Have you seen Donald Trump?

“Republicans have fed the country ideas about decline, betrayal and treason. They have encouraged the forces of anti-intellectualism, obstructionism and populism. They have flirted with bigotry and racism. Trump merely chose to unashamedly embrace all of it, saying plainly what they were hinting at for years.”—Fareed Zakaria

“In the last month, Trump has called Mitt Romney a ‘failed candidate,’ Jeb Bush ‘pathetic,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham ‘a disgrace,’ and President Obama ‘totally incompetent.’”—Fareed Zakaria

According to Fareed Zakaria, the words “failure’, 'pathetic”, and “disgrace” were recommended in the memo put out by Newt Gingrich’s political action committee, which urged Republican candidates to use these words against their Democratic opponents.

P.S.
The title of the article by Fareed Zakaria is “Where were Republican moderates 20 years ago?”.

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John Oliver did a fantastic segment on Trump. Check it on YouTube if you haven’t seen it.

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and here we go

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I wonder what kind of people in the U.S. want to see Donald Trump become president.
米国で、どのような人たちが、ドナルド・トランプが大統領になることを望んでいるのでしょうか?

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Closet racists and people that rationalize this by saying “he’d make a good president because he speaks his mind without fear”. Well guess what, in the United States, it’s not rare to have a racist and outspoken uncle. Therefore, a lot of them should be president.

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“Why Glenn Beck fears Donald Trump”–by Dean Obeidallah
“In fact, Trump made Beck’s very point by the way he responded to the TV host’s recent criticism. In words that I doubt any leading presidential candidate has used to mock a member of the media, Trump declared on Saturday that Beck is a ‘really dopey guy’ who ‘looks like hell.’”

I wonder which person is “dopier”', Glenn Beck or Donald Trump.

“Glenn Beck Under Investigation For Alleged Threat Against Trump”

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“Rank and File Republicans Tell Party Elites: We’re Sticking With Donald Trump”–THE NEW YORK TIMES

I may not have been following closely enough. What has he said that’s openly racist?

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“His insistence that Mexico will pay for a wall between the two countries ‘rests on an utter misreading of, and contempt for, our southern neighbor.’ And his argument that Japan should pay far more for the basing of American troops there — it already foots much of the bill — ‘is the sentiment of a racketeer, not the leader of the alliances that have served us so well since World War II.’”

G.O.P. Foreign Policy Figures Denounce Donald Trump’s Worldview

“Clash of Republican Con Artists”–by Paul Krugman

“Trump cancels CPAC appearance, speech”(Fox News)

Trump is very similar to the other Repubs other than he is not married to the Evangelical wing and he is much more media savvy. Best of a bad lot.

Behind the bombastic rhetoric (which is, it seems to me, obviously a kind of ham act he puts on for TV) Trump is actually quite moderate compared to some of the other Republicans! The party establishment don’t like him because they don’t ‘get’ him - i.e. they don’t know exactly how he would tick if elected, whether he would be ready to do deals, to compromise, etc.

(As for the fashionable idea that he is a literal moron, etc…uh no. You just don’t get to be a billionaire property magnate if you are literally stupid, IMO.)

“21 Questions For Donald Trump” by David Cay Johnston

“6. Trump Tower is not a steel girder high rise, but 58 stories of concrete.
Why did you use concrete instead of traditional steel girders?”

“13. You were the first person recommended for a casino license by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, which opposed all other applicants or was neutral. Later it came out in official proceedings that you had persuaded the state to limit its investigation of your background.
Why did you ask that the investigation into your background be limited?”

He might have been a reckless tycoon in the real estate and casino business

"Trump has made a reputation for himself as a business leader, but he has really spent more time gaming the system than being innovative and responding to the needs of his customers. Trump has declared bankruptcy on 4 separate occasions, a move that he claims is a smart business decision to offset costs of unsuccessful ventures. In fact, according to CNN, no major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 more than Trump’s casino empire in the last 30 years. Trump has also used eminent domain to force people from their homes so he could build his casinos. Even before Trump was a politician, he was more of a politician than he was a businessman. "
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/business-genius-numbers-paris-hilton-entrepreneur-donald-trump/#7k5PEpiEITzZopf8.99

"Madison and Jefferson never foresaw this situation. They knew there was danger of demagoguery, but they never imagined presidential candidates exchanging mine’s bigger than yours jokes or doing let’s laugh at the disabled routines. There’s no map in the Constitution to tell us how to get out of where we’re going. "
Read more: Revenge of the Simple: How George W. Bush Gave Rise to Trump – Rolling Stone

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You are right - the exchanges between Rubio and Trump have been (from a political-intellectual point of view) increasingly disgraceful.

I think Rubio has been reduced to this level of debate (trying to out-Trump Trump, if you will) because he is on the verge of being forced right out of the race. If he even loses his home state of Florida to “the Donald” (as polls predict) he would surely be finished?

There are plenty of things that the founders of the US Constitution couldn’t have foreseen: the most obvious and egregious example being the whole thing about citizens being allowed to own modern military assault weapons! (The founders wanted people to be able to own a musket; but of course a lone shooter can’t exactly do a mass killing spree with a musket!)

I have the same question. He is not the perfect candidate and is rather conceited but in fairness what has he said that is blatantly racist? Some polls say he has more ethnic minority support of any Republican candidate presently and in close to a Century. How accurate that is I’m not sure.

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“Trump has been accused of racism for literally as long as he’s been in public life — in his capacities as a real estate developer, a TV star, and now as a politician. At various times, he’s insulted African Americans, the Japanese, Native Americans, Muslim Americans and Latinos.”
“Timeline: Donald Trump has been getting called racist since 1973”

“At least eight top figures in the marginalized white nationalist movement said — in recent posts, podcasts, and interviews with BuzzFeed News — that they want Trump.”

If these descriptions are true, Donald Trump will never make the country “great”. He might be a “heretic” to most Americans with common sense. I am not sure why he is so popular with some Americans. Are they “poor whites” who adore the tycoon in the real estate and casino business? Do they want to see a reckless authoritarian leader or “Führer” at the balcony of the White House.?

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I’m sorry. I don’t take anything Buzzfeed states seriously. Nowadays not being politically correct can get you labelled a racist. Clearly I’m not Caucasian but I don’t have any issue with Trump in regards to race.

As for the second article, none of that is blatant or clear racism. I’m sorry. Being of color in urban America, I have dealt with real racism all the time. Getting searched for no reason by police despite having a blank record, people crossing over to the other side of the street because they see me coming towards them, being followed in stores even as a boy by owners or managers, getting treated worse by other Blacks or people of color because they assume my business is not important, growing up in ghettos where violence and murder is fairly commonplace be it the trigger happy police or the local gangsters etc. If that article depicts what we call “racism” now then I can’t help but smirk.

Having a low Black percentage of tenants in upper scale areas is a worldwide trend. 4% is much better than some entire cities like the beautiful city and ethnic melting pot of Metro Vancouver. It has something like an approximate 1% Black population Despite being very ethnically diverse. That’s far worse. That’s not the only community like that. It holds true to different degrees for most any of the wealthier cities in the West.

Saying he wanted the death penalty for alleged violent felons is a personal opinion. The country is split down the middle on the death penalty. You can’t label somebody racist for that.

He fired a smart Black contestant. Ok that might not have been cool but at the end of the day almost everyone is going to be fired on that show. It would be one thing if he got rid of people of color disproportionately early in the game but so far as I know that doesn’t happen.

Etc.

Being somebody who filters out the slew of liberal and conservative demagoguery in the media automatically now, it’s easier to form an unbiased opinion. So far as I’m concerned Trump is no worse than the other candidates.

I apologize if this resembles a rant. It wasn’t originally intended to be.

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