Thursday Reads
Posted: September 1, 2016 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics | Tags: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, immigration, Trump Mexico visit 57 Comments
Good Morning!!
Did you watch Donald Trump’s speech last night? If you didn’t, I suggest you do so today. This man is a danger to our country and to the world, and our clueless media is largely playing down the horrific nature of what was broadcast live from Phoenix, Arizona last night.
https://twitter.com/HawaiiDelilah/status/771171716345180160
What we saw was essentially a Klan rally dressed up as a “major policy speech.” Are the “journalists” in this country so young and historically ignorant that they can’t see the parallels between what is happening here and in Europe right now and events in Europe in the 1930s?
https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/771177837072048129
https://twitter.com/stevenlwalker/status/771166896334839809
I watched the speech in shock and horror, and I was even more shocked by the calm reactions I saw on the cable shows afterward. Lawrence O’Donnell claimed that Trump was continuing to back off his threat to deport the 11 million undocumented people and their families and that his renamed “deportation task force” was different from the “deportation force” he had previously described. Steve Kornaki’s show at 11PM struck a similar tone. In addition they invited guests like Bill Kristol and Hugh Hewitt on their shows to push the narrative that yesterday was a great day for Trump and his campaign.It was if watching a madman scream at the top of his lungs about “illegal aliens” destroying our country and how he would crack down was no big deal to these people.
Many reporters seemed deeply impressed by Trump’s charade in Mexico City yesterday, calling him “presidential” and “statesmanlike.” When the speech finally came last night, they were apparently primed to continue seeing Trump in that way. I’ve never seen anything like it. What on earth is wrong with these people?
Of course I wasn’t alone in my reaction to Trump’s speech, as you can see from some of the tweets above. But many in the media still seem anxious to normalize Trump as they work to tear down Hillary Clinton with attacks on her emails the Clinton Foundation. More twitter reactions:
Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton has been essentially erased from the campaign coverage. She gave a speech to the American Legion yesterday that turned out to be nothing but a blip in the midst of the wall-to-wall coverage of Trump’s quick trip to Mexico and his insane speech last night. He was on TV again with his own speech to the American Legion. Where is Hillary? She and her campaign are going to have to step up soon or all could be lost.
Hillary has been focusing on raising money and attracting Republicans and independents to support her. It’s way past time for her to focus on talking about her own liberal agenda. When is the last time she talked about guns and gun violence, for example? And she is going to have to deal directly with the attacks on the Clinton Foundation and the lies about her emails and server. I don’t know what strategy would work, but what she is doing right now is not helping.
So what did Trump say last night?
Nolan D. McCaskill at Politico: Trump promises wall and massive deportation program.
Donald Trump on Wednesday squashed any speculation that he might soften his immigration position to reach new voters in the final stretch of the 2016 campaign, delivering a hawkish, hardline, and true-to-his-roots border platform and vowing that on Day One of his administration, the United States would launch a mammoth deportation program and begin construction of a wall.
Emerging from a hastily organized meeting with Mexico’s president, the Republican nominee flew to Arizona and not only renewed his pledge that America’s southern neighbor would fund an impenetrable, beautiful border wall but said it would be built in “record time” and at a “reasonable price.”
“We will build a great wall along the southern border — and Mexico will pay for the wall,” Trump said. “100 percent. They don’t know it yet, but they’re gonna pay for the wall.”
Trump hailed the “great people and great leaders” of Mexico following his visit to Mexico City but insisted, “they’re going to pay for the wall.”
“On Day One, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall,” Trump said during a major speech on immigration in Phoenix after weeks of waffling on the issue that has been core to his campaign. “We will use the best technology, including above- and below-ground sensors. That’s the tunnels. Remember that. Above and below. Above- and below- ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower to supplement the wall, find and dislocate tunnels and keep out criminal cartels and Mexico, you know that, will work with us. I really believe it. Mexico will work with us. I absolutely believe it.”
It seems pretty clear to what Trump is saying. He even made it clear that any undocumented person who is arrested will be shipped out, without trial. So he’s not just talking about drug dealers or murderers. He’s still telling tales to his followers about a wall that will never be built and that he will somehow make Mexico pay for it. Will that involve a war?
James Hohmann at The Washington Post provides a succinct summary of the policy proposals in Trump’s immigration speech:
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of what Trump said:
- He declared that he will build a “Great Wall.” (“On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall.”)
- He insisted “Mexico will pay” for it: “One-hundred percent. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall.”
- He suggested that he’d like to deport his opponent. “Maybe they’ll be able to deport her.”
- He said Dwight Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” did not go far enough. (He name-checked Ike but did not say what the strategy was called.)
- He reiterated that he will indeed create “a deportation task force” and promised to deport two million “criminal aliens” starting on “day one.”
- He said undocumented immigrants seeking legal status would first have to leave the country and try to return lawfully. “There will be no amnesty,” he said. “You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country. Can’t do it. … Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation.” He did not use the term “self-deportation,” but that’s exactly what he called for: “You can call it ‘deport’ if you want. The press doesn’t like that term. You can call it whatever the hell you want.”
- He claimed “countless Americans” are “victims of violence” by illegal immigrants who are “dangerous, dangerous, dangerous criminals”: “We will issue detainers for illegal immigrants arrested for any crime whatsoever.”
- He said government has “no idea” how many undocumented immigrants are on U.S. soil: “It could be 30 million.”
- “We’re like the big bully that keeps getting beat up,” Trump explained. “We also have to be honest about the fact that not everyone who seeks to join our country will be able to successfully assimilate. Sometimes it’s just not going to work out. It’s our right, as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us.”
Read the full transcript here, and watch the whole thing for yourself here.
More stories to check out:
Think Progress: America’s ‘Most Prolific Conspiracy Theorist’ Reveals He’s Now Advising Donald Trump. Yes, they are talking about Alex Jones.
Charles Blow: The Duplicity of Donald Trump.
Joseph Cannon: Let’s predict the day Trump pulls ahead. {{shudder}}
Benjy Sarlin at NBC News: Trump Meets With Mexican President but Dispute Emerges Over Wall.
Jorge Ramos at the WaPo: Jorge Ramos: Peña Nieto was meek with Trump. Latino voters in the U.S. won’t be.
Politico: Several Hispanic Trump surrogates reconsider support.
Nate Silver: Election Update: As The Race Tightens, Don’t Assume The Electoral College Will Save Clinton.
Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump Dealt With a Series of People Who Had Mob Ties.
ABC News: FBI Warns Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Staffers to Beware of Foreign Spies in US.
Josh Marshall: Blood and Race and Trump.
Politico: Vicente Fox on Trump: ‘Please wake up, America.’
Crooks and Liars: Former Mexican President on Trump’s Visit: He Is Lying!
What else is happening? Please post your thoughts and links in the comment thread below.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
I have to openly admit that I simply cannot take anymore of this insanity, The MSM is covering this lunatic as though Trump is a normal, intelligent candidate when it is clear he is anything but.
He is a congenital liar. A proud Know Nothing surrounded by horrible people and supported by anti government racists which should send a shutter down the spines of a critical thinking society, Astonishing!
They attack Hillary for Benghazi (Yes, that is still a talking point). The e-mails are covered daily. The Clinton Foundation is now under suspicion even though there is “no there there” and we watch and listen to her “unfavorable” ratings inch up notch by notch. Today they are reporting that the “race is tightening”. Good god is this really happening? This man can stand before an audience, flinging one lie after another, and few challenge him. Yet she can be slimed with innuendo and they report this day after day.
I have managed to turn off the t.v. and reach for my Kindle as a means of staying sane against this tide of absurdity. Analyzing whatever manages to fall from the hateful mouths of Trump and his surrogates is affecting my blood pressure.
Burying myself in fiction is a lot easier to digest than this constant onslaught of crap coming from the t.v. surrounding the Idiot Trump and his minions.
This is why I rarely bother to comment lately as it has become demoralizing. I know who I am voting for in November, nothing will change that but I refuse to watch anymore of this circus of a campaign and the nonstop coverage of a lunatic who has no idea of what he is doing.
But I do read the posts at Sky Dancing daily to remind myself there are still a few like minded people out there who essentially feel the same,
I’m with you Pat. I’ve had to stop writing about the election. And that is why I rarely comment on the blog too…I can’t take it.
I’m too old and I’ve been through way too much to keep watching news readers soften an ignorant,hateful, racist bully be spun into anything but a freaking NAZI. I’m tired of feeling beat up by Trump and his ilk and I’m as waspy as one can get!
agree with you, I feel as if we don’t get this thing over soon with a Hillary victory, I am going to have a heart attack. And I really feel like making a run for the border of Canada. Trump reminds me so much of Hitler and I don’t want to live through a WWIII, and the media seems to bend over backwards to cover him and don’t see what we see.
I feel the same way. I can’t bear reading any more stories about Trump. I’m so angry at the media that I can’t stand it.
Oh wow, I’m afraid to watch the speech. But it is difficult to watch history repeating itself. The press is bought and paid for and is giving the spin the way the man wants it spun. The man being rich old white dude, you can supply the names of the usual suspects. This time around the press is giving more gusto with the reporting because of the deep seeded hate for Hillary that has always been there….it all scares me. And I’m not just using that phrase lightly. It truly is horrifying.
Trump’s speech last night was the most horrifying speech from a Presidential candidate I’ve ever seen/heard. Anyone who is an immigrant or a minority should be afraid because Trump just set the stage to deport children who were born in the U.S. along with their parents. Any doubt that I had as to whether or not he’s a fascist was erased last night. I have no doubt that if elected he will overturn as many immigration laws and civil rights laws and actions as he possibly can. He’s the most dangerous man who’s ever run for President.
Absolutely agree!
Tons of Hispanic advisors to Trump have quit this morning. The Republican Party needs to either repudiate him of go the way of the know nothings and WHIGS.
Well hell yeah, he was kissing their ass last week then yesterday he thrust a dagger into their back. He gave them no choice. And I hope they go the way of the Whigs, good riddance to bad rubbish.
I respect everyone’s right to handle this in their own way, but now is not the time to be silent. Now is the time to stand up for Hillary and to stand up for yourself and your neighbors against Donald Trump. No matter where you live, no matter if you’re in a red state or a blue state, IF we don’t stand up now, we’ll be pushed down forever. STAND UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes!
I agree, mouse. We have a responsibility to follow this and speak the hell up. I’m preaching it everywhere I can because if we don’t speak up now, later will be too late.
It reminds me of Martin Niemöller quote:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
That might sound a bit dramatic, but that’s the sort of threat I SEE and HEAR when watching Donald Trump. If this man becomes President there is no limit to the damage he could do to our Democracy.
100% agree with you.
I’ve had that on the wall next to my desk for years, Mouse – just to remind myself that we all need to stand up for what we believe in.
Well stated.
Latest Suffolk poll has Hillary up 7 nationally.
TPM: Clinton Holds A Seven-Point Lead Over Trump In National Poll
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/clinton-holds-seven-point-lead-nat-poll?utm_content=buffer55498&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
I watched the speech and I’d advise those of you who aren’t feeling up to it to give it a pass – perhaps find some post-analysis from sympathetic sources. It was hateful and he screamed through the entire thing.
He had ten policy points – most of which are simply things that are already being done. The lies were staggering – the fear-mongering was hateful and the crowd went wild.
The media will do a weak-tea post-op failing to point out the exaggerations, lies and doing their best to normalize Trump. They’ve already done that with the visit to Mexico even though Nieto’s portion of the presser was pure rebuttal to Trump’s lunacy. Presidential? He looks like an idiot!
Maddow had on Maria Teresa Kumar from Voto Latino who did the best push-back on MSNBC late last night. Maybe they will rerun that tonight – it was a special late night show to replace the usual rerun at midnight.
So I saw some speculation that Nieto invited Trump at the behest of the Russians who have extensive oil interests in Mexico? Anyone know anything about that? Would explain a lot.
I haven’t read that about the Russians, but at this point, nothing would surprise me. And I think that anyone who didn’t watch the speech really needs to watch it to understand how brutal Trump is, how Fucking Crazy his supporters are and how dangerous he would be to Americans, especially those of us who belong to a minority or are several rungs down on the patriarchy ladder. If Trump wins, this will be a disaster for Latino’s, African Americans, Muslims, Women, LGBT. Everyone on that list needs to LISTEN to his speech and see/hear for themselves what fate awaits them if Trump is elected.
ANon – I get your point about watching it, and I can’t really disagree. But it was very upsetting even to lily white me. I did wonder how Latino’s must feel if they were watching and how terrifying it must have been to them. I have Mexican (documented) neighbors and we are pretty close. I used to entertain the kids every day when they were younger. The kids were all born here.
The wild approval of the crowd was particularly hard to take.
The crowd was hard to take, but it is that crowd that is the lifeblood of the Trump campaign and we ignore it at our own peril. I live in the South where the anti-immigrant, anti-black, anti-muslim, anti-gay, even anti-woman sentiment is all around me. I believe that in order to stand up to those who pose a threat to the diversity that makes our country so great we have to know who they are, what they’re saying. We can’t ignore them away, we have to speak out and talk back. We can do that here at this blog, or other blogs. We can speak out on all the social platforms at our disposal to challenge these white nationalist ideas. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, in the comment sections of NBC/CBS/ABC/Right & Left leaning blogs, Letters to the Editor, or even if we have to go into the enemies den at places like Breitbart, we cannot be silent. “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” I truly believe that there are many parallels between Donald Trump and dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. And the white nationalist sentiment in our country is dangerously close to bringing those kind of leaders to power. We have to fight back.
Fellow Southerner here! I’m afraid to put out a Hillary sign in my yard.
I am just trying to forewarn some of those here who are expressing extreme anxiety over Trump without even hearing this particular speech. This speech is very stress-inducing.
I think if you ran it alongside a Hitler speech the tone would absolutely sound the same. BB’s pictures at the top of the post are very apt.
I didn’t watch the speech and don’t intend to. As a disabled person, if Trump is the new Hitler, he is likely to come for me and my kind first. We are a useless burden on society and the country would be better off without us. “Normal” Republicans like Paul Ryan feel the same way. Heck, even a Democrat I once knew told me he found disabled people “unrewarding” and prefers not to have to see them in public.
I’m going to watch TCM while I still can.
Al Giordano has an interesting take in a tweetstorm. More or less it’s that Mexican presidents rarely retire in Mexico. They usually take as much of the national treasury as they can, and run. The biggest example being one who took 15 billion and retired to Ireland. Also, they can only serve one term, so there’s no incentive during the first term to be even slightly interested in what voters want.
So, basically, Nieto is looking for a retirement bolthole and has just put the Dumpsterfire under an obligation by giving him a photo op. Nieto’s popularity is at 23% anyway, and he probably couldn’t care less if it goes to 15%.
Yes, the Russians and the US are both trying to get their hooks into Pemex (the Mexican state oil company) but that may not be what this particular nonsense visit was about.
Thanks quixote – none of the pundits last night could figure out why on earth Nieto invited him.
I was horrified and traumatised by the speech last night. O’Donnell must’ve missed him calling for the Deportation Task Force and the screams of get them out. I was horrified at the line up of so called angel mothers. Does the documentation status of a murdered the defining trait here and not anything else? The out and out lies were over the top. Crime is not increasing. Illegal immigration is not increasing. None of his scare Stats were remotely grounded in reality. I’m watching Andrea Mitchell and Kumar just got her say in how horrible the speech was in the daily fix. The narrative about the speech seems to be morphing but I am supremely concerned that the line up you mentioned from last night were so out of it they missed the tone and the screaming and the ugliness. You could have been completely unable to comprehend English and Trump’s demeanor and tone would scare the shit out of you. The crowd was screaming string her up about Hillary at one point. It was like a klan rally! Great post and use of Twitter. We’re getting David Duke robocalls here and I’m appalled by his empowerment by Trump. Horrifying and Appalling and Traumatic!
I experienced exactly the same things, dak. I was horrified watching it and traumatized as well. I didn’t stay up to watch the analysis. I went to bed thinking I would read a little of the historical novel I’m reading which takes place in Germany during WWI and WWII. Early in the book one of the characters is becoming sympathetic to the Nazis and I found I just could not read another page of the book after witnessing Trump’s Nuremberg Rally. I downloaded Louise Penny’s latest and let her take me to Three Pines where my troubled soul could find some peace.
I was literally mouth agape astonished watching Trump’s speech last night. The only thing more shocking was the reaction of the media. More than one mentioned that he didn’t say he would deport “eleven million” this time. Deport, yes, but not eleven million as if that showed that he was reasonable and measured. Jesus Christ on a cracker I can’t believe what the hell is happening. I knew the reaction to a female presidential candidate would be ugly, but I didn’t think the fuckers would embrace a lunatic over a woman.
I stayed up and watched the analysis afterward because I couldn’t go to sleep.
They even had one woman whose loved one was killed in a head-on automobile collision. I guess the point was the responsible driver had overstayed his visa.
Just like Trump’s models:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration
I believe that many people, including some world leaders, tried to normalize Hitler, too, at the outset. They would look to something he said, and comment that he wasn’ so bad. They would parse his words for positive signs. They were uttter fools, cowards, appeasers. The journalists of today are so full of themselves, so smug about the fact they get on TV and pontificate, that they are doing a similar thing. And I don’t think that most of them are very intelligent, nor did they study or care about any history. Or maybe it is that they are children psychologically, and identify with the strongman leader because they find him interesting. I guess Hitler was ‘interesting” too, for a while back there in the ’20’s.
I also was appalled at Kornacki’s guests. I think that MSNBC is under orders to put a lot of Republicans on. To say that I was appalled at the Republicans’ casual and even praising acceptance of Trump’s fascism, would imply that I had any hope for them at all. With notable exceptions, we have become a country of people who don’t understand much of anything, who fall for simpleminded slogans and snake-oil salesman. Or maybe we were always that country, and now it is just more obvious because of the internet and wide-ranging media. The broadcast media in this country is contemptible. I guess they just are so jealous of Hilalry, so spiteful, and so stupid, that they think that “Oh, the Clinton Foundation! Look at the optics!” is in some insane way equated to a candidate who is a psychopath, who does not understand anything about the government or anything else, who is literally a pathological liar, who will say anything to get votes.
On the positive side, Rachel Maddow did a strong commentary on Trump and historical parallels last night after the speech. And I think that Trump probably lost 90% of the Hispanic vote. But the media, parsing his words as if he were one of the Metaphysical Poets, will try to soften them. “He didn’t say deportation force!!” “He didn;t really mean that people would be removed for ideological impurity!” And Hitler didn’t say “Final Solution” in his speeches, either, you pathetic disgraces to the concept of journalism.
Before the speech, Chuck Todd on his daily show, whined about HRC not holding a press conference and said that journalists report news to the people so the fact that HRC is not talking to journalists means she’s not talking to the people. These journalists are so convinced of their own importance and so blind to their own narcissism that they honestly believe that if Clinton is side-stepping them to speak DIRECTLY to voters that she is somehow negligent. I’m convinced that the horrid press coverage is their petulant response to being ignored by her and her campaign.
I loathe Chuck Todd. He’s a terrible moderator on MTP daily & weekends. He needs to be replaced by someone with balls like Joy Reid. She’s fearless and will ask the questions that need to be asked, Todd is a whiny ass wimp who’s afraid to step into controversy. He just follows wherever the rest of the MSM leads because he’s fearful of being on the wrong side of whatever is trending.
Yes. Thank you for saying that.
But Chuck-The-Toad was not complaining that Il Donaldo left all the US reporters in Arizona, was he? The Dumpsterfire can have his photo op without any pesky press around, even though this was Major and Presidential and Foreign Policy and blah blah blah.
Christ on a cracker, indeed.
I strongly believe that what is going on CNN and msnbc is the exact equivalent of what’s happened in Fox’s Aiels. With him it was sexual stuff for having a job, for them hating Clintons is the requirement to have a job and continue to be employed. In each case they are a bunch of whores. If it was Atilla the Hahn running against her you would have seen the same scenario. So what’s the next step. Any suggestions? I am game
Clearly the MSM either don’t remember what happened to the written word in 1943-45. Or they are too young to know – they need to read some history
I don’t care about preaching to the choir. I am just soooo glad to hear your voices. I spend my time being heartsick and enraged. I was so happy to have Hillary as our candidate! However, all the joy has been sucked out of me by the media, the racist idiots, the unrelenting drip, drip, drip of innuendo and lies. I always have said that I trust Hillary and her campaign to be smart and tough. But now it’s so hard!
I thought this short analysis of Trump’s comments in Mexico by Digby were spot-on (does that expression date me?):
http://digbysblog.blogspot.in/2016/08/presidential-some-of-his-best-friends.html
Beyond tone-deaf. And only the tone-deaf Hugh Hewitt and Bill Kristol would think that visit was presidential.
Yes, I believe the millennials say “En flique”. 😀
LOL I’m about as en fleek as a 61-year old cat lady can be I guess.
Here’s some cheerful links if anyone needs one:
Hillary had best fundraising month ever in August (and I helped!!!):
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/sep/01/trump-immigration-speech-clinton-biden-campaign-live?page=with:block-57c88183e4b09a68e9b64d95#block-57c88183e4b09a68e9b64d95
John Lewis crowd surfing (for real)
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/videos/a48260/john-lewis-crowdsurfs-on-colbert/
Tonight on TCM…Preston Sturges films….The Lady Eve…starts it off. So check it out:
moviemorlocks.com – Preston Sturges: A Poster Gallery
JJ, thank you for the reminder. Classic madcap comedy is just what the doctor ordered! I love Preston Sturges! And Joel McCrea is very easy on the eyes! ( Is that enough exclamation marks?!!! )
For Beata:
http://billmoyers.com/2015/09/04/top-10-labor-day-songs/
Thank you, Kat. The labor songs always remind me of my daddy. He sang so many of them. Both of his parents were factory workers and proud union members.
I wish I could post some of his songs. They are on YouTube now. It seems so odd to hear his voice over the Internet. That voice I remember so well. He died 20 years ago this week.
If you haven’t seen this Garrison Keillor piece on Trump, I highly recommend. It’s an awesome takedown or as Enheduanna would say, it’s en flique!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-losing-garrison-keillor-20160831-story.html
OUCH!!!! En flique X one biebillion.
Awesome. I always thought the hat was too big or something, too.
A different view from Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League:
“As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, I’m sorry that this needs to be said, but: Although the candidate [ Donald Trump ] has said a number of disgusting things, the comparison to Hitler is far too facile — so facile that it is dangerous.
It is important to remember that by 1924, Adolf Hitler was the author of “Mein Kampf,” a maniacal blueprint for seizing power in Germany. Regardless of the debates over whether Hitler foreshadowed the Final Solution in his manifesto, Hitler laid out a scathing case against the Jews. He blamed the Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I and accused them of poisoning the German body politic. It was all there.
Hitler proceeded to create paramilitary forces that attacked Jews even before he gained power. And, of course, once he gained power, he quickly closed down all opposition, allowing him to implement his brutal, all-encompassing anti-Jewish policy, culminating in the near extermination of Europe’s Jewish population.
That our society is legitimately asking ourselves the question, “Is Donald Trump a fascist?” is in itself a troubling sign. But the best approach is not flip comparisons, but fact-based investigations.
One does not have to be Hitler — or even Benito Mussolini — to be a very troubling American political figure. Trump has made a series of truly disturbing comments and behaviors during his campaign: His demonization of illegal immigrants, his call to bar all Muslims from entering the country, his reticence to denounce America’s most prominent white supremacist and his encouragement of violence against peaceful opposition voices.
We have called out all these statements because the ideas behind the words are so troubling.
But while Trump’s stereotyping and bullying are truly troubling, he is not Hitler. He lacks an all-encompassing ideology like Hitler; he commands no paramilitary force like Hitler. He has no organizing principle like Hitler’s anti-Semitism. He has no genocidal ambitions.
The candidate’s ideas need to be called what they are: bigoted, revolting and simply un-American. It is this behavior that we hope candidates and all people regardless of their political affiliation call out at every instance. It is time that this campaign shift from reckless name-calling toward a responsible discussion of the issues and the future of our country.”
http://www.adl.org/press-center/c/no-donald-trump-is-not-adolf-hitler.html
Maybe, and maybe not. Before Hitler was Hitler he wasn’t Hitler either, if you know what I mean. And the fact that Trump is way stupider and more incoherent than Hitler is not necessarily a good omen. Should we all be so damned that he does get power, we’ll find out whether it’s better to have a spoiled 70 year-old toddler mashing nuclear buttons.
No, he’s not Hitler. He doesn’t have the brains. But he does have the total disrespect for rule of law and for the feelings of other human beings. He does believe in collective guilt. He’s the one who thinks it’s a good tactic to torture the families of “terrorists” for information. (He will be defining the term, that’s why it’s in quotes.) Even if he has no coherent philosophy, he’s gung-ho for torture. And however virulent somebody’s hatred of Jews, or immigrants, it takes belief in collective guilt to really go crazy. The Dumpsterfire is all in on that. Even without a coherent thought in what passes for his head.
I think it’s a huge mistake to think he’s not as bad as our most recent History’s Greatest Monster just because he’s not the same. Yes, he’s a buffoonish American version. But it’s right, not wrong, to recognize that he shares the essential traits of dictators. Especially when we can still prevent him from showing us what a fullgrown version will look like.
Let me emphasize that the quote I posted above was from Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL. His words are not my words, although I agree with many of the points he makes, particularly these: “He [ Trump ] lacks an all-encompassing ideology like Hitler; he commands no paramilitary force like Hitler. He has no organizing principle like Hitler’s anti-Semitism. He has no genocidal ambitions.”
Hitler laid out his ideology in “Mein Kampf” years before he came to power. So Hitler was indeed Hitler before he became Germany’s leader. His political beliefs were clear. In the 1920’s, people may have dismissed that fact ( “Mein Kampf” is not an easy read ) but Hitler was an ideologue whose “blueprint” was well in place. As Greenblatt says, “It was all there.” Is Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” his “Mein Kampf”? You be the judge.
Some may point to Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric as his “organizing principle”. That has been his major rallying issue. Yet it is now obvious he has no clear principle on immigration. He changes his “proposals” on immigration from day to day, hour to hour, depending on his audience and perhaps what he had for dinner. His lack of ideology makes him totally unpredictable. We don’t know what he would do as President although his words and actions as a candidate have been very frightening. They certainly frighten me.
Is Trump an extremely dangerous man? Yes, he is. Do we need to be ever vigilant in our efforts to get Hillary elected? Yes, of course we do. I think we can all agree on the answers to those questions. Is Trump the new Hitler? I have my opinion. On that we may disagree.
Beata, I knew that was a quote, not you speaking. And I do agree that the Dumpsterfire is not the new Hitler. But only because he’s too stupid to get to his perfect world. If it was magically handed to him, he’d lay waste to tens of millions too.
Joy Ann Reid is kicking ass, and is the only one asking the right questions to Trump supporters. We need to get in their faces the way she does. All the media is doing is going after every little thing Hillary Clinton has done, and if she farts they want an investigation.
They never, but never investigate Trump. I am disgusted.
I love Joy Reid! One of the few sensible, strong interviewers out there.
I just saw that Bill Clinton is now being attacked for rescuing two journalists held by North Korea!
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/09/01/new-questions-arise-about-clinton-foundation-ties-state-department/gOj77Lhw3s6rOCdHHOPRjL/story.html
Trump knows marketing. The Clintons do not. Time they learn. Its all about perceptions and casting doubt. I am still scratching my head as the press is not asking for the tax return (and a host of other issues) but everything that Hillary and Bill have done in the last 20 years is made public and up for scrutiny. I honestly don’t know how she holds up.