The Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said that he “would not rule out a wall in certain instances” after President Donald Trump proposed a new immigration and border security plan Saturday in an attempt to end the partial government shutdown.
“I don’t think Democrats are opposed to any physical barriers,” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said. “It’s just the president constantly evolves his description of the wall, just as he indicated Mexico was going to pay for whatever was there. So what we have to do is sit down, work through this and let the public know exactly what we’re talking about and what they can expect. And we’re not there yet.”
On "This Week," Thompson told co-anchor Martha Raddatz, "The notion that we can't have barriers is just something that's not true, but again ... you have to have a plan, and the plan that the president initially started with is not where he is now. And so we don't know where he will be tomorrow, but clearly, Democrats are for border security, but we're not for this constantly moving the ball just for a talking point."This is almost identical to what the California Democrat stated. It's not that Democrats are actually against a physical barrier, it's that they are against Donald Trump and his rhetoric regarding the wall. While some Democrats are still suggesting that a barrier is a "bad idea" in general, others are slowly but surely admitting that this is much more about Trump than it is about border security.
This is a tough thing to counter. The more Democrats admit that this is about opposing Trump, the more it makes them look petty when there are 800K government workers not getting paid. Not that smart people didn't always inherently understand that this is a big anti-Trump temper tantrum.
Did the President's speech move Americans? Time will tell. But it certainly seemed to have reset the conversation. All it takes is a handful of Democrats and a couple of big news organizations to start to pressure Pelosi and gang into coming the to the table, and Trump will be back on offense.
65 comments:
Fox News' Chris Wallace hammers Pence: You could open the government tomorrow
Vice President Mike Pence tried to make a political speech to Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday, but the anchor shut him down to cut to the chase: “You could open the government tomorrow.”
Pence told Wallace that “the American people want action on our southern border, they want border security.” He added that “800,000 federal workers want us to find a way to open the government.”
That’s when Wallace jumped in: “You could open the government tomorrow,” then repeated himself three more times, even talking over the vice president as he attempted to respond.
“The House has passed bills to open the government tomorrow,” Wallace said. “Why don’t you sign them and open the government and then you can negotiate about this?”
Pense responded: “Frankly, Chris, what the American people want us to do is work on their priorities, and the American people want us to secure the border.”
“No,” Wallace said. “Isn’t it really that you just want the leverage? And that you figure if you don’t keep the government closed” then negotiations over the border wall are “going to go nowhere?”
January 21, 2019
TRUTH, TRANSPARENCY, JUSTICE, DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM, EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL AMERICANS!
Sounds good to ME! However, I MUST "ADMIT" Bozo-The-Clown" would be a better candidate than TRUMP!
However: Harris's (and Elizabeth Warren's) "Anti-Corruption-Act" is VERY "COMPELLING" to US! [libs/Dems]
Imagine:
A Country where we aren't allowing Senators, Congressional Reps, etc.. To "GREATLY" Profit from Office! i.e. Limiting Campaign Contributions, and WHERE THEY COME FROM (carefully "Tracked!")
Imagine:
A Country where "Big-Pharma" doesn't "OWN" our Reps in Washington? (and instead of paying $8 for an aspirin in the hospital!) we are united with the FDA in controlling Rip-Off Drug Prices (As we all learned last year, Trump clearly Sold us OUT to big Pharma!)
Imagine:
NO MORE of the BS at the Border, when in Fact, Children all across America are being gunned down in the perceived safety of their own SCHOOLS! (Harris supports banning of ASSAULT-WEAPONS-OF-WAR!)
INSTEAD: Maybe (just MAYBE!)
We can focus on all the Americans who are killed annually by Assault-Weapons in cities like: Detroit, etc.. FAR WORSE than the "Few" Immigrant "Criminals" the ALT-Right has managed to "Dig-Up" and Put on TV, only to "Demonize" these people (as IF crime doesn't exist EVERYWHERE, and BY Every GROUP!) RIDICULOUS!
Roger
You realize that you have gone to "there is bills he can simply sign" to reopen the government...
To making the suggestion that he can just "tell" Republicans (if he wanted) to reopen the Government.
Those two things are not even remotely in the same ballpark as being the same thing." CHT
Roger is so wrong, so often, on so very many topics.
Entertainment .
James gives us Huff Post. As if their spin matter.
"A Few illegal immigrants killing, raping , roving, drug trafficking, the icing and COP killing and battering"
There fixed it for ya 2nd Generation Alky.
You support criminality.
Where is Vacation Barbie Polosi Plan?
She is said here by the Three Liberal Stooges of CHT to be a "master negotiator".
it looks like the alky was twitter triggered again.
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) commented on the Democrats’ plans to impeach President Donald Trump, saying the party may not be “running to impeachment,” but also is not “running away from it either.”
Gutless Socialist, just like the ones here.
"Speaker Cortez" RRB. Too funny.
Huffpost? It's FOX "news."
Trump Marks MLK Day with Two Minute Memorial Visit
President Trump “made a brief appearance Monday at Washington’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, honoring the civil rights icon with a wreath on the federal holiday bearing his name,” Politico reports.
“The president, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence and acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, spent roughly two minutes at the memorial.”
"Speaker Cortez" RRB. Too funny.
funny but true.
nancy has the title, but cortez is the de facto "speaker."
huh.
so now there's a minimum allotted time that one must stand at a memorial monument.
i didn't know that.
You just know Trump would get ripped by the liberals no matter what he did.
If he didn't show up they would have ripped him for being disrespectful.
If he made a big deal of it he would have be ripped for cynical using his his legacy to promote his "racist" policies.
They can go fuck themselves.
Huffpost? It's FOX "news."
JANE got one right.
Fox news is creditable. Thanks for learning.
Right CS.
F the Left
Fox News is credible? (correct word, not creditable)
So Wallace was right to criticize Trump and Pence.
More Undisclosed Missile Sites Found In North Korea
“With a second U.S.-North Korea nuclear summit looming in February, researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country,” NBC News reports.
“The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for North Korean nuclear warheads.”
James
Did you watch the segment yourself?
Wallace wasn't criticizing anything. Wallace always will ask the questions that "opposition" is asking.
In this case, he asked Pence why they wouldn't open the government "while they continued to negotiate". Wallace correctly suggested that this is about leverage (which of course all government shutdown arguments are about leverage). Pence (as politicians do) provided a political answer rather than admit as much.
Later on the same show he asked James Clyburn why the Republicans should agree to open the Government when Nancy Pelosi has already told the President that doing so isn't going to change her negotiation stance. Likewise, Clyburn stuck to the talking points rather than engage the question head on. Wallace attempted to follow up, but pretty much got nowhere.
Wallace wasn't taking sides, James. The fact he works for FOX doesn't require him to be a partisan asswipe like Jim Acosta or pretty much everyone from CNN and MSNBC.
Wallace was being what a journalist should be on this sort of show. Someone who asks the tough questions of both sides. Obviously he didn't change his "personal opinion" from one interview to the next.
He was simply asking the probing questions of both sides.
but of course, people like you are so caught up in the fact that every journalist is supposed to be biased one way or the other, that you can't accept that sometimes questions are just being asked because they need to be (not because the journalist has an agenda).
but of course, people like you are so caught up in the fact that every journalist is supposed to be biased one way or the other
liberals are such assholes, even though they have 98% of the media on their side, the fact that they don't have the other 2% enrages them.
“I don’t think Democrats are opposed to any physical barriers,
A true statement that our esteemed Lil Scotty construes as D capitulation to trumps asshattery.....so sad what a trump dick sucker he has become losing all vestiges of a rational human thinker....party instead of logic his new motto....!!!
Well Denny...
Considering everyone was for physical barriers before Trump became President, and most still are for physical barriers...
The Party before logic applies 100% to the Democrats.
- The Border agency brass is in favor of the wall. Said it is the backbone to security measures, and their first priority.
- 89% of border agents are in favor of more barriers on the Southern border.
- Democrats like Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton were all in favor of the wall/fence.
- Schumer is quoted bragging about the 700 miles of fencing and how much it makes us safe (2013).
So support for the border barrier is the logical stance here.
Opposition is 100% driven by TDS. Period! End of subject.
Wallace wasn't taking sides,
Your opinion Lil Scotty....he was rather brusque with Pence and showed disdain for the shut down which he clearly showed was a R induced problem....But thanx for the condescending lesson from your biased eye....it confirms the dark side....lOLOLOL
Hypothetical
WASHINGTON — President Trump was involved in discussions to build a skyscraper in Moscow throughout the entire 2016 presidential campaign, his personal lawyer said on Sunday, a longer and more significant role for Mr. Trump than he had previously acknowledged.
The comments by his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani indicated that Mr. Trump’s efforts to complete a business deal in Russia waned only after Americans cast ballots in the presidential election.
The new timetable means that Mr. Trump was seeking a deal at the time he was calling for an end to economic sanctions against Russia imposed by the Obama administration. He was seeking a deal when he gave interviews questioning the legitimacy of NATO, a favorite talking point of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. And he was seeking a deal when, in July 2016, he called on Russia to release hacked Democratic emails that Mr. Putin’s government was rumored at the time to have stolen.
The Trump Tower Moscow discussions were “going on from the day I announced to the day I won,” Mr. Giuliani quoted Mr. Trump as saying during an interview with The New York Times. It was one of a flurry of interviews Mr. Giuliani did on Sunday amid fallout from a disputed report by BuzzFeed News that President Trump had personally directed his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, to lie to Congress about the negotiations over the skyscraper.
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Mr. Giuliani denied that claim, and a spokesman for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, called BuzzFeed’s report “inaccurate” in a rare statement.
Mr. Giuliani also acknowledged that Mr. Trump might have talked to Mr. Cohen before his congressional testimony but he said his client had never instructed Mr. Cohen to lie. Mr. Trump acknowledged discussing the Moscow project with Mr. Cohen in written responses that the president gave Mr. Mueller’s investigators days before they revealed that Mr. Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying to Congress.
“There was no question that he was asked by the special counsel a question that said, ‘Did you talk to him before he testified?’” Mr. Giuliani said.
“There were questions like, ‘Did you talk about the Moscow project with Michael Cohen?’ to which we answered yes.”
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Later in the day, Mr. Giuliani said he was merely allowing for the possibility that the president and Mr. Cohen could have discussed the Moscow project through the election but that no notes or call logs indicated specific conversations about Russia.
“We’re at Cohen’s mercy for the dates,” Mr. Giuliani said, adding that the president “doesn’t remember the dates. He does remember conversations about Moscow. He does remember the letter of intent. He does remember, after that, fleeting conversations.”
He added that he was trying to keep Mr. Trump from legal exposure if prosecutors uncover evidence of a conversation that the president has said he does not recall.
Giuliani admitted that the President had business with Russians during the campaign.
Trump declared a hundred times that he had no business with the Russians.
Support is 100% driven by Trumpism. Period! End of subject.
Support is 100% driven by Trumpism. Period! End of subject.
If it was just opposition to policies is valid. Support for the behavior and lying about everything is 100% Trumpism.
Period! End of subject.
My question is, why the hell is 35% of a catholic school wearing MAGA hats & shirts, when Trump stands for everything that Jesus did not?
This man cheated on all of his wives, constantly lies, and brags about grabbing women by their private parts. Is this now the Catholic norm?
Support is 100% driven by Trumpism. Period! End of subject.
So you are saying that 89% of border agents, and all of the border agency management is driven by Trumpism?
Even though they supported barriers before he was President?
Are you really that stupid?
My question is, why the hell is 35% of a catholic school wearing MAGA hats & shirts, when Trump stands for everything that Jesus did not?
This man cheated on all of his wives, constantly lies, and brags about grabbing women by their private parts. Is this now the Catholic norm?
You really believe that the Democrats had not supported border security before he was President?
Are you that stupid??
Roger
Was Obama's support for a southern barrier due to Trumpism?
Was Hillary's support for a southern barrier due to Trumpism?
How about when Chuck Schumer bragged about how much the southern border barrier made us safer? More Trumpism?
We now have two Democrats in congress openly admitting that the reason that their Party is against the barrier is 100% because of how they feel about Trump. (TDS).
If your Democratic congress people are willing to admit it, when will you be?
You really believe that the Democrats had not supported border security before he was President?
I believe that they did.
Now they don't.
Because of Trump. Period.
"So Wallace was right to criticize Trump and Pence." Jane
Yep. We have a Free Press. He is An American he has the right to his opinion.
How is this news to you?
Did you know that we built walls during the Obama administration and upgraded other areas? Or that the Democrats supported border Security during the Bush administration also?
You support his campaign promises because you have Trumpism. It's a waste of money.
Are you that stupid?
"This man cheated on all of his wives"Roger expressed a moment of Self reflection
My question is, why the hell is 35% of a catholic school wearing MAGA hats & shirts, when Trump stands for everything that Jesus did not?
This man cheated on all of his wives, constantly lies, and brags about grabbing women by their private parts. Is this now the Catholic norm
Guess you don't understand love and forgiveness that is part of the Christian faith.
3] And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
[4] They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
[5] Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
[6] This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
[7] So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
[8] And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
[9] And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
[10] When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
[11] She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
"Did you know that we built walls during the Obama administration and upgraded other areas? Or that the Democrats supported border Security during the Bush administration also?"
Yes, CS and CHT have been over this.
Well KD...
Again. Wallace was asking a question. Same questions that Democrats ask. Provided Pence with a chance to answer his critics.
Doesn't mean that Wallace attacked him or criticized him.
He interviewed James Clyburn later and asked tough questions to him as well.
Wallace was simply asking the questions that people should want asked and answered. They can be asked without it being a criticism or attack.
Because of Trump. Period.
Bullshit again. They support border Security during the Trump administration with the exception of his campaign promises. Security at the ports of entry and the airports, and harbors is going to destroy the smugglers.
Russian Oligarch Benefits From Sanctions Deal
January 21, 2019 at 4:00 pm EST
“When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted,” the New York Times reports.
“But a binding confidential document signed by both sides suggests that the agreement the administration negotiated with the companies controlled by the oligarch, Oleg V. Deripaska, may have been less punitive than advertised.
“The deal contains provisions that free him from hundreds of millions of dollars in debt while leaving him and his allies with majority ownership of his most important company, the document shows.”
Pence equalized Trump and Martin Luther King Jr.
The greatest American of the twentieth century is not Donald Trump.
So Rog
You believe that what the border security agency calls their first priority and backbone of their ability to secure the borders is a waste of money?
You believe that something 89% of border agents want is a waste of money?
You believe that it wasn't a waste of money 3-4 years ago, but it is today?
Plus Rog...
You still trying to peddle the debunked Buzzfeed story?
Were you drunk when Mueller and Special Counsel denied the story?
The greatest American of the twentieth century is not Donald Trump.
But he may be the greatest American in the 21st century. He's certainly made a promising start.
Re: 4:24
That woman did not deny that she did wrong.
Trump does.
A bit of a difference there.
Alky is so confused all of the time. Now he is a century behind.
Jesus, help his whoring soul.
Kameltoe Harris is in the Race for President.
Lol@Socialists
"A promising start."
Thanks for the HUGE laugh.
CHT thank you.
I was relying on faults Witness Jane for the facts. My Error.
Blogger Roger Amick said...
My question is, why the hell is 35% of a catholic school wearing MAGA hats & shirts, when Trump stands for everything that Jesus did not?
well, first of all, why do liberals feel they have the right to attack at the sight of a fucking hat? our first amendment protects those kids right to wear it. period. and i wouldn't expect you to have the first clue as to what Jesus stood for.
second, liberals in general and feminists in particular would tell us that a woman does not deserve the right to be sexually assaulted or harassed just because she's wearing, say, a short skirt.
so explain to me why a professional activist like chief asswipe felt he had the right to fuck with those kids. he started it. that's been confirmed, and virtually everyone on the left except for the truly hardcore shitstains like kathy griffin have pulled their tweets and apologized.
you guys are having a bad week, alky. first buzzfail, and now the covington story. both spectacularly and magnificently FUCKING WRONG.
not that you even care though. a few of those high schoolers could just end up dead if some whackjob decides to go all james hodgkinson on their asses. all because orange man bad.
you guys are fucked up.
Roger Amick said...
Pence equalized Trump and Martin Luther King Jr.
only to the imbeciles who walk among us. the rest of us understood exactly what pence meant...
“One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, ‘Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,'” he said Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation. “You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process to become a more perfect union. That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on the Congress to do.”
Blogger C.H. Truth said...
Plus Rog...
You still trying to peddle the debunked Buzzfeed story?
Were you drunk when Mueller and Special Counsel denied the story?
it's a maggie haberman story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/20/us/politics/trump-tower-moscow-cohen-giuliani.html
the alky is sweet on her. it can't be for her looks, so i'm figuring it's because she lies so effortlessly.
i guess you've hit rock bottom when you work at the old gray whore and you're carrying water for buzzfail.
Blogger Roger Amick said...
My question is, why the hell is 35% of a catholic school wearing MAGA hats & shirts, when Trump stands for everything that Jesus did not?
This is from the same person who gave Ted Kennedy a free pass after he represently cheated on his wife and killed Mary Jo Kopechnie.
And James, Ted Kennedy never admitted he did anything wrong either.
The major flaw in the Haberman story is that the consistent testimony regarding the Russian project was that they continued with it up until the time they knew he was going to win the nomination. And last time I checked, Rudy Giuliani didn't testify and isn't exactly the most reliable in terms of being crystal clear with what he is saying.
But she assumes that when they refer to him winning, that it was the general election (not the nomination - which is what all the actual sworn testimony holds to).
One must assume that there are actually some sort of records involved with when they were actually negotiating with Russian business interests (phone records, emails, travel receipts, etc)
It is actually possible she wrote an entire article based on her own misunderstanding of events?
As we have witness in the last 72 hours the news media misunderstands quite a lot. And does a great deal of damage with it.
To the surprise of no one, California Sen. Kamala Harris formally entered the 2020 presidential race on Monday, touting her background as a prosecutor -- and a barrier-breaker -- in her announcement speech.
Anyone who reads what I write -- and I hope that includes you, dear reader! -- knows that I think Harris is a top-tier candidate for the nomination because of her base of support in California, her profile as an African-American and biracial woman, her liberal voting record and her charisma. (Harry Enten and I have Harris at No. 1 on our most recent ranking of the 2020 field.)
But now that she's officially running, it's worth looking at the path Harris needs to follow to be the nominee. What states does she need to win? What states can she afford to lose?
Let's start with what we know about the early 2020 calendar, courtesy of the terrific Frontloading HQ site:
February 3: Iowa caucuses
February 11: New Hampshire primary
February 22: Nevada caucuses
February 29: South Carolina primary
Harris' travel schedule this week tells you a lot about how she will approach that first month of votes. She will make her first official stop as a candidate in South Carolina on Friday -- before heading to her hometown of Oakland, California, to deliver a formal announcement speech over the weekend.
The South Carolina electorate seems ready-made for Harris as, historically, African-American voters cast more than half of all votes in Democratic presidential primaries in the state. Then-Sen. Barack Obama scored a crushing victory over Hillary Clinton in South Carolina in 2008, a win that gave his candidacy a jolt of momentum heading into a series of caucuses in February 2008 that gave him a delegate lead he never relinquished.
Obama's path is instructive to Harris -- and not just because of their race. Obama won the Iowa caucuses on January 3, which allowed him to weather a surprising defeat in the New Hampshire primary on January 8 and make it with some momentum left to the South Carolina primary on January 26.
The question for Harris is whether she can replicate Obama's success in Iowa or, if not, whether she can show well in New Hampshire. Given the size of the expected field -- 18 to 24 candidates -- winning may be less important to Harris than simply overperforming expectations with a top-three showing.
If she can do that, she will be very well-positioned to win in South Carolina and, with that victory under her belt, will be a force going into the bigger population states that vote in March -- none bigger than California, which is set to vote on March 3 and where Harris would be an overwhelming favorite.
If she can't win in Iowa or New Hampshire -- and if Nevada's caucuses, where she should do well because of her California roots, take a back seat to the other three early-state votes as they have in the past few cycles -- the question becomes whether the race moves past her before February 29 in South Carolina. In such a large field that may not happen as quickly, but history suggests that Iowa and New Hampshire can -- and usually do -- radically alter the state of the race in the course of eight days.
The Point: Harris has all the tools to be the last Democrat standing next year. But the map doesn't have an obvious win for her until February 29 -- making a strong showing in Iowa or New Hampshire a near-must.
-- Chris
An exact comparison between the President and Martin Luther King Jr.
He inspired us to change through the legislative process to become a more perfect union. That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on the Congress to do.”
You're a fucking bigoted asshole.
https://youtu.be/3j1I8af50sc
https://youtu.be/BSJEifrS7QQ
American democracy is in crisis. The election of Donald Trump feels like a state of emergency made normal.
Trump has threatened violence against his political enemies. He has made clear he does not believe in the norms and traditions of American democracy — unless they serve his interests. Trump and his advisers consider a free press to be enemies of his regime. Trump repeatedly lies and has a profoundly estranged relationship with empirical reality. He uses obvious and naked racism, nativism and bigotry to mobilize his voters and to disparage entire groups of people such as Latinos and Muslims.
Trump is threatening to eliminate an independent judiciary and wants to punish judges who dare to stand against his illegal and unconstitutional mandates. In what appears to be a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Trump is using the office of the presidency to enrich himself, his family and his inner circle by peddling influence and access to corporations, foreign countries and wealthy individuals. Trump and his representatives also believe that he is above the law and cannot be prosecuted for any crimes while in office.
What can the American people do to resist Donald Trump?
What lessons can history teach about the rise of authoritarianism and fascism and how democracies collapse? Are there ways that individuals can fight back on a daily basis and in their own personal lives against the political and cultural forces that gave rise to Trump’s movement? How long does American democracy have before the poison that Donald Trump and the Republican Party injected into the country’s body politic becomes lethal?
In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University. He is the award-winning author of numerous books including the recent “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning” and “Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin.” Snyder’s new book, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” explores how the American people can fight back against Donald Trump’s incipient authoritarian regime.
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.
With Trump, one sees the new variant of this where a candidate can run by saying, “Look, we all know — wink, wink, nudge, nudge — that this isn’t really a democracy anymore.” He doesn’t use the words but basically says, “We all know this is really an oligarchy, so let me be your oligarch.” Although it’s nonsense and of course he’s a con man and will betray everyone, it makes sense only in this climate of inequality.
In my writing and interviews, I have consistently referred to Donald Trump as a fascist. I have received a great deal of resistance to that claim. Do you think this description is correct? If not, then what language should we use to describe Donald Trump.
One of the problems with American discourse is that we just assume everybody is a friendly democratic parliamentarian pluralist until proven otherwise. And then even when it’s proven otherwise we don’t have any vocabulary for it. He’s a “dictator.” He’s an “authoritarian.” He’s “Hitler.” We just toss these words around.
The pushback that you are talking about is 95 percent bad. Americans do not want to think that there is an alternative to what we have. Therefore, as soon as you say “fascism” or whatever it might be, then the American response is to say “no” because we lack the categories that allow us to think outside of the box that we are no longer in.
Is this a function of American exceptionalism?
Yes, it is. We made a move towards intellectual isolationism in a world where no kind of isolationism is possible. The fact that democracies usually fail is a rule which can’t apply to us. If you examine American society, there are high points and low points. But there is certainly nothing which puts us in a different category than other people who have failed, whether it’s historically or whether it’s now.
I don’t want to dodge your question about whether Trump is a fascist or not. As I see it, there are certainly elements of his approach which are fascistic. The straight-on confrontation with the truth is at the center of the fascist worldview. The attempt to undo the Enlightenment as a way to undo institutions, that is fascism.
American democracy is in crisis. The election of Donald Trump feels like a state of emergency made normal.
It's American elitism that's in crisis. Democracy is just fine as the election of Donald Trump has shown.
It is actually possible she wrote an entire article based on her own misunderstanding of events?
of course. anything's possible. we're talking about journalists for chrissakes. not the brightest bulbs on the chandelier to begin with. a mutual admiration society of dimwits who think the occasional access to power makes them important, or smart, or something.
but i digress...
the one constant in this whole shitshow is their mission - to destroy donald trump by any means necessary. that means rejecting the will of the voters. and consent of the governed? ha! this is the smart set comprised of top men like fredo cuomo and jim acoster.
look, the public editor of the ny times signalled the paper's intent when trump was first elected. he insisted that they reserve the right to cover trump negatively because trump's behavior demands it.
https://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504806512/new-york-times-executive-editor-on-the-new-terrain-of-covering-trump
that on its face fails basic journalism. but these assholes are so in love with themselves and their solemn mission to destroy the man, all journalistic ethics and standards have been suspended until a democrat is safely in the white house.
haberman's a hack, and a self admitted one. she's one of the clowns who gave team clinton editorial power over her coverage of hillary. any other "journalist" THAT biased with any sense of ethics and morals goes and writes for the lifestyle section until trump's presidency is over.
so to answer your original question - i just can't tell. haberman and her ilk are liars and hacks who trade in stories almost exclusively sourced anonymously. it's fiction sold as fact because the desire to destroy the man really is that powerful. and carrying water for a website whose stock in trade is cat videos and listicles is not beyond the pale.
stealing an 18 month old article from salon alky?
https://www.salon.com/2017/05/01/historian-timothy-snyder-its-pretty-much-inevitable-that-trump-will-try-to-stage-a-coup-and-overthrow-democracy/
what a fabulist article. snyder must be a prof at the drama school at yale.
In your book you discuss the idea that Donald Trump will have his own version of Hitler’s Reichstag fire to expand his power and take full control of the government by declaring a state of emergency. How do you think that would play out?
Let me make just two points. The first is that I think it’s pretty much inevitable that they will try.
whatever liberals accuse the right of doing, they are guilty of themselves.
it's not the GOP who's attempted a coup in america...
nice try alky. i can see why you latched onto this article. this guy's as cray cray as you are.
"Jan. 22, 2019
WASHINGTON — The Senate will hold competing votes Thursday on President Trump’s proposal to spend $5.7 billion on a border wall and on a Democratic bill that would fund the government through Feb. 8 without a wall, marking the first time the Senate has stepped off the sidelines to try to end the monthlong government shutdown.
The procedural move by Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, is the first time the parties have agreed to do virtually anything since the shutdown began Dec. 23. With most Republicans united behind Mr. Trump’s insistence that any legislation to reopen the government include money for a border wall and most Democrats opposed to the linkage, neither measure might draw the 60 votes required to advance."
Yet, Always Wrong Alky assured us their was already A"law" voted on this topic from the US Senate.
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