monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

@Lash,

It should be a good debate, but I bet CNN will try and sabotage Cruz because they know he will destroy Sanders.

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@Frugal1,

A2K is just another message board. There's no collective there. Some of its members have functioning neurons, while others don't... I don't care for their attention or approval.

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@Olivier5,

First, it's an absolute unknown whether Sanders would have improved on Clinton's vote count. Second, one has to bear in mind how close the election was (not many votes in three states) and that Clinton's popular vote total exceeded Trump's by nearly three million (far greater than that 3 state figure). So your thesis that the perception of Dem corruption (which is a GOP narrative which they were most pleased to see others parrot) is the root problem isn't compelling to me (even if I see truth in it).

You're making an argument here (and others make it too) that there has to be some sort of fundamental revolution on the left for it to compete with the revolution on the right. That is, a revolution which overturns existing structures and is loud in doing so. That's a thesis I'm not at all sure is correct. Or, if it is, I'm not at all sure how it could happen or how it could be designed such it that produces workable governance that gets where it wants to go.

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This is how bad it's getting in Trumpworld hate fostering

Quote:

Gateway Pundit, an online media outlet that is repeatedly cited and praised by President Trump and those in his inner circle, smeared a Canadian mosque just days after a terrorist shooting attack left six Muslim worshipers dead and eight wounded on January 29 by making dubious claims that the mosque has “strong ties to terrorism.”

The alleged shooter, identified as 27-year-old white student Alexandre Bissonnette, was known for “far-right views” and had expressed support for anti-immigrant groups and figures, including Trump. He has been described as a “very right-wing and ultra-nationalist white supremacist” by people who knew him.

In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, Gateway Pundit reported that the shooter had yelled an Arabic phrase in an attempt to insinuate the shooter was Muslim. The outlet went on to attack media outlets who had not reported this unconfirmed information. After the original attempt to smear Muslims fell apart, the outlet switched tactics and responded to the tragedy by attacking the mosque with a headline using all-caps styling on “MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD” and “TERRORIST” and asserting that it “has strong ties to terrorism.” Meanwhile, a search for the shooter's name using Gateway Pundit’s search function returns zero results.

The report cited by Gateway Pundit to prove links to terrorism claimed that the mosque was tied to the Muslim Brotherhood due to its founding by local members of the Muslim Student Association, a frequently maligned Islamic student organization located in colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. However, there is no evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood and Muslim Student Association are “actively affiliated,” and the only link between the two is the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood “helped establish the [Muslim Student Association] more than 50 years ago.”

Adding to the concern of the often absurdly wrong Gateway Pundit is that its influence has greatly risen under Trump, with owner Jim Hoft announcing on January 19 that the outlet would have its first correspondent in the White House.

MediaMatters

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@RABEL222,

RABEL222 wrote:

I stand corrected.

As many times as you have to be corrected I suggest that you take a seat and give your old legs a rest

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@Frugal1,

frontpagemag

regularly featured on http://www.loonwatch.com/tag/frontpagemag/
http://www.rightwingwatch.org
http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/tag/frontpagemag/

Quote:

Behold the erroneous misinformation factory at Front Page Mag, the online place where Islamophobes go to find spurious arguments that make them feel better about being intolerant of Muslims.

It's cool that you're still following/posting the same fake news sites, regardless of your posting name

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Out of a sense of intellectual duty, I once bought and read a book by Horowitz. It was the worst reading experience of my life, hands down. It wasn't the poor quality of the writing so much as that the fellow cannot think his way out of a wet paper douche bag.

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@blatham,

Quote:

That's a thesis I'm not at all sure is correct. Or, if it is, I'm not at all sure how it could happen or how it could be designed such it that produces workable governance that gets where it wants to go.

Thinking outside the box is more difficult than thinking inside it. The first thing you need to do is adopt a curious mindset, an openness to other people's ideas. The second thing is to accept that you have biases, that your mind is, like anybody else's, running on some "rails": habits, confort zones, personal clichés, etc.

The power of habit is the main reason behind the Dems collective blindness: they couldn't even fathom the electoral potential of Bernie, just like they couldn't understand the electoral appeal of Trump, because IN THE PAST the US had rejected these types of profiles (socialist for Bernie, populist, openly racist for Trump). But things can change, and they HAVE changed. The Dems will either adapt and reform or disappear.

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Quote:

Matea Gold ‏@mateagold 12h12 hours ago
Trump campaign and RNC paid Trump properties $14 million for lodging, office rental, air fare, catering and more

Lincoln did this too.

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This got me laughing

Quote:

Jay Rosen ‏@jayrosen_nyu 12h12 hours ago
What a gift for CNN. Incredible luck. The White House is refusing to send people to appear on its shows.

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@Olivier5,

Quote:

Thinking outside the box is more difficult than thinking inside it.

I gather your presumption here is that you've managed this trick but I still have much work to do?

Quote:

they couldn't even fathom the electoral potential of Bernie

I read a lot and I don't know anyone who got that right when Sanders announced. And I do mean anyone. Can you steer me to such a voice? Bernie always had fans (myself among them) and there certainly were voices on the left who wanted him to run against Clinton but that's a different thing.

1 Reply

Big, big, big winner in our Wheelbarrows Overflowing With Brown Fluidic Farm Stuff category. Congrats!!!

Last night, Trump said he personally “studied” each of the [supreme court] nominees’ writings “closely.”

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This was yesterday. There's a word choice in here that might catch your attention. But perhaps you're watching Fox or teaching a young one how tough love builds character so I'll bold it.

Quote:

Donald J. TrumpVerified account
‏@realDonaldTrump
If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!

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@blatham,

blatham wrote:

I gather your presumption here is that you've managed this trick but I still have much work to do?

Indeed I think you're a bit too predictable and banal, but I don't consider myself perfect either. I have my blind spots and biases too, but I am trying to be aware of them. That's where you could improve, me think.

Quote:

I don't know anyone who got that right when Sanders announced.

What about months after, though? You saw the fight he put up, the crowds he gathered, the tricks HRC had to resort to to beat him... It should be obvious to all that this guy had a huge potential. And yet you and Rev are still doubting that... You haven't opened your eyes during all these days. And now that the Trump is in the WH, you want "resistance"?

Ask Bernie how to resist. He knows a thing or two.

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Quote:

Mitch McConnell, 2016
One of my proudest moments was when I told Obama, "You will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy"

Mitch McConnell, 2017
Apparently there's yet a new standard now, which is to not confirm a Supreme Court nominee at all. I think that's something the american people simply will not tolerate.

Honesty and integrity. They are the fundamental principles of modern conservatism.

1 Reply

@blatham,

Quote:

First, it's an absolute unknown whether Sanders would have improved on Clinton's vote count.

"What might have happened" is an interesting creative exercise but it never provides much in the way of satisfaction. Say there'd been the same bitter primary and Sanders had won — how would the number of bitterly disappointed Clinton voters who voted for Stein or stayed home have affected the Sanders vote total? The other big "if" is that Bloomfield might very well have jumped in and run as an independent, which would have really skewed the math.

Trouble is, the Dems let us down. Content to have a superstar in the White House and having Clinton waiting in the wings for eight years the party pretty much sat around waiting for a coronation while the GOP worked actively, in broad daylight, to suppress minority votes, take over governorships, and redraw voting districts to their advantage. Meanwhile the talk radio/ alt right nexus continued to spew toxic lies about Clinton while the Dems basked in the MSM's
approval of Obama, assuming — despite the results of the two midterms — that his coalition was going to automatically gel around the Clinton candidacy.

The only good that might possibly emerge from the Trump victory is a reorganizing of Democratic priorities and tactics. I think they would be making a big mistake if they did an outright embrace of socialism. Not because I wouldn't like to see a socialist USA — I just don't think we're there yet. The red-baiting would be extensive and lethal. I don't think they have to change their core political philosophy but they have to tweak the massage and, most importantly, find some new candidates. The idea that they're seriously considering Biden (love the guy) is a sign of just how out of touch they are.

Basically, nothing changes until Citizens United is overturned — probably some time in the middle of this century.

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@Olivier5,

Olivier5 wrote:

Quote:
That's a thesis I'm not at all sure is correct. Or, if it is, I'm not at all sure how it could happen or how it could be designed such it that produces workable governance that gets where it wants to go.

Thinking outside the box is more difficult than thinking inside it. The first thing you need to do is adopt a curious mindset, an openness to other people's ideas. The second thing is to accept that you have biases, that your mind is, like anybody else's, running on some "rails": habits, confort zones, personal clichés, etc.

The power of habit is the main reason behind the Dems collective blindness: they couldn't even fathom the electoral potential of Bernie, just like they couldn't understand the electoral appeal of Trump, because IN THE PAST the US had rejected these types of profiles (socialist for Bernie, populist, openly racist for Trump). But things can change, and they HAVE changed. The Dems will either adapt and reform or disappear.

This is tripe.

I voted and supported HRC so I'm labeled as close minded? I believed in HRC's pragmatic approach to government instead of the "you can have everything for free" promises of Sanders so I'm blind? I valued her experience in foreign affairs versus Sanders complete lack of experience, so I'm shutting out other ideas?

I don't tend to get riled up by religious figures or world leaders. I'm instinctively wary of populist movements and typically rebel against them. When someone captures the fervor of society, I tend to go the against the grain....and this somehow makes me an enemy?

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@Olivier5,

Quote:

It should be obvious to all that this guy had a huge potential. And yet you and Rev are still doubting that

Obvious once it was obvious. That's not very helpful.

Would he be a viable candidate four years up? Very doubtful because of his age alone. Does he have to potential now to help encourage, inspire and organize? Sure, of course. We'll have to see if that apparent potential is real and realized as time goes on. But there are others out there who can take up the mantle and surely will.

The Republican strategy to gain power has been multi-faceted and very effective but one element to pay attention to here is what they did over the last eight years - obstruct and resist. They did not forward a policy agenda but fostered an Us versus Them framing (at least in messaging but a LOT of less visible organizing was going on below most people's radar).

Related to that is what we saw in the Women's March. There's no reason I can see to think that phenomenon arose from Bernie supporters more than other left groups (ie women). And I see no reason to assume that had Bernie not run and built up a following that this an other protests wouldn't have taken place. Trump and his administration (and what they are doing and will do) present, it seems to me, the necessary subject of a mass counter movement.

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@hightor,

I think I agree with everything you just said. Except perhaps for your final note on CU - I think very significant changes can take place outside of overturning it but the consequences of it are seriously damaging, no question.

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One final note, then I have to zip away.

The political value of a revolutionary narrative is evident not merely in Sanders' run but in Trump/Bannon as well (not to mention the Tea Party and Occupy movements or what's happening in Europe). Leaving aside the very complex questions as to why this is happening, we can probably say with a lot of certainty that this is one hell of a dangerous horse to climb up on and Trump proves this warning as well as anything could.

1 Reply

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