The Nightmare Proceeds : Decent People Must Step Forward
http://thedailybanter.com/2016/07/andrew-sullivan-no-waking-up-now/
In between live blogging the Republican National Convention for New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer, Andrew Sullivan posted this sober realization on his Facebook page :
Taking a walk this evening, it occurred to me, given the chaotic, careening shitshow we watched last night, that maybe there was still time to run someone else. And then I got back and saw the news of the nomination finally, formally secure.
So this is it. This is really happening. There is no waking up now.
It would be fair to say that with Trump's nomination, the Republican Party as we know it is officially over. Whatever this grotesque aberration is, it has nothing to do with conservatism, nothing to do with democracy, and nothing to do with any concept of a decent civilization.
This is not to excuse the previous Republican administrations or the bunch of clowns currently residing in Congress, but this is something entirely different. One the of two mainstream political parties in America is now being led by an actual fascist -- a political idiot who understands almost nothing of international diplomacy, nothing about the history of his own country, and nothing about the functioning of government. Trump is man openly committed to torture, a racist misogynist who publicly brags about his penis size, lies on an hourly basis and has offended every minority in America.
As Sullivan says, this is no dream -- it really is happening and decent Americans everywhere need to do everything in their power to stop him.
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It amazes me that there are those on this site-- people I consider to be decent, honest folk, whom I could be close friends with in real life-- would support this man, just because they have such hatred for Clinton. It's like trying to have a conversation with my mother, for whom reality was a fiction that she made up in her own head-- after all, she had dementia.
Mama would manufacture something out of thin air, and logic did not work for her. She dreamed up that I had taken her with me to pick up a refrigerator in my car-- a Subaru Outback, which could, in no way, hold a refrigerator-- dropped her off at an antique mall, and never came back for her. This was a dream she had, that became a reality for her. How does one reach someone who is so far beyond the pale as to be off their rocker? How does one convince her of the truth? I took her out and showed her my car-- How could I have fit a refrigerator in there? Didn't matter, I had done it, and that was that. Of COURSE I didn't drop her off and leave her stranded, anywhere! But she knew I did, and there was no going back... Why couldn't she have made up something good, like I surprised her with a diamond ring or something? Why did it always have to be something bad?
This weird, dystopian view of the fall of America, is a made up symptom designed to feed dissatisfaction and distrust. It is pumped up by a party that is determined to win an election, no matter the cost-- no matter who they hurt. No matter what.
I am frightened by this view, because I live my life in normal... I don't see anyone rioting in the streets. I go to MacDonalds and they still wish me a good day. I go to the bank, and $10,000 hasn't magically appeared in my account, or left my account. The stop lights still work. There is road construction everywhere, as usual. The grocery store is still stuffed with food. The shoe store on the corner still has plenty of shoes-- just none in my size. How has the perception become that the US is on the ropes?
I am utterly mystified...
I blame mainly right wing and conservative media. They have filled people's minds with innuendo, half truths , fantasies and lies for 35 years now. It is now ingrained in multiple generations of people. A tragedy for this country.
How has the perception become that the US is on the ropes?
I am utterly mystified...
Two nights ago the Republican stage was filled to the brim with hysteria over terrorism, crime, immigration, gay marriage, etc. I read that one of the speakers even claimed that Americans are afraid to leave their homes thinking they will be victims of violence.
Were none of these people alive in the 70's 80's and 90's? Violent crime and murder rates were much higher back then. I assume they went out of their houses then (if they are old enough), but they are afraid to now? Bullshit.
Doesn't it occur to you at all that people who support Trump over Clinton might have rational reasons for doing so? Claiming that your opposition is demented or "voting against their best interests" is why liberals are often seen as elitists.
Donald Trump is the worst, most unqualified nominee of a major party in the history of this nation.
Now is the time for all good Americans to come to the aid of their country and make sure he goes down to ignominious defeat.
Who would we vote for to accomplish this?
Well, if one is the worst ever, and the other isn't, my choice is clear.
Clear as a London fog...
This is half of the list someone put out the other day
1.
Let's look at one item
Praised Saddam Hussein for being good at killing terrorists.
Saddam Hussein didn't kill terrorists, he created them.
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The late Iraqi dictator did kill many thousands of people—but very few were terrorists
Donald Trump is, by his own admission, “like, a really smart person,” and someone who has “a very good brain,” but he don’t know much about history. His remarks this week—and on multiple other occasions—about Saddam Hussein’s skill at counterterrorism are a reminder of this.
“He was a bad guy—really bad guy,” Trump opined during a rally in North Carolina . “But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. Over.”
Hussein, it is true, killed a lot of people . The estimates run into the hundreds of thousands, and he murdered in a variety of appalling ways : He had his victims shot, gassed, blown up, beheaded and even torn apart by wild animals. And while all of his victims had excellent reasons for not liking life under the longtime Iraqi dictator, almost none were terrorists. On the contrary, terrorists in Iraq were mostly honored guests and worked at the regime’s behest.
Thousands of terrorists called Iraq home, and their organizations had the blood of Israelis, Turks, Iranians and Europeans from numerous countries on their hands. Among the killers were members of the Palestine Liberation Front, the Arab Liberation Front, the Kurdish PKK, the Iranian Mujahidin e-Khalq and the Abu Nidal Organization. Saddam promised to pay the families of suicide bombers who killed Israelis for their deeds. It is true that he despised jihadists and had nothing to do with al Qaeda, but that hardly diminishes his record. Not for nothing, Iraq was among the first batch of countries designated by Washington as state sponsors of terror in 1979.
More often than not, by far, when he talks about what is happening or has happened in the world he gets it wrong or makes something up.
He wants to believe Hussein was a great terrorist killer, so he just blurts it out with absolutely no fact checking or conformation. He does this sort of thing every day since this campaign began. He does not know anything , certainly not to the degree required of someone in any high governmental office.
There are 140 other reasons given similar to this one. It is impossible to contemplate this person in power.
the bullshit artist is safer than the sociopath who tells premeditated lies.
Excellent list--- do you have link to original?
the full list
70.
Proposed to compel Mexico to pay for a border wall
I don't think of myself as an elitist.
Frankly, I would like to hear what the republicans are going to DO about all this-- not who to hate for not doing or for doing something. You are all so affronted by Clinton. So, your answer is Trump? Find someone sensible to run, and tell me what you are going to DO...
I'm sick of the hateful rhetoric, and would like to hear something positive come out of the RNC. SOMETHING positive...
Many of us voted for other candidates in the primaries, but the majority rules.
I understand... It happens to all of us!
You were probably singing the same Pollyanna song in 2007 when others like Ron Paul knew the bottom of Clintons housing bubble was about to fallout. You probably thought Obamacare was going to save money not hurt people and the hamper employment. Our spending and debt are out of control. We've been flooded with poor illegal aliens waiting to be legalized so they can be eligible for free healthcare, food, cloths and housing. Our foreign policy and endless wars are a disaster. Obama has set back race relations fifty years. Obamas quantitative easing fueled stock market bubble is about to burst. Wake up people working two jobs at McDonald's is not what America could be.
Crooked Hilllary means the downward spiral will continue. We need to clean house in Washington and it's going to take outsiders like Trump to usher in real change.
People work two jobs to make ends meet, because the minimum rage hasn't gone up in years-- and costs are skyrocketing.
I'm disappointed in Obamacare, too. It didn't go far enough to me. I can sit here at my house and count 3 new hospitals, within 3 miles, that sit empty-- the profits they are making have to go somewhere... Everything is a rip off, but that's due to maximizing profits and not sharing the wealth with good paying jobs. From where I stand, it's the republicans that have caused a lot of the problems, not Obama.
Race relations have been simmering under the surface for years-- since the 60s. This is nothing new, it has just come to the forefront. Furthermore, I don't blame the blacks for our problems, I blame us.
People need jobs. Under Obama, we've added quite a few-- not enough, but quite a few.
Don't call me Pollyanna. I'm telling the truth, as I see it. And don't be hateful to me. There is no rioting in the streets here, no one is out firing rifles in the air, the military is near by, if we get into a mess. We've had several peace marches, primarily populated by blacks, but by whites, too. And our Jewish and Muslim neighbors... I can't help it if you don't see these things, this is just how it is here in Louisville.