Worse than Trump’s racism?

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

All the debate over whether Trump”s a racist or not skims over a more fundamental issue, which is we have a president who clearly does not think dissent or free speech has a place in American society.

According to Trump, one should not criticize the president, the government or American superiority. (Of course, that’s only when HE’S president...) News organizations are classified as good or bad, depending on their support of the administration’s policies. Online speech should be regulated to promote certain points of view. Flag burning should be outlawed. And on and on. Whatever the issue, you can count on Trump to be on the opposite side of free speech and open policy debates.

To me, that’s the biggest issue with his “love it or leave it” stance.

Thoughts?

 

[SSG T]

The funny thing is, he spent 8 years criticizing POTUS.

The bigger problem is the people who support all the things you mention. They are the ones who voted him in and the reason he keeps doing it.

 

[2facedboonefan]

And yet his followers at the same time will criticize "Big Government" and claim they need their guns to defend themselves from it.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

All the debate over whether Trump”s a racist or not skims over a more fundamental issue, which is we have a president who clearly does not think dissent or free speech has a place in American society.

According to Trump, one should not criticize the president, the government or American superiority. (Of course, that’s only when HE’S president...) News organizations are classified as good or bad, depending on their support of the administration’s policies. Online speech should be regulated to promote certain points of view. Flag burning should be outlawed. And on and on. Whatever the issue, you can count on Trump to be on the opposite side of free speech and open policy debates.

To me, that’s the biggest issue with his “love it or leave it” stance.

Thoughts?

Flag burning should be outlawed.

Otherwise, yes, Trump is wrong.

 

[HawkRugged17]

The funny thing is, he spent 8 years criticizing POTUS.

The bigger problem is the people who support all the things you mention. They are the ones who voted him in and the reason he keeps doing it.

 

[Rudolph]

What's amusing is this is the behavior, like the most transparently obvious and most amazing-in-scale version of the behavior, of ribbon-needing. I've been saying for years now: "Era of Projection". The notion that the GOP represents rugged individualism and shit like that… lol. We've all become soft, needing affirmation at every turn, and Trump is the perfect reflection of where we've evolved as a society. We have a media outlet(s) to confirm & affirm ourselves, we have opposing media outlets that do the same by virtue of their being opposition (because enemy complex is pretty much an exercise in affirmation), we have social media—which is engineered to affirm, we have re-engineered our raising of kids to where if they don't like a coach or a teacher we remove them and place them elsewhere (no, not everyone does this, but it is extremely prevalent), and on and on. This is the society we created. We.

It just so happens Trump embodies all of our worst characteristics and inclinations, developments spanning 30-40 years. The grifting and greed and narcissism and victimhood, the transactional nature of relationships, the scapegoating (it's the teacher's fault, the coach's fault, the boss is an asshole, so on and so forth).

The exciting thing is young people seem to have a fairly acute awareness of the failings of their immediate predecessors, meaning boomers and gen Xers, and are determined to not repeat them. Millennials are often ridiculed, and for some good reason, but I'm seeing a subset maybe of that generation that is extremely community-oriented, extremely engaged, and thinks in terms of the collective more so than the self.

It really is a fascinating time to be alive, Frustrating and often disheartening, but also exciting and hopeful.

 

[Fijimn]

Love it or leave, pal! Freedom Fries!

#MAGA

 

[Huey Grey]

Does anybody remember his acceptance speech for the nomination? It was 2 straight hours of Trump bagging on America, calling us a trainwreck, pointing out every last flaw, and proclaiming the whole country a flaming shithole that only he knew how to fix.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

All the debate over whether Trump”s a racist or not skims over a more fundamental issue, which is we have a president who clearly does not think dissent or free speech has a place in American society.

According to Trump, one should not criticize the president, the government or American superiority. (Of course, that’s only when HE’S president...) News organizations are classified as good or bad, depending on their support of the administration’s policies. Online speech should be regulated to promote certain points of view. Flag burning should be outlawed. And on and on. Whatever the issue, you can count on Trump to be on the opposite side of free speech and open policy debates.

To me, that’s the biggest issue with his “love it or leave it” stance.

Thoughts?

Oh, and the whole "love it or leave it" stance is a joke. Most of the people espousing that view have never served in the military or seen combat.

I mention that because author Ron Kovic, a Vietnam vet whose book Born On The 4th of July became a popular movie, used the expression "love it or leave it" to anti-war sympathizers before he left for Vietnam. Kovic of course changed his views on that.

The point is people who use the "love it or leave it" stance today can't appreciate the irony.