nynakedtop

To get at the heart of Trump’s 10-minute performance on prime time, we need to get clear on a long-standing feature from the dark side of American politics and culture, i.e., race-baiting. Or to be more precise with Trump’s closing rant, illegal immigrant-baiting. “He just turned immigrants all into ‘Willie Horton’” was the crisp and succinct way my partner put it. Those of you who were around for the infamous ad in the campaign by the elder Bush against Michael Dukakis back in 1988 will know exactly what she meant. For those of who weren’t, Lee Atwater, a GOP operative, took a case of an inmate on furlough in Massachusetts, one William Horton, who was arrested soon after and convicted for raping a woman and stabbing her friend, and turned an ugly mugshot of Horton into an ad blaming the crimes on Dukakis. What does a race baiter do? He picks a particularly vile example of an outrage, real or fiction, attached to a person of color, and use it to condemn an entire category of people, whipping up a generalized fear of ‘The Other’ in the minds of his designated popular base, to entice them into supporting repressive responses. The outrage is the ‘bait’ on the hook of social control and manipulation. Trump’s aim was for us to take the bait. He knows as well as anyone that the illegal immigrant population, as a whole, once living in the U.S., is more law-abiding than the American average. He knows that a majority of the undocumented in the U.S. enter the country legally, then overstayed their visas. He knows that most drugs entering the country from Mexico do so on trucks and cars at ports of entry, or planes at airports. He knows that his immigration policies are designed to curb all immigrants from ‘shit hole’ countries, legal or otherwise, while enticing the highly educated from 'Norway' instead. Trump wants you to see him as your savior against ‘them,’ those seeking safety and work. And to keep you fired up, he has to insist on including the irrational into any rational package of reforms making for decent treatment of immigrants at well-regulated and efficient border crossings. But what’s the larger purpose? My guess is that it serves as a distraction. It diverts our attention away from a more serious challenge to his presidency, his business and his family, the step-by-step relentless series of indictments and convictions coming from Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is likely soon to reveal a Donald Trump that no one voted for. Then we'll be tested more seriously.

It doesn't have to make any sense or even exist. Once he declares one, our freedoms, such as they are, go down the tubes. An earlier Congress, assuming any POTUS would be rational, a big mistake, gave the Oval Office at least 100 new powers. And all bets are off if it happens. Politically all that's left is a veto-proof override of two thirds in each house to declare it null, and/or a successful impeachment of both Trump and Pence. But most likely prepare for lots of mass mobilizations, mass strikes, progressive organizing among vets and troops. Don't kid yourself. It can happen here. Hope for the best, work for it, but also prepare for the worst. 1939 GermanyAll over againHistory Repeats itself!

i was a victim of the most recent fascist purge... avalon is good enough for Ms. Fawkes but I am not.... guess I am on the wrong side of wishing for public executions!

it's about the children of the disappeared in argentina who were kidnapped and raised by military officers....

Even when you and I have disagreed, your postings have always been welcome - no matter which topic you are writing on. BTW: saw a film not long ago that made me think of you: Clandestine Childhood (Infancia clandestina) - do you know of it???

I note that the dreaded "Avalon" has returned to posting on the other board, and he has done so in a way that shows that continuity is one of his strongest attributes. The genius-in-his-walker writes that: I thought the Russian invasion was a good thing. It brought European civilization to a backward Third World country controlled by religious fanatics. Russian interest in Afghanistan is nothing new; it goes back to the time of the Tsars. (emphasis added) This makes it apparent once again that I was banned from the poverty-stricken Daddy's forum because of my surplus of intelligence, not a lack thereof.

On Saturday, Twitter users were both angry and appalled with President Donald Trump for attempting to pin the blame on the deaths of two immigrant children at the border on Democrats, despite the fact they were being held by ICE agents at his administration’s directions. “Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally,” he claimed. Trump translation: I will do nothing to stop children from dying unless you give me what I want. It’s really painful to have a President who truly has no compassion. He is right out of a horror movie. When he is finally gone people will speak much more openly about what a monster he is.

ONE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBAMA AND TRUMP... My guess is Trump's list would only include a few TV shows, like Hannity... and, of course, his own tweets but he might not be able to differentiate them from fiction or non-. http://www.openculture.com/2018/12/president-obama-names-his-favorite-books-movies-songs-of-2018.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)&fbclid=IwAR2WoR1kqR9lgH28SnIfp97Ezp32VGGUA6RGKRYQsYvaIt7DWrwavRuQ8Hk

gone, but not forgotten, hehe

That site may make improvements -- cosmetic as well as substantive -- but it will never be what it was without me there!

TRUMP AND SYRIA: ONE REASON I'M NOT A LIBERAL. The Vietnam War and 'counter-insurgency warfare' designed by Cold War liberals left a bitter legacy. I'm not into humanitarian interventions, especially in the Middle East. I prefer the 'non-interference in each other's internal affairs' of the Five Principle of Peaceful Coexistence. 'Morning Joe' has been wall-to-wall in favor of keeping our troops in Syria. Not me. I'm for bringing them all home now. Trump has his reasons and I have mine, and they are not the same. Trump has likely made a pressured deal with Turkey who wants US troops out of the way so they can go all out against the Kurds. I'm all for the Kurds, and have been for 50 years. They are constantly betrayed by superpower allies. They will find new ones, and fight on. My reasons are that there is no justice in continuing the war in Syria, the US should have never intervened in the first place. So I draw a line between the antiwar forces and Trump, but I also draw one against the liberal interventionists who would have us s continue the bloodshed by our hands.

no, there most definitely should not.

Well (hehe) it is the only reason that I can think of, and therefore it is the one I will go with!

There are usually two shows per evening... As i recall they generally all start about the same time - first show 10:30 or 11pm, next show around 1am - usually there is no problem getting a seat, and the guys generally "work" the audience as well.... the only issue is that you will be there during the very high season... another thing you should be aware of is that the Soi Twilight bars have become a popular stop-off point for Chinese (female) tourists, who seem to drink a lot and become rather loud and (to me) annoying. Just don't want you to be surprised.

I thought I had posted this over the weekend but I do not see it here - perhaps it got lost in the "ups and downs".... if I actually did post it somewhere (and I am repeating myself), profound apologies... Guy_Fawkes, after I was banned, came out in support of public executions... (Perhaps I was banned for bringing the Mississippi Senator's position (supported by a certain life form called an Avalon) to the attention of the forum. I assume that the Board is down so that Mr. Fawkes is able to make a Grand Tour of nations who have the same position as he does on public execution: North Korea, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Iran. I just hope that in consideration of the cost of his air ticket these regimes manage to haul out some poor souls in order to properly entertain he whose name shall not again be repeated here. (Wow.... and I'm the one who was made to disappear!)

As you all (maybe) know, I have the honor of having been unceremoniously BANNED from that site. I guess it was their way of telling me that I am just too good for them!

I was in SDS in high school and when the organization split i hooked up (oops.... joined up) with the local weather persons collective... those were some heady times but i was a tough kid and eager to earn my revolutionary scars. the town house explosion was on my birthday - i still go to west 11th street every march 6th and leave something in remembrance of my friends... as do a number of other people.... and i remain in contact with bill... and bernadine... and mark... and others. sure we did some messed up things, but, actually i think that theoretically we were in a good place, and i still believe that the theoretical analyses we formulated back then hold true today. My signature at the "other" board was the Dylan lyric that you inserted into your earlier posting. about 2... maybe 3.... people "got" it. Certainly the know-nothing fascists in charge of that Board did not.

Great response but about that weatherman thing... how do you know how appropriate a reference that is for me???? Curious!!

nahhhh.....

Appreciate the insight.... we Northeasterners miss out on a lot of the details of the peculiarities of some regional political intrigue(s) - but the current hoopla that Ms. Hyde-Smith has generated is certainly a bit of a headline grabber, wouldn't you say? My other comments about the other Board's gestapo tactics (in the streets of Chicago? a nod to a local Connecticut Senator's words during the 1968 Democratic Party convention!) hold true....

It seems as though Forum Nazi Guy Fawkes announced his support for bringing back public executions... I may finally uncover the actual reason for my being banned - it came soon after I brought to light the actions of the Mississippi candidate for Senate - you know, the one who wanted a front-row seat at a public hanging.... from that State where such things were all too common all too recently. Avalon jumped on the right wing racist bandwagon and said "me too"... seems as though the reactionary management clique there agrees.... Whatever excuse was made up for my banning, it is obvious that I was expelled for my left wing politics.

I'll try not to discuss politics here and keep it to the fun stuff - just be warned: I am a militant ultra-leftist ... a true revolutionary street fighter - I do not suffer racists, bigots, or Republicans gladly! And still happy to be here.

When this discussion becomes tiresome, I am sure someone will let me know. The worst things about the other forum is that when a member offends management, no warning is given at all. You are simply "disappeared" with no explanation.... judge, jury, and executioner.

First, thank you. Second, I did not day that it is "advocating" white nationalist views. I did say that it is "tolerating/encouraging" such views. My evidence for that seemingly outlandish assertion is that there has been a gentleman there who has been putting forward arguments that white people are disadvantaged by preferred treatment given to minorities, that white people are now the ones who are being discriminated against, and that white people are now the objects of "racism" -- all well known current white nationalist tropes. Given that the same poster spoke in glowing terms of a Czech German soldier who fought in World War II and praised the British for ruling over India in order to "uplift the natives", I will let you come to your own conclusion. Why I said that the other forum is wrong is because I was the one time-out'd and then banned for challenging such horrible statements, while the OP was not. Put that in combination with the wide freedom given to other extreme right-wingers there, I think we can find an easy example of complicity, if not collusion. Am I being hyper-sensitive? I hope so... I hope that any room given to white nationalists will always bother the shit out of me!

Trying not to dwell too much on the horrible-ness of the daddy site, but... I was long considered "one of the most respected members" of the site because when I was not mud-slinging I actually elevated the level of discourse considerably there. But there was a blatant pattern of tolerating/encouraging overt and blatant pronouncements of white nationalist views there and of course i went ballistic. mind you, i publicly announced one day i would no longer post in the politics forum and the very next day the fascist management (with all due respect) banned me. They can shove it.