In Case You Were Wondering
Donald Trump has tied up that racist vote. David Duke just endorsed him.
David Duke, the anti-Semitic former Ku Klux Klan leader, praised Republican front-runner Donald Trump for his immigration policy proposals and said Trump is “the best of the lot.”
This tops off a week where Trump sneered “Go back to Univision” to Jorge Ramos, the Hispanic Walter Cronkite, and then had Ramos thrown out of the press conference by what appeared to be bouncers at a strip club.
“My job as a journalist is to ask questions from the powerful, and that’s what we tried to do,” Ramos said, adding that he had on various previous occasions tried to set up an interview with the presidential candidate. (Trump posted a picture of a handwritten note from Ramos to his Instagram account. The note included Ramos’ phone number.)
In an interview with ABC, Ramos said that another responsibility of being a journalist is to “denounce” the “dangerous words and extreme behavior of Donald Trump.”
You go, Jorge!
Thanks to Brian and Craig for the heads up.
I wonder why every reporter in that room didn’t stand up and walk out. Well, maybe a journalist would have, but the stenographers in the room stayed to worship.
Our Republic–
1I’m generally as entertained as anyone else by Trump’s antics, but I watched his Alabama speech last week, and the race stuff is starting to really worry me.
Listing specific incidents of crime by the undocumented and following that up with, “They’re killing us, and we need to send them back” is unsettling.
The idea of campaigning on “This country isn’t great anymore, it’s because of an internal group, so we need to go round them up” should worry all of us.
2His followers say he’s going to make America great again because “it’s on his hat.” Well, alrighty then. I bet his hat was made in China.
3I’m with Wa Skeptic, whatever happened to newspapers’ role of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable? Especially afflicting the comfortable!
4Trump’s words and his obvious appeal does worry me. On the other hand, what I heard yesterday is that he’s alienated Roger Ailes of FoxNews (amazing!) by his continued attacks on Megyn Kelly (I would have expected Ailes to dump Kelly for annoying Trump, so it’s kind of interesting to see that Trump/Ailes feud developing.)
If Fox turns on him, he won’t have the same platform for contact with his core supporters, especially if the other networks can develop some cojones and ask some tough questions of their own.
5I’ve been thinking about Trump (yes, it makes my brain hurt; and my soul; even as I laugh).
He is not really a Republican and therefore the elephant is not a good symbol for him. I nominate Cerberus: http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire4/f786528fdc2758a717dd467c2c6842091224250096_full.jpg
But I’m open to suggestions.
6If the Republican Party was not such a huge toilet it would be possible to see Trump circling the drain. But with a toilet that large and so much Trump floating in it, it may be difficult to see the movement of one specific Trump. I just hope that America’s sewage treatment plant can handle all the Trump that is headed its way.
7The only winner in a FOX/Trump Civil War is – everybody else in the country.
8Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you today’s Corporate Owned Media. The COM is interested in ratings & access, not facts, truth, investigations, or journalism.
Today’s COM is giving DT free air time. Can the rest of the candidates file a complaint with the FCC?
And all the stenographers who witnessed Jorge Ramos be escorted out by DT’s Mob Boys should return their “Journalism” Degrees to their embarrassed University Professors.
And Walter Cronkite weeps.
9I predict in 8 months the Donald will be auditioning for dancing with the stars. and get rejected.
10Lorraine, there did not appear to be a spine among the stenographers in the room. The so-called liberals in the MSNBC evening line-up–looking at you, Rachel Maddow–give most of their show over to examining the ranting & raving of The Donald rather than the actual events and issues begging for attention. Walter Cronkite isn’t the only one who weeps. The American people deserve better.
11My my. David Dukes. Shaking my head. Add my name to the list of people who’ve been worrying.
12The government could solve our national debt by putting a pay toilet over Trump’s grave.
13Sam in San Antonio: You’re probably right, but I really hate to stand in long lines at my age.
14Trump & Duke – birds of a feather.
15I saw an article questioning why Republican women support DT. Basically it’s a “boys will be boys” attitude. My response to this is “Do you want a boy as president?
16As to the feud with Fox, I suspect Fox might be able to get the better of him. I hope. But I agree with daChipster that the winner in that exchange is everyone else.
For some reason, however, I can’t quit thinking about the quote:
“Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.”
Momma…. look away.
I’m so damned tired of Donald Trump… I could chew nails and spit tacks.
Donald Trump is an arrogant…..egotistical sociopath bully .
Jorge Ramos is an experienced journalist…. who refused to be bullied.
JMHO. 🙂
17Yeah, he’s not the typical politician– he says the things out loud that they say in code. But I keep hoping that his letting the Ugly out is going to lose him support, and it hasn’t happened yet. One of these times he may go too far, or maybe even not far enough for what they’ve come to expect, and he’ll crumble like a pillar of salt in a downpour. I hope.
There was an anthology TV series some years ago about the space program, I think, with episodes written and directed by different people. One of them dealt with the TV news coverage, and the Walter Cronkite character was fired for a new younger guy, who stuck a camera in the face of an Apollo 13 wife and said “How does it feel to know that your husband may never make it back to Earth?” Uncle Walter wept and so did I.
18@JanK
19“Boys WILL be boys” is a truism. They just don’t have to be the James boys.
This is really typical behavior for republicans these days. They don’t look forward the simply immediately just react instead of thinking things through.
As an example here in Florida there were hundreds of small internet casinos employing thousands of people. ONE casino set up as a charity for Veterans and ripped everybody off for 300 million dollars. Instead of simply closing that ONE place they overreacted and shut down all of them. Owners lost their business and employees lost their jobs and lots and lots of mostly older people lost the fun they were having.
They don’t think they react.
20Usually make a point of not watching Republicans live; not good for my blood pressure. But I was watching Trump’s “press opportunity” yesterday. Noticed that, after Jorge Ramos was ejected, several reporters pressed Trump on that action being inappropriate. So, not just stenographers. I think their questions show a, let’s say “uncomfortable” aspect of Trump. Not that I expect Republicans to recognize that aspect as a strong negative.
21With the TP and GOP always going the “Nazi” route and comparing POTUS to HH it bothers me that NO ONE asks the question of how HH wanted to deport Jews, Slavs, Gypsy’s, etc. and ended up sending them to these nice camps where they “flourished” – Trump’s message is so similar. I also wonder if some brave cartoonist will draw a picture of “the wall” emblazoned with Trump’s name and show the guard towers with no-man’s land between with dogs and GUNS — the caption could be one guard saying “we don’t waste anything when it comes to the wall” and a board reading “The Berlin Wall” crossed out and US-Mexico Wall written in chalk. I swear the people we were ashamed to acknowledge (white power, KKK, etc.) are now having their “day in the sun”.
22Trump showed very clearly that he cannot tolerate probing questioning with the Megyn Kelly debacle, so throwing Ramos out of the room was absolutely in-character. He is ill-prepared to
23address the questions about his character and moronic statements, so he just gets rid of them, calling them “activists”.
With friends like David Duke, who needs enemies?
@maryelle
24I never thought I would live to see “Megyn Kelly” and “probing question” used in the same serious sentence. Maybe heard as a punchline at The Improv. I’m stunned.
Wouldn’t it be great, if at the next Fox debate on Sept 16, Fox didn’t ask Trump one question until the last 15 seconds of air time?
25I heard what I take to be a wing-nut professor from Louisiana says Trump is saying what the majority of Americans are thinking about illegal immigrants. My guess is his “majority” all think Faux “News” has some truth in their broadcasts.
26Everybody has Donald Trump all wrong. He is nothing more than a Republican George Wallace: “You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all
these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about n—–s, and they stomped the floor.”
Like Trump, Wallace was never gonna beat anybody outright for President, but he could have won the nomination in ’72 – COULD have – except for being shot. He was never going to beat Nixon, even on two good legs. Most Dems would have stayed home.
Similarly, Trump could – COULD – win the Republican nomination, except he’ll probably shoot himself in the foot, figuratively speaking. The Republican version of McGovern waiting in the wings would be Cruz, probably, if the historical parallelism is pursued to it’s logical conclusion: amidst chaos, the fringe finally produces a nominee.
No matter what, though, no Republican is going to beat Hillary.
27Sorry, but I believe Ramos interrupted. Saying that, I also recognize that Ramos was trying to push Trump’s buttons, which is so much fun, and, of course, Trump delivered.
28Yeah, Trump can’t handle 3 minutes with Jorje Ramos, not he’s going to stare down Putin and all the Middle East theocrats and put them in their places?
I’m breathless with anticipation.
29Beyond the reporters/stenographers, there are editors and they are a whole different breed who, if any of their stenos had left the room with Ramos, would have fired them, thus saying, I sent you there to cover the whole story, not just part of it.
Never could figure them out.
30Linda Phipps – if by “pushing Trump’s buttons” you mean that Ramos tried to get Trump to address some of his outrageous and insupportable claims and ideas, then that is indeed what happened. And in return, Trump treated him with the utmost contempt, had him ejected from the press conference by a 7-foot goon, and lied through his gnarly capped teeth about it for the next 5 minutes
Most of the press corps just stood there, placidly chewing their cuds. No wonder this clown thinks he can say absolutely anything without opposition – that’s exactly what’s happened so far.
31TTPT.I am with you. i wish someone could get their hands on the label in that hat!!!!!!!!!
32Donald Trump is the corporate media darling. There is no way they are going to call him out on his racist supporters. Trump news sells.
33The ‘bouncer’ is reputed to be Trump’s personal bodyguard
34Outrageous antics will always sell. Fox, in my opinion is backing Trump by pretending not to. This infantile feud between Trump, Kelly, and Ailes is to me, a set up to keep Trump in the news. His vulgar pronouncements, all rhetoric and no substance, are manna to the same people who are too lazy to actually think and adore someone who speaks what they think. I believe I was right is mentioning that Ramos interrupted the session, I certainly condemn Trump’s response. I expect a new feud will erupt between Trump and Univision.
35I may be expressing a contrarian opinion but in a sense, I think this is good. Exposing the racism which has been hidden and spoken in dog whistles for so long.
Kind of gives you an idea of what is really out there.
On the other hand it is giving these people a voice and the numbers joining it are scarey.
Luntz is justifiably afraid of the Monster he helped to create and like a lot of the GOP they are now powerless to fight it.
36Micr: I was reluctant to use the term “probing”, but when reflecting on her question about Trump’s misogynistic treatment of women and his reaction to it, I had to admit this once, Kelly hit home. And it was a question that millions of women wanted to hear. His non-answer, not so much.
37Trump’s demagoguery attracts the xenophobes and racists of the Republican Party. It appears, looking at the latest poll results, he has that 28 percent of the base locked-up.
38Our main problem with undocumented immigrants right now is that we’re not getting enough of them: http://civileats.com/2014/03/26/what-immigration-reform-means-for-the-food-system/
Poor Donald is going to find it increasingly difficult to hire the cheap labor he loves so much.
39Well, there is a (very) small candle lit. One of my friends from High School, has renounced the Republican Party that she has supported for the last 40 years. I grew up in crAZy and most of “my peeps” from that time are still there and very Khristian.
40They are very kind and supportive as long as you follow the “narrow way” and tend to double down if you ask the wrong question.
My mystical, Jewish approach to life has them confused and worried. I AM going to hell, no question–and will be hanging out with Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Elizabeth and possibly Jesus, since he was an observant Jew as well. Meanwhile, in Heaven–the “family values” crowd will have the “sorry I got caught” Duggars and other Quiverers, the Newt, and all of the vicious other “warriors for Christ” –Jesus being that peaceful, guy that said, “Love one another”
A small candle that doesn’t want to be associated with racism, mysoginy and some of the “new”values that are now so bluntly displayed by sTRUMPettes of all sexes…
Maryelle, great point. If you are not tough enough for Megyn Kelly, what the hell are you doing trying for one of the toughest jobs ever????
41I wonder if Trump knows he can’t just fire Congress and replace them. Or people in Civil Service jobs either, for that matter. That as president, he can’t raise taxes, or declare war, or do any of the other things he appears to think come with a position that is NOT an absolute dictatorship.
Most of all, I think he has no concept that, as a government official, HE works for US, not the opposite. I know it hasn’t always worked very well. But at bottom, that’s the deal. We can remove him, by election or impeachment. And his only real power to effect laws, other than bullying Congress, is to either pass or veto them. Considering the deep enmity he’s fostering with a big chunk of the GOP, I doubt he’d get his own way much.
The guy is delusional. The fact that so many citizens don’t realize that is terrifying.
42Every time T-Rump mentions “the wall” I picture the ice-block wall in Game of Thrones and the George R.R. Martin series. Of course, especially in this time of global warming, it would melt sooner rather than later.
43Nice drawing.
44