(September 19, 2015 at 4:14 pm)Crossless1 Wrote: I think what the Trump phenomenon demonstrates is that there is a great desire within a certain segment of the American Right for a charismatic strongman as leader, despite their insistence that they are really in favor of "restoring" America to its republican glory. That Trump is so far from embodying such a figure only underscores how ridiculous and moronic his supporters actually are.
This.
That's spot-on to my evaluation of the situation. Americans are beginning to notice their post-WW2 hegemony slipping away, and seek a "return to greatness" (this falsely assumes that America must effectively dominate the world in order to be "great"), which to them means someone who is both dominant/aggressive and a wealthy businessman (capitalism being the perceived basis of our success on the world stage, during that time period).
I don't think we're in any danger of becoming the next Nazi Germany, or even quite Putin's Russia, but I do see some dangerous steps in those directions in the fact that so many Americans can support a man who is so obviously unqualified and possible unstable.
While we tend to laugh at right-wing pundits like Glenn Beck, I don't think he's wrong when he says that Trump is serving as a distraction for the media to chase after, like throwing a stick past a dog, so they'll chase stories about him instead of digging as thoroughly into the better-suited GOP candidates. Keep in mind that at this point in the last election cycle, Michelle Bachman had Trump-esque polling numbers.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
