White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has framed plaques that read "No Mexicans," "White Power," "No Gays," "No Muslims," "No Tolerance," and "Breitbart Alt-Right." Bannon: Keep an open mind.
Trump was absolutely correct when he bragged that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters wouldn’t care. It was a dictator’s ugly vaunt, but one that recognized this election never was about policy or economics or the “right path/wrong path,” or even values. It was about venting. So long as Trump vented their grievances, his all-white supporters didn’t care about anything else. He is smart enough to know that won’t change in the presidency. In fact, it is only likely to intensify. White America, Trump’s America, just wants to hear its anger bellowed. This is one time when the Bully Pulpit will be literal.
The media can’t be let off the hook for enabling an authoritarian to get to the White House. Long before he considered a presidential run, he was a media creation — a regular in the gossip pages, a photo on magazine covers, the bankrupt (morally and otherwise) mogul who hired and fired on The Apprentice. When he ran, the media treated him not as a candidate, but as a celebrity, and so treated him differently from ordinary pols. The media gave him free publicity, trumpeted his shenanigans, blasted out his tweets, allowed him to phone in his interviews, fell into his traps and generally kowtowed until they suddenly discovered that this joke could actually become president.
Just as Trump has shredded our values, our nation and our democracy, he has shredded the media. In this, as in his politics, he is only the latest avatar of a process that began long before his candidacy. Just as the sainted Ronald Reagan created an unbridgeable chasm between rich and poor that the Republicans would later exploit against Democrats, conservatives delegitimized mainstream journalism so that they could fill the vacuum.
You guys on the left still don’t get it, do you? Hillary’s campaign was about hate. You supporters of Clinton expressed that hate most elegantly. We got it. And, we voted. And, you lost. Deal with it. You can either continue to express your hate and be marginalized in American politics. Or you can figure out a different message that includes all of us, rather than just those of you who hate the rest of us.
Happy Two Shoes over 7 years ago
Trump was absolutely correct when he bragged that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters wouldn’t care. It was a dictator’s ugly vaunt, but one that recognized this election never was about policy or economics or the “right path/wrong path,” or even values. It was about venting. So long as Trump vented their grievances, his all-white supporters didn’t care about anything else. He is smart enough to know that won’t change in the presidency. In fact, it is only likely to intensify. White America, Trump’s America, just wants to hear its anger bellowed. This is one time when the Bully Pulpit will be literal.
The media can’t be let off the hook for enabling an authoritarian to get to the White House. Long before he considered a presidential run, he was a media creation — a regular in the gossip pages, a photo on magazine covers, the bankrupt (morally and otherwise) mogul who hired and fired on The Apprentice. When he ran, the media treated him not as a candidate, but as a celebrity, and so treated him differently from ordinary pols. The media gave him free publicity, trumpeted his shenanigans, blasted out his tweets, allowed him to phone in his interviews, fell into his traps and generally kowtowed until they suddenly discovered that this joke could actually become president.
Just as Trump has shredded our values, our nation and our democracy, he has shredded the media. In this, as in his politics, he is only the latest avatar of a process that began long before his candidacy. Just as the sainted Ronald Reagan created an unbridgeable chasm between rich and poor that the Republicans would later exploit against Democrats, conservatives delegitimized mainstream journalism so that they could fill the vacuum.
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http://billmoyers.com/story/farewell-america/#.WCsoTF6stj2.facebook
I Quit over 7 years ago
You guys on the left still don’t get it, do you? Hillary’s campaign was about hate. You supporters of Clinton expressed that hate most elegantly. We got it. And, we voted. And, you lost. Deal with it. You can either continue to express your hate and be marginalized in American politics. Or you can figure out a different message that includes all of us, rather than just those of you who hate the rest of us.
DaBoogadie over 7 years ago
“Or you can figure out a different message that includes all of us”…Do you believe that Mr. Bannon is qualified to advise Mr. Trump on that issue?
ahab over 7 years ago
The Mormons don’t even have a clue about what Mr Bannon says and thinks about them, and it’s similar to what he thinks about Muslims and Mexicans.
Masterskrain Premium Member over 7 years ago
Funny, but the Red States take more from the federal Government they they pay back. The Blue States pay more then they take.
Kip W over 7 years ago
“Give Trump a chance. He hasn’t done anything yet!”
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He’s appointed this piece of work. Case closed.