The Commentariat -- December 8, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
@MAG: Something like this? ...
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Tuesday defended his call to block all Muslims from entering the United States, casting it as a temporary move in response to Islamic State terrorism, and invoking President Franklin D. Roosevelt's actions toward Japanese, German and Italian aliens during World War II as precedent.... In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation apologizing to and compensating more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps in World War II."
Missy Ryan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal authorities believe the Facebook posting from one of the attackers who killed 14 people here last week was made on behalf of both shooters, according to several senior U.S. law enforcement officials.... The FBI remains keenly interested in a former neighbor who provided the military-grade rifles used by Syed Rizwan Farook ... and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, during the massacre that killed 14 people and injured 21 others."
Michael Mann, in a New York Times op-ed, on the attempts by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, to intimidate climate scientists.
James Risen of the New York Times: "When Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to Kiev, Ukraine, on Sunday..., one of the issues on his agenda was to encourage a more aggressive fight against Ukraine's rampant corruption and stronger efforts to rein in the power of its oligarchs. But the credibility of the vice president's anticorruption message may have been undermined by the association of his son, Hunter Biden, with one of Ukraine's largest natural gas companies, Burisma Holdings, and with its owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, who was Ukraine's ecology minister under former President Viktor F. Yanukovych."
Reuters: "A 22-year-old man [Matthew Riggins] suspected of burglarizing homes in Florida was killed and partially eaten by an 11ft (3.4-meter) alligator after he waded into a lake, apparently to avoid detection by law enforcement officers pursuing him, police said on Tuesday." CW: Riggins should have read Elmore Leonard's Maximum Bob, which is set nearby. Better to be in the pokey than to become an alligator snack like Bob's dog Pokey.
*****
Bridget Bowman of Roll Call: "In his Sunday address, President Barack Obama called on Congress to authorize the use of military force against the Islamic State. But the response from top congressional Republicans was essentially: Authorization for what? They say the president already has the authority to fight ISIS, and has not presented any new strategy that would warrant a new authorization. Congress has discussed the topic for months, but remains split.... The president submitted a draft of the authorization in February, but that proposal has not moved in Congress due to a lack of consensus. Democrats are mostly concerned it would lead to increased military involvement, while many Republicans are concerned it would constrain future presidents." Via Greg Sargent. ...
... Sargent sez, "Yes, agreeing on an Authorization for the Use of Military force might be difficult, so let's not do it! Meanwhile, Congress eagerly voted to restrict Syrian refugees and to scuttle diplomacy with Iran." ...
... Alicia Caldwell of the AP: "The Obama administration will announce a new terror alert system 'in the coming days,' Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday. Johnson said the new alert system will better inform the public about threats to the United States, but he did not provide specific details. This will be the third terror alert system put in place by the Homeland Security Department since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The Department of Homeland Security plans to change the terrorism alert system so it can provide general advisories to the public about threats, national security officials said on Monday. Under the current system, there are two levels for threats: imminent and elevated. A new level will be added to cover less serious threats, though officials declined to say what it will be called. 'It wouldn't be specifics like time and place,' one of the officials said. 'It would be along the lines of terrorists have expressed interest in attacking this type of target.'" ...
... Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Intelligence officials have determined that Islamic extremists have explored using the refugee program to enter the United States, they told the head of the Homeland Security Committee. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) revealed portions of a classified letter from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) on Monday, which offered new claims not previously disclosed by the Obama administration. The disclosure could give ammunition to critics of the White House's refugee plans who have warned that the program is vulnerable to infiltration by adherents of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)." ...
** Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times: "As the debate on how best to contain the Islamic State continues to rage in Western capitals, the militants themselves have made one point patently clear: They want the United States and its allies to be dragged into a ground war.... The group bases its ideology on prophetic texts stating that Islam will be victorious after an apocalyptic battle to be set off once Western armies come to the region." Read the whole article. CW: Oh, and thanks, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Lindsey Graham, et al., for aiding & abetting terrorists. ...
... Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Both the assailants in the deadly attack in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 14 people last week had been radicalized for a long time and had been practicing their aim at a target range just days before their murder spree, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Monday." ...
... The Los Angeles Times report, by Richard Serrano & others, which is more detailed, is here. ...
... The Los Angeles Times editors say people on the no-fly list should be able to buy guns. ...
... Nicole Hensley of the New York Daily News: "Syed Farook received a $28,500 deposit to his bank account nearly two weeks before he and his wife unleashed a deadly terrorist attack that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, according to a Fox News report. The origin of the money was not immediately clear. It was then split between Farook in the form of a $10,000 cash withdrawal and $15,000 transfer to an account believed associated with his live-in mother, Rafia Farook, the report stated citing an anonymous source close to the investigation."
Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of negotiators worked through the weekend in hopes of striking a year-end spending deal by the end of Monday so Congress has enough time to pass the legislation before Friday and avert a government shutdown." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Greg Sargent points to Ryan's Lizza's piece on House Republicans (linked here yesterday) that demonstrates that House GOP extremists believe any signs of "governing" represents failure: "First..., it is an article of faith that shutdowns won't hurt the GOP.... Second..., compromising in certain areas, rather than employing maximal intransigence..., itself constitutes a failure to sufficiently 'stand' for something."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a voting rights case that has the potential to shift political power from urban areas to rural ones, a move that would provide a big boost to Republican voters in many parts of the nation. The case, Evenwel v. Abbott, No. 14-940, will address a question many thought had been settled long ago: What is the meaning of the principle of 'one person, one vote'?"
Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a Second Amendment challenge to [a Highland Park,] Illinois ordinance that banned semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.... Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented.... The ordinance, enacted in 2013..., prohibited possession of what it called assault weapons, defining them as semiautomatic guns that can accept large-capacity magazines and have features like a grip for the nontrigger hand." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: NRA shoots itself in the foot.
Julia Preston of the New York Times: "Reacting to a new surge in unaccompanied children crossing the southwest border illegally, the federal government is moving to open two shelters in Texas and one in California this month, adding at least 1,400 beds to handle the increased flow, senior Obama administration officials said Monday."
Craig Whitlock: of the Washington Post: "The Navy announced Monday that it has reprimanded a two-star admiral [David F. Baucom] for getting drunk and wandering naked around a Florida beachfront hotel while attending a conference with defense contractors."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
"We Are No Longer Entertained." Arianna Huffington: "On the heels of Trump's proposed change for America, we will be changing how we cover him at The Huffington Post. Back in July, we announced our decision to put our coverage of Trump's presidential campaign in our Entertainment section instead of our Politics section.... Since then Trump's campaign has certainly lived up to that billing. But as today's vicious pronouncement makes abundantly clear, it's also morphed into something else: an ugly and dangerous force in American politics. So we will no longer be covering his campaign in Entertainment." ...
... CW: In July, I said moving coverage of Trump to the "Entertainment" section was a stupid, inappropriate stunt. He wasn't entertaining then, either. Discriminaton against Central Americans is no less entertaining than discrimination against Muslims. It took the HuffPost a damned long time to notice.
David Bauder of the AP: "Two Fox News contributors were suspended Monday for using inappropriate language about President Barack Obama while discussing his speech on terrorism the night before in two separate episodes. The analysts, former U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and actress Stacey Dash, were each ordered off the air for two weeks.... 'This guy is such a total pussy, it's stunning,' Peters said.... Dash ...said... that Obama's speech was an epic fail and followed up with an obscenity. 'I felt like he could give a s--, excuse me, like he could care less.'"
Here are Time's "Person of the Year" finalists. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won the reader preference poll, didn't make the finalists list.
Presidential Race
Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "Hillary Clinton previewed a slew of ideas 'to rein in Wall Street' on Monday, including fines for executives whose companies break the law and an 'exit tax' on companies moving abroad.... [Clinton] outlined her proposals in part to reassure progressive voters that she has the will to fight bankers who have backed her." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton, hearing criticism for her ties to the financial industry, received the critical support of Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday for her proposal to expand the Dodd-Frank regulatory structure and urging of President Obama to veto any legislation that would weaken Wall Street regulation."
Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump called Monday for a 'total and complete shutdown' of the entry of Muslims to the United States 'until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.'In a statement released by his campaign Monday afternoon, Trump included recent poll findings that he says show that a sizable segment of the Muslim population has 'great hatred towards Americans.'" ...
... Patrick Healy & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "A prohibition of Muslims -- an unprecedented proposal by a leading American presidential candidate, and an idea more typically associated with hate groups -- reflects a progression of mistrust that is rooted in ideology as much as politics.... Experts on immigration law and policy expressed shock at the proposal Monday afternoon.... At a rally at the USS Yorktown in South Carolina on Monday night, Mr. Trump drew sustained cheers from the audience as he outlined his idea for the ban." ...
... Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "Asked by The Hill whether that would include American Muslims currently abroad, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks replied over email: 'Mr. Trump says, "everyone."'" ...
... Here's Trump's full statement. ...
... a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing '25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad' and 51% of those polled 'agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.' -- Donald Trump, partial statement
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The Center for Security Policy is an organization run by Frank Gaffney, who is identified as an anti-Muslim extremist by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The survey Trump cites was conducted earlier this year on behalf of the organization.... This was an online survey of 600 people ... [reportedly] conducted using an opt-in Internet survey.... The questions asked were agree/disagree, which can favor an 'agree' response.... There is no question that the results of the survey ... were influenced by the organization that paid for it.... That survey is of U.S. Muslims. Meaning that even this already questionable survey has absolutely no relationship to the people from overseas that Trump hopes to restrict.... There is, in fact, no reliable evidence that a large percentage of Muslims in the United States -- or, for that matter, Muslims hoping to travel to the United States -- support doing harm to the country or plan to commit acts of violence." ...
... The Southern Poverty Law Center says Gaffney's Center for Security Policy is "at the forefront of a well-funded effort to vilify Muslims in the United States and instill a climate of fear," and that Gaffney himself is “gripped by paranoid fantasies about Muslims destroying the West from within." ...
... Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's call for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States was widely condemned around the world Tuesday." ...
... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's call to ban Muslims from entering the United States has drawn swift condemnation from his Republican rivals for the nomination, raising the question of whether the billionaire businessman has finally gone too far." Democratic candidates weren't nearly as nice. ...
... Nia-Malika Henderson of CNN: "... unlike with past provocative statements, Trump appears to have sparked a level of backlash from GOP party leaders and his opponents that could be a tipping point for the willingness of fellow Republicans to criticize him directly and openly.... In an unprecedented move, the state party chairs of the three early presidential contests all waded into the fray, criticizing Trump's idea, suggesting at the very least that Trump has crossed a line they feel could damage the Republican brand." ...
... Claire McNeill of the Tampa Bay Times: "'I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps,' [St. Petersburg, Florida, Mayor Rick] Kriseman tweeted [yesterday].... 'You make a ridiculous statement, so you answer with a ridiculous statement,' Kriseman said. 'There are some people who thought I was seriously going to ban Donald Trump from St. Petersburg, and that's obviously not something I would try to do.'" CW: Kriseman is a Democrat. Thanks to Marvin S. for the heads-up. ...
... Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's proposal to bar all Muslims from entering the United States violates U.S. and international law and would never be allowed by the courts, legal scholars said late Monday." ...
... Slaveowners More Tolerant of Muslims than Trump. Juan Cole: "Forbidding people from entering the United States on the basis of their religion is inconsistent with the ideals of the Founding Generation of the United States of America, who explicitly mentioned Islam among the cases when they spoke of religious freedom." ...
... Evan Osnos of the New Yorker is wringing his hands: "What does it say about all of us, as Americans, that [Trump] has made it so far?" ...
... CW: It doesn't say a damned thing about me. Intolerance of others, or tribalism, is a human trait that pervades every culture. The part of this country that wasn't founded by slaveholders & would-be slaveholders was founded by Puritans fleeing religious oppression who turned around & oppressed everybody from Quakers to their own "witches" & other nonconformists. "Their 'city upon a hill' was a theocracy that brooked no dissent, religious or political.... From the earliest arrival of Europeans on America's shores, religion has often been a cudgel, used to discriminate, suppress and even kill the foreign, the 'heretic' and the 'unbeliever' -- including the 'heathen' natives already here." -- Kenneth Davis, Smithsonian magazine (Oct. 2010). Tolerance is the product of high culture & broad experience. It is older than human history, but it is rarer than Trumpism.
Katie Glueck of Politico: "Ted Cruz took the stage at a town hall [in Greenville, S.C.,] on Monday ready to counter a barrage of attacks from his rivals who have used his vote to curtail National Security Agency surveillance powers as evidence that he is weak on terrorism.... Cruz pulled no punches, presenting himself as a tough-talking pol willing to do 'whatever is necessary' to take on the Islamic State.... He suggested lighting the oil fields of ISIL 'on fire.' He accused President Barack Obama of focusing more on combating 'Islamophobia' than on defeating 'radical Islamic terrorism.' And he dismissed Russia's Vladimir Putin as a 'KGB thug.'" ...
... Where "Pulling no Punches" = Making up Stuff. Kira Lerner of Think Progress: "During a town hall event in South Carolina on Monday..., Ted Cruz [said] ... he will defend religious liberty because 'what kind of country are we living in where ... we're threatening teenage girls with going to jail if they say the name of Jesus?' Cruz ... [told] the story of Angela Hildenbrand, a high school valedictorian who he claims was 'threatened with jail if she exercised her right to pray during her graduation speech.'... But Hildenbrand was not actually threatened with jail for praying. In fact, every part of Cruz's statement ... is incorrect, Greg Lipper, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church & State, who worked on the case, told ThinkProgress."
... Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "For the first time, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas took the top spot in an early-state poll, pulling ahead of Donald J. Trump in Iowa in a survey released on Monday by Monmouth University. Mr. Cruz, the beneficiary of a crucial endorsement by a hard-right Iowa congressman [Steve King] and the precipitous decline of Ben Carson, was supported by 24 percent of likely Republican caucusgoers in Iowa.... Mr. Trump had 19 percent, Marco Rubio had 17 percent and Mr. Carson was at 13 percent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Bill of Rights Is an A la Carte Menu -- Marco. Steve Benen: "When Democrats take steps to stop suspected terrorists from buying guns, [Marco Rubio] positions himself as a champion of 'due process' and believes the Second Amendment is sacrosanct. But moments later, Rubio also celebrates mass surveillance and the collection of American's phone data through an expansive National Security State -- because 'due process' and the Fourth Amendment must be malleable given the security threat.... If he has concerns about the integrity and reliability of FBI watch-lists, why hasn't he introduced legislation to reform and improve these lists?... Rubio argued [Sunday] that 'there are over 700,000 Americans on some watch-list.' The actual number is about 10,000."
History as Irony. Brian Beutler: "Jeb Bush, who purged thousands of innocent voters from the Florida rolls, thinks the no-fly list is too error-ridden to screen gun buyers.... [Jeb's] most lasting political legacy is shaping up to be the creation of an erroneous voter-purge list, which restricted voting booth access without due process in order to help steal an election for his brother (who then created the no-fly list and terrorist watch lists)." ...
... Donald Kicks Sand in Jeb!'s Face Again. Patrick Caldwell of Mother Jones: Jeb! "has been using Jeb2016.com as his main campaign website. But ... if you type ... a more intuitive URL ... JebBush.com into your web browser, it'll automatically redirect you to DonaldJTrump.com, the official website for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. It's unclear whether this fun bit of trolling comes from the Trump campaign itself, or just an overzealous fan of The Donald."
Beyond the Beltway
Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Chicago police, facing almost daily protests and a newly announced Justice Department investigation, released footage Monday night showing a 38-year-old black man being shocked by a Taser and dragged down a hallway by officers in 2012. The officers' treatment of the man, Philip Coleman, received a withering rebuke from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose handling of other police use-of-force cases has prompted calls for his resignation, and who has announced a series of policy changes and personnel moves in recent days as pressure mounted." ...
... Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors in Chicago will not file criminal charges against a police officer who shot and killed a black man last year, an incident that occurred a week before a different fatal shooting that brought national scrutiny to Chicago's police force, officials said Monday.... George Hernandez, a Chicago police officer, shot and killed Ronald Johnson III in October 2014, the week before a different officer shot and killed Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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So I have a question for Adolf Trump. When and where do you plan to build the ovens?
Ever a fun time to review the Treaty of Tripoli and the controversy that later arose.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli
is a pretty good summary.
"Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims)..."
Whether the Fundies or the Trumpets like it or not, so far as I can see, it was ratified by the Senate, signed by President Adams, never legally annulled, and remains the law of the land.
Marie, your comment about the Evan Osnos of the New Yorker article says it all. There is one major fault in the human mind. Anything that is different is dangerous and when you add religion the danger becomes what if 'they' got it right and I got it wrong.
There is a debate in NJ about the behavior of a guy who killed three bears in his backyard because he claims to have been threatened/afraid (never mind that if he just waited a few minutes they would have moved on). Trump and his followers regard Muslims the same way.
And as I like to say, atheism presents one real frustration. I cannot find a single story or book that provides an excuse to hate or kill others.
Just posted on Facebook.
Rick Kriseman: St. Petersburg, Fla., Mayor Bans Donald Trump From City
"I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps," Kriseman said Monday on Twitter.
If I want to come over there and kill some Infidels why in the name of Allah would I sign up to be investigated for two years before I had a chance?
The hullabaloo that erupted yesterday from our Man of the Hour's idea (if one could use that noun) of mass circling the wagon to round up all those Mooslems ––the air waves were on fire, pundits were shouting at each other, Muslim guests were trying to make sense, many angry and it was like firecrackers going off on that day we celebrate sometime in the summer. Coupled with that were others that were dissing Obama's speech––and we evidently can't even do that without taking a page from Trump's play book: the examples above of "What a pussy" and using "shit" to enhance your argument should be grounds for dismissal, but those two only got a slap on the hand and two week's probation. Maybe I'm overreacting here, but I have an overwhelming feeling of things REALLY falling apart––it's as if we have reached some kind of pinnacle and are holding our breath and crossing our fingers hoping that those ill winds aren't going to blow us apart.
And by the way: Cruz's, whose prick pomposity is on full display now that he's edging up in the polls, suggestion of "Carpet Bombing" stopped me cold. I understand that this is a procedure that was internationally banned some time ago.
What kinds of messages are we communicating to our foreign allies and enemies?
I would add only this to Marie's trenchant summary of American history.
The land was not empty when the early European settler arrived. It was inhabited by Native Americans across most of the continent, with Hispanics and Hispanic/Indian mixes in a band across its southwestern and western edges.
Although there were rare exceptions, as we know but choose to forget the meeting of the European cultures with those others was hardly peaceful. We warred with those "others" for more than 200 years. Ethnic cleansing was not then a term, but it was a fact.
Slavery and religious intolerance certainly prepared us for all the bad acting we see on today's American stage, and the history we ignore tells us we have always been as willing, if not eager, to exterminate as to melt in our American pot.
The Robert Reich piece posted yesterday on Pfizer's move to Ireland I found right on target. If corporations want to leave the U.S. to avoid paying U.S. taxes then they should no longer reap any of the benefits of U.S. citizenship. And no more being able to give millions to candidates or legislators.
Let's see if we can get the Congress moving on that. And speaking of how Congress does work: Jon Stewart made an appearance on his old show last night telling us once again how some in Congress have NOT moved on bringing to the floor for a vote (they have the votes) payments to the First Responders of 9/11. (some have already died) from complications of over=exposure) Jon showed us a video of his trip to Washington with some of the F.R's and how he and his gang were politely ignored. Seems the onus is on McConnell who said he would attach this on to the infrastructure bill, but didn't. Jon urged people to send messages about this using hashtag# First non-reponders.
When I read Osnos' short piece, I thought he was practicing the usual contemporary journalism. That is to say self awareness and responsible reporting ain't where it's at. At the end, he throws in a line about how "we" have allowed the rankings of Trump to "fester". The NYT has gleefully covered Trump as if he was a candidate with legitimate ideas of governing. Now when he's close to full blown psychosis, somehow its entirely our fault. What dickheads.
Intended consequences
Had an interesting conversation yesterday with a local winger and 24/7 Fox watcher who found that he was being prevented from doing something pretty basic for his business because of a Homeland Security measure. He can accomplish his task, but he needs written permission from a third party. A pain, no doubt, and even more of a pain because where I live is hardly a hotbed of possible terrorist activity. I can't see jihadists targeting a largely rural area of the south. Maybe they can radicalize a scarecrow or two.
Anyway, the best part of the conversation was the realization, as this gentleman and a friend of his were blaming the "damn government" for this problem, that, to them, this meant Obama and the Democrats.
I tried to point out that Homeland Security was created by George W. Bush and most of the restrictions connected to that department were also created largely by Republicans. They weren't having any of it. It's just another way for Obama to fuck with honest Americans simply trying to make a buck and live free.
Ailes and Murdoch must be thrilled with the success of their experiment in social engineering and mass brainwashing.
Homeland Security rule put in place by Bush gives you a headache?
Obama's to blame.
Rise of ISIS caused by Bush's War of Choice creates increased fear of terror attacks?
Obama's to blame.
Beautiful, in'it?
Love the movement by the mayor of St. Petersburg to keep all Trumps at bay until they've been thoroughly vetted.
Look for Trump to visit St. Petersburg before long, with a mile long parade of haters and screamers behind his limo just to show that uppity mayor who's the boss. I'm surprised he hasn't sent out a flurry of tweets calling him stupid and unAmerican.
Although he loves making fun of other people, including the disabled, Trump doesn't have much of a sense of humor about someone poking fun at his Royal Person, so a middle finger trip to St. Petersburg would be just his speed.
God, he must love this. All the attention, the adulation, the adoration of the mob, keeping TV execs on their toes trying to please him, being able to shout out whatever tickles his blackened, infantile little id. How he must giggle as he climbs back into his limo after bracing some interlocutor with lie after lie, forcing them to back down and then profusely THANK HIM for coming on their show.
"Howls of derisive laughter, Bruce."
With just a mild recolletion, I can think of Trump, openly insulting, podium-style, the following groups:
-POWs
-Mexicans (Latinos/Hispanics in general)
-Asians
-The physically handicapped
-Women in general
-The media
-The "blacks"
-Jews
-Muslims
Maybe I'm missing a few....
Declaring that U.S. nationals (jus soli Hispanics and Muslim Americans currently abroad) need to be kicked out/kept out of their OWN country is amazing in its illegality and brashness, yet Trump responds "I DON'T CARE". His divisive rhetoric has sent me consulting the thesaurus for words stronger than "demagogue" because this man won't stop insulting "others" as long as he can still fill a room and bask in the rapturous applause of his fundamentalist cult. If (when) this continues, we need to enlargen the English dictionary or dig up some better terms.
At this point, even if he were to be somehow knocked off his soapbox, I'm convinced he won't be going away. Fox Bots (and Ailes' empire) are loving his unconventional and unapologetic neo-conservativism, and his opinion and insults will be sought weekly for various issues as he systematically lowers the bar for any GOP member to then follow up on.
I was (naively) astonished when reading about the GOP brain trust sending out the memo to essentially "Trumpify" the party to ride the xenophobic wave to future victories. You think Trump didn't see that and slap a few backs up in his Ivory Tower?
The GOP was never serious about "reaching out" to colored folks or blah folks and especially not colored blah folks, and Trump's Trumpification is their new desired end game.
As PD Pepe notes today, "I have an overwhelming feeling of things REALLY falling apart..." Touché.
Root of a shitload of evil.
What is it? Religion, of course.
As Marie noted earlier, the Puritans left England because of religious intolerance so they could come to this country and establish their own intolerant theocracy, using god to beat on people, and in some cases, murder those they didn't like or agree with.
Confederates play the same game. Despite the fact that their religion is far above all others in this country, they see themselves as oppressed victims whose need for revenge is great. If they don't have enough actual evidence of oppression, they make it up (Cruz' Jesus lie). Religious extremism in this country is certainly not as deadly as Islamic extremism, but it is not much less intolerant. They may not be calling for people to be put to death, but Mike Huckabee once demanded that government workers who don't believe in Jesus be fired immediately. Elected officials bow to the requirements of Christians working in government and change the laws to suit their wishes. The entire debate about control of the lives and bodies of women is based solely in extremist religion from Right Wing World. Religious extremists claim that the Constitution was written by Jesus and that Christianity should be made the de facto state religion and Christianists on the Supreme Court are in their camp.
Old friend David Hume had a few choice things to say about this sort of pernicious religious effrontery. In his "History of England", he reviews a lengthy and appalling list of examples of the baleful effects of religion on a state, the killings, war, murder, and torture inflicted by one set of believers on others who don't believe exactly as they do. He concludes after this review of centuries of bloody hatred that "...no human depravity can equal revenge and cruelty, covered with the mantle of religion."
In his "Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals", Hume suggests that the religious qualities that separate the immoderate religious from non-believers or agnostics "...stupify [sic] the understanding and harden the heart", an observation we can verify without much effort.
Hume's basic point is that toleration is the defining quality of a civilized society and that religion is one of the great historical enemies of toleration, ergo, it becomes the single most important element in ensuring an uncivilized, dangerous, and potentially bloody state of affairs.
This is the state Confederates wish to force on the rest of us as they de-civilize, if you will, this country and undermine any urge for toleration. The result, if not the goal, is one of increased evil. And don't forget, that it's those who wish to run our civil government that wish this state of affairs to obtain. Here's what Hume has to say about them in "The Natural History of Religion":
"...if, amongst Christians, the English and Dutch have embraced the principles of toleration, this singularity has proceeded from the steddy [sic] resolution of the civil magistrate, in opposition to the continued efforts of priests and bigots."
One goal of the Confederacy is to ensure that those civil magistrates ARE priests (preachers) and bigots.
Seeing the piece by Adam Liptak on the possible overthrow of the principle of "one man one vote" puts the utter foolishness of Progressives refusing to vote for Hillary in high relief. Utter foolishness.
Akhilleus,
I've long thought it interesting to note that the Thirty Years War was as recent an event to the authors of our Bill of Rights as the American Civil War is to us.
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."
~ Aldous Huxley
And, if you needed proof that religion stupefies understanding and hardens the heart, I give you the results of a Washington Post/ABC Poll taken at the end of 2014 after further revelations surfaced about the propensity for Bush and Cheney to torture human beings asking whether such torture was justified.
"While many might assume that the faithful would be morally repulsed by torture, the reality is the opposite. When poll respondents were asked, “Do you personally think the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists amounted to torture, or not?” most Americans said the abuses did not constitute torture. But it was non-religious Americans who were easily the most convinced that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” were, in fact, torture."
So Christians were far and away more supportive of torture. The difference is huge. Non believers approved of torture to the tune of 40% of respondents. Christians? Well over 70% were perfectly fine with torture.
Hearts hardened enough?
Amendment to my last:
“Pahdone me Suh, but we lak to refur to the Recent Unpleasantness as “The War Between the States”. Ah cain’t abide the wurd ‘civil’"
~ Character in a long ago Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.
sigh...
D.C.,
Interestingly, the Thirty Years War, because of the totality of its barbarism, encouraged the ruling powers of Europe to find a way out of the religious conflicts that had bloodied the continent which suffered a death toll of around 6 million, perhaps as high as 11 million.
Their solution to the horrors of continued war based largely on religion, was the Peace of Westphalia. One reasonably humane tenet of the treaties collectively known as the POW, was the requirement that all signatories abide by the terms of the Peace of Augsburg, signed nearly a century earlier. This treaty, although it established the idea of cuius regio, eius religio, making the religion of each country's ruler the religion of his or her subjects, also required that Christians whose denomination was not the favored flavor, could still practice their religion under certain guidelines. So, not exactly Hume's kind of toleration, but in a way, more civilized than today's Confederates.
Predictably, Christianists loudly dispute that the Thirty Years War had much at all to do with religion.
Bottom line: 16th century Europeans were more enlightened than 21st century Confederates.
D.C.,
I thought it was the War of Northern Aggression. Victims then, victims now.
@Akhilleus: Which is kinda peculiar, since Christians believe the greatest defilement in the course of human history was the torture & crucifixion of Jesus.
Marie
@Akhilleus: Your conversation with the Foxbots is so depressing. I wonder if it would be more effective to pose the facts in the form of a question: "Who do you think created Homeland Security & imposed all those regulations?" Obviously, the guys would get it wrong, but then you could urge them to think back to 9/11 & Code Red & duct tape & so forth. Not exactly the Socratic method, but once in awhile, I find using this tack brings the person around to the right answer. Of course he'll probably go right back to Fox "News" & forget all about it.
Another technique that works for me when talking with someone who is not completely bonkers -- but misinformed -- is to begin my sentence, "Well, you're right about such-and-such, but...." Of course that doesn't work if the person is a complete loon, because there's no part of his discourse that you can say something positive about.
Marie
Anyone notice the picture of Donald the Demagogue over on Huffington Post today, which is currently the headline piece. His one-armed 'salute' is positively creepy! Some photo editor sure captured his essence.
Odd as well, his strange forward leaning posture...with protruding butt, makes me think (hope!) he's got a wedgie!
Someone said to me, "...he's really too much...but he is saying what people have been thinking."
"Yeah, things that would be better left unsaid and unthunk."
P.S. The Trump picture actually worse...standing on the Seal of the United States (as a placeholder???) and the brilliant RED carpeting. What does that evoke?
Marie,
I've tried the "being nice" approach. Most local wingers simply take it for granted that "of course" they're right, and why am I being so stupid as to not get it right away. Am I a LIBERAL? That pretty much puts the kibosh on any further exploration of the issue.
I think what we have here is a kind of Occam's Razor from hell. Ol' William of Ockham wanted to suggest a way of thinking about questions and answers and decided that more often than not, the simplest answer (the one requiring the fewest assumptions) is probably the right one. For Confederates, especially the religious type (is there any other kind, I now ask myself?), simplicity is key. Don't overthink anything. A problem? Probably the government is fucking with you. A problem with the government? Obama.
I've long believed that the appeal of biblical answers is the simplicity of it all. You don't have to fret about it, no cogitation required, no critical thinking necessary, just do what the Bible says and it's all good.
Simple answers are mother's milk. Or mother something.
Crime? More prisons for blahs.
Perils of global warming? A hoax.
Terrorism? Carpet bombing.
Gun violence? More guns.
Christianity not the state religion yet? Obama.
Abortion? Murder. And something, something, Obama.
Women who want to control their own lives? Sluts.
Black Lives Matter? Thugs and murderers.
Seewhadamean? Occam's (not very sharp) Razor from hell.
MAG,
Whoa. Creepy is right. Heil Trump.
Akhilleus,
Don't you love it when they give you that simpering 'more in sorrow than in anger' look, then roll their eyes and whisper to each other: "He just doesn't get it, does he?"
Yeah! Marie...something like that!!!!
D.C.,
I wish the expressions were that charitable. Mostly I get the head at an angle, squinty-eyed glare of suspicion. The "you ain't from 'round here, are ya?" sort of thing.
Stranger in a strange land.
Akhilleus,
The last line of your post describes the feelings of more and more of us, no matter where we reside in Fortress Amerika.
Not all of America has gone crazy. Here's a bit of holiday cheer: a Metro North conductor conducting the Yale glee club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf8uDOoMnDk