Selectivity in Trashing Trump

Submitted by Sunspots on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 2:12pm

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/21/selectivity-in-trashing-trump/

Investigative reporter Robert Parry, the author of this article, broke many of the Iran-Contra stories. He says there's good reason to denounce Trump's crude language, position on climate change, and if he follows Reagan and Bush's failed economic policies. However, he also mentions moving among protesters at the inauguration, and seeing signs denouncing Trump's interest in working peacefully with Putin. In other words, the warmongers were part of the crowd protesting him, too. And now Silicon Valley is up in arms and funding immigration protests (over H1B visas - they want to keep bringing in cheaper foreign IT workers).

But the current danger for Democrats and progressives is that – by bashing everything that Trump says and does – they will further alienate the white working-class voters who became his base and will push away anti-war activists.

There is a risk that the Left will trade places with the Right on the question of war and peace, with Democrats and progressives associating themselves with Hillary Clinton’s support for “endless war” in the Middle East, the political machinations of the CIA, and a New Cold War with Russia, essentially moving into an alliance with the Military (and Intelligence) Industrial Complex.

Many populists already view the national Democrats as elitists disdainful of the working class, promoters of harmful “free trade” deals, and internationalists represented by the billionaires at the glitzy annual confab in Davos, Switzerland

The whole article is interesting and not very long. It may be minor, but staying always on the same note, no matter what, gets just boring. Constant hostility is wearing and depressing - people start to avoid listening.

Don't we want to be heard? Let's not alienate the working class or push away the anti-war movement. We can still bash Trump plenty when he deserves it, on specific wrongs.

Tags:

Trump

Tactics

protest

Peace

environment

economy

crude language

military-industrial complex

Vote

Comments

Submitted by riverlover on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 2:44pm

I am preaching "Hold each other"

Witness. Consider long and hard about how to respond, unless you are a judge in Court.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by native on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 3:04pm

An interesting analysis of the Trump phenomenon

at The Federalist website posits that his appeal is that of an antihero, in an age when heroism has been widely discredited. Citing the popularity of antiheroes in the movies.

"No one should be surprised that postmodern America chose an antihero to be our next president"

Heroes who stand for traditionally good things in a world where everything supposedly “good” has long been discredited are corny Dudley Do-Rights who are at best too stupid to know better. Antiheroes, by contrast, ingratiate themselves with their audiences for their gritty realism and their candor, no matter how bad they are. Frank Underwood breaks the fourth wall with his viewers and brings them along for his evil schemes; Walter White’s moment of redemption is his final admission to his wife that he sells meth because he likes to, and not to do right by his family; and Tony Soprano establishes a close bond with his daughter early on when he admits to her that he’s not actually a “waste management consultant.” In the postmodern world, there is no greater virtue then authenticity, and there is no greater vice than phoniness.

Most importantly of all, Trump understood that postmodern America loathes nothing more than a self-righteous fraud. Hence his reputation for “counterpunching” when confronted with breathless expressions of “offense.” Such was evident in his response to Clinton’s “penchant for sexism” remark by bringing up her husband’s history of sexual assault. Rather than doing what was expected and taking the high road, apologizing, and moving on, Trump opted to call his accusers out for the most certain fact that their professions of moral outrage are cynical power grab and nothing more.

—

native

Submitted by MarilynW on Wed, 02/01/2017 - 7:28am

He lost the popular vote, so America did not choose him

@native
"No one should be surprised that postmodern America chose an antihero to be our next president"
It should be:

A minority of the American voters chose an incompetent narcissist fraud who is failing in his attempt to be a president.

—

To thine own self be true.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 3:07pm

With all the astro turf being thrown around lately...

I'm sorry to say I've become quite suspicious of any protest that the cops don't try to disrupt.

More than once I have caught myself thinking that it's only legit if somebody gets kettled, shot, beaten, maced, etc.

Is that bad?

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by Steven D on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 3:09pm

Is that bad?

@Not Henry Kissinger No. Sounds like a legitimate criteria to apply to me.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by Big Al on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 3:38pm

Fuck that.

Trump and his regime should be bashed at every turn, they aren't our friends. His supporters are a severe minority in this country and many will realize they've been duped. Parry has long been an apologist for Obama too. Much of the left has already proven it will back the democrats wars and imperialism which is why we never had any antiwar activity during Obama's tenure. And I certainly wouldn't expect any antiwar activity from Trump's supporters.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 3:59pm

Why TOP is doomed

staying always on the same note, no matter what, gets just boring. Constant hostility is wearing and depressing - people start to avoid listening.

It's almost February.
It's past time to leave "general election mode".

Submitted by Ellen North on Wed, 02/01/2017 - 6:29pm

@gjohnsit

@gjohnsit

Ahhhhh, but is the election really over, or is Hillary expecting to have the horrified public clamouring to have the Clintons swoop in to save them from the horror of Trump, whose every outrage is so very well publicized, rather than covered over - as, tellingly, are his corporate and horrendous picks for appointees?

If Hillary had been the one to do what Trump has done so far, how much protest would we be seeing covered by corporate media - and how many protesters would have been pepper-sprayed, brutalized and arrested by police?

On the other hand, with Hillary in, we'd probably all be radioactive dust by now, so that might be moot, except as an example of propaganda 'tells'.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 7:15pm

We slept with the devil and woke up with singed bits.

Every day is a catastrophe — if you're wearing your catastrophe glasses.

But if you're wearing your hypocrisy glasses, then you'll notice that Trump is also bringing the opportunity for redemption every day. There's an opportunity for Americans to look at what's real and then look inside; a chance to right the wrongs they have committed in their ongoing assault against humanity.

But, nooooo!! Instead, each new Station of the Cross that Trump inflicts upon the nation is met with a stunning new peak in hypocrisy, as the Americans people double down on their protests. They are blind to their absurd hypocrisy and they refuse to redress any of their crimes against humanity. It seems they are determined to cannibalize themselves under the ever-present shadow of the past. Every missed opportunity for redemption and reckoning makes the future darker for them.

I ran across a well-stated description of yesterday's Outrage du Jour, the "Muslim Travel Ban," over at the geopolitical clubhouse, Moon Over Alabama. There, the 'outrage of the liberals' is found to be particularly amusing:

Yes, these policies are bad, very bad. Trump is bad. But so was Obama and so is Clinton. Protesting the policies of one while not protesting when the other implemented the same policies is insincere grandstanding.

Wherever you look, those Trump policies are building directly on, or simply repeating Obama policies. The now theatrically outraged people swallowed those without a word of protest.

A Trump order yesterday introduced a temporary ban on visa holders and visa issuing to citizens of seven Middle East countries. These countries are: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Those countries have one thing in common. No terrorist who killed on U.S. soil originated from them.

The author landed a good one, here. Americans have been too disinformed to notice — after fifteen continuous years (!) of war in the Middle East — that they are being attacked at home by Sunni muslims. Yet, the nations and people that the US is destroying (on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia) are majority Shiite nations. It is the Shia population that the Neocons tell US Presidents to ban from entering the US. The dislocated refugees and travelers are fleeing the active genocide of Shias, executed by the Sunnis, who are armed to kill by the Americans.

It turns out that only the Sunnis — the sect embraced by those who regularly murder Americans in domestic terrorist attacks — are welcome in the US. In fact, President Bush flew his favorite Sunnis out of the US on 9/11, while all other all domestic aircraft were grounded. Some were family members of those who planned the 9/11 attack. The Sunni countries are protected by the Petrodollar and by the Neocon traitors at the State Department, so they do not appear on Trump's banned list.

It is nothing new that the citizens of those countries are targeted with U.S. visa restrictions. It was Obama who first introduced these restrictions in 2015 and 2016. The Trump order links directly to them. It does not name any country but refers to them as "countries designated in Division O, Title II, Section 203 of the 2016 consolidated appropriations act."

In 2011 Obama stopped processing Iraqi visa requests for six months. That move was quite similar to Trump's current one. Where was the outcry in 2001? In 2011, 2015 and 2016? Is it only bad when Trump restricts visits for certain people from certain countries?

The rest of the world watches this sick hypocrisy unfold in the US:

The outcries on social media. The searing newspaper headlines. The people protesting at airports while the TV cameras poised to spread the news. Stooges, all.

Sure, Trump introduces his "outrageous" measures loud and abruptly where Obama sneaked them in. But that is just different marketing, not a different product.

How will reality be accommodated as we build a new Democratic Party? Reality is such an inconvenient topic at this late date. Perhaps we should put it off until much later. There's an important election right around the corner. Plus, we will be attacked as conspiracy theorists and all our candidates will lose…. What's the point of reality, anyway?

____________________________
This is only one of the American hypocrisies on display to the world. Read on at Moon Over Alabama for the rest.

Submitted by polkageist on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 10:11pm

@Pluto's Republic I can always count on you

@Pluto's Republic I can always count on you for sanity. That is a good article you cite. I wonder why so many have trouble seeing Obama for the neocon he is. I wouldn't buy a used car from him.

Every day is a catastrophe — if you're wearing your catastrophe glasses.

But if you're wearing your hypocrisy glasses, then you'll notice that Trump is also bringing the opportunity for redemption every day. There's an opportunity for Americans to look at what's real and then look inside; a chance to right the wrongs they have committed in their ongoing assault against humanity.

But, nooooo!! Instead, each new Station of the Cross that Trump inflicts upon the nation is met with a stunning new peak in hypocrisy, as the Americans people double down on their protests. They are blind to their absurd hypocrisy and they refuse to redress any of their crimes against humanity. It seems they are determined to cannibalize themselves under the ever-present shadow of the past. Every missed opportunity for redemption and reckoning makes the future darker for them.

I ran across a well-stated description of yesterday's Outrage du Jour, the "Muslim Travel Ban," over at the geopolitical clubhouse, Moon Over Alabama. There, the 'outrage of the liberals' is found to be particularly amusing:

Yes, these policies are bad, very bad. Trump is bad. But so was Obama and so is Clinton. Protesting the policies of one while not protesting when the other implemented the same policies is insincere grandstanding.

Wherever you look, those Trump policies are building directly on, or simply repeating Obama policies. The now theatrically outraged people swallowed those without a word of protest.

A Trump order yesterday introduced a temporary ban on visa holders and visa issuing to citizens of seven Middle East countries. These countries are: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Those countries have one thing in common. No terrorist who killed on U.S. soil originated from them.

The author landed a good one, here. Americans have been too disinformed to notice — after fifteen continuous years (!) of war in the Middle East — that they are being attacked at home by Sunni muslims. Yet, the nations and people that the US is destroying (on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia) are majority Shiite nations. It is the Shia population that the Neocons tell US Presidents to ban from entering the US. The dislocated refugees and travelers are fleeing the active genocide of Shias, executed by the Sunnis, who are armed to kill by the Americans.

It turns out that only the Sunnis — the sect embraced by those who regularly murder Americans in domestic terrorist attacks — are welcome in the US. In fact, President Bush flew his favorite Sunnis out of the US on 9/11, while all other all domestic aircraft were grounded. Some were family members of those who planned the 9/11 attack. The Sunni countries are protected by the Petrodollar and by the Neocon traitors at the State Department, so they do not appear on Trump's banned list.

It is nothing new that the citizens of those countries are targeted with U.S. visa restrictions. It was Obama who first introduced these restrictions in 2015 and 2016. The Trump order links directly to them. It does not name any country but refers to them as "countries designated in Division O, Title II, Section 203 of the 2016 consolidated appropriations act."

In 2011 Obama stopped processing Iraqi visa requests for six months. That move was quite similar to Trump's current one. Where was the outcry in 2001? In 2011, 2015 and 2016? Is it only bad when Trump restricts visits for certain people from certain countries?

The rest of the world watches this sick hypocrisy unfold in the US:

The outcries on social media. The searing newspaper headlines. The people protesting at airports while the TV cameras poised to spread the news. Stooges, all.

Sure, Trump introduces his "outrageous" measures loud and abruptly where Obama sneaked them in. But that is just different marketing, not a different product.

How will reality be accommodated as we build a new Democratic Party? Reality is such an inconvenient topic at this late date. Perhaps we should put it off until much later. There's an important election right around the corner. Plus, we will be attacked as conspiracy theorists and all our candidates will lose…. What's the point of reality, anyway?

____________________________
This is only one of the American hypocrisies on display to the world. Read on at Moon Over Alabama for the rest.

—

-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Tue, 01/31/2017 - 8:50am

@Pluto's Republic Outstanding comment,

@Pluto's Republic Outstanding comment, Pluto!

Every day is a catastrophe — if you're wearing your catastrophe glasses.

But if you're wearing your hypocrisy glasses, then you'll notice that Trump is also bringing the opportunity for redemption every day. There's an opportunity for Americans to look at what's real and then look inside; a chance to right the wrongs they have committed in their ongoing assault against humanity.

But, nooooo!! Instead, each new Station of the Cross that Trump inflicts upon the nation is met with a stunning new peak in hypocrisy, as the Americans people double down on their protests. They are blind to their absurd hypocrisy and they refuse to redress any of their crimes against humanity. It seems they are determined to cannibalize themselves under the ever-present shadow of the past. Every missed opportunity for redemption and reckoning makes the future darker for them.

I ran across a well-stated description of yesterday's Outrage du Jour, the "Muslim Travel Ban," over at the geopolitical clubhouse, Moon Over Alabama. There, the 'outrage of the liberals' is found to be particularly amusing:

Yes, these policies are bad, very bad. Trump is bad. But so was Obama and so is Clinton. Protesting the policies of one while not protesting when the other implemented the same policies is insincere grandstanding.

Wherever you look, those Trump policies are building directly on, or simply repeating Obama policies. The now theatrically outraged people swallowed those without a word of protest.

A Trump order yesterday introduced a temporary ban on visa holders and visa issuing to citizens of seven Middle East countries. These countries are: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Those countries have one thing in common. No terrorist who killed on U.S. soil originated from them.

The author landed a good one, here. Americans have been too disinformed to notice — after fifteen continuous years (!) of war in the Middle East — that they are being attacked at home by Sunni muslims. Yet, the nations and people that the US is destroying (on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia) are majority Shiite nations. It is the Shia population that the Neocons tell US Presidents to ban from entering the US. The dislocated refugees and travelers are fleeing the active genocide of Shias, executed by the Sunnis, who are armed to kill by the Americans.

It turns out that only the Sunnis — the sect embraced by those who regularly murder Americans in domestic terrorist attacks — are welcome in the US. In fact, President Bush flew his favorite Sunnis out of the US on 9/11, while all other all domestic aircraft were grounded. Some were family members of those who planned the 9/11 attack. The Sunni countries are protected by the Petrodollar and by the Neocon traitors at the State Department, so they do not appear on Trump's banned list.

It is nothing new that the citizens of those countries are targeted with U.S. visa restrictions. It was Obama who first introduced these restrictions in 2015 and 2016. The Trump order links directly to them. It does not name any country but refers to them as "countries designated in Division O, Title II, Section 203 of the 2016 consolidated appropriations act."

In 2011 Obama stopped processing Iraqi visa requests for six months. That move was quite similar to Trump's current one. Where was the outcry in 2001? In 2011, 2015 and 2016? Is it only bad when Trump restricts visits for certain people from certain countries?

The rest of the world watches this sick hypocrisy unfold in the US:

The outcries on social media. The searing newspaper headlines. The people protesting at airports while the TV cameras poised to spread the news. Stooges, all.

Sure, Trump introduces his "outrageous" measures loud and abruptly where Obama sneaked them in. But that is just different marketing, not a different product.

How will reality be accommodated as we build a new Democratic Party? Reality is such an inconvenient topic at this late date. Perhaps we should put it off until much later. There's an important election right around the corner. Plus, we will be attacked as conspiracy theorists and all our candidates will lose…. What's the point of reality, anyway?

____________________________
This is only one of the American hypocrisies on display to the world. Read on at Moon Over Alabama for the rest.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by ZimInSeattle on Mon, 01/30/2017 - 11:27pm

I'll support the Dumpster Fire wherever possible.

Not likely to happen too much given all the flailing to date. Even a broken clock...

—

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Submitted by riverlover on Tue, 01/31/2017 - 2:35am

Someone on FB, actually many on my FB feed

@ZimInSeattle
are calling to burn it all down. Haven't some of us been calling for that for quite some time? Anyway, offer upped: they have marshmallows. That plus popcorn sounds mighty tasty.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.