said. \*\*“Without a major event where people pull together, that’s hard to do." \*\* [Dusty Springfield] Wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying. [/DS] ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/26 "2018-03-13T22:07:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Let me see if I can guess which side you’re talking about… > > The other side > > Right? Wow, what a sophisticated world view you have demonstrated. How incredibly insightful. The use of the spoiler box is what really made it, truly the bon mot of the year. It’s not at all like you’ve dressed up an insipid, uninformed and lazy world view with tinsel and bunting. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/27 "2018-03-13T22:39:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > You left out the first part. … I quoted the _relevant_ part. Pretending that this quote was Trump’s way of saying he wished something bad would happen to unify the country is disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/28 "2018-03-13T22:44:02Z")
You guys are being too 9/11-Truther/Sandy Hook false-flagging-ish. Trump didn’t say he was going to carry out some major terrorist attack or \*wanted \*it to happen; he was just saying that without some major crisis, the country would be unlikely to unify together as one. There’s a big difference. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/29 "2018-03-13T22:50:07Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “Bothsides” is right wing rhetoric, not the reality. It’s what people use to deflect criticism of the Republicans; since the Republicans _have no_ virtues to use as a selling point, their defenders claim that the Democrats are just as bad instead. Its also incredibly lazy. It’s the kind of thing dumb people say to sound smart and wise. You could literally say it about any conflict in human history and is so inane as to be pointless. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/30 "2018-03-13T23:08:24Z")
trump may not be planning such a thing, but you can bet that there are others who might/would/(will?). Just before the mid-terms or 2020 would be the “best” timing. And when I say just before I’m not talking “October Surprise”, I’m talking early November, not giving people time to react intellectually, just viscerally. (I could elaborate, but won’t here.) Previous examples of things that would fall into this category would be the Bin Laden tape in 2004 and the “Comey letter” in 2016. Just remember that conspiracies don’t have to make sense to you and me, just to the conspirators. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/31 "2018-03-13T23:54:47Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Maybe that’s how it looks from across the pond. Over here, however, we shy away from “both sides do it” arguments. Why? Both sides do do it. It’s still OK to mention it unless someone is trying to control the conversation. In which case it’s still OK to mention it. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/32 "2018-03-13T23:56:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Wow, what a sophisticated world view you have demonstrated. How incredibly insightful. The use of the spoiler box is what really made it, truly the bon mot of the year. It’s not at all like you’ve dressed up an insipid, uninformed and lazy world view with tinsel and bunting. Do you understand the purpose of a Spoiler Box? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/33 "2018-03-14T00:25:40Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > he was just saying that without some major crisis, the country would be unlikely to unify together as one. He \*could \*have added that he himself was the biggest single reason why not, but that might be asking too much. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/34 "2018-03-14T02:06:07Z")
The divisiveness was created by him. Most of it. If something big and bad happens I will blame him. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/35 "2018-03-14T10:34:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Wow, what a sophisticated world view you have demonstrated. How incredibly insightful. The use of the spoiler box is what really made it, truly the bon mot of the year. It’s not at all like you’ve dressed up an insipid, uninformed and lazy world view with tinsel and bunting. I will take that critique in good faith. My views on how American politics works are largely informed by two sources: The international news media The discussion that takes place on the SDMB Now politics is not my favourite topic, so it does not occupy the forefront of my attention or time (that may be lazy, but also, I don’t care. I’m doing the best I can). The overwhelming impression left on me from observation of these sources is: It’s terribly polarised The extremes, although they act as though they despise each other, aren’t all that different. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/36 "2018-03-14T11:10:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The extremes, although they act as though they despise each other, aren’t all that different. Except for the little detail that the extreme left is and always has been a powerless fringe in the US, while the extreme right now runs the country. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/37 "2018-03-14T11:46:56Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Except for the little detail that the extreme left is and always has been a powerless fringe in the US, while the extreme right now runs the country. I couldn’t comment on that - I was comparing them more in terms of policy, intent and dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/38 "2018-03-14T12:52:32Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Do you understand the purpose of a Spoiler Box? I do, and I also understand how he was trying to use it to try and be funny. It wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/39 "2018-03-14T13:31:03Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I do, and I also understand how he was trying to use it to try and be funny. It wasn’t. I don’t think it’s funny. I actually don’t even know what your political affiliation is, but as your assertion is ‘only one side does it’, I am fairly sure that you think the problem is the other side, and definitely not your side. Everyone says that - especially, as far as I can tell, in the US political arena. that’s not funny at all - it’s pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487/40 "2018-03-14T13:38:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I will take that critique in good faith. My views on how American politics works are largely informed by two sources: > > The international news media > The discussion that takes place on the SDMB > > Now politics is not my favourite topic, so it does not occupy the forefront of my attention or time (that may be lazy, but also, I don’t care. I’m doing the best I can). The overwhelming impression left on me from observation of these sources is: > It’s terribly polarised > The extremes, although they act as though they despise each other, aren’t all that different. What may not be clear from your side of the pond is that while there is an extreme left and extreme right in US politics, it has very little to do with current situation, which is the extreme right versus everyone else. The extreme right has hijacked the Republican party. Many previously decent Republicans now cower in fear of the extreme right. The rest of the political spectrum is opposed to Trump and Trumpism. Their only unity is in opposition. The extreme right uses the “both sides do it” distraction to imply that anyone opposed to them is extreme left, instead of the true situation that the rest of the political spectrum is against them. So by using the phrase “both sides do it” you are inadvertently labeling yourself as a dupe of the extreme right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-says-hard-to-unfiy-country-without-major-event/810487.md?page=3)