Monday, August 29, 2016

Trump Note -- June, 2016



Two and a half months later, a couple of people found this via Twitter and passed it along.
At least two people noticed.

The GOP is swallowing Donald Trump's bigotry hook, line and sinker. I just saw a link to National Review with the lede "Obama’s tortured euphemisms make the the U.S. look weak and unfocused." Even as his second term comes to an end, they cannot let go of the sneering animus that has driven their opposition from the moment McConnell announced his main mission was to insure that Obama would be a one-term president.

Never mind it was George Bush himself who called Islam a religion of peace long before Obama was ever on the scene. Never mind that the Arab Spring was a non-violent uprising in the Middle East. Never mind that Muslims are way more victimized by the extremists than non-Muslims. Never mind the world is facing the largest wave of human migration since WWII, driven in no small part by people escaping violent extremism and lawlessness.

None of that has any meaning in the eyes of Donald Trump and an ignorant subset of otherwise mostly good Americans, desperate to blame someone or some thing for horrible events they cannot otherwise explain. Frustrated people throughout history tend to blame leaders for tragedies over which they have little or no control. And when all else fails, their rage scapegoats targeted minorities...Jews, Kurds, gypsies, Christians, homosexuals, blacks -- whatever minority among them is visible and vulnerable.

In the aftermath of 9/11 Americans by the millions have been led to believe that a violence-prone segment of Islam is representative of the entire faith, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims live and work among us, serve in the military and are not importantly different from everyone else. This is the ignorant mindset of fear and hate. It's like believing the KKK represents all of Christianity.

So the trope continues that *strong leaders* must pronounce the magic code words "radical...Islamic...terrorism" to embrace once and forever the belief that Muslims -- ALL of them by association -- are the main source of terrorism. And anyone in a position of leadership, or aspiring to become a leader, must pass the magic language test.

But have no fear, America. Donald Trump is here. He will not allow a day to pass without reminding us all how strong he is as evidenced by a relentless stream of vile insults to foreigners in general and Muslims in particular. And the Republican Party, that Grand Old Party, has elevated this hateful man to the status of candidate to become leader of the free world.
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