Thursday, March 24, 2016

No media. No liberal bias. Just TRUMP.

I have family members who are big supporters of Trump. Whenever we discuss his outrageous and hateful ideas, I am told, it's just the media and liberal spin on the moderate and reasonable ideas of Trump. Most recent e-mail exchange:

Me: I have no reason to think he [Trump] is an anti-Semite. But the stuff he says on racial issues is deeply revolting. Just because it's about Muslims and Mexicans doesn't mean I am okay with it. I am not listening to any pundits. I am listening to Trump and that's the part that makes me deeply uncomfortable. Most of the vitriol is coming directly from him. And that's what my question is about...

Relative: Give me quotes directly from Trump. Make sure to include all the sentences before and after the offending words, then read them twice, and then we can discuss each one. You will be pressed to find anything to support what you just said. You'll see - it's truly amazing what the media does even to smart people. 
 So as a resource for those whose family and friends are Trump supporters, I am starting the following list. Not quotes from newspaper articles. No bias/spin/out-of-context/clipped quotes. Just a simple list of things Trump says himself on his Tweeter account.


On science:





On Putin:

On Obama:






On "losers":




On Muslims and immigrants:



On, uhm, sorry, can't classify this insanity.



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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

U.S. is not 1930 Germany. Trump may not be Hitler. But what if he is?

I don't like paranoia and baseless frenzy. I hate it when people throw around "Nazi" and "Hitler" comparisons on social media, as people constantly love to do. And everyone who was around in 2008 and 2012 and witnessed the United States electing Barack Obama, both times, should realize that the U.S. today is not where Germany was in 1930. The candidates for the Democratic nominee just discussed racial blindspots and white privilege in the debate on Sunday. And both Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are more likely to be elected than Trump. So, as Marco Rubio would say, let's dispel with the notion that the U.S. is Nazi Germany.

In fact, it seems that 11% of Muslims support Trump. I personally know Jews who are huge fans of Trump. Their reasoning is that Trump doesn't believe any of the vile stuff that he spews. It's just a tactic to get elected. But do we know what Hitler believed? Here's the first mention of Hitler in the NYT (hat tip Jens Foell):

Yes, Trump may just be a cunning opportunist. He may get elected and turn out to be the most open and socially liberal politician in the history of our country. Sure, non-zero chance of that. But we have absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is the case. And what if we elect him and it turns out we are wrong? What is the price of that?

I may be an overly-cautious Jew. Having relatives who died in the Holocaust surely plays into my perspective on politics. But white supremacists aside, who is comfortable with the stuff below?

1. Trump seems happy to be endorsed by the KKK.

2. Racial profiling of entire ethnic and religious groups is Trump's forte. According to Trump, Mexicans are rapists and all Muslims should be banned from entering the U.S.

3. Trump suggested instituting a national identification system for tracking Muslims - eerily reminiscent of the Judenstern (the Jewish star of Nazi Europe).

4. Trump may be a fan of Hitler's speeches.

5. Given all of the above, the Hitler-like salutes at Trump's rallies give me chills.

6. It's not just comedians, media, and liberals who compare Trump to Hitler. Conservatives Glen Beck and Christine Todd Whitman think so too. Yet, Trump is not at all bothered by the frequent comparisons of him to Hitler. That should bother us all.
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