leashyourkids wrote:
LTG and I went round and round in the primaries over Hillary's bullshit. More than his blind allegiance to Hillary, his hatred of Sanders drove me insane. Still does.
That said, much of what he says is true. There is a reluctance to criticize Trump, and it's hard to pinpoint why. If I had to guess, I think Trump is viewed by many in the same way that liberals view Islam... there is a reluctance to criticize because they don't take him seriously. The problem is that he's on the cusp of being President of the United States. It's not only scary... it's embarrassing. Hillary is an evil liar... and yet she should be president 100 times out of 100 over this moronic sociopath. Donald Trump has already hurt America in big ways, and he hasn't even held office. He stirs up the racist and xenophobic loudmouths and continues to promote the ignorant beliefs of the uneducated. Words matter. You can sit here all day and talk about how awful the Clintons have been for minorities... and you'd be right... but it's still preferable to the tone Trump has made acceptable in a civilized country. His policy proposals are laughable and make the rest of the world nervous. If the argument is that he doesn't mean what he says, then I don't know what the hell we are supposed to judge people on. I can't accept a political climate where people say "Oh, don't worry... they don't mean anything they say." It's beyond absurd. I'll take the lying corporatist over the idiotic, bigoted corporatist with no sense of reality every time.
In terms of Sanders my opposition was ideological and political. I thought that he was politically calculating and I had doubts about his ability to govern given his ideological dogmatism. I never thought that he was a bad person. In fact I would concede the belief in him being a better person than Hillary. I think she'd make a better President than Sanders but I never thought Sanders was a bad person.
Trump is a completely different animal. He is both a terrible politician and a terrible person. His core is bad. His racism is real and he generally doesn't care about people. This is what his history has demonstrated. He routinely shits on people. He would make for a terrible President. From an acumen standpoint he has none.
I generally think Hillary Clinton animus accounts for the reluctance to criticize Trump. The earlier argument related to his inability to win as a primary reason for the reluctance. That can't be the reason now. Hillary doesn't have to be anyone's cup of tea but if they think that Trump is the alternative then they are mistaken.
Trump gives credence to the people that only see the ugly side of America. A number of his supporters and detractors fall into this category. He gives credence to individuals that only see race and bigotry in America. His campaign is heavily driven by it. There is a reason that white supremacist groups are gleefully hitching their wagon to him and the prospect of him being President.
You are one of the few that have correctly identified his candidacy for what it is. It is not about him being an idiot, or a goof, or a joke, or anti establishment. It's not about him appealing to a working class electorate. It is about him being an unabashed racist, bigot, and xenophobe. It is about appealing to that segment of the population that believes that this country is somehow being taken from them. It is about appealing to that segment that has had to lie dormant as this country elected its first black president. It's about appealing to an electorate that had to stay silent as terms like political correctness and post racial have taken center stage.
In Trump they found a champion for their beliefs. In Trump they see the last bastion of hope for their cause. That cause invariably relates to "America for the Americans". The "others" need not apply
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The Hawk wrote:
This is going to reach a head pretty soon.