Is Trump becoming a SJW?
Here’s Vox.com:
This is an awkward thing to admit: I actually took Donald Trump at his word about something.
Big Mistake.
Not much, mind you. Just two things. As much as he might flip-flop with abandon, and lie with ease, about most campaign issues, I figured that two things would remain: He would promise to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it, and he would promise to ban Muslims from entering the US “until we figure out what’s going on.”
But now he’s showing signs of softening on the Muslim ban. He told multiple interviewers on Wednesday night and Thursday morning that the ban is “just a suggestion” — that “it hasn’t been called for yet.”Of course, it has been called for. By Donald Trump. Explicitly and repeatedly. For pete’s sake, it was the focus of his very first television campaign ad.
It’s not that I’m surprised Trump is lying about something. (If I were, I should probably be either checked for memory loss or fired.) But I’m really surprised that one of the two things I thought he’d never back down on is one of the first things that, as he “pivots” to the general election, he’s signaling a willingness to move away from.
My Trumpista followers also believed that he would not back down on immigration. I told them they were fools.
And I’m left to wonder: Who is Donald Trump even running as anymore?
. . .
Even if Donald Trump doesn’t end up backpedaling on the Muslim ban from a literal, policy-oriented perspective, he’s already started softpedaling it from a communications perspective. And communications is what is most important to Trump anyway. Faced with just a teensy bit of resistance from Paul Ryan, the establishmentiest establishment Republican of them all, he’s already couching one of his boldest truths as something people maybe shouldn’t take so seriously after all.
It is, quite literally, an act of political correctness.
Trump’s becoming PC because he’s frightened of Paul Ryan? How’s he going to stand up to this man?
Note to Trump supporters. I know that you think Putin is a really cool guy, but there is a small chance that the picture is photoshopped.
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15. May 2016 at 06:16
Most Americans are for tolerance. We grew up that way. The ones that aren’t like Trump. But know this, if he is elected he could strive to ban Muslims and be just like the bigoted billionaire, Ihor Kolomoyski, who wants Jews in Europe to unite with Nazis to fight Muslims. Ihor is a dual Ukraine/Israel citizen. He is being rejected by Jews in Europe like the US electorate will hopefully reject Trump.
But billionaires seem to be bigoted, like Donald Sterling, who said it isn’t wrong to treat blacks badly because Israel does it.
America is in the process of beginning to reject the bigotry of Israel and Sheldon Addelson’s support for Trump could backfire on the Israeli regime.
15. May 2016 at 06:26
I honestly am amazed at you Scott, from the get go I have told you, you have to wait to watch Trump run left… besides me, you are a child of a Nixon, you have little excuse.
Further, now that we have placed a flag at, well we could ban all Muslims…
Now when it morphs to we only let in the ones we can prove want to be hard working capitalists, who don’t seek welfare and say out loud our country is best, they don’t just decry cool nice,they admit there us a violation nice problem in Islam.
Were compromising!
The thing is polling of Trump supporters has ALL ALONG shown to they both sought this compromise and understandwhat Trump was doing.
You aren’t playing gotcha, you are admitting you are part of the folks who needed to be got…
It’s the same with Mexico…
Look it us very easy to understand Trump… as an economist.
Dems have been arguing demography is destiny.
Eggheads like you have been arguing that even though you say CULTURE MATTERS in other places, you don’t think it matters here.
Which sounded dumb.
Trump voters have decided to seize the bat of nudges, seize the bat of behavioural Econ and beat youbabd left to death with it
The real Trump pitch is only people getting in are the ones who “are like us”
and can prove it,
Along the way, well use behavior modification to force incoming immigrants to both renounce their old culture…
And put them into structured situations where assimilation is aggressively forced on them.
In the old days they landed here and we made then go fight and die in wars often against the counteies they left.
Reprogramming humans is easy, but all the nudges, all the rules have to start with this:
Culture matters.
And western culture is supreme.
America is best example of western culture.
And we’re not interested in worrying about your feelings you get to be one of us!
Remember this, when you discuss what Trump voters really want.
They are exerting hegemony Scott, and you shouldn’t fight them about it,bc they haven’t even begun to show you how far they will go to keep it.
Instead accept their demand!
Render unto Ceasar Scott, bc we can get a ton of poor immigrants here….
As soon as you do.
15. May 2016 at 06:29
Autocorrect can suck it
15. May 2016 at 06:31
This is pretty funny, because if there was any insincere statement by a politician ever, the one about banning Muslims “until we figure out what is going on” was one of the most obvious, even at the time he made it.
15. May 2016 at 07:01
” I know that you think Putin is a really cool guy, but there is a small chance that the picture is photoshopped.”
Yep, They photoshopped out the second bear he was dragging. The one he killed with his bare hands.
How can anyone say anything bad about Putin?? Putin, Berlusconi, and Trump all in the same room… Invite Sarkozy so they can all hit on his wife (much hotter than Trumps)… You couldn’t write that shit if you tried…
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03312/Alina-Kabaeva-olym_3312213b.jpg
15. May 2016 at 07:08
Western culture is supreme? Really? This is the only culture that dropped an atomic bomb on children. This is the only culture that created Hitler. This is the only culture that attacked its own people on 9/11.
You are mistaken, Morgan. Ours is the most dangerous culture in the history of mankind, and neoconservatism and regime change, and the destruction of national sovereignty in the world is the reason it is so dangerous.
15. May 2016 at 07:15
Scott,
I think we are morphing from the ugly phase to the truly surreal one. “Nothing is true – everything is permitted”. And I thought LSD went out of fashion a long time ago. This applies both to Trump and to the commenters here.
One aspect though is obvious. It really isn’t about policy contents. Trump works by brainwashing and identity ploys. The method is always the same: “You’ve been given a raw deal. The people you thought cared for you let you down. But it’s not all lost. You are a good person. We need you to be part of something bigger. We will help you. You too can be something.” Once the audience has been lobotomized – and there is ample evidence the work is done here – he could literally say “bubba bubba bubba” and the lemmings will keep following. He has made his followers into true believers by giving their lives meaning. They would give their lives to “make America great again”. From now on he can fill their empty brains with any content he pleases. Trump is America’s ISIS.
15. May 2016 at 07:17
This is not a matter of political correctness. Trump already has the anti-Muslim vote sewed up; he’s not losing them no matter what he does, and he knows it. Additionally, the way news cycles work, people only hear what they want to hear. Trump plays every side of every issue and wins because of it. Figuring out what he really thinks will take a lot more than his public statements.
Frankly, his strategy is brilliant. From the beginning, it was to sew up the right by attacking his opponents from the right; it is now about getting the GOP brass comfortable with him; then it will be about attacking Hillary from the left. This is how you gain Republican support and Sanders support.
15. May 2016 at 07:58
“This is the only culture that attacked its own people”
… Just what DO they teach in schools in the West?
15. May 2016 at 08:05
Gary,your opinion is meaningless to the point.
Scott is now able to understand the MO of Trump voters, they want to keep cultural hegemony and so far they are willing to build a wall and run the immigration system so only people like Trump voters GET TO COME HERE.
Now that Scott knows this, as a utilitarian, he can admit culture matters…
And admit that the shortest path to getting millions of poor immigrants to come here and live better lives…
Is to let Trump voters run the turnstile at the gate.
15. May 2016 at 09:00
Morgan, You said:
“The real Trump pitch”
This is naive. I told you he can’t be trusted on anything, and I was right.
Gary, You said:
“Western culture is supreme? Really? This is the only culture that dropped an atomic bomb on children. This is the only culture that created Hitler. This is the only culture that attacked its own people on 9/11.”
You had me there for a minute, I actually thought you were making some sense. Until that final sentence. 🙁
mbka. From the beginning I’ve viewed him as a demagogue, and we know they have no fixed principles. I’ve always argued the real problem is not Trump, it’s Trumpism. What kind of politics will America have in the future?
Steve, You said;
“Figuring out what he really thinks will take a lot more than his public statements.”
As I’ve been claiming from the beginning. I said he was a clown, just trolling the public. And now it seems everyone agrees I was right.
He’s the presumptive nominee and he can’t even out-negotiate a Congressman? Has there ever been a worse negotiator running for the Presidency? Maybe McGovern.
15. May 2016 at 10:13
Maybe Trump is learning that he can’t “get away with” being less than upfront. He appears to be going through the neoRortyian Sumner blogging evolution. He maybe did it “for the greater good” as well. He was perhaps just being “pragmatic”. And, ” there is no such thing as objective truth” anyway so we can’t even be certain he said these things.
15. May 2016 at 10:49
Note how authoritarian Sumner is: he agrees with Gary Anderson on all points, even the controversial claim that dropping the WWII atom bombs were a mistake (though it’s telling the Emperor of JP did surrender shortly thereafter), until Anderson makes the mistake of being a 9-11 conspiracy theorist. So one mistake and you’re out with Sumner. Sumner is like Ayn Rand, a cultist. She would stop speaking to you if you so much as saw a movie she disapproved of, much less vote for somebody she did not approve of. Sumner’s version of monetarism is understood by nobody but Sumner. Heil Sumner! Heil NGDPLT! Then he projects onto Trump that Trump’s a fascist? Pot, kettle, black.
15. May 2016 at 11:09
Classic media libel. Taking Trump’s words out of context. Yes, the “temporary shutdown” was always meant to be temporary. Who’da thunk it?
There’s nothing extraordinary about this. And, yes, if Trump gets elected, there will be a Muslim ban. It’s gonna last for, what, six months?
15. May 2016 at 11:10
“Trump is America’s ISIS.”
-That’s rich, given that America is mostly behind ISIS.
15. May 2016 at 11:29
Ray,
You are obviously a moron with no life. Sumner has a very explicit model that fits the data well. Trump and the Trumpistas have nothing, but bluster and rhetoric.
You are truly pathetic, as is major freedom. You guys disagree with Sumner on everything, or at least pretend to, but then still spend a great deal of time reading and trolling him.
Have either of you ever even had a romantic kiss? I doubt it. You’re obviously losers.
15. May 2016 at 11:31
Trumpistas and others,
Here is a great article on why Trump gets away with lying so much:
http://billmoyers.com/story/donald-trump-and-the-walter-winchell-effect/
15. May 2016 at 12:03
Trump gets away with lying so much because, while not all his pronouncements might be true, they are spoken in the style and genre of “truth to power”. His flip-flops are also not spoken in the style of flip-flops. It’s about style, not substance. People don’t care about the content of a speech so much as about how it’s said. It’s why Trump gets National Review and Scott Sumner into a tizzy even while Mitt, John, and George were, if anything, more reckless in their proposals than Trump.
BTW, Douthat was a huge backer of Sarah Palin.
15. May 2016 at 12:04
“Have either of you ever even had a romantic kiss? I doubt it. You’re obviously losers.”
-Solid suasion. Very Trumpian. Tip of the hat.
15. May 2016 at 12:14
Scott,
The thing is I don’t think he’s trying to “out-negotiate” a congressman in this instance. The stuff he says in public is for the public’s ears and serves a specific purpose. For example, recall that every time he had an obnoxious twitter rant full of silly spelling errors, it came late enough at night when the developments of the day were not favorable to him and the subsequent news cycle would focus on that. But because of his tactic, the media gobbled up his silly misspellings. People say he’s legitimately dumb and legitimately rants, but really what he does is play the audience like dolls.
15. May 2016 at 13:00
Scott Freelander:
You don’t seem to take being intellectually demolished very well. All you have against me, ultimately, is rhetoric and ad hominem.
15. May 2016 at 13:00
Ray, You said:
“he agrees with Gary Anderson on all points, even the controversial claim that dropping the WWII atom bombs were a mistake”
No I didn’t. I suggested it was a reasonable claim. So is the claim that it was not a mistake.
Harding, You said:
“There’s nothing extraordinary about this. And, yes, if Trump gets elected, there will be a Muslim ban. It’s gonna last for, what, six months?”
Your faith in Trump is becoming rather sad.
Scott, Good article about Trump’s lying.
15. May 2016 at 13:40
Sumner, I’m pretty sure the President has the power to decree a Muslim ban by executive order. So there’s no reason for Trump not to do it.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
15. May 2016 at 14:33
Yes Scott, it is a reasonable claim. I realize the argument that 100k soldiers would have died had the bomb not been dropped. However, killing children in droves was a mistake, looking back it is horrendous, and there could have been other ways of proving to the Japanese that the bomb was superior.
By the way, Scott, ask Dan Rather if he heard explosions on 9/11 and the firemen as well. Don’t dismiss an easy to prove reality. And Hitler is a product of debt slavery of a nation. That is clearly a western concept, never forgive debt.
15. May 2016 at 14:36
Harding you are speaking about Hitler, right?
“His flip-flops are also not spoken in the style of flip-flops. It’s about style, not substance. People don’t care about the content of a speech so much as about how it’s said.”
15. May 2016 at 14:42
Lol Ray, you said:
“Note how authoritarian Sumner is: he agrees with Gary Anderson on all points, even the controversial claim that dropping the WWII atom bombs were a mistake (though it’s telling the Emperor of JP did surrender shortly thereafter), until Anderson makes the mistake of being a 9-11 conspiracy theorist. So one mistake and you’re out with Sumner. Sumner is like Ayn Rand, a cultist. She would stop speaking to you if you so much as saw a movie she disapproved of, much less vote for somebody she did not approve of. Sumner’s version of monetarism is understood by nobody but Sumner. Heil Sumner! Heil NGDPLT! Then he projects onto Trump that Trump’s a fascist? Pot, kettle, black.”
Thanks for the analysis, Ray. Funny thing, I do understand some things about how NGDP tanked in 2007 when Selgin and others point to real GDP tanking in 2008. So I support Scott Sumner in his observation that NGDP tanking was a leading indicator that was ignored, while inflation remained steady through 1/2 of 2008. I believe in real helicopter money, not Kocherlakota helicopter money, but Scott isn’t against it, just that it is down on his list of preferences.
So, I have been abused by Scott, but it really doesn’t matter, as I defend the obvious, NGDP was tanking while the Fed was fiddling.
15. May 2016 at 14:52
ssumner wrote:
“I’ve always argued the real problem is not Trump, it’s Trumpism. What kind of politics will America have in the future?”
Ok, let’s accept that statement. The most important question then is, “Did Trump create Trumpism?” Or, did the media create (or enable) Trumpism? I don’t claim to have an answer, hence I seek opinions.
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/11/the_media_ironically_overlooked_the_most_chilling_orwellian_revelation_of_the_ben_rhodes_controversy/
15. May 2016 at 15:36
Maybe Bernie Sanders is not so bad. He is a socialist and he says he is a socialist.
The other candidates appeared to be socialist-crony capitalist-nationalists.
There is a growing number of monetary mavens who contend that developed nations need to move to money-financed fiscal programs (that is how Japan sidestepped the Great Depression, BTW).
Hard to tell where Sanders would stand on MFFP, but I think he would support the concept.
15. May 2016 at 15:42
“Harding you are speaking about Hitler, right?”
-LOL, Gary. Trump is the candidate that wants better relations with Russia, remember? Out of all of them.
Elements of Trumpism had always existed, but no candidate tapped into them as effectively as Trump. Trump won all the counties of Alabama and all the counties of Massachusetts. Mississippi couldn’t decide which candidate it wanted in 2012. It definitely decided on a candidate this year.
“What kind of politics will America have in the future?”
-Far better than Rubney or Conservatives United for Cruz and Kasich offered, wishfully. America must be made great again. Trump is the right man to do the job.
15. May 2016 at 15:48
So the impression I get from Trump voters is that constant lying, switching positions, and acting like a moron is all part of THE PLAN. That’s some serious faith-based thinking there.
15. May 2016 at 17:04
Scott, I agree with you of course. I’m mainly vocalizing my surprise, why America was so vulnerable to Trumpism. It doesn’t have the major problems or imbalances that other countries had who fostered this kind of candidates. Say, immigration, the US has just 13% foreign born population and half of these are already citizens. So that leaves 7%-odd “aliens”, including illegals. Compare with typical smaller European countries, that have 15-20% alien resident population. Switzerland too has 20% for those who believe being outside the EU would make it any different. But the US, no, it’s much less of an immigration country than most European countries. All the while it has lower unemployment too, benefits massively from trade, etc. So this vulnerability, and naivete, to political messianism, the anti immigrant hysteria, the trade hysteria, and all, I still can’t get over it.
To your question, what kind of politics will America have after Trump’s candidacy. Well, the experiment has already been made in other countries. Berlusconi, or Thaksin, or even Peron, all end up fixing some stuff thanks to outsider status and “unconventional” methods. All the while they are making a lot of other stuff worse. But due to their “unconventional methods”, they break the political process. Unthinkable behavior becomes thinkable. So they leave the country with a lasting dysfunction. Argentina is legend. In Thailand, a series of coups and military government, without resolving popular discontent. In Italy, an electorate going more and more overboard so that they ended up voting for actual clowns (Beppe Grillo). So it really is frightening.
Harding,
your wide eyed belief is almost endearing. What exactly does the phrase “make America great again” actually mean? Which of the policies that Trump now says he won’t enact anyway, would make America “great”? What does “great” mean? What’s the purpose of a country btw? To be a good country to live in? Or tho be “great” in some unspecified way?
15. May 2016 at 17:09
Gary Anderson:
“Harding you are speaking about Hitler, right?”
Try Presidents of this country:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_executive_orders
15. May 2016 at 17:45
“What does “great” mean?”
It means “better than good”.
After that, the natural progression would be President Zombie Al Davis with a “Commitment to Excellence” and a message to “Just win, baby”.
15. May 2016 at 17:53
Best part of Zombie Al Davis is having the first Jew and first zombie President all at the same time… at first a zombie and/or a Jew president might sound silly, but if Mike Tyson can nowadays put on a blonde wig, say he’s a chick, and insist on using the woman’s bathroom… who am I to argue against a zombie Jew.
15. May 2016 at 18:40
Major, I don’t equate executive orders with Naziism and Hitler. But Trump could be a Nazi, a Kolomoyski type of Nazi.
Harding, he certainly says he wants to be friends with Putin, but he is volatile. Can’t trust, Harding, that he would not get pissed off by something Putin did.
i don’t trust Trump at all. It took me three months to figure out that Trump’s hatred was more dangerous than any policy he could make sense of.
15. May 2016 at 18:41
A country is great when it feels great, and everyone else recognizes its greatness, whether secretly or openly.
“Which of the policies that Trump now says he won’t enact anyway, would make America “great”?”
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions
The country I wrote about in the Strange Utopia:
https://againstjebelallawz.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/a-strange-utopia/
is obviously lacking in greatness.
“What’s the purpose of a country btw?”
-To rule a territory for the purposes of benefiting the people that live in it.
I’ll write about an America that’s great again by the next Fourth of July.
15. May 2016 at 18:42
Gary, Trump’s hatred? Really? Who or what does Trump hate, and why do you not hate the same?
15. May 2016 at 19:22
@mbka
“So this vulnerability, and naivete, to political messianism, the anti immigrant hysteria, the trade hysteria, and all, I still can’t get over it.”
I can’t get over the way Obama, the black racial activist and anti-colonialist who blames much of the world’s problems on whites and expects whites to make the largest sacrifices is considered the normal position, and not at all racist. Yet, Trump, who suggests that nations aren’t obligated to purposefully assist radical demographic transformation unlike anything ever in recorded human history is the racist.
Seriously, I imagine that in your mindset, I am the one who is irrational and hysterical. I’d like to hear your thoughts on more reasoned criticisms to mass immigration from Finkielkraut in France and David Frum from the US GOP.
“Compare with typical smaller European countries, that have 15-20% alien resident population. Switzerland too has 20%”
In all fairness, the current alien residents in Switzerland are largely whites from Western Europe, which is a very different scenario.
15. May 2016 at 19:41
@Massimo
-What does anti-colonialism have to do with Obama? Just curious. I know it’s not good to be blindly anti-imperialist, but Obama seems to me to be a standard devious politician. Yes, he does have a preference in favor of the race he defines himself as being part of. That’s clear.
15. May 2016 at 20:07
He hasn’t backed off on a thing. He’s standing by the Muslim ban, he’s standing by The Wall. These low-T clowns at Vox don’t make sense, I follow his interviews closely, he might be spinning it differently, but he’s not backing off.
And yes, Putin is a great man, shame about Ukraine though.
15. May 2016 at 20:40
The intervention in Donbass was a necessary evil. It was to keep NATO’s hands off Ukraine, as the February 2014 coup showed that the West was perfectly willing to tolerate dirty tricks and call them “democracy”.
15. May 2016 at 21:23
Harding, you can hear Trump’s hate in his speech. I support tolerance. He doesn’t. Very simple. He has offended Mexico, women, Hispanics, the Chinese, Amazon.com, blacks, Muslims and gay people.
He is an intolerant idiot, Harding. He will never be elected. He will be destroyed at the poles. If we were all white like Germany, then we could elect a Hitler like Germany did. I don’t like to say that but it is fact.
Scott, the Fed conspired to misprice risk of MBSs. The Fed then conspired, if we are to understand Andrew Mellon and the actions of Ben Bernanke, to take down the economy in the Great Depression and Great Recession. If the Fed could do that massive conspiracy, and I think it has been proven, why couldn’t the politicians do their version of globalist conspiracies as well?
You should check out the video of Patrick Clawson, who worked on Dick Cheney’s task force, calling for a false flag so we could go to war with Iran. He basically said all wars are caused by false flags, leaving 9/11 out of course.
And the false flag could be against the USA or aimed at an Iranian property. But the first part of his speech clearly implies attacks on the USA mostly and the UK.
Clawson thought Romney was going to get elected, and that is when he made that speech, calling for the false flag. He is a neocon.
15. May 2016 at 21:23
Sorry, polls.
15. May 2016 at 21:25
Where’s the hate? And where has Trump offended Blacks?
Why would Trump lose?
There was no good reason for Romney to have gotten elected. He was an elitist.
15. May 2016 at 21:35
Harding,
tldr. I was hoping you had something tangible. I personally don’t care about greatness of countries which in the end is all about increased power of the state and decreased power of the individual. I care about personal freedom of movement and labor and capital. Something like the European Union is increasing a European’s freedom to do all these things, and I favor that. The American Union has long done the same for Americans. So I favor that too. At the same time, say the EU is in no danger of being “great” which is a good thing. All Hitler wanted is to make Germany great again and we know how that ended. But with your racism of the “only white immigrants are good immigrants / only white Mexicans are good Mexicans” kind, no surprise at your positions. You see Trump as a white messiah that will usher in a golden age where you’re finally getting the things you believe you are entitled to. I don’t believe you are entitled to anything but the rule of law.
Massimo,
you’re a good example indeed of the hysteria that I speak of. White Americans are the most powerful, wealthy, and lucky fraction of the world’s population. When someone from this group, as I assume you are, starts feeling persecuted by one lone mixed-race President who cannot even pass laws (only Congress can), we have reached pathological dimensions of paranoia. So it’s not enough if near-all economic and political executives are white. They have to be what, 100% white? Where is your self esteem?
Needless to say, I see none of what you see in Obama. A decent president, if I was American I’d say too far on the left for me but otherwise quite reasonable. Much more so than the white one that came before him. If I travel to the US again some day I’ll be much more afraid of its white cops than of its black president. If Trump becomes president I’d be worried to travel there.
Somewhere else you mentioned your wife is black. See here I don’t understand your disconnect. On a personal level you made a personal, beautifully unbiased choice. Yet on a political level, you feel persecuted by all sorts of forces that I just don’t see. Me, I lived all my life as a racial, national, and political minority in a variety of countries. In my original “home” country I’ve been bullied for not fitting in. In the process I’ve been called black and jewish in anger. I am neither. Elsewhere I’ve been insulted as a “foreigner who should just go home”, and physically assaulted in the process (well, my car was). My classical liberal tendencies have probably done me no favors in academia where I work. Yet to me all these instances were personal. And nothing that Obama did on the racial arena would get me out of bed in anguish in the morning. Obama never whipped up popular frenzy, the only truly dangerous thing in a country. Trump does, and that’s why he is scary.
15. May 2016 at 22:06
Trump is not a bigot. He’s a faux-bigot. And a faux-racist and a faux-everything else. It’s not about positions. It’s about him. His “suggestions” are really just stuff he throws against the wall. Lifetime somewhere between the end of the sentence he makes them in and forever. No way to tell which is which.
16. May 2016 at 03:40
It’s amazing anyone could listen to people discuss politics and then turn around and argue that markets would be perfectly rational.
16. May 2016 at 08:50
“Something like the European Union is increasing a European’s freedom to do all these things, and I favor that.”
-I’m not seeing that. The E.U. is better than total isolation between countries, but so are a lot of other things.
“I personally don’t care about greatness of countries which in the end is all about increased power of the state and decreased power of the individual.”
-Not true. America was pretty great relative to other countries in the 1850s, but state power was much smaller then than it is now. North Korea isn’t greater than South Korea, though it maybe was c. 1960.
“All Hitler wanted is to make Germany great again and we know how that ended.”
-With Germany losing pretty much all its greatness? Sure, but that wasn’t the intent.
“At the same time, say the EU is in no danger of being “great” which is a good thing.”
-No; it means it’s weak and stagnating and doesn’t work for Europeans.
“by one lone mixed-race President who cannot even pass laws (only Congress can)”
-Tell that to the guy who gave a get-out-of-jail-free card to 5 million illegals and is persecuting state governments for not entertaining the delusions of transsexuals.
“Needless to say, I see none of what you see in Obama. A decent president,”
-He re-created ISIS. That’s pretty indecent.
“If Trump becomes president I’d be worried to travel there.”
-I wouldn’t be worried about staying.
“But with your racism of the “only white immigrants are good immigrants / only white Mexicans are good Mexicans” kind”
-I never said that.
“a white messiah that will usher in a golden age where you’re finally getting the things you believe you are entitled to.”
-I wish that would happen, but I certainly don’t think it will happen.
16. May 2016 at 14:42
@mbka
You’re analogizing the EU to the US federal government doesn’t convince me that empowering it is a good thing. Many of us in the US think the US federal government is too big and too powerful, and violates our freedoms in too many ways, and telling us that it’s on;y violating our rights to protect us from our local governments is, well, kinda silly.
In both Europe and the US, decentralization would be a good thing. It is a non sequitur to say that this necessarily means more barriers to trade or or migration. A false dichotomy, I say.
Gary: “And Hitler is a product of debt slavery of a nation. That is clearly a western concept, never forgive debt.”
Huh? Take a look at what 20th century Japan and China did to occupied peoples. It was a lot worse than an indemnity. Or do you imagine that if it had been the Aztecs who discovered Spain, things would have been more civil?
16. May 2016 at 16:33
Urstoff, You said:
“So the impression I get from Trump voters is that constant lying, switching positions, and acting like a moron is all part of THE PLAN. That’s some serious faith-based thinking there.”
That’s my reaction too.
16. May 2016 at 18:13
@scott
Trump is a salesman. A very good one, but a salesman. If you get that, the rest is easy to understand. (I’ll elaborate in future comments.)
17. May 2016 at 03:51
Harding,
Trump’s famous quote: “I have a great relationship with the blacks.”
Sounds like Archie Bunker.
17. May 2016 at 12:51
You generalize too much. I told you he will back down. That’s a good thing. How is that not a good thing?
Again you generalize too much. I detest Putin.
There’s an interesting interview with Jesse Hughes by the way. The vocalist of Eagles of Death Metal who was one of the victims during the 2015 terrorist attacks in Bataclan.
http://takimag.com/article/surrendering_to_death_gavin_mcinnes
Good title, too: Surrendering to Death.
17. May 2016 at 20:00
@Harding
“What does anti-colonialism have to do with Obama? Just curious”
In his autobiography, Obama blames ills of the world on colonialism, neocolonialism, and Eurocentrism, and patriarchy.
Rudy Giuliani, Dinesh D’Souza, and Newt Gingrich have all referred to Obama as an anti-colonialist.
@mbka,
“If I travel to the US again some day I’ll be much more afraid of its white cops than of its black president. If Trump becomes president I’d be worried to travel there.”
So you fear white police. I suspect you are buying into political propaganda about white cops rather than basing your fear on anything rational.
“Obama never whipped up popular frenzy, the only truly dangerous thing in a country. Trump does, and that’s why he is scary.”
Obama has backed and empowered Black Lives Matter racial protesters who’ve actually caused full blown riots have bulled college campuses across the nation and even inspired an admittedly few lone wolf cop murders. Trump hasn’t inspired riots or aggressive protests or nation wide college campus intimidation.
“Yet on a political level, you feel persecuted by all sorts of forces that I just don’t see.”
I see the Obama administration and associated culture applying pressure on the tech industry to hire more blacks/hispanics and less whites/asian, similarly with government hiring where Obama administration officials openly call for less white men in government, putting pressure on the nation’s K-12 school system to reduce discipline on black students and increase black academics relative to whites, putting pressure on law enforcement to reduce legal penalties to black adults relative to whites, and putting pressure on nice white neighborhoods to accept more problematic Section 8 housing residents. All of these efforts are justified by the presumption of insidious white racism, but when results don’t support that, the left denies it, and doubles down on white racism being the underlying cause to all the ills of society. I understand you don’t want to see these things or don’t care to be bothered by them.
18. May 2016 at 05:55
Harding, You said:
“So there’s no reason for Trump not to do it.”
Of course there is a reason–he doesn’t believe anything his says. His credulous supports are being fooled.
19. May 2016 at 17:13
Massimo,
“So you fear white police. I suspect you are buying into political propaganda about white cops rather than basing your fear on anything rational.”.
I have lived in the US for 5 years so it’s not completely based on media bias. I too have had my personal police encounters in the US. Police in the US have standard operating procedures that I can only describe as scary. I find them scary and I am as white as they come. I sure wouldn’t like to be a young black man meeting police in the US. Talking procedures, when an average shootout in the US spends as many police cartridges as the entire German police spends in a year I think it’s time to rethink your SOP. Mind you I don’t blame individual officers nor do I think it’s a race problem overall.
“‘Obama never whipped up popular frenzy, the only truly dangerous thing in a country. Trump does, and that’s why he is scary.’
Obama has backed and empowered Black Lives Matter racial protesters who’ve actually caused full blown riots have bulled college campuses across the nation and even inspired an admittedly few lone wolf cop murders. Trump hasn’t inspired riots or aggressive protests or nation wide college campus intimidation.”
Trump: “Well maybe he should have been roughed up” (on his supporters beating up someone). Trump equally said he wished some journalists dead etc. Obama never said anything like “Well maybe that convenience store deserved to be burned down”. It’s on an entirely different level. Trump condones violence and openly calls for it. Obama supports various political ideas and you then imply things he hasn’t actually said. Trump does actually say these things.
The various complaints about affirmative-action like pressures are well taken and often these aren’t good ideas. But I do not share this apocalyptic vision of white oppression. As I said, I’ve felt individual instances of racism or bullying applied to me. I just never felt that it was a widespread pattern or politically orchestrated. On average, as a white person, anywhere in the world, I still have it easier. Note, on average. Sometimes it may have caused me disadvantages I suspect.
Mark,
” Many of us in the US think the US federal government is too big and too powerful, and violates our freedoms in too many ways, and telling us that it’s on;y violating our rights to protect us from our local governments is, well, kinda silly.”
I find the anti-fed sentiment in the US overblown. When I lived in the US I found the local laws much more intrusive than the federal ones.
“In both Europe and the US, decentralization would be a good thing. It is a non sequitur to say that this necessarily means more barriers to trade or or migration. A false dichotomy, I say.”
The EU has the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in its treaties – to deal with matters as locally as possible. I believe that’s a good start even if not perfectly implemented.
The EU regulations that generate the most hysterical overreaction are the ones where you _must_ apply them to all, by definition. There are two main areas here. One is standardization, usually of technologies or other norms. Here, you gain efficiency and safety and yes, here you have to force people to accept a single norm. There are a lot of silly backlashes here that I don’t understand. Say, I see no need for nationally different electric plugs nor do i see them as major cultural icons. The other area where the EU is intrusive on national governments is in the free movement of people, capital, and goods. Now, this is the whole point of the single market so it’s silly to oppose that kind of intrusive regulation. And mind you, the recent problems with law enforcement re: terrorism have shown that its not the lack of borders that was the problem. It is the lack of police cooperation. After the Paris attacks, France reintroduced border controls. And yet, Abdeslam went to Brussels undetected – in spite of the controls, and because police weren’t talking to each other.
If you tell me that “decentralization need not need to mean more barriers to trade or or migration” you are being malinformed or naive, I’m sorry. In principle, no, but more barriers is exactly what the Brexit and anti EU crowds want. They want a world before Schengen, and before the Euro. This means, they want people to once again show their passports at borders, that once again will have barbed wires and manned, armed posts. They want nationally controlled currencies, labor and capital regulations, and believe me the trade regulations would not be far behind once the new barriers start producing imbalances, as they surely must. And I am asking you, if this was the US, would you enjoy a world where you have to carry a passport to drive over from Massachusetts to Connecticut to the mall, to show it to armed uniformed border patrol, to pay with a different currency too. And if you wanted to work in Connecticut you’d be subject to a lot of duplicate licensing requirements, require a work visa (like an H1b) and be generally unwelcome by simple virtue of your passport. I remember this old world well, pre-mid 90’s, and it felt like moving from one little prison to another little prison, staffed with idiosyncratic and parochial wardens, each convinced that he’s doing some kind of sacred duty in preventing you from doing things. I do not with this world to come back, ever.
It’s already not as easy as in the US to do these things in the EU, and the anti EU crowd wants to make it worse. I don’t see how anyone should want this.
19. May 2016 at 17:18
Read “I do not wish this world to come back, ever.”