Wednesday Thread

Who watched Donald Trump's State of the Union address? What did you think about it?

Donald Trump is a Racist

Today, we are supposed to honor the life and memory of the late great civil rights champion the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Trump defiled this holiday.  Over the holiday weekend, President Trump felt compelled to tell the world that he is not a racist after being exposed for calling Africa and Haiti shitholes. The New York Times reports that Trump made the following statements.

“I’m not a racist,” Mr. Trump said on Sunday night as he arrived at Trump International Golf Club in Florida for dinner with Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, who attended the meeting last week and has not spoken publicly about it. “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that I can tell you.”
His comments, while extraordinary coming from a president of the United States, echoed reassurances Mr. Trump has made several times before.

As I read the New York Times article title "I'm not a racist" and as I listened to CNN, I thought, "Yeah right."

In the words of Jay Z, "We don't believe you." "You need more people." Trump's constant racism denials speak volumes. It speaks to his abysmal record on race. He can continue to deny his racism until the end of time, but that will not change reality.  In addition to his racist statements about Africa and Haiti, here are thirteen other examples of Donald Trump making culturally insensitive and/or outright racist statements.

1. Statements About Mexican immigrants
When speaking about Mexican immigrants, Donald Trump said:

"They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists."

2. Statements About Black People Touching His Money and Being Lazy

As reported on Daily Kos citing John R. O'Donell's book Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump—His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall, Donald Trump also stated:

“I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. Nobody else. . . . Besides that, I’ve got to tell you something else. I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is; I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.”

3. Trump Defends White Supremacists in Charlottesville

Following the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Donald Trump essentially defended the Alt-Right. Donald Trump said that:

"I think there is blame on both sides...You also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name."



4. Trump Refused to Denounce former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke's endorsement



5. Donald Trump Endorsed Racial Profiling



6. Donald Trump Trump Endorsed Racist and Unconstitutional New York style Stop and Frisk

Despite the fact that a federal court declared it to be unconstitutional, Donald Trump endorsed New York style stop and frisk.



For more information on the court's ruling on New York Stop and Frisk policy. See the video below.




7. Donald Trump Encouraged his White Supporters to Attack Black Protesters

8. Donald Trump Encouraged Police Brutality against Minority Suspects

In the wake of the police killings of Alton Sterling, Terrence Crutcher, Philando Castile, Walter Scott, Sam DuBose and other incidents of police brutality, Donald Trump told police, "Please don't be too nice."




9. Donald Trump Promoted Racist Birtherism against former President Barack Obama

Donald Trump promoted and popularized birtherism, a xenophobic and racist conspiracy theory that questioned the legitimacy of former President Barack Obama, the first African-American president.




10. Donald Trump Describes Black People as "Living in Poverty", "Your Schools are No Good" and "Have No Jobs"




11. Donald Trump Tweets False and Racist Stats About Black Violence

As noted on Politifact, the statistics cited in Trump's tweet are grossly inaccurate. Through that tweet, Trump painted the racist and false narrative of black people as violent, bloodthirsty predators preying on helpless, innocent white victims.

12. Trump Called Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas, a racial slur

While he was supposed to be honoring Native American veterans, Donald Trump used a Native American slur against Senator Elizabeth Warren. Donald Trump said they call her Pocahontas.




13. Donald Trump Calls a Black Supporter My African-American Over There

Donald Trump said, "Look at my African-American over here." Although I understand the context of his statement, his statement reminds me of a white slavemaster talking about his slaves, his property.



No one should be surprised by Donald Trump's insensitive and racist statements. After all, he was sued for housing discrimination.  During his first year in the White House, he has weaponized the DOJ against affirmative action, created a voter commission to suppress so-called minority voters and called into question police consent decrees designed to end discriminatory policing practices. Contrary to his claims, Donald Trump is a racist.

Is Donald Trump the New Hitler?

Yesterday, I watched the documentary Apocalypse Hitler. While watching the documentary, I was alarmed by the similarities between Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In Germany, there was a devastating economic depression. In order to ascend to power, Hitler exploited the German people's fear and the feeling of powerlessness. Using his superior oratory skills and theatrical effects, Hitler projected strengthen at time when a weak people needed a protector. Hitler studied theater and used that knowledge to inflame the passions and emotions of the people.

Similarly, in the wake of terrorists attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, many of the American people are fearful and vulnerable. They want a strong President who will keep the American people safe. Using his good oratory skills and talent as a reality show actor, Trump projects strengthen at a time when the American people need someone to protect them from terrorism. In fact, Trump boasted about how he rises in the polls whenever a tragedy occurs. Similar to Hitler's mastery of theatrical technique, Donald Trump learned how to appeal to an audience through his successful reality television program, the Apprentice.

As documented on Apocalypse Hitler, Hitler was a master of falsifying history. Recently, Trump has been falsifying history of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Despite the complete lack of any evidence whatsoever, Trump continues to fan the flames of hate by lying about Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the horrific 9/11 terror attacks. No matter how many news reports debunk his fallacious assertions, Trump's supporters, like pigs to a slop, devour his untruths to satiate their deep-seated prejudice and hatred against Muslims.

Like Hitler, Trump practices demagoguery. Trump stokes fear and panders to hate and prejudice.  Hitler despised an entire religious group, the Jews. Hitler was an anti-Semite. In his demented mind, Jews were responsible for all of Germany's problems.  Prior to carrying out the "Final Solution" of genocide, Hitler discriminated against the Jews. He forced Jews to wear badges to distinguish themselves from the rest of the population. As noted on Wikipedia, Hitler excluded Jews from civil service, barred Jews from owning farms, barred Jews from owning newspapers, disbarred Jewish lawyers and excluded Jews from schools and universities. Hitler burned down synagogues.

Similarly, Trump despises an entire religious group, the Muslims. Trump is an Islamophobe. If elected, Trump plans to discriminate against Muslims. In his twisted mind, all Muslims should be collective blamed and punished for the actions of a maniacal, barbaric fringe minority.  Like the Nazi badges for Jews, Trump does not oppose requiring Muslims to carry special IDs.  He does not oppose requiring Muslims to register in a database. Furthermore, Trump advocates increased surveillance of Muslims and the closing of mosques. Despite opposition from Republicans and Democrats, Trump wants to ban all Muslims from entering the country. Unfortunately, the political establishment's opposition only emboldens Trump and fires up his delusional supporters.

At least for now, Trump's proposed discriminatory measures are not nearly as draconian as Hitler's discriminatory measures. However, if Donald Trump is elected President, we do not know what will happen. He could be the new Hitler. The Nazi Party started with gradual discriminatory measures that eventually led to unspeakable horrors. We must do everything in our power to prevent Trump from the Republican nominee. The world cannot afford another Hitler.

Obama Slams Birther Wackos!

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Donald Trump Panders to Racists

Rather than addressing pertinent issues such as the economy, war, poverty and deficit, potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has decided to wallow in the gutter. In addition to peddling debunked, ridiculous birther conspiracies, Mr. Trump is now questioning President Barack Obama’s academic qualifications.

As reported in the Grio,

“Real estate mogul Donald Trump suggested in an interview Monday that President Barack Obama had been a poor student who did not deserve to be admitted to the Ivy League universities he attended. Trump, who is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, offered no proof for his claim but said he would continue to press the matter as he has the legitimacy of the president's birth certificate.

"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?" Trump said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."

“Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1983 with a degree in political science after transferring from Occidental College in California. He went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude 1991 and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.”

“Obama's 2008 campaign did not release his college transcripts, and in his best-selling memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Obama indicated he hadn't always been an academic star. Trump told the AP that Obama's refusal to release his college grades were part of a pattern of concealing information about himself."

Essentially, Donald Trump is pandering to a racist undercurrent of the Tea Party and the Republican Party. No matter how successful a black person becomes, racists will continue to question and doubt that success. Trump is playing to the reactionary base of the Republican Party.  That base believes in the false notion that unqualified minorities are taking jobs and school admissions from well qualified white applicants. Like the late Senator Jesse Helm's racist "Hands" ad, Trump is resorting to race baiting for political self aggrandizement. 

This situation also reminds me of late Geraldine Ferraro’s outrageous assertions during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Ferraro stated that, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

Clearly, Mr. Trump’s arguments about Obama's academic qualifications are simply absurd. President Obama was admitted to the most prestigious law school in the nation, became president of Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. Obviously, President Obama was qualified to be admitted to Columbia and Harvard.

Similarly, the birther conspiracy theories are rooted in Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia. To prove this point, one only needs to view Republican/Tea Party photos depicting Obama as a chimpanzee, an Arab terrorist, a witchdoctor, etc. The bottom line is this. Many right wing Republicans, and even some Democrats, resent the fact that a black man holds the highest office in the land. So what do they do? They manufacture outright lies to discredit the President. As retired General and Secretary of State Colin Powell stated, Republicans should challenge the President “on substance, not nonsense.”

The fact that Donald Trump is leading the Republican Presidential candidates in the polls speaks volumes about the true nature of the Republican Party.  The Republican Party is becoming a primarily Southern, white male political party that is hostile to African Americans, immigrants, women and Muslims. 

In light of that reality, it is not surprising that Donald Trump would use fear and racial anxiety to gain a political advantage. If the President was not an African American with a Muslim name and a black African father, I doubt that anyone would question his legitimacy or academic qualifications.  I do not recall Mr. Trump ever questioning former President George W. Bush's qualifications for admission to Harvard.

This article is cross-posted on Jack and Jill Politics.

Donald Trump Goes Birther and Bill Cosby Goes H.A.M.

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Instead of talking about pertinent issues impacting all Americans, potential Presidential candidate Donald Trump has been spewing regurgiated Birther garbage. That Birther nonsense was discredited a long time ago. No serious candidate should waste his or her time and energy on such foolishness.

It is great to hear Bill Cosby go off on Trump.