Expecting this stuff from Trump doesn't really inoculate you for when a top White House staffer whips out the skull calipers for a reporter.
— Matt Ford (@fordm) July 16, 2019
OOGA-BOOGA SCARY STRANGERS!!! is the Trump / Repub bolthole, the place they retreat when they perceive the situation as going badly for them. It works a charm with the “Base”, but that’s only the Crazification Factor demo. Our job is not to despair, but to get the vast majority of our sane (or at least not-totally-on-board with the ugliness) fellows to the streets, and to the polls.
What gets me is that the political calculus never takes into account the inverse, that pushing back against Trump's bigoted attacks is, in fact, a bread-and-butter issue for many voters and ignoring them could be even worse for Democrats electoral prospects
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) July 16, 2019
And Kris Kobach, the absolute Trumpiest candidate on the ballot, running on a full-fledged hardline anti-immigration line, managed to lose a lay-up race to be the governor of KANSAS. https://t.co/l6ZhorJsGY
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) July 16, 2019
This is ugly, and depressing and it sticks in your throat at how terrible and dark it is. Just as it was after Charlottesville. Just as it was when he announced the Muslim ban.
But don't confuse that for demoralizing. It'll only be that if Dems shy away from it.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) July 16, 2019
Raoul
I know I’ve said similar before, but the Conway marriage is up there in the pantheon of strange pairings. They are both probably complete performative fakes, on different angles of on-the-make, but strange bedfellows none the less. And both carry the moral stain of Trump, even if George does more to try to distance himself.
PhoenixRising
Someone get the ghost of FDR up here: I relish their hatred.
We all should. This is the fight for the soul of this country that we knew was coming. It’s time to engage them on our ground: the 13th-15th Amendments. It ain’t easy but it’s simple.
lamh36
But…but…didn’t her hubby George write an op-ed calling Chump a racist??. This is why I have no use for George Conway or Kellyanne Conway…the two of them are playing an “Angel vs Devil” con game Hers Kellyanne’s Devil & along come George’s “Angel” act every time then
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/1151178892952125442?s=20
randy khan
To the extent that I believe Trump is engaged in any kind of strategery (which I don’t), what I’d say is that if he has to turn the dogwhistles into sirens, he’s afraid he’s losing his base. The truth is that pretty much all of the outwardly racist people in the country are going to vote for him no matter what, so this stuff doesn’t serve any real purpose on his side of the fence. It does, however, make certain groups who want to be able to say they’re not racist uncomfortable about him, and pushing back is helpful with those groups, even if it’s just making them decide not to vote. (And if they don’t vote, that’s even better news downticket, since they’d mostly vote R.)
rikyrah
@Raoul:
Are you kidding me?
Please don’t tell me that you have fallen for their con.
Their scam.
Their game show.
It is all a fraud.
They are grifters, trying to stay relevant, for the day when they finally cut bait on Dolt45, they won’t have far to go to get back in :’respectable: circles.
Surely, you see the con??
lamh36
@NBCPolitics
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7m
LIVE: House debates resolution that condemns President Trump’s racist tweets; vote upcoming. (link: http://nbcnews.to/2JC3ve9) nbcnews.to/2JC3ve9
mrmoshpotato
Why didn’t the POS just flatout ask the reporter why he’s not white?
I hopes Ms. Conjob sees her day as a defendant.
mrmoshpotato
@lamh36:
Exactly right.
George’s tweets are all bullshit. It’s all a fucking game to them.
Yutsano
@lamh36: You know what her cover story is? Her marriage. Her husband is half-Filipino so OF COURSE SHE CAN’T BE A RACIST AND HOW DARE YOU FOR SUGGESTING IT??? But it’s total performance art. I don’t think either one of them has a true grounding principle save what will get their kids through college and them a sweet sinecure when they’re ready to hang up their boots.
Rusty
This really is about the basic core of our existence. Either we are a multiethnic, diverse polity, or a something from 1952 where white men sat unchallenged at the top and everyone else “knew their place”. Even winning will only be a step given the hostile judiciary, media and other forces. To lose will put us back a generation or more.
laura
In asking his ethnicity, whitehouse advisor Scrag wasnt asking about what country his forebearers came from, she was trying to get him to self identify as a Jew. She’s an amoral, race-baiting, nasty piece of work who will say and do any/everything for money.
Regarding her marriage -both seem to profit from their respective angles. I see no evidence of a loving relationship, but that presumes either are capable.
rikyrah
James Singer (@Jemsinger) Tweeted:
Just now in Iowa @KamalaHarris discussed personally being told to “go back to where you come from” and said what we all already know about Trump, he’s a coward, a bully, and an embarrassment. But more importantly she told everyone who has ever been told that, “You belong.” https://t.co/F07d7sS1et https://twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1151219558352588800?s=17
mrmoshpotato
@lamh36: Will they be debating how much they should call him a racist, xenophobic pile of shit who’s unfit to continue to live in the people’s house?
lamh36
rikyrah
@rikyrah:
James Singer (@Jemsinger) Tweeted:
And this is how she ended.
“To speak to the ideals of who we are and promises of who we are as a nation….And speak with the authority of the strength of who we are of knowing, out of many come one….and he needs to go back to where he came from.” https://t.co/nQyDoXmUje https://twitter.com/Jemsinger/status/1151221738421784576?s=17
TaMara (HFG)
Been tuning in to news on and off today – despite what all the pundits say – my god do the Republicans look like they are flopping around like a desperate fish on dry land.
m.j.
Hillary openly called them deplorable and still won the popular vote, remember?
lamh36
Uncle Cosmo
Maybe this is somewhat o/t, but–
IIRC a few years back there were a bunch (well, a handful at least) of medium-size towns in the Midwest that were on their last legs when a bunch of them skeeery immigrant types moved in & started or took over small businesses & literally brought the place back to life. Again IIRC, as the resurgence gained strength & (more importantly) everyone got to know everyone else & realized they didn’t have horns & claws, the originally skeptical long-time residents became enthusiastic supporters of their new neighbors, happy to have them there.
Why aren’t we hearing more about this sort of extremely American immigration success story? Why aren’t Democrats putting these towns front & center as examples of why we ought to be welcoming people who want to become Americans?
mrmoshpotato
@TaMara (HFG): Who’s up for sushi, grilled fillet? :)
lamh36
rikyrah
@laura:
Nail it!!.
You got it ?
Mary G
@lamh36: It’s early, but so far all Dems yes, Republicans no. “The president is a racist, but we still have to own the libs and lie.”
jl
Opening up with a battleship broadside against anyone who questions them about Trump’s deranged outbursts, and servile GOP behavior is problematic.
Every Dem candidate and office holder is the ultimate commie who will take away our hamburgers from Bernie to Biden.
They start the attack with people they think will make good scary ethnic wedge fodder, four newly elected progressive female House Members of color. Then they have to go after a Jewish reporter… The base will love it, and only fear that, as the Onion says, it is just ‘talk’. But the majority of voters will see a pattern, and in the case of yelling ‘commie commie’, think it’s funny, and look at the racism and anti-Semitism (and clearly moving rapidly to a vile attack on anyone who challenges them) and recoil in disgust.
low-tech cyclist
Like the guy who swore an oath of office on January 20, 2017?
Yeah, a lot of us are sick and tired of his putting the interests of billionaires and the hatred of white evangelicals and white supremacists ahead of what’s best for America.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Dana Houle has repeatedly said Amy Walter and josh kraushaar are the two worst political pundits.
SFAW
I hope I live long enough to see all those traitorous, racist, fascist motherfuckers in steel cages …
… which are then dropped into the Marianas Trench
Roger Moore
@randy khan:
It’s not that he’s afraid of losing the base per se. He understands that he doesn’t have much chance of expanding his base, so he needs to get them to turn out in high numbers to win. That means regularly doing racist stuff to keep their attention and excitement level high. Of course he is also a narcissist, so he wants to do this anyway as a way of keeping all the attention on him instead of anyone else.
Mary G
Dems in disarray:
Roger Moore
@Uncle Cosmo:
One of the things that’s most telling about immigration is that opposition to immigration comes predominantly from the areas that have the fewest immigrants. The more people are around immigrants, the more likely they are to have positive views about immigration.
Chip Daniels
Ignoring racism is the luxury reserved for those of us who will never face its consequences.
VOR
@Roger Moore: I think his behavior is driven by narcissism and the urge for dominance. Fallows at the Atlantic cited a theory that Trump is running a reality show out of the White House. He treats every day as a fresh start and is searching for ratings. Controversy drives ratings. Second, he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to slam these non-white women. How dare they stand up to him and his superior genes!
He is asserting his dominance over the entire Republican party as they toe the line and meekly follow him. I suspect there is a lot of grumbling in private but they are scared of his 90% approval rating among the base. And they know he shows no loyalty to anyone not named Trump. Look at how he has discarded Cabinet Secretaries, the Director of the FBI, the Attorney General, and his personal attorney. We know he has cheated on every single one of his wives.
I agree there is no way he is going to expand his support. His approval ratings have been stuck below 45% his entire term and his disapproval ratings are over 50%.
hilts
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Amy Walter’s toolishness is off the charts.
@lamh36:
Kellyanne and George both deserve to rot in Hell for Eternity.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@randy khan: Trump’s re-elect strategy is to get the racist base out to vote which he thinks is enough to win, that’s why he does this.
Jay
Dolt45 believes he won the 2018 Midterms on a platform of Racism, Mysogeny and Bigotry. He’s said it many times.
Bannon, Miller, Conway, etc tell him every day, “Yes Sir, you did. It was the biggest Midterm victory in history”.
And that’s what he’s running on in 2020.
It’s not rocket science.
Sab
@Roger Moore: Yes. People who live near immigrants like them because they are mostly likable, and almost uniformly working their butts off to survive, fit in and be accepted. Also, they have cute kids who look like their parents but are obviously American (they talk with American accents, often a lot if they are little.)
Peter Thiel is a weird (very) exception. I don’t know why we thought he was okay.
germy
“Dems in Disarray!”
bystander
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Amy Walter, Shannon Pettypiece, Matthew Continetti, Michael Steele, Mike Barnicle…cannot listen to any of them.
sukabi
@Raoul: they have taken Mary Matlan and James Carville’s act bathed it in greed, racism and moral decay and are hoping to profit off it in the near future.
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
What?! And waste a perfectly good steel cage!
Cement shoes are all they deserve.
SFAW
@Sab:
Not sure who “we” is, but most of us here did not, if I recall. Basically, he’s a rich, white, libertarian asshole, and has been one for as long as I’ve known of him.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Just “re-purpose” the ones currently in use at the border. Might need to do an ECO to add bars for floors and ceilings, but I think we should spare no expense. Maybe gold-plate the ones for the Dumpf Crime Family.
Duane
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It’s the entire Republican strategy. Now the racism is blatant. McConnell and his henchmen won’t call it out. They empower the hate and fear. Their power depends on it.
Jay
Stuck in moderation.
Jay
@Sab:
@SFAW:
There was a time when haliographies were written about our Tech Overlords,……
J R in WV
@TenguPhule:
Cement is a very high-CO2 industrial product. How about rocks with holes and hempen rope?
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
But..but how are the sharks supposed to get to them?
Wapiti
@J R in WV: How about rocks with holes and hempen rope?
Very biblical, being dropped in the sea with a millstone around one’s neck. Jesus thought the punishment for hurting children should be worse than that.
But he could imagine that – and say it. Being dropped in the sea means your body is gone and will never have a consecrated burial.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
??
O. Felix Culpa
@Amir Khalid: I’m guessing he meant “hagiographies.”
MoCA Ace
@Raoul:
It’s the Matlin & Carville show rebooted for the Trump Dynasty, nothing more.
Edit: Yeah… what Subaki Said
Raoul
@rikyrah: Yup “complete performative fakes, on different angles of on-the-make” is maybe a longer way that I said not falling for it.
Ixnay
I never tire of sharing this.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/02/23/one-goal-amy-bass-book-excerpt-somali-immigrants-lewiston-maine-soccer