Trump 41: Waiting For My Impeachment

[AmazonGrace]

Man not smart too ignorant to president and too stupid to pretend

Does anyone think the response is helpful (as in, Trump knows where Burma is)?

[fraurosena]

You should all read Madeleine Albright’s thread.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump is leading a hate movement, and the world is watching"

Spoiler

One of the most chilling things about President Trump’s hate-rally in North Carolina — which devolved into chants of “send her back,” directed at a nonwhite immigrant member of Congress — was the profusion of tweets about it from abroad.

Robert Mann, the historian of the civil rights era, lamented from across the Atlantic that it’s “shocking” to be in Britain while “one of the top stories” all over the British media is “just how much of a vile racist my country has for a president.”

Tweeting from Australia, the New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb noted that in Sydney, “many people” have asked him about Trump’s “latest bigotry spree.” Cobb added: “this is a reminder that the entire world is an audience for this abject racist stupidity.”

As the president of the United States leads a domestic hate movement, the world is watching.

In case you think this is too American-centric a view, Cobb pushed back on that, as well. “Believe it or not,” he noted, “if you have the world’s largest economy, people pay close attention to you.”

The world will be watching this spectacle for at least the next 16 months: New reporting is now confirming that Trump views his racist and white-nationalist provocations as key to his reelection effort.

“These left-wing ideologues see our nation as a force for evil,” Trump ranted at his North Carolina rally on Wednesday night. “They want to demolish our Constitution, weaken our military, eliminate the values that built this magnificent country.”

Trump, of course, was referring to the four lawmakers he has attacked for days on end — all members of racial, ethnic or religious minority groups — at one point suggesting they “go back” to their countries, even though three were born in the United States.

The “go back” language is apparently resonating deeply with Trump supporters. When Trump singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the only one who wasn’t born in the United States, the crowd erupted in a blood-curdling chant of “send her back."

Trump’s mention of Omar drew loud, sustained boos. Trump mangled Omar’s words to dishonestly paint her as an al-Qaeda sympathizer, and his tone dripped with contempt as he lingered over his pronunciation of Omar’s last name. This produced more scattered, angry catcalls.

When Trump repeated that the “hate-filled extremists” should “leave,” the cheering grew deafening. It’s important to reiterate here that Trump is talking about duly elected members of Congress and singling out those who are members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities as targets of his call to “leave.”

In other words, they are not members in good standing of the American nation. These are well-worn white-nationalist tropes, a contemporary iteration of this country’s long history of illiberal racial nationalism. These are what the crowd cheered.

Racist tropes are central to Trump’s campaign

Trump views energizing his base around such tropes as central to his reelection. The Associated Press reports that Trump and his campaign believe that placing “racial polarization at the center of his call to voters” carries “far more benefits than risks.”

We know what Trump is doing here. The reporting has established a pattern, in which Trump’s racist provocations are employed deliberately to foment racism, rage and/or hate among his supporters. Trump’s belief that his base would cheer was partly what drove his attacks on African American athletes and his refusal to condemn white-supremacist violence.

Not all of Trump’s advisers are so sure this will work in 2020. According to the New York Times, some believe “divisive cultural clashes” are risky. They think Trump’s “relentless focus on immigration and other nationalist themes” may have alienated suburban swing voters, leading a large popular majority to deliver the House to Democrats in 2018.

The early polls suggest the worriers are probably right. Large majorities reject Trump’s attacks as racist and offensive. You can bet many of those voters are ones Trump must win back after the GOP lost them in 2018.

A lot is at stake

With reports coming in from abroad of intense interest in how we’re handling this moment, it’s worth recalling that America’s racial struggles have commanded international attention throughout our history.

During the Civil War, as Helena Rosenblatt writes in “The Lost History of Liberalism,” European liberals believed the long-term international survival of liberal democracy was “linked to the survival of the Union” and saw Abraham Lincoln as a test for whether enlightened leadership could prevent popular government from sliding into despotism.

Mann, the historian mentioned above, notes that the civil rights movement also drew intense global scrutiny. “From the Montgomery bus boycott through Selma and beyond, the movement in the United States was an international story,” Mann told me.

Movement leaders regularly noted that the endurance of Jim Crow and the era’s violent white-supremacist resistance undermined our international “moral standing,” Mann added. When the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed in the 1960s, seemingly putting us on a better path, he said, it sent a “message to oppressed peoples around the world.”

It has been widely noted that Democrats are consumed in a debate over how aggressively to confront Trump’s racism and white nationalism. But, notwithstanding that most Republicans are sitting this out or actively rallying behind Trump, shouldn’t this be a national debate?

A lot is at stake here. As Vox’s Sean Illing notes, the sight of Trump “leading a white mob in a chant” about sending a black Congresswoman “home” will be “featured in history books for decades to come.”

History and the world are watching.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[formergothardite]

That poor woman:

"My brothers were killed."

Trump: "So where are they now?"

You know she wanted to say "they are fucking dead you moron."

[Ali]

Let me look into it = stop talking so I can watch Fox

[fraurosena]

There are some very fine people on my side.

 

[fraurosena]

The whole world is calling him out on his racism.

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

12 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

The whole world is calling him out on his racism.

 

Sadly I am sure his reaction is immediate dismissal as she’s neither male nor American so who cares what a world leader thinks.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Some people are fine with the racism but angry that he said “Goddamn” twice, taking the Lord’s name in vain.  

Ridiculous as this is to me I am hoping it drives some out of his camp (although if his other broken commandments didn’t do that I have little hope.)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article232848697.html

[thoughtful]

22 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Some people are fine with the racism but angry that he said “Goddamn” twice, taking the Lord’s name in vain.  

   

Had to use both emojis, since there doesn't seem to to be one that conveys both "well, of course they did" and 'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!"

 

[fraurosena]

46 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I am hoping it drives some out of his camp

Speaking of driving people out of his camp...

I am glad that he is finally seeing through Trump's bullshit, but, damn, I just can't fathom how he could fall for it in the first place. It's not like Trump was hiding his racism before.

[fraurosena]

Yesterday's backtracking went against his base instincts. So today he's reiterating his racist comments and validating the crowd's chants.

 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Saw on reddit where some discussing the video said they felt a few seconds into the crowd chants he looked uncomfortable.  Like regret.

no one for one second thinks he regretted the sentiment, but that maybe he had a moment of lucidity in realizing this might hurt his campaign.

im going to watch now.  What do you guys think?

Edited July 19, 2019 by HerNameIsBuffy

[formergothardite]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

no one for one second thinks he regretted the sentiment, but that maybe he had a moment of lucidity in realizing this might hurt his campaign.

im going to watch now.  What do you guys think?

It seems like he would have liked to have cheered it on, but he knew this would come back to bite him in the ass. To me it seems like he was standing there figuring out how to handle this since he couldn't do what he wanted, cheer with them. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

It seems like he would have liked to have cheered it on, but he knew this would come back to bite him in the ass. To me it seems like he was standing there figuring out how to handle this since he couldn't do what he wanted, cheer with them. 

I watched several times and I think he looks conflicted, too.  Could absolutely be for your reasoning or something so simple as being pissy other people were talking and he had to wait.

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Saw on reddit where some discussing the video said they felt a few seconds into the crowd chants he looked uncomfortable.  Like regret.

no one for one second thinks he regretted the sentiment, but that maybe he had a moment of lucidity in realizing this might hurt his campaign.

im going to watch now.  What do you guys think?

To me, Trump had the look of Il Duce, benignly looking out over his chanting masses. 

No lucidity, no regrets.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I love these two reactions to the Nadia Murad video:

 

[JMarie]

On 7/18/2019 at 8:26 AM, WiseGirl said:

I would like to apply that to Melania and her family though. 

And Ivana and her family (AKA the very definition of nepotism, those pesky kids of hers)

[GreyhoundFan]

"’Their families really have done nothing for this country:’ Fox guest’s attack on Omar, Tlaib tweeted by White House"

Spoiler

On Thursday, President Trump sought to distance himself from his supporters who yelled “send her back,” referencing a congresswoman born in Somalia whom Trump had earlier targeted with a racist tweet. “I disagree with it,” Trump said of the chant aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

The president soon made it clear, though, that he had no intention of backing away from blistering criticism of Omar and three other minority congresswomen.

On Thursday night, Trump retweeted a fiery fire-minute commentary from a Fox News guest who called the women “anti-Semite bigots” and said that “their families really have done nothing for this country.”

The clip was also shared by the official account of the White House, a taxpayer-funded feed that is generally less pugnacious than Trump’s personal handle.

In the clip from Fox News host Sean Hannity’s Thursday night show, conservative radio host Mark Levin defends Trump’s attacks on Omar and fellow freshman Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.)

Although Omar, a Somali refugee, became an American citizen at 17, and the other three were born in the U.S., Trump on Sunday suggested that they “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” The suggestion echoed a long-standing racist trope.

Levin, employing a talking point often used by the president, instead hones in on claims of anti-Semitism against the congresswomen.

“He didn’t talk about race, he didn’t talk about skin color, he didn’t talk about religion. He talked about them, the content, or lack thereof, of their character,” Levin says in the clip. “On the other hand ... they are degrading an entire faith, an entire people, Jews, Israelis.”

Omar has criticized the role of the Israeli lobby and apologized for suggesting that money motivates politicians to back Israel. Both she and Tlaib support the divisive BDS movement, for boycott, divestment and sanctions, which aims to economically pressure Israel to grant more rights to Palestinians. Ocasio-Cortez has also faced blowback for comparing U.S. Border Patrol detainment facilities to concentration camps.

Trump regularly cites those controversies in his relentless criticism of the women. Facing blowback over his racist tweets this week, he lashed out at Omar by claiming that she “hates Jews, hates Israel.” That message left some Jewish leaders, including the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, concerned that the president was using claims of anti-Semitism to mask his own intemperate remarks.

Levin makes a similar argument as the president, saying that “the evidence is overwhelming that these women are anti-Semite bigots.”

But he also more broadly hints at the president’s suggestion that the congresswomen are un-American.

“Their families really have done nothing for this country,” Levin says. “I’m going to be very blunt about it, I don’t know what they’ve done in support of this country.”

Levin also argues that Trump’s record belies claims of racism, noting the president’s order to hit Syria with missile strikes to prevent gas attacks on civilians and his backing of other military ventures in Muslim nations. “It’s this commander in chief that oversees the War in Afghanistan to protect Muslims from the Taliban,” Levin says.

Trump’s decision to share the clip not only with his own 62.1 million followers but also through @WhiteHouse, which has 18.8 million followers -- and his official @POTUS account, which retweeted it to 26.3 million more eyeballs -- suggests that a week of withering criticism, including some from within his party, isn’t likely to slow his attacks on Omar and her colleagues.

The White House account often reflects a more straightforward take on policy than Trump’s freewheeling @realDonaldTrump handle. As The Washington Post’s Philip Bump noted in 2017, the White House account has regularly stuck to orchestrated themes, like Infrastructure Week, while Trump all but ignored policy in his own tweets.

Trump’s administration has faced some blowback for its use of the accounts, which have retweeted patently false Trump claims and his attacks on a business that dropped his daughter’s clothing line, as well as amplified misleading claims against Democratic candidates.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Sigh: "Trump vows congresswomen ‘can’t get away with’ criticizing U.S."

Spoiler

President Trump capped his week of attacks on four minority congresswomen on Friday, saying that while he’s president any criticism of the United States is unacceptable and they “can’t get away with” it.

His statement is at odds with the Constitution, which grants every American the right of free speech.

They “can’t get away with” speaking badly about the United States, Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I can tell you this, you can’t talk that way about our country, not when I’m the president.”

The four Democratic lawmakers have criticized Trump administration policies, most notably on immigration and climate change. Trump, in the past, has criticized the policies of Democratic presidents.

Earlier Friday, Trump retreated from a day-old claim that he was unhappy when his supporters chanted, “send her back!” about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and instead lashed out at the media for its coverage of the episode and called the crowd at the North Carolina rally “incredible patriots.”

“Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office at which he again attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the Somali-born lawmaker whom he was criticizing at his rally earlier this week when the chants of “Send her back!” rang out.

“She’s lucky to be where she is, let me tell you,” Trump said. “And the things that she has said are a disgrace to our country.”

Asked about his unhappiness with the rally chant, Trump said, “You know what I’m unhappy with — the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say anti-Semitic things.”

Trump has provided no evidence that Omar ever said she hates the United States, and earlier this week she said, “I probably love this country more than anyone that is naturally born.”

In tweets earlier Friday, Trump characterized media coverage of his rally in Greenville, N.C., as “crazed” and complained that media was “totally calm & accepting” of what he said were “vile and disgusting statements” made by Omar and three other minority congresswomen that he has repeatedly criticized in recent days.

Trump also complained that the media covered the return of Omar to her home state on Thursday. She was greeted at the Minneapolis−St. Paul International Airport by a crowd chanting, “Welcome home, Ilhan!”

Trump has taken repeated aim at Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) since Sunday, when he said in tweets that they should “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

The other three lawmakers besides Omar were born in the United States. Omar was born in Somalia and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Trump’s shift Friday in his comments about the rally chant was reminiscent of how he responded to the deadly clash between white nationalists and protesters in Charlottesville in August 2017.

Speaking from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., he initially denounced an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” an assessment that was widely seen as not going far enough.

Two days later, at the urging of aides, Trump delivered a more forceful, scripted statement a news conference at the White House, calling the racism practiced by white supremacists and other hate groups “evil.”

The next day, however, during a news conference ostensibly about infrastructure in New York, Trump softened that assessment, saying “there’s blame on both sides . . . very fine people on both sides.”

Much of Trump’s criticism of Omar has focused on remarks she has made about Israel. Earlier this year, she tweeted that support for Israel among members of Congress was “all about the Benjamins,” a reference to hundred-dollar bills.

Omar later apologized for her remarks and said she did not realize “how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans.” She also clarified that, in general, her remarks were aimed at criticizing the Israeli government, not Jewish people.

Trump also has falsely accused Omar of praising the terrorist group al-Qaeda.

In his tweets Friday morning, Trump curiously referred to “three Radical Left Congresswomen.” For days he has targeted all four. At his rally, he criticized all four of them by name.

A White House spokesman did not respond to a question regarding the change.

Trump also referred in his morning tweets to “Foul Mouthed Omar.” However, it was Tlaib who generated headlines earlier this year when she used profane language to call for Trump’s impeachment.

Trump, himself, frequently uses profanities. At his rally, he used the word “goddamn” twice, drawing some complaints from Christian commentators.

During an event Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that he did not agree with the chant of “Send her back!” and “felt a little bit badly about it.” He also claimed he had moved to cut the chant off by starting to speak against it “very quickly,” even though he paused for 13 seconds until the chant died down.

Kayleigh McEnany, a spokeswoman for Trump’s reelection bid, told CBSN on Thursday that Trump “couldn’t really hear what was going on” when the crowd started to chant.

Trump’s decision to try to distance himself from the chant came after a flurry of GOP lawmakers publicly condemned it, even while being careful not to denounce Trump directly.

Earlier this week, the Democratic-led House voted largely along party lines to condemn Trump’s weekend tweets in which he said the lawmakers should “go back” where they came from.

In his tweets Friday, Trump predicted he would win Minnesota next year, saying voters there “can’t stand” Omar and “her hatred of our Country.”

In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton carried Minnesota by less than two percentage points.

Later Friday morning, Trump retweeted several of his tweets from earlier this week in which he was critical of Omar and the other minority lawmakers, including one in which he said it was “sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion.”

Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, on Friday tweeted footage of Omar’s greeting at the airport as she returned to Minnesota the night before.

“This land is your land, This land is my land, This land was made for you and me,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, adding the hashtag, “#IStandWithIlhan.”

During her remarks at the airport, Omar pledged to continue to be Trump’s “nightmare.”

“When I said I was the president’s nightmare, well you’re watching it now,” she said. “Because his nightmare is seeing a Somali immigrant refugee rise to Congress.”

 

[fraurosena]

4 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Sigh: "Trump vows congresswomen ‘can’t get away with’ criticizing U.S."

  Reveal hidden contents

President Trump capped his week of attacks on four minority congresswomen on Friday, saying that while he’s president any criticism of the United States is unacceptable and they “can’t get away with” it.

His statement is at odds with the Constitution, which grants every American the right of free speech.

They “can’t get away with” speaking badly about the United States, Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I can tell you this, you can’t talk that way about our country, not when I’m the president.”

The four Democratic lawmakers have criticized Trump administration policies, most notably on immigration and climate change. Trump, in the past, has criticized the policies of Democratic presidents.

Earlier Friday, Trump retreated from a day-old claim that he was unhappy when his supporters chanted, “send her back!” about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and instead lashed out at the media for its coverage of the episode and called the crowd at the North Carolina rally “incredible patriots.”

“Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office at which he again attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the Somali-born lawmaker whom he was criticizing at his rally earlier this week when the chants of “Send her back!” rang out.

“She’s lucky to be where she is, let me tell you,” Trump said. “And the things that she has said are a disgrace to our country.”

Asked about his unhappiness with the rally chant, Trump said, “You know what I’m unhappy with — the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say anti-Semitic things.”

Trump has provided no evidence that Omar ever said she hates the United States, and earlier this week she said, “I probably love this country more than anyone that is naturally born.”

In tweets earlier Friday, Trump characterized media coverage of his rally in Greenville, N.C., as “crazed” and complained that media was “totally calm & accepting” of what he said were “vile and disgusting statements” made by Omar and three other minority congresswomen that he has repeatedly criticized in recent days.

Trump also complained that the media covered the return of Omar to her home state on Thursday. She was greeted at the Minneapolis−St. Paul International Airport by a crowd chanting, “Welcome home, Ilhan!”

Trump has taken repeated aim at Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) since Sunday, when he said in tweets that they should “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

The other three lawmakers besides Omar were born in the United States. Omar was born in Somalia and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Trump’s shift Friday in his comments about the rally chant was reminiscent of how he responded to the deadly clash between white nationalists and protesters in Charlottesville in August 2017.

Speaking from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., he initially denounced an “egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides,” an assessment that was widely seen as not going far enough.

Two days later, at the urging of aides, Trump delivered a more forceful, scripted statement a news conference at the White House, calling the racism practiced by white supremacists and other hate groups “evil.”

The next day, however, during a news conference ostensibly about infrastructure in New York, Trump softened that assessment, saying “there’s blame on both sides . . . very fine people on both sides.”

Much of Trump’s criticism of Omar has focused on remarks she has made about Israel. Earlier this year, she tweeted that support for Israel among members of Congress was “all about the Benjamins,” a reference to hundred-dollar bills.

Omar later apologized for her remarks and said she did not realize “how my comments would be offensive to Jewish Americans.” She also clarified that, in general, her remarks were aimed at criticizing the Israeli government, not Jewish people.

Trump also has falsely accused Omar of praising the terrorist group al-Qaeda.

In his tweets Friday morning, Trump curiously referred to “three Radical Left Congresswomen.” For days he has targeted all four. At his rally, he criticized all four of them by name.

A White House spokesman did not respond to a question regarding the change.

Trump also referred in his morning tweets to “Foul Mouthed Omar.” However, it was Tlaib who generated headlines earlier this year when she used profane language to call for Trump’s impeachment.

Trump, himself, frequently uses profanities. At his rally, he used the word “goddamn” twice, drawing some complaints from Christian commentators.

During an event Thursday in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that he did not agree with the chant of “Send her back!” and “felt a little bit badly about it.” He also claimed he had moved to cut the chant off by starting to speak against it “very quickly,” even though he paused for 13 seconds until the chant died down.

Kayleigh McEnany, a spokeswoman for Trump’s reelection bid, told CBSN on Thursday that Trump “couldn’t really hear what was going on” when the crowd started to chant.

Trump’s decision to try to distance himself from the chant came after a flurry of GOP lawmakers publicly condemned it, even while being careful not to denounce Trump directly.

Earlier this week, the Democratic-led House voted largely along party lines to condemn Trump’s weekend tweets in which he said the lawmakers should “go back” where they came from.

In his tweets Friday, Trump predicted he would win Minnesota next year, saying voters there “can’t stand” Omar and “her hatred of our Country.”

In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton carried Minnesota by less than two percentage points.

Later Friday morning, Trump retweeted several of his tweets from earlier this week in which he was critical of Omar and the other minority lawmakers, including one in which he said it was “sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion.”

Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, on Friday tweeted footage of Omar’s greeting at the airport as she returned to Minnesota the night before.

“This land is your land, This land is my land, This land was made for you and me,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, adding the hashtag, “#IStandWithIlhan.”

During her remarks at the airport, Omar pledged to continue to be Trump’s “nightmare.”

“When I said I was the president’s nightmare, well you’re watching it now,” she said. “Because his nightmare is seeing a Somali immigrant refugee rise to Congress.”

 

It looks like Trump can only run an election campaign if he has a woman as his adversary. Last time it was only Hillary. Now he’s got four of them, and they’re of color too, an added bonus. 

Funny thing, if you go with his misogynistic logic, then he’s really showing himself up for being lily-livered and weak. He certainly isn’t man enough to beat a male candidate...

[fraurosena]

Simply following Trump's example.

 

[47of74]

For some strange reason I immediately thought of fuck face when I read this....

Quote

What was meant to be a relaxing family gathering was transformed into a heated, hours-long competition on Saturday, as 3-year-old Nicholas Aunchman and 41-year-old Sandy Aunchman vied with one another for the attention of their relatives.

The barbecue, which began shortly after 4 p.m., saw both emotionally fragile and needy family members square off in their attempts to be the evening's sole focal point.

Over the next several hours, Sandy and her nephew jockeyed back and forth in an escalating contest of one-upmanship. Witnesses gave accounts of numerous instances in which Nicholas interrupted dinner discussions by insisting that everyone either sing the alphabet song with him, or watch how fast he could run around the picnic tables.

Meanwhile, Sandy circulated the crowd telling heavily embellished stories about her brushes with fame, made baseless accusations about close friends, and even suggested it be might time for Nicholas to take a nap.

Because he's basically a toddler demanding attention probably.