Originally Posted by kimilseung (Post 11884926)

I think this misses the point, it doesnt matter if he instigates it, he accepts and uses it. He is an opportunist. We do not know where his limits on opportunism lie. We should assume any instances of it are potential pointers for the future from him.

Times when fascism have risen are when populations view an existential threat to their way of life, people respond to the left and to the right. Boiler pointed to a link a week or so ago that indicated some of Sanders supporters are political naives, likely to be racist, they are the ones jumping to the left, Trump is getting those that jump to the right.

I do think many people see in America see immigration as an existential threat to their way of life. (As ridiculous as that may seem to many of us) Obama is a seen as symbolic of it. Economically America is not in a bad position, but you wouldnt know it, by the gloom.

Business is wary of opportunist populists, but when it is a choice between those on the left or those on the right, history tells us that when push comes to shove, they choose the right. The Republican core is against Trump now, but I worry as that battle plays out to defeat for them. Christie will probably be just the first of many defectors as the weeks go by

Originally Posted by Hiro11 (Post 11884654)

Bret Stephens, the conservative WSJ editorialist least likely to pull any punches captures my feelings on Trump perfectly:
Staring at the Conservative Gutter - WSJ

Make no mistake, we are watching the implosion of the Republican party, an implosion that has been decades in the making. Instead of traditional social liberal, fiscal conservative policies of Republicans, the exact opposite has taken over. Over the last 15 years, the defensible, considered tenets of classic big "L" Liberalism have been overrun by a bunch of selfish, childish, fearful, economically ignorant bigots with the IQs of carrots.

Today, the WSJ hammered the message home by making it clear who's to blame here:
Trump Voters Need a Mirror - WSJ

The answer is: look in the mirror. We voted for this garbage. We expect the government to save us from our own idiocy. We want to have our cake and eat it too. We love pointing the finger at others for our own problems. We refuse to pay now that the bill's coming due. We refuse to make hard decisions. We are prepared to ride this gravy train into the dirt because dammit, the world owes us. We refuse to grow the f%^k up.

This is the nightmare of an election we deserve.

Originally Posted by themadpooper (Post 11884931)

Watching the BBC for American political coverage when there's CNN/ABC, etc. :unsure:

Not just blatant bias in favour of the Dems but pretty clueless reporting. How they justify sending reporters out here to cover something most Brits don't care about I'll never know, it's not as if it's even the election yet

Originally Posted by McZaki (Post 11885414)

Trump releases health care plan
Donald Trump releases health care reform plan - CNNPolitics.com

The guy is worst than a Politician, pathetic!

Originally Posted by sir_eccles (Post 11885426)

As Romney might say "about as useful as a degree from Trump university".

Originally Posted by Leslie (Post 11884974)

Lovely post.

I've wanted to go into a full on "Trump IS Hitler" tirade so many times. HOWEVER, because of internet shaming, I live in fear of having stupid Godwin's Law thrown in my face. All I can say is screw Godwin, this is one time when it is actually apropos to the discussion.

Originally Posted by zargof (Post 11766841)

Hey do all y'all remember when it was suggested than Bernie Sanders was a Nazi? Well...

5 Ways Donald Trump Perfectly Mirrors Hitler's Rise To Power | Cracked.com

Originally Posted by zargof (Post 11885440)

The whole Trump is Hitler thing was so last year...

Originally Posted by Philk (Post 11885502)

Trump likes Tug Boats!!
Some poor guy with a Twitter account with basically 0 followers and tweets did a tweet in support of Trump that Trump retweeted ( why, for FFS?? ) and now the Internet seems to be piling on the guy and he's not happy

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 11885519)

I think Romney may have just clinched a Clinton victory in November. Not that it was all that remote a possibility.

Originally Posted by themadpooper (Post 11884948)

Lots of US politicians on both sides supported the IRA and still do. The situation back in the day was massively misunderstood in America, largely because of America's own history with UK colonialism