03.14.2016 05:10 PM

The Trump era comes to my comments section

Things are getting plenty ugly in there, particularly whenever Trump is discussed. 

Vicious personal attacks, mysterious anonymous accounts, just general nastiness – on all sides. 

Enough is enough. This is my house, not yours. Want to comment? Familiarize yourself with the house rules, again.

Oh, and I think Donald Trump is an asshole.

6 Comments

  1. Ridiculosity says:

    I think Donald Trump is, quite possibly, insane.

  2. Luke says:

    What to do about Donald Trump…

    Ignore him? He will still be heard. He will still have people following him. And the press really can’t credibly ignore him. He is a legitimate presidential challenger.

    Protest him? He seems to enjoy the attention and feed off of it, and with every criticism the resolve of his antiestablishment supporters grows. I even identify with this, despite finding Trump sickening. I love the antiestablishment message on the other side.

    Critique him? Same problem as protesting. Every time some political person, academic, liberal (gasp!), or opponent bemoans his bigotry or endless lying, it only seems to strengthen the abomination that is the Donald Trump movement.

    What else? I have no fucking idea.

    If it comes down to Trump vs. Clinton, Trump will win. In the year of passion and novelty, Clinton is offering to do things exactly as America is already doing them. Her candidacy seems to be one of having no interesting ideas, conceding a significant mandate to Republican opposition before even securing the nomination, and being inseparable from everything that voters have grown tired of in business-as-usual American politics. She will not win against Trump. American voters are (obviously) looking for something different. The best things her candidacy has going for it are her experience (which is a mixed bag, because it comes with lots of baggage) and her gender. Unless she courts Sanders for running mate, she will lose a sizeable amount of antiestablishment support. Maybe there is a chance if Sanders is with her. There is none if she fails to recognize the significance of the movement.

    The Democratic Party still has a chance to get behind the obvious and profound change taking place in American politics. They can embrace where progressive American politics is going — the young people will outlast the old, of course — or they can stick with the old ways and hope there is a gasp or two of life left therein and pal catchup with disaffected youth later (dumb idea). The moment is happening now though — that immense generational change — and political types in Washington are pretty obtuse if they can’t see it. I cannot understand how so many are still struggling to understand the Sanders/Trump antiestablishment phenomenon. America needs a big change, and the voters are out looking for it. I hope Democrats get a clue.

  3. Caligula Jones says:

    I can’t find the link, but I posted something on my FB that said “I don’t like Donald Trump. I don’t like the people who like Donald Trump. I don’t like the people who don’t like Donald Trump”. Personally, I wish the Canadians who are getting so worked up about this cared half as much about the people we CAN elect. We might end up with better representatives, no?

    As I said to a neighbour who was going on about the death of Justice Scalia: “Can you actually name any CANADIAN Supreme Court Justice”? He got the point, I think.

    Jebus, we’ve had to moderate political posts in a PHOTOSHOP group, and as I said this week in a reply to a comment on a Toronto blog about Toronto’s recreational programs that for some reason mentioned Trump: “You know the sucking maw that is the political divide in American politics is a strong one when it can hijack a thread on a Toronto blog…”

    Beyond the support from the low information underbelly of America, Trump also attracts those who are weary of the political correctness that for a recent example, has removed the swastikas from a student production of “The Producers”, which is either the best or worst example of unthinking I’ve seen this week.

    Then again, if it wasn’t for the ungodly popularity of infotainment and notreallyreality shows, Trump would be a footnote on a Spy Magazine reboot.

  4. Caligula Jones says:

    …and some would say its just the flip side of a cult of personality. A cuddlier, smilier version with better hair, but “upgrade” might be a bit of a stretch.

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