Look! Look what Trump just did!
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| Trump tweet |
America is changing and a lot of people are uncomfortable with that. Trump isn't new.
George Wallace won with the same message, and Trump knows how to stay in the limelight.
Trump just tweeted, associating a congresswoman of Muslim faith with 911. Watch: Click: brief video
The Sunday shows are going non-stop.
The Sunday shows are going non-stop.
Trump taps into American ethno-nationalism and anti-Muslim unease by some, and outright hostility by many. Muslims are the current symbol of "dangerous outsider." Add Latino immigrants. In earlier eras the role of dangerous outsider has been taken by Indians, by blacks, by "Papist" Roman Catholics, by wartime "Huns", by wartime "Japs", by Cold War "Commies."
Readers who reflect on American history can observe that there has never been a time in American history when there was not some foil, some outsider enemy and focus of fear against which to define real America.
George Wallace spoke on behalf of his version of real America, the America founded and led by "Anglo-Americans" as he put it. It was our country, he said in his inaugural address. Segregation now, segregation forever. Click: https://www.biography.com/video/george-wallace-segregation-forever-141276227943
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| "I stand where Jefferson Davis stood." |
The US is a multi-ethnic country, and the combination of immigration and birthrates have made the US more visibly diverse. White Christians are no longer the "default, with others, too." Now they are "first among many." The election of Barrack Obama made this especially visible. We are discovering that a great many Americans are uncomfortable with that. Trump recognized this discomfort more clearly than others, and articulated it more bluntly. He understood where the GOP electorate was. Jeb Bush, with wife from Mexico and policies that regularized and accommodated immigration, was particularly out of touch, but a perfect whipping boy for Trump.
Trump's message, articulated in his tweet: a Muslim congresswoman is un-American and should be removed because her-kind bombed the World Trade Center. This goes along with invaders at our southern border. America is under attack.
Democrats are the inclusive party, the multi-ethnic one, the one that defends the rainbow. So Trump has his double foil: both those outsiders and the people who defend them. We remember the Civil rights Era version of this. The Uppity Negroes, plus the outside agitators.
George Wallace lost his first election because his opponent took a stronger anti-black stance than he did. He resolved after that experience "never to be out n-----ed again." And he wasn't, and he won elections, including electoral votes in the South and Democratic primary elections in the north. He defended white America, he associated blacks with crime, and he condemned the outside agitators.
Democrats are the inclusive party, the multi-ethnic one, the one that defends the rainbow. So Trump has his double foil: both those outsiders and the people who defend them. We remember the Civil rights Era version of this. The Uppity Negroes, plus the outside agitators.
George Wallace lost his first election because his opponent took a stronger anti-black stance than he did. He resolved after that experience "never to be out n-----ed again." And he wasn't, and he won elections, including electoral votes in the South and Democratic primary elections in the north. He defended white America, he associated blacks with crime, and he condemned the outside agitators.
Donald Trump has teflon. He can say outrageous things, things that are openly prejudiced. Some people love it and it makes Democrats' heads explode and cable news light up. This makes it doubly positive for Trump, because even GOP voters uncomfortable with Trump's comments on outsiders are delighted by the fact he infuriates Democrats.
Trump is being ugly and divisive, but Americans have experience with this, and that kind of politics can work for a long, long time. Democrats can try to assure themselves that surely we are better than that.
Not necessarily.
Not necessarily.
6 comments:
By making the comparison to Wallace, (aptly) you reinforce my point that Trump is a throwback to an earlier time, and a wake up to the sad truth that 50 years later, despite progress in many ways, America still has a stubborn racist underbelly that can be exploited by the unscrupulous. This is what Regressive is all about. Using fear mongering and prejudice to inflame the ignorant and unravel the social fabric for personal gain. The only difference was that Wallace at least was acting from principle, however stunted, but this bunch is mostly about power and greed. Those blinded by bigotry cannot see it.
Had Wallace prevailed it would have been a blow to Democracy, but even back then the majority were revolted by the dogs and firehoses as they are again with the cages on the border.
The vast majority of Americans don't want open borders or uncontrolled immigration. They want a wall. During the last presidential election, Trump was the only republican candidate to embrace a wall. That's why he won, clear and simple. If Trump hadn't supported a wall, then he would not have won. If Trump abandons a wall now, then he'll lose his base. Every democrat candidate (except for Bernie) embraces open borders and uncontrolled immigration. Bernie knows that you can't have open borders in a welfare state. Due to that, expect Trump to destroy his democrat opponent (Groper Joe) in 2020. Trump is doing what the voters want.
I'm wondering if enough of us are revolted by his misdeeds, and the cruelty to actually do something about removing him, and then go to work "scouring the Shire", borrowing from Tolkien. I'm discouraged and heartsick over what I see happening.
Democrats Focus on How to Shake Hands-- as Trump Looms Large for 2020
"Just gimme a second" our candidates answer when asked about policy, "we're doing a training on how men and women can safely shake hands. Once the hair sniffing blows over, our front runner will have concrete policy answers to Trump, just wait."
Trump's Omar retweet has far less to do with her Muslim identity than her iconic stature as a Democratic progressive partner of AOC. Trump's message is look how Democrats are so feckless they can't even discuss Omar's beĺittĺing of 911 as not being a defining tragedy of innocent American lives lost. Democrats are in a policy discussion paralysis, we're confused about how to address Mueller, terrorism, illegal mass migration, or hair sniffing. To talk about almost any policy specific might offend an identity group who will then refuse to turnout to vote for our nominee. As a result, as Trump pushes policy and unrenting political narratives, Democrats resist saying little more than "Trump is a racist". See, The New Yorker, "How to Resist Validating President Trump’s View of Sanctuary Cities", April 12, 2019. The article criticizes Democratic responses as being so timid as to say nothing meaningful about the humanitarian border crisis.
Omar ironically encapsulated the state of our entire non-discussion of all the big policy messages Trump churns out in his 2020 buildup: "Some people did something" in a racist America that we don't like.
Ah, Thad, you have identified the circular firing squad: you're either with us or we shun you...
Congresswoman Omar is either grossly insensitive, grossly incompetent or grossly stupid - probably all three. She has succeeded in becoming the Democrat’s Steve King (R-Iowa). If the Democratic caucus in the House if Representatives doesn’t find a way to censure her they don’t deserve to hold the majority.
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