Kyle said:
Sam Lowry said:
Booray said:
riflebear said:
Booray said:
There is a difference between anarchists and Democrats
Then why don't 'Democrats' call this stuff out (or the media)? They sure were quick to label the tea party terrorists when they never did anything close to this.
If I recall the last presidential election correctly, the leaders of the Democratic party spent considerable time and effort urging their supporters that "when they go low, we go high."
There is no excuse for the acts of some of the protesters. But when our president spends almost every waking moment fomenting division, engaging in juvenile name calling and touting tin-foil conspiracy theories, its not surprising that things are getting uglier. There is not a successful politician in my lifetime who has spewed as 10% of divisive rhetoric that Donald Trump has over the past four years.
He has created the current climate as surely as Joseph McCarthy created the climate that existed in his era. And Trump will be remembered exactly the same way we remember McCarthy: as a stain on our country.
How is Trump divisive? Is he persecuting people as McCarthy did?
That's where my head went. I think it is another redefining terms. No "I disagree with him" has been redefined as "he's divisive." While I do not support Trump's tone or Twitter, he hardly was given a fair shake. People literally were protesting democracy on election night 2016, and he was never given a chance. Immediately, he was attacked by the fake Russian narrative, which morphed from Russians changed the vote to collusion to obstruction - nothing proved and likely setup by his political opponents. Now, it is impeachment ... same song, different dance.
Rather than focusing on emotion, what policies have been divisive? I'm sure I can be proven incorrect and did not think of everything, but I do not think he's implemented a single policy that would have been considered "divisive" in October 2016. Many of his actions would have been widely praised by Democrats if a Democrat had implemented.
Again in the service of short memories, these people were claiming George W. Bush was going to declare himself emperor and making movies about killing him. The stuff they attacked Bush and his family with was a moral and human embarrassment. These people are religious fundamentalists who believe they have a right to rule and will destroy anyone that gets in their way ... a trait practiced by Lenin, Mao, Hitler, Alinsky, etc.
Is Trump divisive? Any kindergarten teacher would tell you he is, because no kindergarten teacher would stand for his tactics.
It starts with his tone. We have never had a president use language in public like he does. His base celebrates him for being "politically incorrect" but then protests when folks take offense to his out and out rudeness. You can't have it both ways: being rude/politically incorrect contributes to divisiveness.
Example: in the last 10 presidential elections, what names did the candidates call each other? Anybody other than Trump using derogatory nicknames for the opponent?
I will give him this: he is an equal opportunity insulter. He insults anyone who disagrees with him.
But intentional or not, his insults are usually framed in a way that they implicitly apply to groups instead of just his immediate adversary. When he complains that Megan Kelly is asking him unfair questions because she must be on her period, the comment is fairly interpreted as sexist.
When he says the judge in one of his cases can't be fair to him because the judge is Hispanic, the comment is fairly interpreted as racist.
When he tries to equalize the fault for a white supremacist killing an innocent protester, he minimizes the evil of white supremacy.
When he says he wants to ban all Muslim immigrants, that comment is fairly interpreted as religious-based discrimination.
When he tells American citizens who are elected officials that they "need to go back where they came from," that comment is fairly interpreted as a racially motivated slam against immigrants, particularly in the context of previously saying he wants more Norwegians.
When he whips up patently false claims abut minority voter fraud or invasion forces of Hispanics, his comments are fairly interpreted as racist.
Pretending that anything Obama ever said even approaches the level of malevolence Trump displays is just a sad joke. This President caters to the 25% of America that hates anything that is not like them; and adds to that another 20% of Americans who will trade his tone for policies they support. He is doing incalculable damage to our body politic because: (1) the natural reaction to his success is to lower yourself to his level (he is dragging us all into the sewer) and (2) when he loses the next election, the 25% will not understand why and concoct a million fantasies about the deep state overruling democracy.
