Here’s a must-see clip of Trump that is going the rounds today. I came across it in the twitter feed of Social Consciousness Barbie, who came out of her aerie momentarily this morning to bestow yet another of one of her breezy perfunctory platitudes; which, on this occasion, not only did not succor us, it did not sucker us, either. Try again, Princess.

Look at Trump smirk and twist and play to the audience. He loves nothing more than when he gets to do stand up comedy for the base, and they give him a set up line upon which he can improvise cruel and inappropriate remarks, thinking them to be witty and urbane — as if wink wink racism is ever anything but disgusting. When Trump entered office I wrote, “A combination of self-assurance and utter ignorance is a defining trait of this White House along with cocky vulgarity and casual cruelty.” This clip is Exhibit “A” to that premise.

Point being, both here and in the piece I reprinted about the Zeitgeist Of Darkness and Despair, is that from the inception of this mis-administration, tragedy has been completely foreseeable, because Donald Trump is not only an unabashed racist, he revels in it. He luxuriates in connecting with the darkest aspects of human nature, and amplifying people’s worst instincts. He’s a troll. He lives to provoke a response. Well, he sure has this weekend.

But of course, his GOP enablers are busy denying any connection between Trump’s rhetoric and this weekend’s violence. Here’s a transcript of an exchange between Rick Santorum and Jake Tapper on State of the Union earlier today. And Tapper is saying that the voice in the crowd yelled “kill them” rather than “shoot them” which is only a shade of difference.

Tapper: “I don’t know if we have the clip ready, but three months ago the president was in the panhandle of Florida, talking about the threat of migrants coming over the border and someone yelled ”kill them.’ and the president chuckled and the audience chuckled and the president said only in the panhandle can you get away with that. The idea that he has consistently done so [condemn violence] is not true,”

Santorum: “He should have condemned that. Look, the idea that the president is somehow or another responsible or promoting violence is over the top.”

Oh, yeah. No causal connection here. How could anyone possibly think that a United States president could demonize a race of people, or a religion, and then laugh when somebody wants to shoot/kill them, and not have that play out as encouragement to like-thinking racists of unstable mind? This isn’t a dog whistle, it’s a bloody air raid siren.

National security specialist Phil Mudd was also on the same panel as Santorum and he made the comment that “leadership is responsible for tone. Do not give anybody validation for violence by suggesting that immigrants are bad.” You might want to listen to his words in the clip below.

It’s also noteworthy that Tapper tweeted that he invited Governor Abbot of Texas, Lieutenant Governor Patrick, both Senators Cruz and Cornyn, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and last, but emphatically not least, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to come on his show, all Republicans. And they all refused. Guilty NRA money, much? Or, they’re too busy at home thinking and praying — which in fact, is probably true. But not about the victims or their families, but about keeping their own asses out of the wringer. The buck has to stop somewhere and as Harry Truman pointed out, the Oval Office is that place.

Go to 3:22 when Mudd starts talking and then the conversation goes off the rails, with Santorum arguing, in a nutshell, that Trump making a formal condemnation of violence on Twitter somehow cancels out all of his racist rhetoric.

 

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. Oh, it’s so funny when people get murdered in your name, isn’t it donald trump?
    This is what passes for witty repartee, at a trump racist love fest.

    • He loves it. He’s eating it up. Just look at him. (Well, that’s asking a bit too much, but take a peek and then go throw up — again.)

    • Who are you accusing of lying? If you can find one lie in the foregoing piece, please show it to me. Trump has done NOTHING but foment racial hatred since he took office, with his Muslim ban and his effing wall, and the concentration camps at the border. But he’s not responsible for race hatred, after all of that? Please explain, I can’t wait to hear.

    • Watch the clip. The context of the moment was his claiming border officers can’t be armed. Claiming. When they are on the border (not in a detention facility) they most certainly can be and are armed. So the call from the audience goes out just as he was repeating his “you can’t” bullshit lie. He then goes on to joke about it, saying and repeating (with a big smirk and to the crowd’s – and your own?- delight) “you can only get away with that in the panhandle (of FL). Had he been somewhere else he would have stated that location as the only place you could get away with killing asylum seekers.

      I’m getting the feeling that not only have the right wing trolls discovered this site but that they’ve decided it’s now time to try and muddy the waters with orange colored feces they save while changing Cadet Bonespur’s diapers.

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