The absurdity of Donald Trump

[BigV]

This is another thread that's been a long time coming. Goodness knows, there's a superabundance of material.

Today, Trump said that Hillary Clinton becoming President would be bad, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Originally Posted by Donald Trump

"By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

He's implying that the assassination of Hillary Clinton is an option to keep her from becoming President.

Jesus Fucking Christ.

He'll walk this one back too, just like all the others. "Oh, I was just being sarcastic." Bullshit. He's a menace. There are lots of people who won't read that as sarcasm. Hell, *I* don't read it as sarcasm. It's incitement.

[Happy Monkey]

I mentioned it in the "I can't hate" thread. The immediate spin was that he meant the political power of the NRA. But that didn't make sense in context.

It's an interesting politician who you have to take out of context to make sound better.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

It's an interesting politician who you have to take out of context to make sound better.

Review the Oslo Accords. Likud needed them quashed. So Likud used ambiguous statements that sort of called for the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

Moderates said Likud really did not mean that. They reasoned that a "Jew would never kill a Jew". Meanwhile extremists heard something completely different from the exact same words. And so an extremist did what he heard Likud tell him to do. And considered himself a hero.

Does not matter how Trump's statements are interpreted by others. Those statements are skillfully worded to say completely different things to different people. IOW it clearly says to one, who *knows* Hillary will take away their guns, to kill Hillary. Irrelevant to them that you do not conclude same.

Likud successfully got Rabin murdered by saying one thing to moderates and another to extremists - using the exact same words. Donald Trump (even if he did not intend it) has done same.

Last I heard, Trump still has not said in clear and blunt language, "No one is to kill Hillary - ever." He would say that if he was not doing what Likud did. He has called for Hillary's murder in the same manner that Likud called for the murder of Rabin.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by tw

... Last I heard, Trump still has not said in clear and blunt language, "No one is to kill Hillary - ever." He would say that if he was not doing what Likud did. He has called for Hillary's murder in the same manner that Likud called for the murder of Rabin.

Hanlon's razor

[tw]

If Trump was not encouraging violence, then he would have bluntly told a 'less than 1%' among us that violence is completely unacceptable. He should have defused and discouraged violent types that he has encouraged. He had numerous opportunities to do so. He knows many have interpreted his remarks as encouraging violence. He intentionally avoided what must be said to deter a violent 'less than 1%'. A 'less than 1%' must bluntly be told that violence is unacceptable. Anything less only encourages these 'adults who are still children' to be violent.

He refused to do so as Likud also refused to do; overtly state an assassination is unacceptable. A responsible man would be fortrightly candid: violence is unacceptable. Trump has refused to do that.

Trumps denials are clearly directed at the other 99%. He says he is not encouraging violence. A classic example of obfuscation. He tells the 99% one thing while encouraging a 'less than 1%' to do another.

This same man openly encouraged violence in his rallies. No accident that a 'less than 1%' are encouraged to be violent. He is preaching to the choir. No way around well crafted propaganda.

Does not matter what you think he said. Completely unacceptable is what he told a 'less than 1%' - using the exact same words. He intentionally refused to dissuade that 'less than 1%' when later challenged to do so.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by sexobon

Hanlon's razor

The issue with Hanlon's razor is that malice and stupidity are FAR from mutually exclusive.

[BigV]

No one listening to him draws that conclusion.

These are his own words, out of his own mouth. They're consistent with his other statements. This *IS* the real Donald Trump. There's no ambiguity to his remarks.

The explanations and reinterpretations from others in his campaign, no one's fooled or reassured by their attempts to spin Trump's stream-of-consciousness revelations of his inner self.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by BigV

... Jesus Fucking Christ. ...

Now you've gone and done it. Now divine intervention will cause The Donald to win just to smite you and President Trump will be ALL YOUR FAULT!

Thanks for being our scapegoat.

[lumberjim]

It could be worse. I could run for Mod next January

[classicman]

He's implying that the assassination of Hillary Clinton

No one listening to him draws that conclusion.

[BigV]

classicman, that's a textbook example of misleading the reader by taking a person's remarks out of context to present the impression that the person you've quoted said the thing YOU want said. Not what the person you quoted said.

[BigV]

By the time I was driving home, the spin story being floated to change the impression of Donald Trump's words was that this interpretation was the work the work of the "dishonest media".

LOL

[Griff]

Trump will make a lot of hay with that media stuff, since people can see the media is in the bag for Hillary. They've enjoyed their Donald time as well since feeding that whack job has been paying their bills for months. So now they're in a position where they've created a race between two horrors and they point at the voters like it's their fault and has nothing to do with the way media covers or doesn't cover candidates.

[sexobon]

Today in a commentary, I heard a plausible explanation for some of what comes out of Trump's yap.

The Donald is used to talking off the top of head with little thought given to the ramifications of how he says things. He's long been associated with the entertainment industry, even appearing in his own television show where if he said something that would turn off an audience; or, get him in trouble with the censors, no problem. There'd always be somebody there to edit it out for him. Even if something untoward he said made it through editing; or, got leaked - no big deal. In the entertainment industry, any publicity, even negative publicity is good to the extent that it keeps one in the public eye. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

Trump has; however, carried that mindset and his long established habits over into politics. Unfortunately, there's no editing to take care of his faux pas anymore and spin control isn't anywhere near as effective. He's also finding out that, unlike in the entertainment industry, in politics bad publicity is a bad thing that can be one's undoing. Trump is a creature of habit who's used to doing things his way and having others take care of the aftermath for him. He's slow to make the necessary adjustment and consequently his mouth is going to plague his campaign.

Ah well, first world problems of the rich and famous.

[Pico and ME]

I can see that.