SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Scott Alexander gives a great breakdown of Trump and how the portrayal of him as being "openly white supremacist" is probably (likely) wrong.
I stick to my thesis from October 2015. There is no evidence that Donald Trump is more racist than any past Republican candidate (or any other 70 year old white guy, for that matter). All this stuff about how he's "the candidate of the KKK" and "the vanguard of a new white supremacist movement" is made up. It's a catastrophic distraction from the dozens of other undeniable problems with Trump that could have convinced voters to abandon him. That it came to dominate the election cycle should be considered a horrifying indictment of our political discourse, in the same way that it would be a horrifying indictment of our political discourse if the entire Republican campaign had been based around the theory that Hillary Clinton was a secret Satanist. Yes, calling Romney a racist was crying wolf. But you are still crying wolf.
I avoided pushing this point any more since last October because I didn't want to look like I was supporting Trump, or accidentally convince anyone else to support Trump. But since we're past the point where that matters any more, I want to present my case.
He further states: "I realize that all of this is going to make me sound like a crazy person and put me completely at odds with every respectable thinker in the media, but luckily, being a crazy person at odds with every respectable thinker in the media has been a pretty good ticket to predictive accuracy lately, so whatever."
So do his claims hold up under scrutiny, is he manipulating the figures, or is he just a 'crazy person' ?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Saturday November 19 2016, @04:28PM
He knows how to persuade people to come to his side. That's why he said so many different things while running, he was blatantly telling the audience what it wanted to hear.
Build the wall? He doesn't expect to build it. That was his opening bid, the other side will give something up, he'll come down, and finally settle for what he wanted in the first place.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @04:36PM
Build the wall? He doesn't expect to build it. That was his opening bid, the other side will give something up, he'll come down, and finally settle for what he wanted in the first place.
Who do you think he's negotiating with? Mexico? Trump's going to negotiate down and just build a fence and mexico is negotiate down only pay for half?
And when he said that the judge couldn't be impartial because he's "mexican" who was he negotiating with?
But in the end, your entire premise is flawed. Making racist arguments in order to obtain a better negotiating position is still racist.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday November 19 2016, @04:43PM
Illegal is not a race. Neither is Mexican. Choose your words more precisely.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:16PM
That's a nice strawman you got there... where did you get it from?
(Score: 5, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:22PM
The proposed wall is to keep illegal Mexicans out. Illegal is not a race. Mexican is not a race. Thus the wall is not racist. The comment I replied to said the wall was a racist argument. I refuted that.
Do please go look up the definition of a strawman.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 19 2016, @05:34PM
The wall is to keep out not only illegal Mexicans but also illegal Guatemalans, El Salvadorians, Nicaraguans, as well as illegal aliens from places other than South America who seek to enter the United States illegally though the Mexican-American border -- including terrorists of Middle-Eastern origin.
Personally, I agree that a wall is a nonsensical and excessively expensive method of border control -- I believe we should use existing resources, such as the National Guard, to shoot on sight anybody crossing the border illegally. It's a win-win situation because our Guard is better utilized and receives combat training, and our borders are controlled. What's not to like about that?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @07:02PM
why pay the National Guard when there are Minutemen, Patriots, Freemen, Bundistas et al who seem chomping at the bit to do it for free?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @04:24AM
You and the Buzzard honestly can't see a common theme to those you want to keep out? Really? Let me help you out: none of the people groups you identified is white Anglo-Saxon.
<sarc>Umm, yeah. Let's just turn the border into an active war zone. That will certainly calm things down.</sarc>
Actually, there's plenty not to like about that. We need less violence at our southern border, not more. Hoo boy! You alt-right types really need to get a clue!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 18 2016, @04:56PM
"Personally, I agree that a wall is a nonsensical and excessively expensive method of border control -- I believe we should use existing resources, such as the National Guard,"
Existing resources? We have millions of welfare recipients with nothing to do with their time. Tens of millions, even. Load them onto trains, and ship them to the border to build the wall.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @08:11PM
> Illegal is not a race.
Never said it was.
The OP is the one who brought up the wall as some weird proof that trump is not racist.
> Neither is Mexican.
Oh jesus christ.
Even Paul Ryan said it was textbook racism. [politico.com]
When even the republicans are calling something racism, its racism.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday November 21 2016, @02:29AM
Who do you think he's negotiating with? Mexico? Trump's going to negotiate down and just build a fence and mexico is negotiate down only pay for half?
Congress, and to a lesser extent the American people. Mexico has no say in it.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @08:08PM
Not much of a negotiator, managed to negotiate his casinos right out of business. More like a bully who is used to getting his way. And a dirtbag who was just fined for taking tuition at the fake "Trump University". Also, see the New Yorker piece by the ghost writer for "Art of the Deal" who came clean and admitted that the book was all fiction --
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all [newyorker.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @01:06AM
By phrasing it that way he got everyone to agree the wall was going to be built.
And focused them all on the 'and mexico will pay for it'.
He got everyone to agree to the wall as a given.