Whether it’s Mexicans or Muslims or Mexican Muslims or any other group, it doesn’t matter if he’s prejudiced or not. You can play on people’s fears without being prejudiced. (Also, it doesn’t matter if those fears are justified or not. Fear is fear. Politics 101.)
Of course you’re not saying that. But you did imply that only Democrats are corrupt.
“But it wasn’t real capitalism!”
If you’re too busy to write that list of real and fake communist countries, how about a list of real and fake capitalist countries?
When they founded the Church of Satan, they didn’t bother trying to register as a bona fide church because they figured it was just too scandalous for the government and society in general to accept (or so I read). Yet today there are at least offshoots of the CoS that have official recognition. If your roommate with the Confederate flag were a follower of one of them, my understanding is you would have to get along somehow.
Neutrality aside, I think there’s something very, very wrong with what you wrote.
Every demonic/satanic philosophy and deed done against mankind surely must have its origin in Obama, even if not perpetrated by the specific group “Democrats,” who only purport to worship such a one.
Fify.
You need to have been at the rallies to know what the Don said? The microphones were all broken?
We all know media bias exists, or we ought to know. But channels of information exist because they’re necessary. Who has time to listen to every speech by every candidate (or even just the two major ones)? I sat through all three Trump-Clinton debates and the VP debate to boot (really entertaining stuff! ). If that’s not enough to glean the true message of the Don, I must conclude that Trumpism is an esoteric religion.
The UK also supported slavery and lost a war against those damn Yankees, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Yet somehow people still have pride in the dreary island, because they like other aspects of it.
Are you familiar with Jim Crow laws and the period and circumstances behind these statues being erected ?
After the civil war society became more equal but just a few decades later the southern states tried to move back to denigrating African Americans and many were killed in lynchings and assassinations.
The statues should be removed they represent an abhorrent group and time in American history and the people who put them up were in the main, racist.
Germans can be proud of Germany not of the NAZI flag and Goering. Same goes for the South. African Americans deserve much greater respect than flying that flag.
Not the Irish, the union jack flag represented injustice and intolerance and genocide , they wouldn’t give up Ireland peacefully so we had to get rid of them and their flag too (or at least we got it out of most of it anyway).
I’m sure if you ask the average world citizen or Brit they have a much different opinion but flags do matter.
Since the Confederate flag is a flag that wanted to keep Americans in slavery it should be banned from all public places. Those statues of people who celebrated slavery of Americans should also be removed. They surely are more offensive than any Nazi flags or statues could be in the US.
A symbol means whatever people agree it means. The problems happen when people fail to agree.
To some, a swastika means Buddhism, holiness, wellness, etc. To others, it means quite the other thing. I understand the rationale of banning it in some countries. Perhaps in another century or two, those countries will have redefined it again. (Don’t get me started on the whole clockwise thing.)
Before I went to Japan, I would have assumed that the Rising Sun Flag was like the Nazi flag, i.e. not the sort of thing you would wave around in public. Then I saw a tour group whose guide was waving around the Rising Sun Flag (or a smaller version of it) in a casual way, to say everyone on the whatever tour, if you got lost, here we are!
Taiwanese have been known to have the same kind of disagreement about the current ROC flag. On the one hand, “It’s a symbol of Taiwanese national identity.” On the other hand, “It’s a symbol of Chinese national identity and one party rule.” If it becomes a relic of history like the Confederate flag, what then?
Just want to make a small point. The Buddhist symbol is actually a backwards swastika, not an exact copy. I don’t think there’s any rehabilitation in store for the actual swastika.
I agree Japanese have not come to terms with their complicity in WW2 like the Germans have. Their history textbooks are full of half-hearted justifications or glossing over of their atrocities during the war.
Why are you trying to be neutral? Say what you feel is right.
Yeah, who needs neutrality?
Btw this just came out:
Edit: I might as well say, for anyone who has an allergy to anything “mainstream”, this program shows negative aspects of the “Alt-” on each side, including interviews and even an arranged dialog (of sorts) between a prominent figure from each side.
As a white American who did not vote for Trump, and voted for Obama (2012), the narrative makes great sense. Having family members who openly, and whole-heartedly supported Trump, it even underscores it. I guess it depends on what part of the country you come from.
This notion of a “liberal” or “progressive” media has been a tool to deflect criticisms. I am sure it goes back decades, but I remember it beginning in the late 1980’s with the rise of AM talk radio and believe me, the right firmly owns that territory. That is a topic for another thread.
From an outsider looking in, you get it from a different perspective. My comments on communism in this, and another thread, serve that. For a period of 12 years, I would spend a good part of my free time in a communist state. I did not see all the horrors that was portrayed in the US media then, and today. I also did not see all the Islamic hate and extremism. My aunt and her family were Muslims. My cousin’s religion was whatever holiday it was.
Racism is alive and well in America. At least the parts I lived in. Even in “cosmopolitan, liberal bastions” of the big city. During the campaign of last year, comments for Trump ran the gamut of every social ill they could conceive, with one or two economic ones. These are the ones who the concept of “majority rules” only works when it is in their favor. As more states were opting to expand protections to include LGBTQ, and in many states this issue would only win in the “big cities” (in MO pro-same sex marriage and other “liberal” issues had support in only 4 counties, not the rest of the state. the reverse was true for “conservative” causes like conceal carry without permit) so, for the rural folk, it was too much. But a common theme I was able to put together was…“electing a black president, was the last straw.” It is safe to say Obama won 2 terms based on 3 things. Who he was, who he wasn’t, and a distant 3rd his policies. Pretty much in that order. A cult of personality revolved around his first campaign. I loved the guy. He was pleasant, well read, and very well spoken. (there are 2 presidents, in my lifetime, who could speak clearly and eloquently and easily understood. Reagan and Obama) But, I could not vote for him. I was able to see him for who he was, a politician. Hillary tried to get rid of him, she sabotaged his plane! I like John McCain, too. If you recall, McCain defended candidate Obama many times during that campaign. He defended him from the same rhetoric 45 used, or tried to use, against Obama. And same rhetoric that was alive and well during the 2016 campaigns. So McCain was classy, too. But that Alaskan abomination killed that.
Funny, 8 years later we would get the male version of that. I would liken his first election to Trumps first election, and I would liken both supporters as the same, albeit opposite.
Trump spoke to the “forgotten” the “left-behinds” -economically and socially, and I would say 90% of his core die-hard supporters fall into those categories. He started with American nationalism, but that slowly devolved into white nationalism. Or at least it was hijacked.
So @TaidongCouncil is kind of right in his assumption about the past year of American politics.
I am an Immigrant to US and a Liberal here are my 2 cents on the KKK. So KKK membership has fallen 99.9% from 1930 to 2017. Its statistically at an ALL time low. These White Supremacist rallies happen every year since 1920 and have Decreased every year since 1920. 2017 saw the fewest White Supremacy Rallys EVER! Yes even when Obama was President or George W Bush or Clinton or George Bush or Ronald Reagan there were MORE KKK and White Supremacists and Rallies. YET! The Media is trying to create Fear, Hate and Division by doing non stop 24/7 KKK coverage and tie it to Trumps presidency… The only effect this is having is creating even more FEAR, HATE, and Resentment among Americans believing this made up reality. Look up the Facts KKK membership is only 6,000 nationwide… The 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles County alone numbers 20,000 and 100,000+ nationwide! MS-13 numbers are very high too and they cut peoples heads off with Machetes but CNN doesn’t talk about it as it doesn’t fit their agenda. They do waaaaaay more damage, hate, killing yet see ZERO media attention. My point is Yes the KKK is wrong, evil, bad, unacceptable. Yet the reality is, its going away and has been year by year since 1920, and its almost gone. But why is the media bombarding you with it NOW?..WHereas in the past they didn’t when Statistically…its going away. ?? The Elite are using their media to play a game of divide and conquer. Yes they are on BOTH sides Democrat AND Republican. Notice how well the Clintons get along with the Bushes. This happens all across the board, the vote for the same Wars. In fact if anyone remembers CNN because famous as a result of the War in Iraq in 1998 AND 2003.
I did say ‘many’, not all. And to be fair, your side has said some pretty insulting things too, haha
Sure, and I know from your posts that you’re a thoughtful and often funny guy, and I am interested to hear your perspective
I would also point out that the ‘outsider’ state still exists in time and space - in fact it’s most of the world. The view from there, is, not great, sorry to say…
In fact I have an American friend here living in what is a fairly international community, who describes the feeling as ‘like America has dropped a collective log in our pants’
And he’s a great guy, and I feel sorry for him, but right or wrong, that is the majority outside perception - it just is. And I don’t see it changing. What I do see is a huge power vacuum and a dramatic shift in world leadership. And maybe that’s a good thing
So far as ‘reality on the ground’ goes regarding racism, it’s generally good to get it direct from the horse’s mouth - which would be the racee (not trying to imply you’re a racist in any way, to be clear, in fact I am sure you’re not)
For example, if I wanted an opinion on racism in Taiwan, sure I would canvass the opinions of local Taiwanese (most of whom think foreigners are treated royally!) but I would also want to hear from those who were outside the majority ethnic group of the ruling party
Technically, if had just been white male voters like it was back in the day, Mitt Romney would have crushed Obama by easily the greatest margin in the history of American politics (62%-38%)
Seeing all the racist memes and use of coded language during Obama’s tenure (like those comparing Michelle to a “gorilla” to give one awful example), I think it’s really hard to argue that many Americans didn’t oppose Obama for purely racial reasons. Not most, but definitely a lot. To deny that is intellectually dishonest.
EDIT: Actually, the most notorious example is courtesy of our current President with that “birther” crap claiming he was born in Kenya. Name me another President that had to deal with such a ridiculous and unfounded smear campaign.
What makes it more resounding is that Obama won 2 terms, despite all the rhetoric. McCain and Romney actually went to bat for Obama during their campaigns, warding off the birther racist demons. I think that is unprecedented as well.
To be fair, there were small pockets of die-hard Obama supporters who liked to claim if you were not 100% in Obama’s camp, you were racist. I hated that.
And yes, there are many who believe that all Trump supporters are racists. This of course, is not true.
). If that’s not enough to glean the true message of the Don, I must conclude that Trumpism is an esoteric religion.
