Who ever thought that racism would be a Presidential campaign strategy?

[Canoeyawl]

token?

He has changed his tune considerably, and is openly speaking as what would pass for a democrat these days.

"Steele was openly critical of Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and has continued to oppose President Trump during his subsequent administration.
In a January 2018 interview on MSNBC, in response to an accusation that President Trump had referred to El Salvador and Haiti as "sh!thole countries," Steele expressed his belief that the President was "racist."

[amish rob]

OK. You are back in. The cell tower and house are removed, and levels/curves tweaked, to give it an Andrew Wyeth look; and framed because it is frame-worthy:

Dope! The photo had such good bones to work with because I didn’t take it.

That was a fun day.

Peace,
Robert

[amish rob]

It is a great photo. Because it raises questions in the viewer's mind. Where are they? Where are they going so purposefully? Why is the bowman standing like that, with his paddle at his feet? What is she thinking about, as she looks to one side? Why doesn't the sternman pull up his shorts?

Yeah.

Peace,
Robert

[Hallam]

Where it all began:


[[/video]


He is willing to go to such great lengths to get back at Obama.

The question is Where will it end?

[skuthorp]

Depends how long you all leave him there……..

[Flying Orca]

Depends how long you all leave him there……..

Yep. Where are the Watts-level riots when you need them? Seriously, people should be marching in the streets in enormous numbers.

[TomF]

I think I'm gonna break down and purchase a copy of the brand new book "American Carnage" (a quote from Trump's inauguration speech) by that Politico senior editor. I've seen interviews with him twice now, and frankly, it looks like he's got insights I haven't heard as clearly stated elsewhere. Said that Trump's takeaway from the Tea Party movement was that it was all about "cultural conservatism" (tribe, race, class), not about the putative issues the Tea Party claimed they stood for. And he's utterly correct. Also sounds like some of the interviews in the book - with people like Cruz and Rubio and Boehner - are by themselves worth the price. Bottom line - people aren't marching in the streets because, as ever, the Dems still largely think this is about policy ... while the Reps think it's about cultural survival.

[Flying Orca]

I think I'm gonna break down and purchase a copy of the brand new book "American Carnage" (a quote from Trump's inauguration speech) by that Politico senior editor. I've seen interviews with him twice now, and frankly, it looks like he's got insights I haven't heard as clearly stated elsewhere. Said that Trump's takeaway from the Tea Party movement was that it was all about "cultural conservatism" (tribe, race, class), not about the putative issues the Tea Party claimed they stood for. And he's utterly correct. Also sounds like some of the interviews in the book - with people like Cruz and Rubio and Boehner - are by themselves worth the price. Bottom line - people aren't marching in the streets because, as ever, the Dems still largely think this is about policy ... while the Reps think it's about cultural survival.

Well, yeah. I've been saying for years, based on Achen and Bartels' research, that the strongest predictors of people's votes are their personal economic experience in the two quarters preceding the poll (if they perceive it as bad, they vote against the incumbent) and their tribal identity. Trump's behaviour doesn't matter to his tribe, because they have embraced him as their own. We see it in the Bilge as clearly as we see it in the Senate.

[AlanMc]

So Alan, if someone says to you “go back to the country you came from” what do you do? How about if they say it to your son? How about if a politician says it? Like maybe the POTUS? You managed to get some attention on this thread so enjoy that attention and bring it to the topic.

i dunno. first they'd have to tell me what country i was specifically from history wise. i've never really bothered to look it up, but i think there's german and scottish/irish in there. i would bet there's some native american there somewhere too. then we'd have to work out whether i was going back to the highest percentage country, or i could choose which one i wanted, or maybe i would have to spend an appropriate percentage of time in each one according to my lineage percentages. sounds like it could be kind of fun since those countries don't suck. but i think i'd rather stay here.

trump and his comments on the other hand. who knows what he's trying to say. i think you have to fill in the gaps a lot when he talks or it doesn't make any sense. so first i have to make an assumption that the president isn't making racists comments on his twitter feed. hey, maybe that's a bad assumption but it's the only one that makes sense to me. so if he's not trying to be blatantly racist, what's he really trying to say? i assume he's being blatantly 'MERICA F'CK YEA. which means, "hey you came here b/c it's better than where you came from (fill in that he is generally saying you family and not that you weren't born here)".

i don't rate these instances high up my GAS indicator.

lots of assumptions. but hey, i'm an optimist

[S.V. Airlie]

Your assumption that he isn't being racist is ludicrous but, carry on.

[Tom Montgomery]

trump and his comments on the other hand. who knows what he's trying to say.

Seriously dude?

[AlanMc]

Seriously dude?

yeah, i don't assume the worst case scenarios

namaste

[Tom Montgomery]

.
Trump has been clear in his meaning. Tu no entiendes ingles. Or do not want to.

[TomF]

yeah, i don't assume the worst case scenarios namaste

It's reasonable (if a bit naïve) to start there. By now? You're part of the problem, dude. Sorry.

[amish rob]

yeah, i don't assume the worst case scenarios

namaste

Go back where you came from if you don’t like it here is EXACTLY what my grandfather heard when he came here.

Except, the idiots taunting him then were too stupid to know what a Portuguese person from the Azores was, so they called him slurs for Mexicans.

As a child, we were called the “Little Slurs”. Most of my friends were non white because they white kids didn’t hang out with slurs.

Man.

I MISS when America was really great, and you could just call people slurs, like they weren’t even human.

Peace,
Yes. It REALLY Is They Bad, Dude

[Flying Orca]

so first i have to make an assumption that the president isn't making racists comments on his twitter feed.

Riiiiiight... because even though it's been walking like a duck, swimming like a duck, and quacking like a duck for years now, it's just not reasonable to assume it's a bird, let alone waterfowl of some kind.

maybe that's a bad assumption but it's the only one that makes sense to me.

Given that you're intelligent enough to use a computer and post things on the internets, I have trouble believing your sense-maker is that poorly calibrated. I think you know it's a bad assumption and you don't believe it for a moment.

[AlanMc]

Go back where you came from if you don’t like it here is EXACTLY what my grandfather heard when he came here.

Except, the idiots taunting him then were too stupid to know what a Portuguese person from the Azores, so they kept calling him rascal slurs for Mexicans.

As a child, we were called the “Little Slurs”. Most of my friends were non white because they white kids didn’t hang out with slurs.

Man.

I MISS when America was really great, and you could just call people slurs, like they weren’t even human.

Peace,
Yes. It REALLY Is They Bad, Dude

Azores? i bet that guy made some good food. i've seen some shows featuring their cooking and it looks awesome.

i don't agree with t-rump's commentary. but i'm also not going to make it out to be as bad as i can.

[LeeG]

Seriously dude?

Seriously. This is denial.
Even if English wasn’t your first language it’s clear in multiple statements Trump is saying where the Congresswomen came from. It’s the same birtherism line “you’re not from here, you’re not one of us”

So what makes four women not one of Trump’s “us”? Gee I guess that’s just too hard to figure out.If you say it’s racist, then, well, You’re The Racist!

Alan’s response is what implausible deniability is about. Say enough vague and nonsensical statements and it leaves the listener to not hold Trump or themselves responsible for any position but free to imply any position. wheeee what fun trolling us.

[LeeG]

Azores? i bet that guy made some good food. i've seen some shows featuring their cooking and it looks awesome.

i don't agree with t-rump's commentary. but i'm also not going to make it out to be as bad as i can.

Whew, sure wouldn’t want to think the potus was a racist saying racist things and implementing xenophobic and bigoted policies. Like, dude that would be bad.

[Bobcat]

AlanMC's arguments, usually weak, are now laughable: it's clear what Trump meant.

[amish rob]

Azores? i bet that guy made some good food. i've seen some shows featuring their cooking and it looks awesome.

i don't agree with t-rump's commentary. but i'm also not going to make it out to be as bad as i can.

Yeah. We cook awesome. My wife’s family is also from there.

The point is, I KNOW what those words feel like.

Go?!

Eff you, Clown. Come MAKE me leave, if you have the stones. They never did. They were always brave with 8 in a car driving by...

That’s the type trash being talked by The PRESIDENT! Not some middle management Walmart d-nozzle.

The freaking head boss.

So. The head of a household acts like a turd nugget, calls people slurs, makes crass jokes, grabs women, calls EVERYONE a made up, insulting nickname...
You gonna let you kids stay the night? Have his over?
You going for barbecue on a Friday night?


Peace,
Robert

[John of Phoenix]

"We create our own reality."

Now you've seen it in person, folks.

What are we going to do with these reds when we're done with bone spurs?

[AlanMc]

"We create our own reality."

Now you've seen it in person, folks.

What are we going to do with these reds when we're done with bone spurs?

i'd roll with internment camps.

[Osborne Russell]

The last line in this opinion piece, I think, says it best.

As we look at the campaign ahead, it’s obvious that Trump no longer needs to rely on dog whistles. He can use a bullhorn.

Norm, Norm, Norm. Since 1776. The miracle is that the struggle against it goes on. That he ever felt he had to rely on dog whistles is as far as we've come.

[Osborne Russell]

I don't care if their ancestors were man and wife at Jamestown in 1607, or if they came from Iran and just got naturalized this morning. If you tell my fellow citizen to "go back where you came from", you're a pig.

Impeachment.

[Keith Wilson]

I dunno. First they'd have to tell me what country I was specifically from history-wise. I've never really bothered to look it up, but i think there's german and scottish/irish in there. I would bet there's some native american there somewhere too. then we'd have to work out whether I was going back to the highest percentage country, or I could choose which one i wanted, or maybe I would have to spend an appropriate percentage of time in each one according to my lineage percentages. sounds like it could be kind of fun since those countries don't suck. But I think i'd rather stay here.

Trump and his comments on the other hand. who knows what he's trying to say. I think you have to fill in the gaps a lot when he talks or it doesn't make any sense. So first I have to make an assumption that the president isn't making racist comments on his twitter feed. Hey, maybe that's a bad assumption but it's the only one that makes sense to me. So if he's not trying to be blatantly racist, what's he really trying to say? I assume he's being blatantly 'MERICA F'CK YEA. which means, "Hey you came here b/c it's better than where you came from (fill in that he is generally saying your family and not that you weren't born here)".
. . .
Lots of assumptions. but hey, i'm an optimist

In this case, I'm sure you've got it wrong. This last series of tweets has made something very clear. A great deal of what Mr. Trump does makes perfect logical sense if you identify it as white nationalism. He didn't invent it; it's been a fairly common idea over the past couple of centuries; this is the White Man's' Country, everybody else doesn’t really belong, and is only here on sufferance. My ancestors came from various parts of the British Isles and Germany, but none of the folks who think this way would dream of telling me to ‘go back where I came from’. You either. Trump didn't tell Nancy Pelosi that she should go back to Italy, or Chuck Schumer that he should go back to Germany.

This idea has taken a lot of different forms over the last 150 years, but it's always the same thing - WE (the northern European white Christian folks) belong here, THEY don't. It's sometimes been mainly cultural-religious (those damned Irish Papists, the beer-swilling German Catholics), sometimes based on skin color/ethnicity (the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the Asiatic Exclusion Zone) sometimes a combination (those dreadful Italians, the eastern European Jews, and the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924), but it's always a variation on the same thing. We're now having a revival of it, likely due to the latest wave of immigration by folks who don't look a lot like me. The irony, of course, is that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York City, and grew up in more or less the same area as Trump, if not nearly so high on the proverbial hog).

Many of Mr Trump’s positions are driven by his narcissism, whatever will get him support or admiration in the moment, but as far as I can tell, his white nationalism is deep-rooted and completely sincere. I expect some of it is driven by his pathological fear of contamination - he washes his hands obsessively, hates to shake hands, and only drinks through a straw. (reference) White nationalism forms a large part of his appeal, in fact, and has been a consistent theme through his campaigning and presidency.

The fact that you consistently deny the obvious and refuse to recognize Mr Trump's white nationalism is - well - interesting. I'm beginning to think you might approve of it - or Mr. Trump could pee on your head and you'd claim it was raining.

[SKIP KILPATRICK]

"I know some people don't like his tweets and they think he's crass. I -- that's why I voted for him," said retired businesswoman Mary Lou Kohlhofer.

Another supporter, Doug Thomas, said, "It's unfortunate he had to do it the way he had to do it… It's really the only way he can to get this country back."

Nancy Schneider even went so far as to echo the sentiment in President Trump's tweets, saying, "If you think you have it better in your -- where you came from or how they did things there, go back where you came from."

[John of Phoenix]

his white nationalism is deep-rooted and completely sincere

His bigotry and love of money are the only things genuine about that scum.

[Garret]

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Four Democratic congresswomen issued a brief statement on Monday urging President Donald Trump to go back to Russia and improve the dire conditions of that country.

In the tersely worded statement, the four lawmakers—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York; Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota; Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts; and Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan—indicated that Russia was “broken and crime-infested” and required Trump’s immediate attention.

The statement went on to suggest that, once Trump had fixed the problems plaguing Russia, he could return to the United States and “show us how.”

In a tweet, Trump mocked the congresswomen, contrasting them with the “real revolutionaries” honored over the weekend on Bastille Day. “In 1789, these brave people stormed Louis XVI’s airports,” he wrote.

[David G]

We all want to view ourselves as fair, caring, reasonable people. So when we - or people we identify with - are in the midst of something disreputable, or engage in acts that go against that belief... we 'rationalize'. We do it as individuals. We do it as a society --

verb (used with object), ra·tion·al·ized, ra·tion·al·iz·ing.

to ascribe (one's acts, opinions, etc.) to causes that superficially seem reasonable and valid but that actually are unrelated to the true, possibly unconscious and often less creditable or agreeable causes.

At some point, however, one has to cease viewing such folks as 'misguided', 'sad', 'ill-informed good folks'... and admit that whatever else they are, they are Part Of The Problem.

[amish rob]

"I know some people don't like his tweets and they think he's crass. I -- that's why I voted for him," said retired businesswoman Mary Lou Kohlhofer.

Another supporter, Doug Thomas, said, "It's unfortunate he had to do it the way he had to do it… It's really the only way he can to get this country back."

Nancy Schneider even went so far as to echo the sentiment in President Trump's tweets, saying, "If you think you have it better in your -- where you came from or how they did things there, go back where you came from."

Except three of the women he’s attacking came from here.

It’s THAT stupid of a tirade. And cult.

Ignorant, stupid, and mean. Yep. About sums it up.

Peace,
Robert

[LeeG]

AlanMC's arguments, usually weak, are now laughable: it's clear what Trump meant.

It’s also clear why “it couldn’t happen here” could happen here. Let’s go down a hypothetical path. declining economic conditions across the board, increased migration, many more people seeking refugee status because of war/climate change/famine, and precedence of a party and politician winning power on xenophobia and bigotry. Hopefully Trump and his enablers will elicit an allergic response so it can’t happen again.

[LeeG]

AlanMC's arguments, usually weak, are now laughable: it's clear what Trump meant.

It’s clear if words have objective meaning but if you free yourself of such limitations you can believe anything, change your mind then argue the opposite.

[Rigadog]

i don't really have a strong opinion on it. i got the gist of what he was saying, though he continually words things like he wants to get the most outrage possible for whatever reason. the gist was "the countries your family came from suck, that's why they left and came here". it could be "racist" i suppose. but it seemed like more US nationalism to me. 'merica.

Cortez's family is from PR, which is not "another country" last time I checked.

[LeeG]

Cortez's family is from PR, which is not "another country" last time I checked.

An important detail is that Trump made no reference to families, just the women and the countries they come from. There’s no need to attribute meaning when Trump made other references to congresswomen and “their” countries as opposed to “our” country.