NYT op-ed: "Detested and defeated, Donald Trump is now in a tear-the-country-down rage"

Pointing out sexual assault is not “political correctness”.

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I’m hoping on Nov. 9th the New York Times runs a headline with Trump’s face and “LOSER” as the only word.

Then we will know the true bounds or Trump’s rage.

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fuck Trump, I’m more interested in why Trumps emerge

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I specifically mentioned Germany because the GPP did, and I’m going to agree with you that it was probably a mistake on my part to do so, but let my original post stand. However, with “Christian ideology” I do wonder sometimes as to whether in this case correlation implies causation. For instance, the Quakers originated in the UK as a movement that rejected just about all standard Christian norms. Nowadays this continues in the UK, but in the US there are “programmed” and “unprogrammed” Quakers. The “programmed” Quakers are pretty much like other US Protestant sects. (As a counter example US Episcopalians tend to be more progressive than UK Anglicans, so let’s not oversimplify.)
“Frontier” mentalities do tend to end up reinforcing conservatism - the Boers in South Africa and the Junkers in East Prussia immediately spring to mind.

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Yeah, probably. I wouldn’t want to be on his staff or his wife or young son, when that goes down. Assholes like that always want to take it out on someone, somehow. At least the older kids actually live elsewhere, don’t they?

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This makes great sense to me in the US context.

Ok, I won’t delete it. :wink:

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Are you saying that Trumps emerge because people are choosing to be more courteous around people who are not like them?

You’re going to have to explain that one.

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The relationship of Francis I to Poland is more complicated than is perhaps proper. A lot of Poles believe that John Paul II is the standard by which popes should be judged, and theological reassessments of his politics, however wise, mean that you aren’t meeting that standard

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I’m the first one to admit that my recollection of a period in which I’m not deeply read is probably flawed. If so, apologies.

You might like to read Golo Mann’s book The History Of Germany Since 1789, which has a good English translation. Mann is a very even handed writer.
Edit - I assume you’ve read Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich since I have yet to find anybody with an opinion on Germany of the period who hasn’t. If by some remote chance you haven’t, do, but read it alongside Mann’s book.

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I’m saying that here’s a gentleman who’s given it some critical thought. Your thesis is not an accurate reflection of his. I have not formed my own.

EDIT: To be be fair to you, he’s not given much of a chance to explain his philosophy in the video I linked, there are far better lecture-format videos easily found If you genuinely want to parse his deconstruction of modern western discourse rather than engage in message board sparring

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Have I offended against a rule of syntax? I thought it was clear that “I’m going to…” referred to both clauses.
I do find some people don’t understand things in my posts, I am always willing to learn.

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Because the US has a strong authoritarian streak, a long history of deep, deep racism, white, male entitlement, etc. those who have been historically victimized by white, male, christian supremacy have become increasingly vocal and made some serious inroads since the 1960s, which caused a backlash from those losing their privileges. The fragmentation of the media scape meant that various political POVs became back bones of various media companies, competing for dollars and viewers, so they worked to entrench their viewership by appealing to our tribalistic impulses. GOP have been employing dog whistles of various kinds since Nixon and have actively courted white men, especially working class and the petite bourgeoisie through those. Fox news, various reddit boards, Breitbart, Red State, and various conservative media outlets have amped those impulses up to the nth degree. Realty TV became a thing and Trump, pretty keen to promote his “brand” (since that was really all he had, since he was shit as a business man), became a reality TV star and decided to turn that into a political career by courting those impulses in the American population that felt under attack by not being able to use racial slurs and to beat their wives any more or to gay bash or whatever else. Not to mention stagnating wages, an uncertain economy, rising health care costs, and a generation of boomers about to retire… Then, the GOP thought they could control trump when he decided to run for the ticket and, despite pretentious to the contrary, the religious right has started to lose it’s grip on the GOP and Trump’s lack of overt religious stance appealed to conservatives who felt aggreived other wise. The media, from the “mainstream” on down took him seriously.

This ain’t rocket science. Again, pointing out sexual assault is not political correctness. It’s pointing out a fucking crime.

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The same reason religions gain followers: ignorance, desperation, inequality, a sense being persecuted and being left behind. Confidence artists since the beginning of recorded history have been endlessly creative in coming up with all kinds of snake oil to cure those ills. Allowing followers to treat The Other poorly is a standard ingredient in any of the toxic brews on offer.

Your interest is appropriate, since the 30% of the electorate voting for him won’t go away after he loses (especially since he’ll claim that Clinton won due to fraud).

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Basically, it will be “look at how incredibly gracious I am, even though the whole thing was rigged and a crime against America has been committed. Congratulations to my opponent, she’s great and she deserves the victory and she should be in jail and she’s going to destroy the country. I’m too classy to advocate for violence or revolution but that would be a hell of a thing, wouldn’t it? Let me tell ya.”

Protecting his brand requires decorum in defeat whilst denying that he lost. It’s been a hell of a performance and I expect a fitting dismount.

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@chgoliz and @Mister44 have considered it.

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Also, I must admit, until 1995 it was the part of the US with which I was most familiar, hence my comment. A lot of British visitors never really get past the coastal States, and a nodding acquaintance with Florida and NY - and their impression is about as valid as US visitors to the UK who think the country consists of central London plus two suburbs called Bath and Stratford.

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Why do we have psychopaths in the general population? Partly because they are good at having children by multiple women, partly I am sure because back in the hunter-gatherer days when resources got tight, the tribe psychopath was the one to say "Look at the tribe next door, they’re trespassing on our territory and stealing our food. Let’s kill them. What, you don’t want to kill the food-stealers and baby murderers? You’re unpatriotic!

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Exactly as you’ve said AND as Zizek points out, lack of a genuine alternative, i.e. worldwide collapse of true-left politics.

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It was pretty bad. I remember bumper stickers from the time (1994-ish) along the lines of “I don’t trust President Clinton… or her husband!” Limbaugh referring to HRC as “Hillary ‘Rod-man’ Clinton” etc. (though that antic probably ended when Kay Bailey Hutchison, who also incorporated her maiden name, was elected Senator).

But I’m told that it was pretty bad before & after Kennedy was elected, on account of his religious affiliation. My mom remembers her father* and a neighbor going on and on about him doing the Pope’s bidding.

*Thankfully he mellowed a lot the older he got, placing him comfortably on this side of Archie Bunker.

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Fast forward 8 years and even this doesn’t seem as bad:

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