What is a nationalist?

President Obama addressed the issue of nationalism today and he expanded on the answer which kind of explains what nationalist is.

Quote:

Speaking at a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras by his side, Obama refrained from criticizing President-elect Donald Trump directly as he discussed the impact of his electoral victory last week. But the president made it clear that he sees a dark side to the kind of populist movements Trump's campaign embodied — ideals that other conservative leaders are advocating in Europe and elsewhere.

“We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them, and I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common, as opposed to those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict,” Obama said.

“Take Europe,” he continued. “We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up and emphasizing their differences and seeing a competition between various countries in a zero-sum way. The 20th century was a bloodbath.”

Obama, who made it clear during the course of the hour-long news conference that he did not view the recent U.S. election results as a referendum on his own tenure or world vision, suggested that targeting specific racial, religious ethnic groups could backfire.

“In the United States we know what happens when we start dividing ourselves along the lines of race or religion or ethnicity. It is dangerous. It is dangerous, not just for the minority groups that are subjected to that kind of discrimination, or in some cases in the past, violence, but because we then don’t realize our potential as a country when we are preventing blacks or Latinos or Asians or gays or women from fully participating in the project of building American life,” he said.

“So my vision is right on that issue, and it may not always win the day in the short term in any particularly political circumstance, but I am confident it will win the day in the long term,” Obama added. “Because societies which are able to unify ourselves around values and ideals and character, and how we treat each other, and cooperation and innovation, ultimately are going to be more successful than societies that don’t.”

source

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@giujohn,

giujohn wrote:

What I don't understand is they say Bannon is anti-Semitic but isn't Breitbart Jewish ...and dont they have an office in Israel?

Andrew Breitbart, the site's founder, was Jewish, but that's irrelevant, since he has been dead for 4 years.

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@maporsche,

Neoliberalism is actually a word that precedes me. It exists and describes a type of economy. I didn't make it up, nor am I trying to change its meaning.

Someone has stuck alternate on the awkward, wide-ranging political determiner right, and people are working overtime to crap on the connotation.

Two completely different phenomena.

But, I don't blame you for trying.

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@izzythepush,

Jew is not a bad word. I use it frequently.

Renegade, to me, is a compliment.

Those two words together don't automatically signal something negative. Did anyone read the article?

I will.

1 Reply

GiuJohn,

You are getting far more downthumbs than I am getting on this thread. How do you do it? I am a little jealous.

I am a liberal... which is why narrow-minded, knee jerk liberal hysteria bothers me much more than narrow-minded, knee jerk conservative hysteria. I would like to think that my side is capable of critical thought... threads like this make me doubt that is the case.

That should get their panties in a twist. I think I have you beat with this post John...

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@Lash,

Now I know why you thought the Jews might be controlling Stalin. If you cannot see that the Breitbart article was using Jew in a pejorative sense then you're even dafter than I originally thought.

It's one thing to hold a political opinion based on fact, it's quite another to refuse to face the truth. That's all you Trumpies are doing on this thread, indulging in fantasy, and pretending reality is something else made up by the Chinese like Global warming.

What next? The Mexicans kidnapped Santa?

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@izzythepush,

As I said, I'd have to read the article to make a determination.

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@Lash,

Really? You think it might be an idea to find out about something before expressing an opinion? When did you have that particular epiphany?

This is right up there with you approving of Nazi propaganda. Goebbels would have loved you, you just lap it up.

Forcing Jews to wear yellow stars is a good thing, it allows them to connect and celebrate their rich cultural heritage.

Hitler can't have been anti-Semitic because he made all the Jews sheriffs.

When this was being discussed on Newsnight the presenter made a very good point. It's very clear that the only people who don't think Banner is racist and anti-Semitic are the people who don't give a jot either way. That's certainly very true of this thread.

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@izzythepush,

You really need to get out more.

1 Reply

@Lash,

Only one and a half hours to come out with that cliché. You must be at the top of your game right now.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

You really do need to find other things to do. Working so hard to create some drama online just isn't healthy. It is bizarre and sad that you think you know what I've been doing for the past hours.

For people who haven't read the article, here it is:

https://www.google.com/amp/www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/05/15/bill-kristol-republican-spoiler-renegade-jew/amp/?client=safari

The. title of the article uses attention getting language to summarize the author's most stinging, personal criticism of Kristol, which appears in the last paragraphs--Kristol's so-called abandonment of Israel to what the author alludes as the party that doesn't forcefully protect Israel.

Written by a Jew, who called Kristol out as a Jew. Under these circumstances, I don't find the title anti Semitic.

It is quite a lame defense of Trump, though.

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@Lash,

This isn't working hard, all I'm doing is pointing out your nonsense. It's a piece of piss. It's not like I'm trying to explain anything to you, that would be a real Herculean Labour.

Like I said, the only people who don't think Banner is racist are those who don't care. It's obvious to everyone who understands basic English. If you want to live in a fantasy world then go ahead, but don't expect the rest of us to indulge your fantasies.

1 Reply

@catbeasy,

Well that's all interesting but let me leave you with just one thought... MSNBC. They consistently fail in the ratings yet they still exist and they are the worst offender when it comes to one sided liberal vitriol... Hell, they even got that Liar Brian Williams.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

Nobody's proven anything about Bannon yet. You'd think such self-righteous indignation from so many here would result in at least one actual example of Bannon guilt.

Just a bunch of opinion and innuendo so far.

1 Reply

@Kolyo,

And as I understand it they were very good friends.

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@izzythepush,

When I refer to you as that crazy liberal Englishman... Which word do you think is pejorative in this sentence?

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

It's a gift... and I view the result is a badge of honor.

1 Reply

@giujohn,

You got a -37... on your own thread no less! I can't seem to get below -10, no matter how hard I try.

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@giujohn,

Quote:

MSNBC. They consistently fail in the ratings yet they still exist and they are the worst offender when it comes to one sided liberal vitriol

Ya lost me there. I'm not sure what that has to do with what I said. Are you perhaps suggesting that because they fail in ratings that money isn't their driving force? That their message comes before ratings/money?

I do find it interesting that I got -11 on the post you are responding to, so it is now hidden from direct view.

On other forums I've belonged to you only got negative feedback if you were being disparaging to a poster, never for an idea. This is the ultimate in burying your head in the sand!

You don't have to agree with me, but to contribute to hiding a message that isn't an ad homonym attack or hateful toward someone seems contrary to the spirit of this forum (btw, this isn't necessarily directed at you Gui, just a general observation).

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@catbeasy,

It seems pretty clear that the thumbing system is being gamed at the moment. I mean, it was always abused, with people seemingly upvoting everything they agreed with and everything by people they liked, and downsizing everything they disagreed with and by people they didn't like, no matter how innocuous. It was childish and dumb. But the last week or two, the numbers of downvotes have multiplied, to far beyond what seems explainable by the size of this community. Someone or some people must be using legions of sockpuppet accounts to do this. Robert has posted that he wants to find out who and that they will be banned, but that might not be a trivial challenge. One way or another, hopefully it will pass.

2 Replies

What is a nationalist?

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