We need to talk about Donald: the cursing & swearing thread

[Animavore]

All these dopey articles from the likes of The Guardian and Slate just sound like bad "peer reviewed" postmodern social science publications.

"As Trump pulls us deeper into his personal cinematic nightmare—there’s a chilling montage of bad photos of him smiling unconvincingly at other world leaders—the ever-widening disconnect between sound and image brilliantly echoes the disconnect between America’s self-image and our actions on the global stage. “Step into the future,” the choir sings,..."

That doesn't even say anything.

His own gay video says plenty, though. He's off with the fairies.

Exactly. I didn't even read the Guardian article. I just watched the video. This is him. This is how he is.

[Tero]

The choices: oligarchy or socialism

The election of Donald Trump is a crisis for American democracy. How did this happen?

We asked for it by saying that history was over in 1989 [with the end of the Cold War]. By saying that nothing bad could [ever] happen again, we were basically inviting something bad to happen.

Our story about how nothing could [ever] go wrong was a story about how human nature is the free market and the free market brings democracy, so everything is hunky-dory — and of course every part of that story is nonsense. The Greeks understood that democracy is likely to produce oligarchy because if you don’t have some mechanism to get inequality under control then people with the most money will likely take full control.
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/01/histori ... democracy/

[Brian Peacock]

Ivanka Trump's qualification for sitting in at the G20? She's part of the 1%

I don’t know how she does it all! This weekend, Ivanka Trump could have been partying in the Hamptons but, selflessly, was politicking in Hamburg instead. On Saturday, the first daughter was spotted taking her father’s place at a session on African migration and health at the G20 summit, while the president stepped away for another meeting.

One might think that Ivanka’s efforts to aid the afflicted in Africa would have been applauded, but no. The special assistant to the president immediately faced a barrage of vicious criticism, with losers and haters accusing her of nepotism and being unqualified to practice diplomacy at such a high level.

Maxine Waters, for example, a Democratic congresswoman, told MSNBC that it didn’t make sense that Ivanka was at “a very important meeting that she knows nothing about”. Waters said: “She cannot in any way deal with those members who are there representing those countries. She doesn’t know anything about these issues.”

Now, I’ll freely admit that I’ve been critical of Ivanka in the past. I’ve found it troubling that America appears to be becoming the Saudi Arabia of the west, with nepotism running rife. I’ve accused Ivanka of hypocrisy for constantly claiming that she wants to empower women – all the while standing silently by as her father takes funding away from organizations such as Planned Parenthood and launches vicious personal attacks against women via Twitter. And I’ve expressed concern that Ivanka occupies such a powerful position in the White House despite being unelected.

Nevertheless, I think it’s unfair to say that Ivanka was unqualified to take her father’s place at the G20 Summit. In my opinion, she was more than qualified to do so. You see, Ivanka is rich and in today’s world – a world where eight people have as much combined wealth as half of the human race – money is the only qualification you need...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -1-percent

[pErvinalia]

Ivanka Trump's qualification for sitting in at the G20? She's part of the 1%

I don’t know how she does it all! This weekend, Ivanka Trump could have been partying in the Hamptons but, selflessly, was politicking in Hamburg instead. On Saturday, the first daughter was spotted taking her father’s place at a session on African migration and health at the G20 summit, while the president stepped away for another meeting.

One might think that Ivanka’s efforts to aid the afflicted in Africa would have been applauded, but no. The special assistant to the president immediately faced a barrage of vicious criticism, with losers and haters accusing her of nepotism and being unqualified to practice diplomacy at such a high level.

Maxine Waters, for example, a Democratic congresswoman, told MSNBC that it didn’t make sense that Ivanka was at “a very important meeting that she knows nothing about”. Waters said: “She cannot in any way deal with those members who are there representing those countries. She doesn’t know anything about these issues.”

Now, I’ll freely admit that I’ve been critical of Ivanka in the past. I’ve found it troubling that America appears to be becoming the Saudi Arabia of the west, with nepotism running rife. I’ve accused Ivanka of hypocrisy for constantly claiming that she wants to empower women – all the while standing silently by as her father takes funding away from organizations such as Planned Parenthood and launches vicious personal attacks against women via Twitter. And I’ve expressed concern that Ivanka occupies such a powerful position in the White House despite being unelected.

Nevertheless, I think it’s unfair to say that Ivanka was unqualified to take her father’s place at the G20 Summit. In my opinion, she was more than qualified to do so. You see, Ivanka is rich and in today’s world – a world where eight people have as much combined wealth as half of the human race – money is the only qualification you need...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -1-percent

Yep. One of Australia's conservative commentators retweeted someone complaining that the left was more focussed on Ivanka sitting in a chair than the antifa protesters outside smashing shit up. I replied that it's the elite, like Ivanka, who are a greater threat to the world than a handful of rabid protesters.

[JimC]

One can be critical of the absurdity of Ivanka being daddy's proxy while still being critical of mindless violence of a contingent of the G20 protestors (Naturally, I fully support their right to peacefully protest, but they do their cause no favours by being seen on the TV news as violent vandals...)

[Hermit]

One can be critical of the absurdity of Ivanka being daddy's proxy while still being critical of mindless violence of a contingent of the G20 protestors (Naturally, I fully support their right to peacefully protest, but they do their cause no favours by being seen on the TV news as violent vandals...)

It's worth pointing out that, as usual, "they" are a very small minority of protesters.

[JimC]

Sure, but they have a disproportionate effect; in some ways, the presence of such a violent majority, clearly seen trashing property and fighting with police will make reasoned opposition to the policies of world leaders that much harder to establish as a legitimate voice...

The shadowy powers behind the thrones are smiling with every TV shot of violence...

[Scot Dutchy]

[Brian Peacock]

Sure, but they have a disproportionate effect; in some ways, the presence of such a violent majority, clearly seen trashing property and fighting with police will make reasoned opposition to the policies of world leaders that much harder to establish as a legitimate voice...

The shadowy powers behind the thrones are smiling with every TV shot of violence...

This is where Galaxian's insights are vital.

[Forty Two]

Do they just recycle these cartoons? Every Republican President since Nixon is always a figurehead with the real power held by some other figure.... with Trump it waffles between Bannon and Ivanka nowadays. With Bush it was Karl Rove or Dick Cheney, with Bush as the puppet. With Bush the Elder it was Dick Cheney and James Baker. With Reagan it was Alexander Haig, Nancy Reagan and their astrologer.

[Forty Two]

The choices: oligarchy or socialism

"What's the difference?" - The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, by Emmanuel Goldstein.

[Scot Dutchy]

This is a lengthy article but I found it very interesting. It is in the heartland of Trump supporters:

What happened when Walmart left

In West Virginia, the people of McDowell County can’t get jobs, and recently lost their biggest employer – the local Walmart store. They describe the devastating loss of jobs, community and access to fresh food

[Forty Two]

Whoa! Wait a cotton-pickin' minute. Walmart does not provide jobs, unless substandard jobs that don't afford anyone a means of making a living are considered "jobs." And, to suggest Wal-Mart contributed the "community" is absurd. Wal-Mart comes into town and destroys Main Street, thus destroying communities. The fact that there was a Wal-Mart there means the community was already destroyed. Now, with Wal-Mart gone, Main Street can thrive again. And, we all know that "fresh food" is not what Wal-Mart sells.

Wal-Mart, every leftists favorite punching bag, is now mourned, because of all the good it did, bringing low cost prescription drugs and motorized wheelchairs and scooters for their handicapped patrons....

Now that Wal-Mart has been gotten rid of, truly community based, locally grown fresh food can take center stage. http://mcdowellcountyfarms.com/index.html Also, the entire county of McDowell only has about 22,000 people living in it, and they have several other grocery stores and supermarkets.

But, let's not forget that the anti-coal movement has cost McDowell County, West Virginia 13 coal mines, and the high paying jobs that went with them. Remember, that Wal-Mart closed in like March, 2016, more than a year ago, and it might have had something to do with the policies put in place in the preceding 7 years..... perhaps?

[Tero]

Trump voters nostalgic for the 50s when nobody was gay.
http://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/07/05 ... ming-back/

[Brian Peacock]

Whoa! Wait a cotton-pickin' minute. Walmart does not provide jobs, unless substandard jobs that don't afford anyone a means of making a living are considered "jobs." And, to suggest Wal-Mart contributed the "community" is absurd. Wal-Mart comes into town and destroys Main Street, thus destroying communities. The fact that there was a Wal-Mart there means the community was already destroyed. Now, with Wal-Mart gone, Main Street can thrive again. And, we all know that "fresh food" is not what Wal-Mart sells.

Wal-Mart, every leftists favorite punching bag, is now mourned, because of all the good it did, bringing low cost prescription drugs and motorized wheelchairs and scooters for their handicapped patrons....

Now that Wal-Mart has been gotten rid of, truly community based, locally grown fresh food can take center stage. http://mcdowellcountyfarms.com/index.html Also, the entire county of McDowell only has about 22,000 people living in it, and they have several other grocery stores and supermarkets.

But, let's not forget that the anti-coal movement has cost McDowell County, West Virginia 13 coal mines, and the high paying jobs that went with them. Remember, that Wal-Mart closed in like March, 2016, more than a year ago, and it might have had something to do with the policies put in place in the preceding 7 years..... perhaps?

Now you've got that off your chest go and read the article.