Trump on Reporters, Hate Them, Wouldn't Kill Them

    On the Campaign Trail, Grand Rapids Michigan

     

     

    "This is Russia after all, somebody said are you at all offended he said nice things, I said no, no they said Trump should have been much nastier that's terrible, and then they said you know, he's killed some reporters. I don't like that, I'm totally against that...By the way, I hate some of these people. But I’d never kill them. I hate them. No. These people, honestly, I’ll be honest. I would never kill them. I would never do that. Well … (waggles his hand) … No, I wouldn't. I would never kill them. But I do hate them. And some of them are such lying, disgusting people. It’s true. It’s true."

    Note the crowd mob cheers for "hating disgusting reporters" is as loud as "knock the hell out of ISIS".

    Columbia Journalism Review, December, 2017

    Trump Twitter spreadsheet tracks “A Perpetual Campaign Against the Press”

    ..Trump has waged a rhetorical war on the press, threatening to sue various newspapers and calling journalists “the most dishonest human beings on Earth,” all while characterizing as “fake news” any story he dislikes.

    That’s what prompted an NYU master’s student to start tracking Trump’s tweets critical of the press. “I took it on as a labor of love and hate, and I suffered through his tweets every few days to log them,” says Stephanie Sugars, who is pursuing a joint MA in journalism and international relations. “It seemed important to maintain a record of what has appeared to be a deliberate and sustained campaign to discredit the media as an institution.”...... The spreadsheet—990 tweets critical of the press—shows the terrible depth of Trump’s anti-democratic depravity and his willingness to scathe any journalist or news organization in his way. (the spreadsheet online is only through 12/2017)

    February, 2017:

    President Donald Trump crossed the line with his comments referring the media as “the enemy of the American people,” Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said Sunday. ‘“Look, we’re big boys. We criticize presidents. They want to criticize us back, that’s fine . . . But when he said that the fake news media is not my enemy, it’s the enemy of the American people, I believe that crosses an important line.”   ...Wallace pointed out that many presidents had contentious relationships with the media, but they still recognized that an independent press was essential to America’s democracy.

    McCain rips Trump’s comments: ‘That’s how dictators get started’

     

    Comments

    An editorial in the Capital Gazette thanked the paper’s supporters. The editorial included the following

    Here’s what else we won’t forget: Death threats and emails from people we don’t know celebrating our loss, or the people who called for one of our reporters to get fired because she got angry and cursed on national television after witnessing her friends getting shot.

    We won’t forget being called an enemy of the people.

    No, we won’t forget that. Because exposing evil, shining light on wrongs and fighting injustice is what we do.

     

    http://www.capitalgazette.com/opinion/our_say/ac-ce-our-say-20180630-story.html


    We need to "go there".

    We need to recognize and condemn the hate stoked by Trump. Tie it to his racism, Republican promoted ethnic dehumanization, and even the provocation of murder.

    Thanks for the link.

    British historian Ian Kershaw:

    "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference."


    Trump said Obama wasn’t born the the United States. He said Mexicans were rapists. He encouraged violence at his rallies. He calls the press the enemy. His fellow travelers in the GOP, stole a Supreme Court seat from Obama. They said they would not allow Hillary to make an appointment for four years. Babies were kidnapped and now we are told that families will be held in immigration internment centers (tent cities). We are told to be calm and be “civil” because we might upset our fellow citizens and lose votes. If our fellow citizens are so sensitive that calling out what is in front of our eyes results in electing more Republicans, we have already lost.

    We are in uncharted waters. “How Democracies Die” shows that we are in dangerous territory. The is no blueprint for digging out of our current situation. In the past, we had people who spoke truth to power. We cannot put away these voices from the past. King spoke out to moderates who said say calm. King became more radical as time went on. 

    In King’s final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, drafted in early 1967, he argued in part that white supremacy stood in the way of America’s democracy, that it was an ever-present force in frustrating the dreams of the nation’s darker-skinned citizens. At the heart of it was a distorted understanding of the meaning of racial justice. He wrote

    Negroes have proceeded from a premise that equality means what it says, and they have taken white Americans at their word when they talked of it as an objective. But most whites in America … proceed from a premise that equality is a loose expression for improvement. White America is not even psychologically organized to close the gap–essentially it seeks only to make it less painful and less obvious but in most respects to retain i

    This is a devastating judgment about our so-called national commitment to progress. It reduces racial justice to a charitable enterprise by which white people “do good” for black people. This, in turn, provides white Americans with a necessary illusion that preserves the idea of innocence and insulates their conscience or, perhaps, their soul from guilt and blame.

    King did not craft this conclusion from thin air. This was a lesson learned from experience. The brutality of the South and the hypocrisy of the country led him to conclude that the view of racial equality as a charitable enterprise distorted the principles of democracy itself and disfigured the moral character of those who believed the lie.

    Nearly a year after his refusal to leave his bed, in August 1967, King stated plainly “that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously.” Eight months later, he would lie dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

    Those are the words of King. We cannot afford to put him away, because we only accept a superficial version of the man. We are not in normal times. Would King hesitate to call Trump and his supporters authoritarian and supreamacists?

     

    http://time.com/5220093/the-whitewashing-and-resurrection-of-dr-kings-legacy/


    I think the majority hates Trump precisely because he preaches and spews hate, and I don't think they are indifferent. I see very little indifference in this country, actually, just the opposite: there is massive division stoked in the country between the minority of Trump fans and the majority of Trump despisers. The news media is filled every day with ridicule of Trump's lies, hate and ignorance to the problematic point of feeding a troll.

    The majority is waiting for Mueller and for the November elections. Because they are still willing to give "rule of law" a chance, as are past leaders like past presidents

    Would you rather have another civil war right now, is that it?

    I don't see what more could be done right now except for letting rule of law and our Constitution run the course.

    I just don't get what preaching to the choir does, I guess. Except blow off steam. Which is fine if that's what you need. But I don't see the function of dittoing Limbaugh style, I'd rather spend the time learning something more rather than repeating the same things over and over which we at a liberal website all know and realize.


    Our fellow citizens are not well informed regarding  jelled.

    http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/389039-poll-majority-of-americans-dont-know-that-mueller-probe-has

    We are in dire straits.


    Well the problem is those people are not at Dagblog, so some of us at Dagblog get insulted that you consistently treat us like we are those people who need learnin' all about it. You need to be doing this work of yours over at RedState.org or similar. Or again, maybe you too just have this need to rant about the situation? In which case you should realize it is not going to be everyone's cup of tea and they are not required to ditto and amen even if they agree.

    Maybe there should be a "rant about what Trump and Trumpies did today" section on most liberal websites.


    I think that reporting what King said should not be offensive. Linking to what black news websites are saying should not be offensive either. Cutting and pasting King’s words is not a rant. I find his words enlightening. It should remind us of what we are really up against.


    P.S. Also everyone should always keep in mind that Trump runs on narcissism and indifference is actually what would kill him. He wants, craves, an emotional reaction from not just every citizen in this country but every person in the world.


    It's indifference to what is going on in this country to explain away Trump's widespread support, his racist actions, appointments and rhetoric solely to his personal warped, needy personality.  Perhaps it discomfits you to recognize the bigger picture.  That is understandable. However,  what he has started in this country, what he is breaking and the defacement of our institutions and values he is actively and successfully laying waste, won't simply repair themselves when he is gone. 63 million voters may look for his replacement.

    You seem to ignore that fact, while you distract with charges of "civil wars" and assurances of Trump "killing" himself.  Doing so with diligence and almost inexhaustible persistence and energy. While you also deride "getting out the vote" which happens to be the only path to retaking our government from the Republican/Trump base. A group who are enervated by, and gulping down the racist nihilistic kool-aid he and his GOP cohorts spew every day.

    I think RM is very aware of what is going on and appreciate his posts and links, and encourage him to keep it up.


    Trump's supporters are clearly not indifferent. Look at his rallies. They're fired up and rowdy. Trump's opponents aren't indifferent. They're fired up and protesting. There is a significant group that doesn't vote and seem indifferent. But we really don't know what role they would play if they voted to help solve or exacerbate the problem of Trump. Polls of Americans versus polls of likely voters don't diverge significantly so I don't see that indifference as explaining anything.

    I don't think anyone derides getting out the vote. We just don't see it alone as the solution and see other things that can be done in addition to GOTV.


    Thx NCD

    Edit to add:

    Reminding people of things MLK Jr said is a personal attack. Wow!


    Our fellow citizens elected Trump. Hard to ignore him.


    Fighting back, many times a day, like this:

    In response to ⁦@MariaBartiromo⁩,
    Trump indicates he sees his responsibility as to his base, not the whole country. https://t.co/z3UR7WftCv

    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 2, 2018


    Even WaPo's Style Section, far from "indifferent":


    well, FWIW Alex Jones sez Dems are going to launch Civil War July 4 he's ascared laugh but


    This is exactly what's wrong with the democratic party, no coordination with members. As one of the few liberal gun owners I am crucial to the success of this Civil War. I was all set to go on the fourth but I've promised my employer I would paint one of the buildings here on the third. Now I can't take part! Look, people have schedules and appointments. We can't reschedule on a dime. If this Civil War fails I won't take any of the blame you hear.


     


    cat fight with Ingraham on the Haberman tweet:


    Fox Business News reporter does a gotcha on Trump projection:

    Lots of good replies there.


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