Trump goes full fearmongering for votes
I guess this shouldn't surprise me, but it's still disturbing.
US President Donald Trump has warned that his policies will be "violently" overturned if the Democrats win November's mid-term elections.He told Evangelical leaders that the vote was a "referendum" on freedom of speech and religion, and that these were threatened by "violent people".
He appealed to conservative Christian groups for help, saying they were one vote away from "losing everything".
Trump knows his base, and it is full of fear.
It's one thing to scream about a War on Christmas, but it's another thing to say you will be harmed/killed if the GOP doesn't win this election.
His base will actually believe this. How will it react?
During the meeting, Mr Trump said the mid-term elections were not just a referendum on him but also "on your religion, it's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment [guaranteeing basic freedoms]"."It's not a question of like or dislike, it's a question that they will overturn everything that we've done and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence. When you look at Antifa - these are violent people," he said.
Making heavily armed people terrified does not generally have good outcomes.
America is heading in the direction of another Harpers Ferry. After that comes Ft. Sumter. https://t.co/5PmwlwcdSQ
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) 24 June 2018
If you never visit right-wing blogs you may not know what he's talking about, so let me give you an example of how this was received.
Are we going to see violence in the streets of our major cities following the mid-term elections in November? President Trump seems to believe that this is a very real possibility, and he shared his thoughts on this with a group of top evangelical leaders on Monday night. Previously, those that have warned that a “civil war” is coming to America have been heavily criticized, but perhaps people will start taking this more seriously now that President Trump is saying it. Of course we have already seen dozens of attacks on Trump supporters all over the nation, but the mainstream media largely ignores those because it does not fit the narratives that they are pushing.
Even on the mainstream right-wing Bloomberg you see articles like this: What Democratic Rage Would Look Like
“I think we’re at the beginning of a soft civil war.”
What Trump just did is dangerous.
Comments
Oh, if only it were true.
We could get rid of Trump, Christmas, and Christians in one swell foop.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
August is a bit early to start the war on Christmas, isn't it?
j/k
Please don’t get rid of me!
But I’ll back you up on converting Advent back to a penitential season of self reflection from the current use of that timer as an annual orgy of consumption...
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
I no longer live in the US but WTF?
Where exactly? Why isn’t this front page news and all over the 24/7/365 cable propaganda channels?
This is no longer distorted narrative of alternative reality but a completely schizophrenic like break. Fuck me I’m glad to be out of the psych ward.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Liberals used to be wimps
Now they are scary radicals.
Are you saying that
Trump has had a break from reality when he asserts that there have been attacks on Trump supporters and that the mainstream news is not reporting it?
Where, you ask? Here are some examples.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/trump-supporters-attacks-v...
https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article215737070.html
Further, Madonna yelled that she wants to bomb the white house; there is Maxine Waters telling everyone to surround and harass Trump supporters, etc.
Trump supporters have been harassed and yelled at while at dinner and while at movies.
You were unaware of these types of incidents?
The dems have become completely unhinged. And then there is anti-fa, whoever the heck they are, running around inciting violence.
dfarrah
Yelled at and harassed is not violence.
Madonna saying stupid stuff? So what? What violent ACTION Is she guilty of actually doing?
Inflammatory and hateful speech is not violent action regardless of whichever asshat uses it. The US has become a cesspool of scared shitless, angry, and totally over the top loudmouth shitheads. It isn’t even enough to give most people pause anymore. Well, unless it comes from a person or identity with which they disagree. Extreme toxicity is the norm - left, right, and center. Talk to me when people get assaulted, injured, and/or murdered. People’s feelings get hurt. Poor them. They dish it out but don’t like facing it.
I don’t agree with any of it. I sick from living in and around it. It is infectious. None of it is right or consistent with a civil society. This shit is a big part of why we left.
At this point in my life I live in the most peaceful place that I’ve ever been. I am among people who value peace, community, and harmony. You should hear what the expat community has to say about the insanity in the US. The locals are bewildered by the devolution of a place and people they looked up to as an example to emulate. No more. I have not met an opposing viewpoint in our eight months here.
Listen up. Trump is but a symptom of the disease in America. Few aren’t infected.
This has only boiled to the surface since his election. It has probably always been there but has steadily worsened during my 67 years on this planet. The hyperbolic and hateful speech will become action unless the American people come to whatever senses are remaining and reject violent speech and violent action. None of it is acceptable. None.
I even see posts here declaring hatred for others and/or their ideas/beliefs. Disagreement is fine but there is never, never, a time to hate. Especially over politics. Hatred and anger are a poison we take while hoping it kills those we hate. It works but not as intended. Accepting hate speech and action is the path to where we are now as a country. The path won’t end in happy destiny.
That applies to any person or group. Trump is only the poster child. A symptom if you will.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Amen.
Where is that peaceful place you are living? I am looking for something like that. I agree very much with your comment. Send me a pms if you do not want to reveal your location in public. Thanks.
Just wait for what is brewing up in Germany. You have not seen nothing yet.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Cuenca, Ecuador mimi
I've been meaning to write something about our experience moving here and what we've found. We're less than three months from the end of a nine month house build and another move so I'm getting busier again. I haven't written anything yet but should.
The short version is that my wife started looking for a refuge in the summer of 2016. A comment from our adult son (he came with us) pointed her towards Ecuador. By Thanksgiving she was sure it was worth taking a look so she asked if I would look into moving and living here. I liked everything I saw while researching life here for expats. We took a 15 day guided tour of the Andes - Quito-Coticachi-Otavalo and Cuenca-Loja-Vilcabamba.
The research was spot on. This part of the country was as beautiful as we expected. Extra free time in Cuenca, our point of greatest interest, gave us time to meet with an attorney whose business is providing a one stop, sort of, place for new expats to get help moving and settling in Ecuador. Residency visa, health care insurance, real estate/rental location, relocation services, language help, drivers licenses and vehicle purchase, wills and common attorney service, banking, you name it and Sara can at point you in the right direction. We knew Cuenca was a no-brainer for us by the time we returned home. We slow walked the decision until May while beginning to get our home ready to sell.
Low cost of living, the official currency has been the USD since 1999, spectacularly beautiful country including jungle, the Andes, the tropical coast, and the Galopagos Islands, ease of obtaining residency status and even a simple road to citizenship if desired, a very healthy climate and diverse environment, and the list goes on. But I won't say more right now than all of that stuff is well and good but it is the people of Cuenca who are the treasure. They are the ultimate reason we chose to come here and they daily reassure us of the correctness of our decision. Every US and Canadian expat I've spoken to has had the exact same opinion that the people are why we want to live here.
Coming here was a life reset for us. It's a new beginning in healthy living, peace, and tranquility. One side effect has been a complete removal of the daily stench that comes from a country I've loved my whole life. None of the drama and insanity is in my daily life and I really don't miss any of it. The US has no obvious affect on our lives.
Maybe I'll find some time this weekend to write about our leap into the unknown that has been the best decision we've made individually and collectively.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Thank you so much for your answer
I think you are blessed with that decision and wonder if I had the courage to do so myself. I am by myself and seventy years now. I am looking forward to your essays to come and give it some research and thought, for sure. All the best to you and your family.
https://www.euronews.com/live
According to a study sponsored by the city government
that was completed and published last year the average age of the 5-8000 expats in Cuenca was 66. (The city wants expats here! What a concept. The study was an effort to inform their efforts to help integrate a large and fast growing expat community. IMHO that's how governments should function.) I've met mostly Americans and Canadians, the majority demographic, but there are many from western Europe and one man getting his residency visa at the same time as us was from the Bahamas. We have only one, soon two, American expat families near us because we chose to live on the outskirts of the city. Our plan was to stay close to the city for a year or so to learn the city and culture. That changed with an incredible opportunity to build a house where we thought, still do, we wanted to live. We have lost the fast track to learning the language and culture in exchange for living where we wanted to be. We also added more complexity to our lives in the short run. Living in the city where we could have more contact with the majority of the expat community and many more locals would have been optimal. Instead we're among farmers as well as professional Cuencanos but mostly farmers and the average worker. They're a much better lot than the business people and professionals we lived near in the states. My pointless is that it's easy to live in areas where there are more expats if you want or only locals and everything in between.
The majority of our attorney's business is retirement visas followed closely by investment and professional visas. Speaking with Sara about the various choices lead us to decide to apply for investment visas for my wife and son. They could have been dependents but they would lose their visas if anything happened to me. The 8% interest we're earning on the credit union CDs on deposit with the Ecuador Central Bank was icing on the cake. My wife will get hers back when we get our permanent visas after two years living here. Her interest in the house we're building qualifies as her investment. Regardless, the residency visa requirements are very straightforward and, besides the paperwork and bureaucratic drills, easy enough with proper help.
Sara's business has increased significantly since we came here. There are also disturbances in the force from the increasing influx of refugees from Venezuela. I don't know how or if it will cause changes in the immigration.
Right now, though, and for the foreseeable future there aren't any barriers to to coming here besides convincing ourselves it is the right thing to do. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who love the idea of living here but they're tied down by family or the courage to go into the unknown. I understand completely. It is a big decision that is best informed by intense research and a visit (several weeks to months if possible)before making the leap. I've met the full range of people and whole families (parents and 8 kids is the biggest so far) coming here with a few suitcases to those like me with a 40'x8'x9' overseas container of crap we don't need and two dogs and four cats that we would never leave. Knowing what I know now I'd have come with personal stuff and as little as possible. That means for us we'd have brought the container half full instead of crammed to the ceiling front to back.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
If you would like to go through the pain to
make yourself a google translated English version of this, at least it would show you another picture.
Neo-Nazi Cell "Atomic Weapons Division" This DRECK comes from the US and runs underground or may be openly now in Germany.
You can bet they are not welcome. And I am pretty upset over similar attempts to soil this site with DRECK like that. I thought this site was left leaning. It's not anymore and I don't feel at home here anymore.
This sort of freedom of thought is destructive. Your MMV.
https://www.euronews.com/live
The US has always had a lunatic fringe
It's just that the lunatics have become more publicly visible lately - partly because the Moronic Media seeks them out because ratings mean $$$$$.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I don't know about that, but Germany has
different laws with regards to hate speech and kind of sedition speech. I like ours. Not that frigging free as yours but in the end, based on our experiences in the Third Reich, our founding fathers were ok with limiting a little bit what and how you can talk about anything that refers to the Nazis of the past. Our Basic law is quite good and it was written after the total collapse of the Third Reich. I am ok with it.
May be the US has to go through a collapse before it can come to its senses again and implement the changes in your constitution that are necessary to make your country a social fair and truly democratic one.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Gone are the days
of the effete, limp wristed, pacifist, pot smoking, kumbaya singing, hippy leftist.
They have all morphed into Incredible Hulks with blood and guts and things hanging in their teeth.
Scary.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Leftists who walked up to armed troops
to put flowers into the barrels of rifles aimed directly at their faces were not weak. Pacifists are not weak. Abie Hoffman was not weak. Neither was Ellsberg or Ayers or, for that matter, the Weathermen.
People who demonstrated against the war and for civil rights, some of whom were killed, were not weak. People who went to prison rather than reporting for the draft were not weak. Neither were leftists who demonstrated outside the sham of a Democratic National Convention in 1968.
I'm not, by any means, saying so-called hippies were all law-abiding, though most were. I'm saying only that they were not weak. Nor have so-called hippies morphed into antifa.
March on Pentagon,October, 1967
pic by Bernie Boston
1968 Democratic National Convention
I forgot my snark tag, Henry
Of course I agree with you completely.
The perception of leftest in that war-time era was that of draft dodgers, cowards, and un-American.
The picture I drew was what leftists were thought of by the warmongers.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Perfect example...
of why violence from the left is always counterproductive.
All it ever does is rile up the right by playing directly to its nascent siege mentality.
Heckuva job, Antifa!
You twits.
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?
Trump says something that makes no sense and the thread
becomes about where the left is wrong?
I don't get it.
It doesn't make sense....
... if you refuse to acknowledge that antifa's agenda has been to initiate violent confrontation with right wing groups.
If you do, then it's all to easy to understand how Trump would want to exploit Antifa's activities to rile up his base.
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?
No, what Trump said doesn't make sense, no matter what one
thinks, or allegedly "refuses to acknowledge" about antifa.
https://caucus99percent.com/comment/366428#comment-366428
And I certainly don't understand leaping from a nonsensical statement made by Trump to criticisms of the left--and not only of antifa (which is not exactly "the left" anyway). M
Yeah whatever.
Talk to me when the Trumpers turn out in droves and the Dems suck their thumbs and wonder yet again why all their moronic strategies always seem to backfire.
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?
Don't care if Dems suck their thumbs til the cows come home
and I doubt that the crowd that voted for Hillary in 2016 comprise the bulk of the membership of antifa.
Spend a little time on YouTube watching Antifa. They
certainly make his case.
chuck utzman
TULSI 2020
No, they don't. He is saying that, *IF*
Democrats get elected, Democrats will violently change his policies. What the hell does that even mean, in real time? Legislation is violent when Democrats are in the majority?
antifa is operating now, while Republicans control both houses of Congress, the Executive branch and the Supreme Court. Why would antifa be more violent with Democrats in control of Congress than it has been with Republicans in control?
And, as far as antifa per se, never discount the possibility that at least some bad things attributed to the left are actually being done by the right, disguised as the left.
I posted a comment
within the last two months, I believe, where I said I feared civil war.
I said this because of the way people like Maxine Waters have been telling people to harass Trump supporters where they are, the various incidents where Trump supporters have been harassed and spit on, etc.
I'm not saying that there has been no violence incited by the right, but if you are unaware of the way Trump supporters have been under attack, then maybe your news source needs to be broadened.
I'm now afraid of what 'my side' is doing. I am now afraid that everything is going to blow out of control. And lord only knows what those sicko anti-fa are up to.
For this diary,I'm really disappointed that the dem side was not called out for their role in trying to incite violence. The dems have been whipping up a state of hysteria in their supporters since Trump took office. Trump is merely observing what is already in progress.
dfarrah
This word "violence"...
I'm not sure it means what you think it means. Speaking harshly to public officials in public places is not violence. Dragging conservatives out of their SUVs and hanging them from telephone poles is violence. No, I haven't seen any significant numbers of conservatives being victims of violence, no more so than any other group in our dystopian 21st Century Murka.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Define significant.
Because the way the political landscape stands now, all it takes is one conservative martyr to cement Trump for another six years.
I also have to say: the way you casually normalize violence against people of a different political persuasion is a bit creepy.
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?
OK
"Significant" means in excess of statistically expected numbers of victims of violent crime. Let's pick a category, like assault. Pick a city, state, or region. Break down the rates of assault per 100,000 population by racial, ethnic, income, religion, or political affiliation. Now demonstrate that political conservatives are victims of assault at a higher rate than, say, African Americans.
The reason I don't take violence against conservatives seriously is because THERE ISN'T ANY. The day isn't long enough to list all the imaginary things I don't take seriously, this is one of them.
And don't worry about El Trumpo. He has no more chance of being elected in 2020 than I do. He won Pennsylvania by 25,000 votes and Florida by 10,000 votes, both because of utter incompetence by the Clinton campaign. His numbers outside the Republican base are terrible, and there are fewer Republican voters each election as they pass away and aren't replaced.
And if Amendment 4 passes in Florida there will never be another Republican president.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
As far as the religious right, nothing Trump says (or does)
matters, unless he says, "On second (or third) thought, I do support a woman's right to choose."
The pussy grabbing audio didn't signify; neither did his several marriages or his crudeness. And, of course, pro lifers are fine with killing that takes place as the result of a death sentence or a war. And, if not fine, they certainly seem to have a good deal less trouble with war than with choice. AFAIK, no cleric refused communion to any elected official who voted for a war or fought a war, or declared a war, but they do have trouble with politicians who vote for a right to reproductive choice, even though the politician himself or herself never had an abortion.
He's being consistent
If you impeach him everyone will be poor and crime will run rampant.
If Democrats win elections America will no longer be great again.
The only thing holding back the hordes of violent extremists who Hate Your Freedoms is the not-so-thin Orange Line.
Everything good comes from The Glorious Leader. All hope resides in The Glorious Leader.
Give him more power, give him an Attorney General that does what he's told, give him HUUUGE military parades. Proclaim his greatness in every pulpit, talk show, and tweet.
For if he falls, darkness will descend and the America of Leave it to Beaver will only exist in syndication.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
He's asking for a fight.
He may get it.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Lol....
the dems usually roll over when corporate or war interests are involved.
dfarrah
I wasn't talking about the dems.
This country is ripening for another revolution.
The dems are part of the problem that revolts people.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Trump has 'policies'?
I thought they were reptilian-brain spasms hooked into Twitter.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Pretty certain that US Rep Steve Scalise would
disagree that 'the left' is not capable of violence. Don't have time to pull any bookmarks on his shooting (until after the holiday weekend), but in case some folks didn't hear about Scalise being gunned down at a Congressional baseball game practice--for a charity, no less--here's a partial excerpt of what Wikipedia had to say about the shooting,
As if that wasn't bad enough, per Wikipedia,
Personally, I wouldn't walk across the street to see any of the current 535 sitting lawmakers; however, I absolutely don't condone any form of
violence, or threat of violence, against any of them--regardless of their Party affiliation. (Scalise is a Louisiana Republican.)
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."~~Lao Tzu
“At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”~~Maya Angelou
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Much of the violence we are seeing
is not being waged by real people, but by the deep state actors such as George Soros using proxies, either paid or brainwashed to do the dirty work. I believe that what happened to Steve Scalise was an intended hit aimed directly at him for his stand against human trafficking which is far bigger than anything anyone here can imagine and the CIA and other deep state actors and individuals are heavily involved. In other words, it was not the work of alone wolf gunman or that Scalise was simply the unlucky victim. I believe Scalise was the intended target all along.
I want to be clear here. I am not defending the policies of Trump or the Republicans, but what I am saying is that the deep state will do everything they can to not only divide us against one another, but also to start a civil war. Antifa is simply just one example of a group organized and probably paid for by deep state actors.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Hey, no argument out of me, since
I've never seen much written about the actual 'motive' for the shooting.
And, considering how often, and easily, the Dem Party Base has been manipulated in the past, I suppose anything is possible regarding the possibility of brainwashing, etc.
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Just goes to show how far to the right this shithole has gone.
Right-wing ideologues have called for race riots for decades (among other things), and now that they have what they want (albeit through controlled opposition) they're whining (in front of the cameras while rubbing Vicks Vapo Rub under their eyes, anyway). Par for the course for cowards who've made it their livelihood to make everyone else miserable for their own enrichment and amusement.
Remember that these are the same assholes who screamed "We gotta shoot 'em in the head!" just before Congresswoman Giffords was shot. These are the same assholes who bomb abortion clinics, threaten, and kill abortion doctors.
They've been stirring this shit since the Reagan Corporate Coup began with nothing to challenge them whatsoever. As for real revolutionary potential? Please. This 'country' has none.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Crossing a line....
I don't care who incites violence, it is incitement: left, right or center; rich; poor.
Celebrities or those in public positions are often targets, but that doesn't relate to political positions as a rule. It is, at least as I perceive it, related to mental health.
But making anyone who holds a differing political view and actions, the enemy, and therefore, less than human and deserving violence, has become like vtcc said a prevalent infection.
One of the big reasons we got out too.
I guess what I am asking is where exactly is the the line that moves speech from speaking one's opinions to incitement?
Trump's remarks to me smack of incitement.
It appears from what I read here, anti fa is capable and does encourage if not execute violence.
My bias is that there is far more acceptance and talk about First Amendment rights from the Evangelical Right and other conservative and odd (sovereignty) groups: anti abortion right to kill doctors; open carry...etc.
Where does my nose end and the other guy's start? This is getting to be dicey. Lots of coded language which some of us may not even get.
Maybe this question deserves its own thread. But it is almost "I know it when I see (or hear) it".
You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce
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FIRST Amendment rights aren't the problem
Anybody can yell anything they want to (within reason) in a public place, and if they make a public flaming ass of themselves, that's their right too. It's also the right of any bystanders to mock and jeer the flaming ass.
The problem is when SECOND Amendment rights get involved....
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
the nation is full of rage
Its directed at the far right and they can feel it. Trump is trying to proactively lay blame for the violence that will come should the fascists continue to rule.