peteblue
Welcome back Wayne
Do you understand the millions of deaths from Stalin and the Chinese purges. My point was that it works both ways and that extremists, both left and right are responsible......
Current Affairs Donald Trump POS: Judgement cometh and that right soon
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Do you understand the millions of deaths from Stalin and the Chinese purges. My point was that it works both ways and that extremists, both left and right are responsible......
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
As a Jew whose grandparents escaped the Holocaust, I know the warning signs in Trump’s speech when I see them
When those warning signs erupt, like an order for a regular list of crimes committed by immigrants to be drawn up, we can begin to think about our choices over the next four years
The choice I recommend this Holocaust Memorial Day: fight Trump like hell
In the last six months of the Second World War, my grandfather escaped a train travelling to Auschwitz. He cut a hole in the bottom of the cattle cart and lay down on the tracks. He often remarked how slowly the trains moved, rendering him completely unharmed by this process. Afterwards, he walked back to Budapest and was hidden by a woman for the remainder of the war, then working with the Soviets pointing out collaborators and Nazis once the city was liberated.
Therefore, I was rather unsettled by the fact that a week before Holocaust Memorial Day, Donald Trump used his inauguration speech to bring back into fashion that classic phrase ‘America First.’
I had many conversations in the lead up to the election with colleagues and friends that Trump’s words were just ways of galvanising voters (as if using racism to make people vote for you isn’t in itself extremely offensive ), and that it would be different if he’s actually elected. Then he was elected and named Steve Bannon as his chief of staff. Then he was inaugurated and called CNN “fake news”. Then the White House Website deleted its page on the Civil Rights Movement and replaced it with information on “law and order”. Then in his first six days as President, Trump has pilloried and threatened almost every vulnerable group and minority community in America with destructive executive orders. Seems to me like Trump is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.
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Donald Trump orders construction of Mexico border wall
I’m generally sceptical of the idea that we can learn from trauma. There is little I can glean, other than utter horror, about the world from my grandmother being spat at and called a Jewish pig in Berlin in the 1930s, or the fact that there are pits all over Eastern Europe filled with remains of Jewish bodies.
But what I do feel very strongly is that we can see the warning signs. When those warning signs erupt, be it a member of the alt-right as the chief of staff, or the campaign advisor talking about “alternative facts” or the lists of crimes committed by immigrants, we can begin to think about our choices over the next four years.
Language is important. The rhetoric, the lies, the manipulation of the media that is hurtling out of the White House right now is ripping at the fabric of American society. It is a way of dividing people, of creating scapegoats for socio-economic problems. As a Jew I feel all too aware of these warning signs. I grew up hearing about these warning signs. They changed the entire course of my family’s life.
The controversial laws Donald Trump has already passed
The choice I recommend this Holocaust Memorial Day: fight like hell. Fight for your Muslim neighbour who experiences hate crime. Fight for the Jewish communal centre that has bomb threats. Fight for the undocumented worker who is terrified they will be separated from their family; for the LGBTQ people whose identity is denied by this administration. Fight for women who want to have ownership and choice over what they do with their bodies and for those who continuously suffer under police brutality. The elation or excitement that came out of the women’s marches across the world last weekend must be replaced with a clear sense of the impending damage and violence that is about to be inflicted upon our communities. It must a call for those of us who are allies to organise, and to stand up.
There will be those that challenge the idea that comparing Trump to Hitler is perhaps not only a bit lazy, but also inaccurate. Sure, the likelihood of a second Shoah is small. But make no mistake that there is danger in the rise of nationalist politics. The policies and posturing of Trump’s first week in office will have very real, painful consequences for millions of people. It must galvanise us to resist, and offer support to those who are under threat.
When those warning signs erupt, like an order for a regular list of crimes committed by immigrants to be drawn up, we can begin to think about our choices over the next four years
The choice I recommend this Holocaust Memorial Day: fight Trump like hell
In the last six months of the Second World War, my grandfather escaped a train travelling to Auschwitz. He cut a hole in the bottom of the cattle cart and lay down on the tracks. He often remarked how slowly the trains moved, rendering him completely unharmed by this process. Afterwards, he walked back to Budapest and was hidden by a woman for the remainder of the war, then working with the Soviets pointing out collaborators and Nazis once the city was liberated.
Therefore, I was rather unsettled by the fact that a week before Holocaust Memorial Day, Donald Trump used his inauguration speech to bring back into fashion that classic phrase ‘America First.’
I had many conversations in the lead up to the election with colleagues and friends that Trump’s words were just ways of galvanising voters (as if using racism to make people vote for you isn’t in itself extremely offensive ), and that it would be different if he’s actually elected. Then he was elected and named Steve Bannon as his chief of staff. Then he was inaugurated and called CNN “fake news”. Then the White House Website deleted its page on the Civil Rights Movement and replaced it with information on “law and order”. Then in his first six days as President, Trump has pilloried and threatened almost every vulnerable group and minority community in America with destructive executive orders. Seems to me like Trump is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.
0:00
/
0:41
Donald Trump orders construction of Mexico border wall
I’m generally sceptical of the idea that we can learn from trauma. There is little I can glean, other than utter horror, about the world from my grandmother being spat at and called a Jewish pig in Berlin in the 1930s, or the fact that there are pits all over Eastern Europe filled with remains of Jewish bodies.
But what I do feel very strongly is that we can see the warning signs. When those warning signs erupt, be it a member of the alt-right as the chief of staff, or the campaign advisor talking about “alternative facts” or the lists of crimes committed by immigrants, we can begin to think about our choices over the next four years.
Language is important. The rhetoric, the lies, the manipulation of the media that is hurtling out of the White House right now is ripping at the fabric of American society. It is a way of dividing people, of creating scapegoats for socio-economic problems. As a Jew I feel all too aware of these warning signs. I grew up hearing about these warning signs. They changed the entire course of my family’s life.
The controversial laws Donald Trump has already passed
The choice I recommend this Holocaust Memorial Day: fight like hell. Fight for your Muslim neighbour who experiences hate crime. Fight for the Jewish communal centre that has bomb threats. Fight for the undocumented worker who is terrified they will be separated from their family; for the LGBTQ people whose identity is denied by this administration. Fight for women who want to have ownership and choice over what they do with their bodies and for those who continuously suffer under police brutality. The elation or excitement that came out of the women’s marches across the world last weekend must be replaced with a clear sense of the impending damage and violence that is about to be inflicted upon our communities. It must a call for those of us who are allies to organise, and to stand up.
There will be those that challenge the idea that comparing Trump to Hitler is perhaps not only a bit lazy, but also inaccurate. Sure, the likelihood of a second Shoah is small. But make no mistake that there is danger in the rise of nationalist politics. The policies and posturing of Trump’s first week in office will have very real, painful consequences for millions of people. It must galvanise us to resist, and offer support to those who are under threat.
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
Fair enough, Pete, but "political purges," utterly reprehensible though they were/are, were not a mass movement act, supported by the population at large. They may have been committed in the name of the people but they were rarely if ever an act supported by the people.
Fascism lives and thrives off nationalist division and distrust. It foments and inflames hatred on a populist, nationalist level. It is knuckle-dragging racism and bigotry, seemingly bottom-up - in contrast to top-down Leftist political purges - but incited and harnessed by a remote, manipulative elite.
Time to stand up and be counted, lad...
Agree
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
All this "Ah, but.....yeah, but...." stuff needs to be ditched, It's the realm of EDLNik and FinnFan.
This is truly scary fascistic madness. In a Western democracy. The most powerful one on the world, at that.
But, yeah, those Lefties never seemed to criticise Castro, did they....?
This is truly scary fascistic madness. In a Western democracy. The most powerful one on the world, at that.
But, yeah, those Lefties never seemed to criticise Castro, did they....?
peteblue
Welcome back Wayne
I agree, we should all march against the treatment of people within Venezuela......who's with me.......
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
Oh, Pete, Pete.....
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
"Ah but, yeah but..."
peteblue
Welcome back Wayne
I'll put you down as a maybe......
In other news I see the BBC embarrassed the country again........
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
I'm against the popular repression, anywhere. I tend to shout loudest about it when it comes from "within," though. And I certainly despise anyone who foments hatred for political gain in the West in 2017 because we really have a right to expect better. For one thing, we are supposed to know better and, for another thing, the reason we should know better is because of what happened on our watch within living memory in the name of fascism.
You carry on equivocating, though. It's a good look.
peteblue
Welcome back Wayne
TBF Clint I think we are agreeing. I hate fascism as much as I hate communism. Both wish to control the people and remove freedom. I understand how Trump has upset you, but for a great many Americans, the voters, Obama and Clinton are just as bad. Times change and it's now the time of Trump, like it or not........
What a sad way to commemorate it.
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
Oh, do give over, Pete, will you. Stop trying to frame it as "other people" being "upset by Trump" as if it's a silly little thing and we're all being ever so over-emotional. This man represents a major danger to Western democratic rights and freedoms. He is inciting hatred towards Mexicans, Muslims, feminists, gays - you name it. This is serious stuff, Pete.
No, Pete - it is time to resist. Stand up and be counted. Fascism is taking root in western democracies.
Clint Planet
Utter Cad.
peteblue
Welcome back Wayne
It is, and you will not like this analogy because I don't like it myself, but there is a big difference between 'you cannot come into our country' and forcing people to get into a cattle truck and taking them to Auschwitz. We really should not be invoking images of unbelievable terror and suffering as a way of justifying or attacking a current politicians unacceptable comments........I know I'm in the minority here.......
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