Why is Trump such an Airhead?
"Donald Trump continues his successful run of making headlines by asking questions few have thought, or would think, to speak."
That's the first line from the Variety piece and it's a lie. Actually the opposite is true. Trump is saying exactly what millions of Americans think. That's why all of the GOP candidates in his shadow echo weaker versions of his pronouncements. That's why the mainstream media says he's despicable from one side of their mouth and then explains away his rants as "honest", "brash" or "speaking his mind", from the other. What would be racist and ignorant from Donald Sterling is now forthright from Donald Trump.
Trump is the oracle for the ignorant, racist, xenophobic thoughts of a wide array of Americans. He is the unfettered id of a certain type of American male who sees himself as an endangered species- the ugly manifestation of a culture that has long rewarded wealth with the power to separate and suppress.
Trump is 'made in the USA', an American Frankenstein and ignoring him won't make him go away. In fact, that is impossible. As long as his hate speech draws viewers you'll see him. He paid to be where he is and the only way he'll disappear is when someone pays him to do so.
@flimbro. Would anyone have enough money? If everyone ignored him all at once, he would go away. But that won't happen.
springgreen2 said:
RobB said:Didn't they say that about AH when he started out?
Hey, don't shoot the messenger. When you compare someone with Hitler (or Stalin) it comes off as being a little silly. Trump is a clown, not a mass murderer.
Many did. Also, AH wasn't considered a mass murderer when he started. When he had the power to commit mass murder is when he did it.
Often you never know what an up and rising politician is like until after they are given real power over their people.
What we have here is a megalomaniac who sees his opportunity and is going to try to take advantage of America's current vulnerabilities as we struggle to overcome a supply-side economics generated recession in which, and because of which, he profited.
It has its haunting parallels to early 1930s Germany.
The more logical conspiracy theory would be that the GOP is using Trump as a way to make the more-subtle extremist lunatics who (mostly) make up the rest of the field seem reasonable by comparison.
The other extremist lunatics do seem pathetic, with or without Drumph.
I think the only way Drumph will go away will be if someone makes him look a total fool, as in a Bridgegate sort of massive blunder.
springgreen2 said:
@spontaneous, I don't think Trump is smart enough to mastermind such a plot, at least not consciously.
@Lost. It will be interesting to see how Trump wheedles out of this latest nonsense.
He's an arrogant ass, but he isn't an idiot, and he is a master at making deals that benefit him. How many times has one of his real estate deals gone south and yet he still walked away with money in his pockets? Were he a bumbling idiot those failed deals would have bankrupted him too. He has a relationship with the Clintons that goes back years. He also made a personal phone call to Bill Clinton right before announcing that he was running. And though he has donated to both democrats and republicans in the past, during key elections he has donated much more to democrats. I could see him being willing to take major heat if it had long term benefits for him down the road.
imonlysleeping said:
The more logical conspiracy theory would be that the GOP is using Trump as a way to make the more-subtle extremist lunatics who (mostly) make up the rest of the field seem reasonable by comparison.
If he runs as an independent he will hurt republican numbers at the polls. They need the wackjobs at the polls.
With regard to his support/relationships with Democrats, here's food for thought:
"...here are Trump's top 10 liberal heresies:
He thinks affirmative action is okay.
He would fund Planned Parenthood except for abortion. (This is current federal policy, though Trump doesn't seem to know it.)
He supports a progressive income tax. He does not favor a flat tax.
He doesn't believe you should be able to fire someone just for being gay.
He doesn't want to cut Social Security or Medicare.
He's in favor of a ban on assault weapons.
He invited Bill and Hillary Clinton to his wedding.
He doesn't "fully" believe in supply-side economics.
He wants to "lead from behind" on Ukraine. Trump believes that Germany should take the lead on Ukraine.
He hates the Iran deal, but he wouldn't abrogate it after taking office."
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum
That's OK ridski. Give it some time. People will recognize Wild Bill Hickok when they finally see the dancing bears.
I think Trump has done one good thing, which is to make Christie's campaign less viable. Before Trump entered the race, Christie benefited from being the unscripted straight-talker, the person who sounded the least like a traditional politician. Trump beat him at that game. But, no, I don't think he makes it to the nomination.
dave said:
Hold the presses. This is interesting.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/donald-trump-cnn-debate-charity-1201574715/
Thanks for the link; it brought me to a great article about Stephen Colbert.
Isn't it nice for people who immigrate to the US from England and Ireland, not to have to learn English. They can squeeze right in!
Trump as Archie Bunker, yes...
Only a dangerous Archie Bunker.
dave said:
Hold the presses. This is interesting.
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/donald-trump-cnn-debate-charity-1201574715/
This idea actually has merit. After all, most of the campaign funds raised by candidates (that have led to so much division and inaction) wind up in the coffers of media companies.
Hate to ruin the party, but you guys are getting trolled so hard
springgreen2 said:
RobB said:Maybe, but sending some families back to countries of origin might end up being a matter of life or death for them. And I bet you knew that!
He's saying the courts interpretation of the 14th amendment is flawed. Which, while completely incorrect, is more than a few degrees removed from "let's kill all the jews."
Agreed, Trump is despicable and unsavory.
Sadly, this country has a long history of sending people back to countries of origin where they would die (boatloads of Jews were sent back from America to Europe, where they surely died, during World War II).
However, that is not the same as what Hitler did, which is instigate the genocidal extermination of a whole people.
I agree that comparing Trump to Hitler is a real stretch based on Hitler's personal use of violence and intimidation to gain power, along with his highly evident visceral hate. Hitler was taken very seriously by the nascent Nazi Party in 1919 for his oratory skills and inspiring hatred. Within a year he formed the SA to enforce order and beat opponents. 1930 saw the SA smashing windows of Jewish businesses, and the next year he became Chancellor after the violence reached new highs. His hatreds and use of violence were there at the outset, and it's important to realize that the horrific events he directed were easily predicted by those who cared. It's hard to see Trump as serious in his hate, as it seems he's saying whatever gets him support from the Republican racist contingent and media attention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power
On the hand, Trump's anti-Hispanic bile gives courage to moron thugs who need to hate. Two Boston brothers beat homeless Hispanic man with a metal pole then proceeded to urinate on him. One of the attackers justified their actions saying "Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported".
Initially Trump defended the attackers, saying it would be a shame if his words inspired the beating, but his supporters are "very passionate" and "want this country to be great again". Apparently he has some advisors who actually realize that may have the wrong reaction, and had him condemn the attack two days later.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/a-trump-inspired-hate-crime-in-boston/401906/
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/donald-trump-immigrant-boston-beating-121608.html
The Republicans have allowed racism, misogyny and homophobia to have an unquestioned home for years. They are more to blame than a flame throwing publicity whore that says what that hateful minority believes. Trump isn't the first, merely the loudest and the most beloved by the media.
I don't like Hitler comparisons for two reasons. First, it distorts and simplifies our understanding of Hitler. Hitler (and the Nazis) have at this point become almost comic-book villains -- a symbol of evil -- rather than actual people in a specific historical time. What Hitler and the Nazis did was evil, but they were humans, not demons. If we fail to understand that, then we're failing to understand how such terrible actions can actually come to pass. We'd all like to think that if we were Germans living in the 1930s we would have been immune to Hitler's appeal, and that may well be true, but it's less true if we give ourselves a pass from grappling with what that appeal truly was. 1930s Germans weren't more evil than you or I, and making Hitler into a caricature doesn't help us understand how normal people could have been led to follow such evil actions.
Second, the caricature-Hitler also helps us ignore our own specific history. If the Third Reich is turned into this ahistorical embodiment of pure evil, and we compare everything to it, then it's going to make everything look pretty ok by comparison. As in "the US war against native tribes sure was bad, but it wasn't the Holocaust..." That's true I suppose, but not all that useful -- there isn't a suffering tournament going on, and no one gets any prizes for ranking wrongs suffered or evils endured.
In short, Hitler comparison make us stupid at history and at evaluating current events.
So with that said, what I'll say about Trump is that he's in a very American mold of belligerent nationalism. I think you could even go so far as to make the case for calling it belligerent white nationalism. There's plenty of American experience with this to bring to bear, without having to fall back on AH analogies.
dk50b said:
I agree that comparing Trump to Hitler is a real stretch based on Hitler's personal use of violence and intimidation to gain power, along with his highly evident visceral hate. Hitler was taken very seriously by the nascent Nazi Party in 1919 for his oratory skills and inspiring hatred. Within a year he formed the SA to enforce order and beat opponents. 1930 saw the SA smashing windows of Jewish businesses, and the next year he became Chancellor after the violence reached new highs. His hatreds and use of violence were there at the outset, and it's important to realize that the horrific events he directed were easily predicted by those who cared. It's hard to see Trump as serious in his hate, as it seems he's saying whatever gets him support from the Republican racist contingent and media attention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power
On the hand, Trump's anti-Hispanic bile gives courage to moron thugs who need to hate. Two Boston brothers beat homeless Hispanic man with a metal pole then proceeded to urinate on him. One of the attackers justified their actions saying "Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported".
Initially Trump defended the attackers, saying it would be a shame if his words inspired the beating, but his supporters are "very passionate" and "want this country to be great again". Apparently he has some advisors who actually realize that may have the wrong reaction, and had him condemn the attack two days later.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/a-trump-inspired-hate-crime-in-boston/401906/
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/donald-trump-immigrant-boston-beating-121608.html
The Republicans have allowed racism, misogyny and homophobia to have an unquestioned home for years. They are more to blame than a flame throwing publicity whore that says what that hateful minority believes. Trump isn't the first, merely the loudest and the most beloved by the media.
Thank you for this post.
I agree, Trump's racism, particularly against Hispanic immigrants, is very scary. In that sense, I see why someone would make a comparison to Hitler (although again, I wouldn't go as far).
His comments about Mexican immigrants are racist, not to mention inaccurate. He refers to the high crime rate of Mexican immigrants and what he refers to as "illegal immigrants" in general.
This is simply inaccurate. In fact, immigrant communities on the whole have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans. In particular, immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally have the lowest crime rate of all (understandably, because they want to stay under the radar for obvious reasons).
I just don't see that as a relevant thing to notice. African Americans under Jim Crow were living in a police state -- not sure what difference calling that "fascism" or not would have been. It was enough to recognize it was an unjust system that had to be overthrown.
Trump is playing toward a dangerous nationalist strain in American politics. Reaching for mid-20th century European parallels obscures our own history and doesn't help us at all to understand Trump's supporters.
LOST said:
So when fascism comes to America how will we know it?
LOST said:
So when fascism comes to America how will we know it?
There have been worse candidates. He'll flame out just like they did.
LOST said:
So when fascism comes to America how will we know it?
The trains will run on time?
@spontaneous, I don't think Trump is smart enough to mastermind such a plot, at least not consciously.
@Lost. It will be interesting to see how Trump wheedles out of this latest nonsense.