March 2, 2016

Tavis Smiley: "Something tells me that if Donald Trump is indeed the Republican nominee..."

"... it might be a miscalculation for Democrats to assume that black voters are a lock for their nominee...."
[T]he number of everyday black voters who we assume will dismiss Trump because of his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim attacks might well be inflated. While I certainly have had my say about Trump being a “religious and racial arsonist” (and he responded quickly on Twitter), not everyone in black America agrees with me. I have been taken by myriad conversations I’ve had with black folk who don’t find those comments by Trump necessarily or automatically disqualifying.... [T[here have been plenty of... occasions where the interests of black and brown voters didn’t exactly align...

[And] it’s telling how quiet the black elite have been, those who travel in social circles with Trump.... [T]he relative silence of the black establishment class has been chilling. Recently, I read a national newspaper feature about Trump and his relationships with notable high-profile black Americans. Interestingly, nobody really wanted to go on record criticizing The Donald.

112 comments:

Achilles said...

He will pick up a lot of Hispanic voters too. Remember it is the legal ones that have an easier time voting and Legal Hispanics are the ones hurt most by illegal immigrants. Who do you think the mexican gangs are going after when they come here?

eric said...

I suspect a lot of black Americans are afraid of their peers and don't want to say they like Trump.

But, once the cascade preference hits, watch out.

And what happens if Democrats lose black America?

And what happens to the GOP argument that we need Latino voters to win?

No wonder Bill Krystal says he will vote for Clinton over Trump.

Bob Ellison said...

Tavis Smiley is not the sharpest staple in the drawer.

Sigivald said...

[T]here have been plenty of... occasions where the interests of black and brown voters didn’t exactly align...

Shocking absolutely nobody but people who think "of color" is a homogeneous group happily defined by "not being white".

(I suspect Achilles is mostly right, too.

As much as I dislike Trump, I never got the idea he "hated brown people", just didn't like lawless illegals.

That he vastly overstated the numbers of lawless ones vs. harmless ones just after work is irrelevant to that judgment, and I'm not at all sure that, outside of the Left grievance mills, this somehow means Everyone Who Isn't Lily White will automatically vote against him as if he insulted them.

Some doubtless will - and I can't exactly blame them, either - but not all. Legal immigrants are harsher about illegal immigration than a lot of people think, if I recall my reading correctly...)

Kevin said...

"T[here have been plenty of... occasions where the interests of black and brown voters didn’t exactly align..."

That's weird - I assumed that working-class blacks were benefiting hugely from massive illegal immigration from Latin America.

After all, all Democratic black politicians have been supportive of more illegal immigration, right?

Chuck said...

Riiiiight.

Those black voters, who were all set to bolt from Clinton and vote for Bernie Sanders.

They are just as "at risk" for Democrats as the SEIU, teachers, the District of Columbia, Cook County, and California's 55 electoral votes.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

If I were a black voter, I'd count on Trump paying off my mortgage before Hilary.

Meade said...

Sort of a reverse Bradley Effect? (Tavis Smiley worked as an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley in the late 80's.)

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I saw this article yesterday and I still don't know what to make of it. It seems to me it is written in code and I'm not the expected audience. Why is he talking about elite black opinion and Black Friends of Trump (wtf)? Who is his audience?

The short simple answer is that blacks are way more negatively impacted by illegal (and legal) immigration and Trump is a threat to the Dems on that issue. If there is a race war in this country it will not be black against white. It will be black against brown.

Trump should spend the summer in the black communities and churches talking about the economic disaster that is working class people. He'll get a listen because he is not harping on entitlement and welfare reform. He's not bitching about affirmative action. Trump is uniquely positioned to cut into the Dems black support.

Sydney said...

Translation: They don't like Hillary, either.

eric said...

Blogger Meade said...
Sort of a reverse Bradley Effect? (Tavis Smiley worked as an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley in the late 80's.)

3/2/16, 11:58 AM


You mean orange vs white instead of black vs white?

JAORE said...

I was covering a civil rights position in my agency years ago when I attended our national CR conference. I was invited to lunch as "one of the good guys" by a very highly positioned CR Director. The theme of the lunch was: Us black folk got these programs for US and we are not letting brown people getting a slice of the pie.

I asked to NOT be invited to any more of these. But I heard the theme many times.

traditionalguy said...

Tavis is saying Blacks are long time survivors, and Trump has made them an offer of Jobs not preferentially given away by Dems to win votes from Hispanic immigrants and Muslim immigrants, both of which happen to hate blacks.

Donald Trump also speaks the truth, and that is something every group can deal with and live with.

YoungHegelian said...

From my very own font of wisdom, right here Chez Althouse, 2/25

But, Trump, Trump is different. Trump is rich as shit, lives in a penthouse in his own building in Manhattan, tells anyone who gets in his face to fuck off, hangs with the rich & famous, & surrounds himself with USDA certified grade A prime boo-tay. You know what call that if you're a young black man? A role model.

I called it! I called it! I called it!

I want me some mad-ass props, bitches!

Fernandinande said...

his anti-immigrant

Trump hates immigrants so much that he married one.

“religious and racial arsonist”

Doubleplus cute.

dreams said...

And here is a good article about Trump, about the kind of man Trump is.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3464605/If-want-know-Donald-Trump-run-White-House-look-operates-Mar-Lago.html

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"That's weird - I assumed that working-class blacks were benefiting hugely from massive illegal immigration from Latin America"

The government check you get today is infinitely more important than the job you might get in the future. There is no chance whatever of Blacks (or government-dependent people generally) not voting for Hillary in any significant number. The Democrats custom-built our current underclass over 60 years. As long as there is money to fuel it, it will run as designed.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Right, but if Hilary Clinton is the candidate of Wall Street, she may pick up that vote.

Meade said...

Key sentence from Smiley's article: "Ultimately, Trump’s policies might not be that different from what Mitt Romney’s would have been, but they apparently sound different to working class voters."

Romney lacked enough charisma, charm and likeability to beat Obama who has more charisma, charm and likeability than any candidate since Reagan. But in a matchup against charisma-challenged, charm-challenged and likeability-challenged Hillary, even Romney could win.

Anonymous said...

Sigivald: Shocking absolutely nobody but people who think "of color" is a homogeneous group happily defined by "not being white".

Once you've submitted to using Orwellian clownspeak like "people of color" with a straight face, the rot sets in, and you can never think honestly and usefully about human behavior again.

Hagar said...

Custom designed Black-majority districts are a bit like the principalities of 18th century Europe - created for and awarded to deserving servants of the emperor.

Chuck said...

traditionalguy:

I'm interested in this notion of yours; Donald Trump as truth-teller.

How about these things?

~% of Mexican illegals who are "rapists" and "murderers."

~Balancing the federal budget on "waste, fraud and abuse," and without entitlement reforms.

~Trump "saw thousands and thousands" of Muslim sympathizers celebrating the fall of the World Trade Center on 9/11/01.

~The Trump campaign is "100 percent self funded."

~Trump heard about a child who became autistic as a result of a vaccination.

~Trump says, "the New York Times can write a story that they know is false" yet "they can't basically be sued."

~Trump's trifecta of falsity on Syrian refugees; that Obama proposed to accept 250,000 of them, that they are already "pouring" into the U.S. and we don't know who they are, and that the Obama Administration is purposefully directing them to "Republican" states and localities.

~That he "got to know [Vladimir Putin] very well" thanks to their both appearing on 60 Minutes. But they did separate interviews, recorded separately, and were never together for any of it.

~The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal “was designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door and totally take advantage of everyone,” and currency manipulation “is not even discussed.” But China isn't part of the TPP. And currency manipulation was discussed in the TPP negotiations, and an agreement was reached.

Donald Trump is the biggest stinking manure-pile of lies in modern American political history. Donald Trump makes a joke out of another famous liar like Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton is a minor league liar compared to Donald Trump. Trump is the New York Yankees of liars.

Bay Area Guy said...

Trump, to my knowledge, has not said one peep about BLM, or any of the racially charged cases. To my knowledge, he had a meeting with Al Sharpton, and nothing else.

To say that Trump is "racist" against blacks is a false charge.

Yes, Trump has made some political enemies in the latino activist community, and the Muslim community, but not in the black community.

It's important to make these distinctions. Tavis Smiley, who is mostly a leftwing hack, is acknowledging this.

Now, I'm obviously not saying Trump will win the black vote, but if he can inch the numbers up to 10-15%, that would be great.

Meade said...

"You mean orange vs white instead of black vs white?"

No. The Bradley Effect had to do with black politicians under-performing in votes from the black electorate versus the polling numbers. Obama defied the Bradley Effect as he collected black votes which exceeded the polling numbers.

Smiley is suggesting that a reverse phenomenon may be shaping up for Trump (if he winds up being the R nominee), a white politician who polls poorly with black voters but who might in fact over-perform those numbers when black voters cast their actual votes in November.

There could be a political realignment coming greater than anything we've seen since 1980.

HT said...

Good find.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

"Donald Trump is the biggest stinking manure-pile of lies in modern American political history."

I agree. But keep in mind the story Reagan was fond of repeating:

The parents of two brothers — one an incurable pessimist and the other an incurable optimist — took their sons to see a doctor in the hopes of curing the boys of their respective conditions. The physician started with the young pessimist. He took the boy into a room brimming with a mountain of new toys. "These are all yours," the doctor said. Immediately, the young pessimist burst into tears. "What's wrong?" His parents asked. "If I play with the toys, "the boy sobbed, "surely they will all break and be ruined."Next, the doctor tried his hand with the young optimist. Instead of toys, the doctor took his patient into a room filled with a mountain of horse manure. "This is for you." The doctor told him. With that, the boy smiled, so wide he could have eaten a banana sideways. Excited, he raced to the top of the mountain of manure, where, with his bare hands, he began digging into the pungent heap. Baffled, the doctor and the parents looked at one another quizzically, "Son," the father asked." What in heaven's name do you think you're doing?" "Well, the boy replied, with all this horse manure, I figure there's got to be a pony in there somewhere!"

n.n said...

The black [diversity] class is crumbling exposing the individuals smothered underneath.

Michael K said...

"But, once the cascade preference hits, watch out."

Yes and nobody knows anything.

Blacks may depend on Democrats passing out free stuff but they might just understand that they are being taken for suckers.

Black schools are one example up close and personal. They have been lied to by the elites so often.

Test scores suggest that the Barbara A. Sizemore Academy, an African-centered school, is struggling mightily. Its students in third through eighth grades scored in only the 14th percentile in reading on national achievement tests last year and in the eighth percentile in math.

Those statistics have prompted the Chicago Public Schools to recommend closing Sizemore. But here in a South Side neighborhood riddled with crime, blight and poverty, where the black experience can seem like a constant struggle, Sizemore’s many supporters argue that their students’ success is measured by much more than test scores. The school has done exceedingly well, they say, instilling confidence in a psychologically battered population.


I wonder who is saying that? Teachers ?

tim in vermont said...

Why does anybody who works for wages on the open market want massive competition from people willing to work for a lot less?

Anonymous said...

From these distant shores it looks like your Establishment is soon going to be looking for much lower pay, if they are fortunate enough to find a job flipping burgers. And what remains are New Zealand reforms for everything else. Which leaves a congress that has to be and must prove themselves more helpful to their local constituencies than your pTb, new Andrew Jackson who is "The Representative of the Common Man", since they’ll soon be limited to dictation and sharing within state lines. And a federal court and police system with little to do. Both Patriarchies will die, Pubs and Dems. Death can’t come too soon to more useless folks, Hope they take their regulators and donors with them. Donors finally convinced that no amount of money can influence more than a local election, and that there's little return for doing even that. Truth leading to non-political solution dominates out of necessity.

You return to depending on Civil society more than government or local solutions. Nobody will care about regulating elections, so the FEC can go the way of the dinosaur it is. It’s wonderful that your education system no longer teaches your own history save as fantasy, nor the classics. And there’s a growing samizdat of the ancient texts, your constitution, federalist papers, etc. Revolutionary documents in their time, reborn. In an era of slavery and family, business and land owners valued more than women in an era when what mattered is what you did, not what caste or class you belonged to. Amazing these ideas lived past the invention of communism. If they had been conserved where would you be today?

Looks like the hostile takeover is proceeding nicely. Call it a hat trick, with two down. What's the third? After the convention. List the three items that will take the all the voters’ breath away, how will he eliminate party affiliation, gender, race, religion, non-destructive of others behaviors as meaning anything when running for office? Proving that if you do that no one will vote for you. And leaving voters feeling they’ve been tricked and short changed (which has nothing to do with the truth or PC) will be political death. With fewer and fewer able people even wanting to be “politicians.” Will become a word like Bed bugs and Locusts, save Locusts actually accomplish something.

Anonymous said...

Dreams, thanks for that.

I keep thinking, if he's such a monster, if he's so crazy, where are the hundreds (thousands?) of former employees who can give us details of his cruelty and irrationality? This article supports what I expected: he's loyal to his employees, they're loyal to him, and the only thing the ones who were fired can say is, "I screwed up and then he fired me."

Charlie Currie said...

Like I commented in an earlier post - is possible The Donald knows where all the bodies are buried?

tim in vermont said...

It is also obvious that the Democrats have managed, through abortion, to keep the black population from growing, and need to bring in a new population, which doesn't actually believe in abortion and so is growing rapidly, to supplant them.

Sebastian said...

"Trump is the New York Yankees of liars" Yeah, but now he is "our" liar. Clearly, the electorate doesn't care. Romney was about the straightest of straight shooters in a generation, and look what it got him. Hillary! is about the most congenitally congenital liar in public life, and look where it got her. Sure, it's a little painful to hear a supposedly GOP candidate pull a John Kerry, I was for it before I was against it, on Iraq and Libya, but truth or truthiness are not political virtues. From now on, the lies and "strategic ambiguities" should be judged strictly by results.

Meade said...

"Why does anybody who works for wages on the open market want massive competition from people willing to work for a lot less?"

Well, yes. Especially if the wage-earner is living within the law while the people willing to work for a lot less are living here outside the law. I know I didn't like it when I was a migrant farm worker 45 years ago. (And I didn't have the burden of having a mortgage and family to feed back then.)

Fabi said...

If I had to choose between a liar and a Gang of Eight member, I'd take the liar every time.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

When does this cascade preference thingy kick in? At some point you think it would be reflected in the polls. I haven't see any evidence of it yet. Donald still has trouble even breaking the 40% ceiling within his own party. Just last week he was going to sweep every state in super Tuesday (except maybe Texas) and he ended up losing three. You would think this huge ground swell of support would be self evident by now.

Oh, I get it, the Trump cascade is being purposely kept super secret. Only to be revealed when The Donald has Hillary exactly where he wants her.

Bob Ellison said...

Government check?

My parents paid for me.

Where's my money?

rehajm said...

Meade said...
Sort of a reverse Bradley Effect?


There's some evidence women Democrats running for office may be subject to a similar phenomenon.

tim in vermont said...

You know what kind of liar I really despise? The kind that pisses on my leg and calls it sunshine.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Blacks may depend on Democrats passing out free stuff but they might just understand that they are being taken for suckers"

Do you honestly believe they don't realize that already? It's understood that this is what White people do. But enough to eat and a place to live trump an abused pride every time.

Bay Area Guy said...

Obama is the living example of the reverse Bradley effect. All these white voters who felt that a vote for Obama, would purge their own guilt.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Hispanics are around 16% of the population, African-Americans a little over 12%.

In what way does an expanding Hispanic population benefit African-Americans within the Identity Group Politics paradigm?

African-Americans' political influence will decline as Hispanics' increase. Are Hispanics going to defer to African-Americans due to guilt over the actions of people who are not their ancestors?

We have already seen Asians block affirmative action laws that would have limited the availability of college slots for their children. And one of the arguments advanced for not doing so by an Asian? We need to defer to African-Americans because of their historic struggle for civil rights.

As for Hispanic support for Trump, Cesar Chavaz was also against illegal immigration.

traditionalguy said...

@ Chuck...Trump can be challenged on exaggeration by generality. All men of many words make those errors that are corrected later.

The Truth Teller side of Trump that all can value is his always conveying an attitude towards men that they are good enough to receive a fair shake and keep the fruits of their own labor, which he tells them over and over. They are good enough to be free men and own their own property.

That was called the Power of Positive Thinking at Norman Vincent Peale's Presbyterian Church where Donald was raised. That is also the Scots Reformed Calvinist tradition deep in him. And as rebellious as it sounds to men from other traditions, it works. Now, let's all go out and work hard and produce an abundance to freely enjoy.

That is the opposite of the hierarchical thinking necessary to justify slavery in a slave society or a British Empire or a Tax away everything Cuban Socialism so beloved by Obama.

It is summed up in a Scot's expression, " A man's an man for all of that."

campy said...

Black voters can vote for Trump, but when the ballots are counted the fraud machine will assign them to Hillary.

Meade said...

traditionalguy has me beginning to worry that "Make America Great Again" is code for make America Great Britain again.

Birkel said...

Can somebody point me to that time when Tavis Smiley had the best interests of conservatives, or even Republicans, in mind? The example escapes me.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I think Trump is a freebooter & a filibusterer. I will not vote for Trump, because he is not a conservative (many liberals attack Trump as though he is a conservative. This is why I sometimes defend him).
Nevertheless Trump has as good a chance of beating Hillary as any of the GOP candidates. All have weaknesses, and the media will be backing Hillary, regardless of the name of the GOP candidate.

Birkel said...

Has nobody made the obvious "Orange is the New Black" crack?

You guys suck.

Michael said...

Amanda

Shaun King? Really? LOL.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I watched a video late last night that haunted me. I won't post it because if any fair minded person saw it they would see that it doesn't actually show what I say it does or I'm just making stuff up and it doesn't really exist.

Anonymous said...


I don't see African Americans voting for Trump in any significant numbers, especially after incidents such as these below.

http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/03/02/trump-rally-video-brian-taff/

"I watched a video late last night that haunted me. I won't post it, because I don't want to give people who may support what it shows anything to further their cause. Just know this: it featured a young African American girl, silently protesting at a candidate's rally, being repeatedly physically assaulted by men and women who took issue with her silent stand — and, arguably, with her mere existence.

I need not explain the personal reasons why a sight like that would be disturbing, to say the least. But, some recognition of why I find it politically repulsive is in order."

KING: As violence erupts at Super Tuesday Trump rally, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed at future events,

"We now know that those Trump supporters are open bigots, Neo-Nazis, and white supremacists belonging to many different groups including the Traditionalist Worker Party — a well-documented hate group. Their social media profiles are full of Nazi photos, KKK and white supremacist references, and some of the most insulting, despicable hate speech you'll ever see.

One of their leaders, Matthew Heimbach, tweeted that youth workers from the Traditionalist Worker Party were responsible for snatching the signs. is believed that Heimbach, one of the best known youth leaders of modern white supremacy and Neo-Nazism in the country, may be the man who can be seen in the red "Make America Great Again hat" who repeatedly shoved, pushed and screamed profanities at the teenage girl in the video."

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Yes, the young woman was so viciously assaulted that she was smiling as she was escorted out of a Trump rally by an elderly man who was much smaller than she. Just as I thought, total misrepresentation of what the video actually shows.

By the way, nobody is thrown out of a Trump rally because they are black, their thrown out for protesting against him, which also happens to people who attend Hillary rallies and protest her. Getting thrown out is the point. Nobody is going to care if you don't get kicked out.

Michael said...

I think I'll go with Travis on this topic. Shaun King isn't even black,

Ron Winkleheimer said...

being repeatedly physically assaulted by men and women who took issue with her silent stand — and, arguably, with her mere existence.

Arguably, Shaun King is not black, no matter how badly he wants to be.

YoungHegelian said...

@Amanda,

Just know this: it featured a young African American girl, silently protesting at a candidate's rally, being repeatedly physically assaulted by men and women who took issue with her silent stand — and, arguably, with her mere existence.

Watch the video carefully. In the process of getting pushed around as she leaves the crowd, the woman stops to check her cell phone. I mean, I know that's the first thing I'd do if I was in fear of being beaten to death by a mob: stop & check my cell phone. Riiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhht.

Why wasn't this woman escorted out by security (i.e. the Secret Service), who wouldn't have walked her out through an impossible to control crowd situation? This smells of a set-up, and when I see fraudster Shaun "A Honky, Who me?" King promulgating it, I can almost guarantee it'll fall apart on further examination.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

http://www.gafollowers.com/georgia-state-students-kicked-out-of-hillary-clintons-rally-for-black-lives-matter/#_

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/11/17/man-holding-protest-sign-removed-from-clinton-event-in-dallas/

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/protester-thrown-out-of-bill-clinton-rally-for-accusing-hillary-of-covering-up-benghazi/

Brando said...

With Obama not on the ballot, the normal baseline for GOP candidates getting the black vote is between 10% and 15% (the latter if it's a banner year for the GOP). I'd be surprised if Trump does much better than that, as the black vote has been shifting to the Dems since the New Deal and decisively since the 1960s. Simply put, black voters have more faith in government programs to help them, and less trust in the police who they feel abuse them, and they associate the GOP with the opposite of those impulses and the Dems with supporting them. I don't really see how Trump undoes that--this talk that "tough on immigration" will make black voters swing heavily his way sounds a lot like the "we'll preach enterprise zones!" or "we'll oppose gay marriage and abortion!" theories were supposed to pan out. Blacks may be more receptive in general to some of those overtures, but not to the extent that they're willing to abandon the Democrats and take their chances on the party that they feel does not care about them.

Gusty Winds said...

Just wait till Snoop Dog endorses Trump.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well the blacks have been down on the Democrat plantation for a long time now---and how is that really working out for them? Trump plans to smash some crockery (as in the crocks full of bull that sit in most Washington D.C. offices) when or if he gets to Washington. If I had been down on the plantation for some time--and helped elect a black man who was going to make a difference for me (and that promise has not been fulfilled) I just might take a flyer on something or somebody else. If I cab't vote for Bernie--then how about Trump?

Meade said...

Hey Birkel,

It's a stupid joke and, yes, it's already been made which you would know if you had bothered scrolling through instead of driving through.

So go suck it yourself.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Hilarious that Amanda should cite Shaun King. That really says it all about the true nature of the white liberal's exploitation of Blacks.

Anonymous said...

These are Trump's Brownshirts. The 'good Germans' made excuses for them too. History is repeating itself and most of you are completely OK with it, it seems.

YoungHegelian said...

@Amanda,

While you're busy quoting 20th C. German history to us, you might want to look up "Reichstag fire" which was, guess what, a ginned up emergency that the Nazi's instigated to grab power.

Or, just move further east, and read up on Stalin & "The Kirov Murder".

There's no shortage of people faking shit happening to get or stay in power.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"History is repeating itself"
You clearly know nothing of history, Amanda.
Before Hitler was elected chancellor, he had two private armies. He was elected because he was a politically powerful force. He had already tried to overthrow the German government once, and if he hadn't been elected he would have used the SA to seize power.
You are ignorant.

Michael said...

Amanda

Richard Evans has written a series of books on the rise of the Nazi. The first of the three volumes has considerable commentary on the brownshirts. I would also commend to you anything on the topic of Oswald Mosley's BUF or Mosley himself.

If you knew anything at all about either movement you would not toss around the "brownshirt" slander so casually.

tim in vermont said...

One thing we do have is the followers of a statist candidate, who pushes every kind of nationalism, pitting groups against one another wherever she goes, blindly swallowing whatever propaganda that candidate hands out, so in that sense, Amanda is right, it is kind of scary.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

These are Trump's Brownshirts. The 'good Germans' made excuses for them too.

Trump is just like Hitler because they are both teetotalers and had a daughter that converted to Orthodox Judaism!

Wait. What?

If you are going to point to Shaun King as a source for anything then I am going to have no choice but to laugh at you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxGqcCeV3qk

tim in vermont said...

Oh yeah, that candidate is big on military adventures in North Africa too! "We came, we saw, he died" Hillary "The Hawk" Clinton boasting about turning Libya into a lawless territory.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jta.org/2016/03/02/news-opinion/politics/white-supremacist-says-he-will-broadcast-interview-with-trumps-son

"White supremacist says he will air interview with Donald Trump Jr."

"WASHINGTON (JTA) — A white supremacist who was given press credentials for a Donald Trump rally in Tennessee said he interviewed the presidential candidate’s son for his radio talk show.

James Edwards, who hosts “Political Cesspool,” a Memphis-based syndicated radio show, on Saturday joined the media pool at the Memphis-area airport where Trump, the GOP front-runner, held his rally. Edwards said he secured a 20-minute interview with Donald Trump Jr.

“As the media watches its grip slipping away, they have become desperate to paint Trump as a ‘racist,’” Edwards wrote Tuesday on his website. “It’s the same old, worn out card they always play.”"

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree in Trump and his son's case.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

I'm going to have to watch that movie tonight.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

The campaign in a response said it did not vet every application for coverage and that the younger Trump, to his knowledge, did not give Edwards an interview. Trump’s family is heavily involved in his campaign.

“The campaign provided media credentials to everyone that requested access to the event on Saturday in Memphis,” spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email to JTA.

“There were close to 200 reporters in attendance and we do not personally vet each individual,” she said. “The campaign had no knowledge of his personal views and strongly condemns them. Donald Trump Jr. was not in attendance, and although he served as a surrogate for his father on several radio programs over the past week, to his knowledge and that of the campaign, did not participate in an interview with this individual.”


On Wednesday, Edwards said he was not affiliated with the Trump campaign.

“In no way should anyone interpret our press credentialing and subsequent interview with Donald Trump, Jr. as any kind of endorsement by the Trump campaign,” he said on his website.


Amanda, did you even bother reading the article?

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Oh wait, I see. You just excerpted the parts that supported your preconceived views.

Gahrie said...

He had already tried to overthrow the German government once

And what happened to him?

if he hadn't been elected he would have used the SA to seize power.

Because that worked so well the first time he tried it.

Qwinn said...

Bushman,

Trump actually lost 4, not 3. Cruz won TX, OK and Alaska, and Rubio won Minnesota.

The NY Times called the current delegate count as Trump 241, Cruz 223. That's an utterly trivial difference at this stage.

Anyone claiming Trump has already won is just campaigning on his behalf.

Birkel said...

Meade,

If I cared what you had to say...

Ron Winkleheimer said...

“As the media watches its grip slipping away, they have become desperate to paint Trump as a ‘racist,’” Edwards wrote Tuesday on his website. “It’s the same old, worn out card they always play.”"


And Amanda is here to help them do it.

Some people who have been on The Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_Pinkett
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_George
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivica_A._Fox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Toya_Jackson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omarosa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenio_Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Warwick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_(comedian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rodman

Wow, what a hater!

I don't have to make any excuses for Trump concerning racism because the charge is risible on its face.

http://spectator.org/articles/64643/when-trump-fought-racists

Ron Winkleheimer said...

@Qwinn

I've seen that number, but Real Clear Politics has it as Trump 319, Cruz 226, Rubio 110.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/republican_delegate_count.html

I think the Times made a mistake.

Michael said...

Amanda

And there sit Hillary and Bernie neither of whom have disavowed or distanced themselves from Pol Pot.

Nor. Have. You.

Meade said...

Pol Pot, Hillary and Bernie all endorsed Amanda? Link please.

Dr Weevil said...

Does Amanda know who was endorsed by top leaders of the U.S. Nazi Party and other White Supremacist hate groups? (Rhetorical question: of course not.) The answer is Barack Obama, in 2008 at least. This 2008 Esquire article is hilarious, at least if you have a taste for twisted humor. Of course, Obama was also endorsed by the U.S. Communist Party, at least in 2012. (I haven't checked to see whom the Nazis endorsed in 2012 and the Communists in 2008. Who cares? They're evil morons.) Did Amanda vote for Obama? If so, is she embarrassed to have voted for a guy admired by evil and vicious men on both ends of the political spectrum?

traditionalguy said...

Ok, guys. I will back off explaining Trump to those of you who fear and loathe him. If he is that big a bogeyman to the group, than I must be one too. And the last thing I want is to offend our host and hostess at Althouse.







Michael said...

Meade

It does not require an endorsement to be required to distance oneself from evil or even silliness. We note that neither you nor our hostess have distanced yourselves from parti quebecois and you have had plenty of time to do so.

Amanda and Pol Pot will have to sort out their dispute themselves.

Big Mike said...

Trump appears to be educable, in marked contrast to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Though I still prefer Ted Cruz.

I had a chance over the weekend to talk to a retired ob-gyn who is a good friend of ours. She couldn't stop gushing over Ben Carson as the surgeon of last resort. He would take on the tough cases that other neurosurgeons -- mere mortals! -- would not.

But politics goes to the charm boys, people like William J. Clinton and the version of Barack Obama who ran in 2008. The world is a better place that it has Ben Carson in it, and politics is cheaper for his departure.

Bay Area Guy said...

It is not good to be racist. But, it is also not good to falsely accuse someone of being racist.

The former, sadly, is a large part of American history.

The latter, sadly, is a large part of current political tactics of the Left.

tim in vermont said...

bin Laden wrote a letter to Obama thanking him for his help. bin Laden called Obama "Our precious father."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-binladen-climatechange-idUSKCN0W35MS

I know he had his unrequited friend assassinated against the rules of warfare and rule of law, but has Obama renounced his endorsement? Not to my knowledge!

Fen said...

"his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim attacks"

Anti ILLEGAL immigrant and anti-TERRORIST attacks.

What a dishonest person.

Meade said...

@tradguy, I don't think you could offend either of us even if you tried.

Now FEN of course is a different story. (kidding)

FullMoon said...

Hey !
You know what would be hilarious? Trump gets elected, installs "great people" and things actually begin to get better. Then he takes on the incumbents who rallied against him during their reelection, and supports new, conservative candidates wit his usual subtle fuck em attitude. And, everything changes. poorly educated actually get jobs. Productive immigrants actually become citizens. BLM and other crybabies fade away, America becomes a melting pot again...

BTW Poorly educated does not mean stupid. How many Drs and Lawyers here can run a 220 line without burning the house down or frying themselves. Ever change an automatic transmission, or know how to clear a drain?

I am in Silicon Valley with a lot of stupid, educated people. Not most, but ALOT.

grackle said...

Black schools are one example up close and personal. They have been lied to by the elites so often.

If I were a young black person in America I would be pissed off. Years and years of abortion mills cutting short their population. Decades of shitty schools run by shitty teacher’s unions. Being taught by affirmative action graduates who barely know how to write a coherent sentence themselves, who cannot pass any test of their own competence or knowledge.

African Americans have been taken for granted since at least FDR but their real enemy was the “Great Society” of LBJ. Until then African Americans had been making steady progress. Afterwards it was all downhill. Not to mention the wildly disparate incarceration rates because of drug laws tailored specifically for them. White boys snort it and get off lightly; African Americans cook and shoot up the same substance and are sent away for many years.

No, I would not be surprised if they went for Trump in unprecedented numbers.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Gahrie said...
He had already tried to overthrow the German government once

And what happened to him?

if he hadn't been elected he would have used the SA to seize power.

Because that worked so well the first time he tried it.

Gahrie, you are another person steeped in historical ignorance.
In 1923 Hitler had 2,000 men, mostly Freikorps. In 1932 he had 400,000 SA.
But yes, tell yourself how Trump is JUST LIKE HITLER!

Birkel said...

Full Moon:

One if the advantages of being poor and having a mechanic for a father is those things seem normal to me. We did stuff because we could not afford to pay somebody else. That is part of why I am conservative. I understand the value we serfs deliver to our Washington, D.C. would-be masters.

Fabi said...

@YoungHegelian: Your observation is spot-on. If I didn't give you props at the time, I do so now. As Laslo also notes: Trump is a pimp. Anyone who thinks he won't pick up a few votes because of that is missing the picture. You may be able to count that vote total on two hands, but that's not the point -- DT has loads of street cred. Represent!

Bob Loblaw said...

That's weird - I assumed that working-class blacks were benefiting hugely from massive illegal immigration from Latin America.

I know, right? It's not like adding a million desperate people every year to the lowest rung of the labor ladder might hurt the people who are there already.

The sad thing is Smiley is probably wrong, and blacks will continue to vote "D" no matter how little sense it makes. Their tendency to do that is why Republicans don't put much effort into attracting blacks (what would be the point?) and Democrats can take them for granted after election day.

FullMoon said...

iBlogger Ron Winkleheimer said...

...

Some people who have been on The Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_Pinkett
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_George
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivica_A._Fox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Toya_Jackson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omarosa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenio_Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Warwick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_(comedian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rodman


I would love to see Omarosa come out swinging for Trump. A black James Carville, but not as subtle or pleasant.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

grackle said...

"Not to mention the wildly disparate incarceration rates because of drug laws tailored specifically for them. White boys snort it and get off lightly; African Americans cook and shoot up the same substance and are sent away for many years."

Are black druggies genetically programmed to prefer injecting drugs over snorting, or are they just stupid?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Or do they just enjoy being in prison?

MacMacConnell said...

The masses of black voters will as usual vote for the party that needs victims and the poor to maintain power. These clients are easily manipulated and are addicted to the taste of donkey taint at election time only to be ignored post election. They are satisfied with retorical bulshit rather that jobs and decent schools.

Paul said...

Maybe few people here actually interact with black people but I do professionally and yes more than a few like Trump. I've never known ANY of them to like ANY republican before.

Bob Loblaw said...

Paul,

That's because Trump, while running for the Republican nomination, isn't recognizably Republican.

But I'll bet the people you talk to are men, and statistically black men don't vote. How many black women do you know who will vote for Trump?

Paul said...

Well Eric yes and no. He's Republican in many ways...capitalist, businessman, patriotic, in favor of secure borders, etc. He's a far cry from your average PC, identity politics, blame America first, Nordic socialism loving democrat. And here in the Bay Area that is pretty much mainstream, and the type of politician that blacks overwhelmingly vote for. Not because they are completely in alignment with white liberals and their culture. Far from it. They just prefer those democrats to the image they have of republicans as uptight, button down racist squares. Trump does not resemble that type of republican for sure.

It's true they are mostly black men. The black women I know never seem to show any interest in politics. However I've no doubt the men vote as much as the women. The ones I know anyway.

MacMacConnell said...

Paul
Trump's border / immigration policies are no different than Rubio's, that is amnesty. Trump's socalled hardline is no more than a starting negotiating point, in his world everything is negotiable and transient, like his values. He's really nothing more than a brand, he doesn't own most of what has his name on it.

Gusty Winds said...

Hookers for Hillary.

Pimps for Trump.

Bob Loblaw said...

Paul, Trump has taken both sides of every issue and policy. Up until he decided to throw his hat in the ring he was a pretty bog-standard blue state Democrat. Do you think he's had a sudden principled conversion at age 69, after donating to Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2008? Do you think his immigration position heartfelt after a life time of open-borders and H-1B support?

Bah.

David said...

Perhaps blacks recognize a rebellion of the marginalized when they see one, and want to see where it leads.

And look for blacks to remind Clinton and the Democrats that they need the blacks more than the blacks need them.

David said...

"Trump, while running for the Republican nomination, isn't recognizably Republican."

He looks Republican to me, especially in comparison to the Democrats available today. Do the most strict conservatives really want to push the middle of the roaders out of the party. You need to get a lot of satisfaction out of yelling "Rino" to do that.

Paul said...

We'll see. There's a very good chance he'll be president. You guys may be right but I'm cautiously optimistic about him. I see him as a chance to have a chance, whereas I don't see any chance whatsoever with any of the other candidates.

Mark said...

If Trump started out as a false flag operation by the Democrats, they should change their mascot from a donkey to Wile E. Coyote.

grackle said...

Are black druggies genetically programmed to prefer injecting drugs over snorting, or are they just stupid? Or do they just enjoy being in prison?

If the commentor were serious I would attempt to answer the questions but the “stupid” and “enjoy” remarks disqualify. Peddle it elsewhere.

Up until he decided to throw his hat in the ring he was a pretty bog-standard blue state Democrat.

I guess that’s why Trump was given the Statesman of the Year award by the Republicans in 2012. That was the same year Trump turned down a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention. Amazing how the GOP loved that scurrilous Democrat named Trump back then.

Bruce Hayden said...

My prediction is that Trump, if he gets the nomination, will do better historically than other Republicans. First, and most obviously, the group hurt the most by illegal immigration is the Blacks. But he also has the type of style that a lot of Blacks like. He dresses sharp, has hot women around, his own plane panted with his name, plenty of flash.

The interesting thing to me is that a guy coming out of the upper middle class, would have a personality that attracts three typical Dem constituencies (Jacksonian whites, Blacks, and Hispanics), while alienating their betters, upper middle class Whites.

Bob Loblaw said...

I guess that’s why Trump was given the Statesman of the Year award by the Republicans in 2012. That was the same year Trump turned down a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention. Amazing how the GOP loved that scurrilous Democrat named Trump back then.

I'm sure they loved his money.

Why did he give money to Hillary's campaign in 2008? You know, way back when he supported abortion, hired H-1Bs, was against guns, and when he was "impressed" with Nancy Pelosi.