And America Continues to Show it's True Colors. . .

[CensoredAlso]

Despite differences in color, religion, sexual orientation, political loyalty, etc., there was still the possibility we could put our differences aside LONG ENOUGH for the common good of coming together as one.

Thing is we all disagree on what the common good is, and what it isn't.

 

[jvcarroll]

We do need to keep in mind that there is not one shred of evidence that I am aware of that the vandalism to the Jewish cemetery in St. Louis or the bomb threats called in to Jewish Community Centers across America were done by Trump supporters. Before we condemn President Trump or his supporters we should wait for some evidence to support those claims. The accusations otherwise are just baseless.

In fact, many of Trump's friends, colleagues, business partners, etc. have said there is not a shred of racism or anti-semitism in Donald Trump. Even the Prime Minister of Israel has said the same. He has praised President Trump in the past and continues to show his support for him.

http://ktla.com/2017/02/15/presiden...-prime-minister-netanyahu-to-the-white-house/

From the article:

Trump also answered a question about connections between a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the US since his election and support his campaign received from bigoted groups by first touting his electoral victory before pledging he will “do everything in our power to stop long-simmering racism and other things going on.”

Netanyahu backed Trump on the issue, saying, “There is no greater supporter for the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump. We should put that to rest.”​

And another article:

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Po...king-strong-stand-against-antisemitism-482286
What I found even more interesting in the second article was the last couple of paragraph's and quotes from the leader of Australia:

Regarding the phone call with Trump, Turnbull chuckled when asked whether Netanyahu might help repair the relationship between the US and Australia after that call.

“You really shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers,” he said of the infamous call, about which it was reported that Trump allegedly hung up on Turnbull.

“That is absolutely not true,” he said, adding that the call was courteous, “frank and forthright,” and ended with Turnbull thanking Trump for “his commitment to the arrangements [regarding taking in refugees} that had been entered into by his predecessor."​

Yeah, so I guess we should keep that in mind when reading anti-Trump stuff on the internet and in newspapers. Don't believe everything you read on the internet or in the newspapers.

[Disclaimer again: None of this is an incitement on you or your support of Trump. I simply think he can and he must do better.]

You are right. These might not be Trump supporters. However, Trump has emboldened people with prejudice in this country. To claim there is no coloration between the two would be disingenuous. He never rushes to correct the record when he's retweeted a racist image or content from a known racist source. That is not okay. Saying something like, "But, I have Jewish friends." is not really a defense. Neither is supporting the Jewish state of Israel because everyone knows why even antisemitic Christians support that - it's because it helps getting things in order for Revelation.

What we do know: Trump has many antisemitic supporters who believe he believes as they do. We also know that Trump has the time to rant and rave about every perceived slight, from SNL or some shmoe on Twitter, yet barely addresses the bigotry from many of his staunch supporters. The recent, long overdue, statement that he made about this particular circumstance was dispassionately read off a piece of paper. The language was weak and he didn't seem adamant about going after the perpetrators the same way he goes after CNN.

The clear reason why he doesn't passionately take on prejudice as a priority like he takes on everything else is because a sizable section of his base (not most, but enough to count) would be offended by it and he'd jeopardize their support. I don't even think he cares much one way or the other. It's disappointing. While this particular instance was not clearly done in the name of Trump, many racist incidents, particularly graffiti, have been.

As for questioning the legitimacy of newspapers, you must mention which ones and for what reasons. I question the legitimacy of anything and everything that comes out of the Trump administration because they've been known to lie their butts off. In the last month, Kellyanne Conway invented the Bowling Green Massacre, Sean Spicer made up a terrorist attack in Atlanta and Trump himself invented one in Sweden. I give newsprint a lot more legitimacy than the Trump administration, particularly because when they get something wrong - they MUST and DO print a retraction. Trump and his people just ignore it or point the finger somewhere else. It's not presidential.

 

[jvcarroll]

Kind of like how they want to cut funding for PBS, NPR and the arts to "save the government's money" even though those things account for less than one percent of the government's budget.

Yup. If our budget was a large jar of jellybeans, the money spent on the arts wouldn't even be a speck of lint on one of them. However, if we're looking to save money, maybe the first lady could move into the White House and Trump could stop taking so many extravagant trips on the government's dime. He's spent in one month as much as Obama's first family spent in one year! Where's the GOP outrage? I don't get it.

 

[MuppetsRule]

[Disclaimer again: None of this is an incitement on you or your support of Trump. I simply think he can and he must do better.]



As for questioning the legitimacy of newspapers, you must mention which ones and for what reasons. I question the legitimacy of anything and everything that comes out of the Trump administration because they've been known to lie their butts off. In the last month, Kellyanne Conway invented the Bowling Green Massacre, Sean Spicer made up a terrorist attack in Atlanta and Trump himself invented one in Sweden. I give newsprint a lot more legitimacy than the Trump administration, particularly because when they get something wrong - they MUST and DO print a retraction. Trump and his people just ignore it or point the finger somewhere else. It's not presidential.

Like I said earlier, President Trump could cure cancer and some would complain that he's taking work away from the undertakers.

Just about every major news outlet reported that President Trump got mad at the Australian Prime Minister and hung up on him. And the Australian Prime Minister directly denies it. I won't hold my breath waiting for the retraction on the phone call story. But the media would do nothing to jeopardize their credibility right? And then of course there is the tweet sent out by a media member that President Trump removed the bust of MLK. Turns out that there was just a cameraman standing in front of it. The reporter sent out a retraction a half hour later. But the damage had already been done as the story went viral. The media is in such a rush and looking for anything negative on President Trump they don't bother practicing good journalism like checking sources or even facts.

 

[dwayne1115]

Like I said earlier, President Trump could cure cancer and some would complain that he's taking work away from the undertakers.

Just about every major news outlet reported that President Trump got mad at the Australian Prime Minister and hung up on him. And the Australian Prime Minister directly denies it. I won't hold my breath waiting for the retraction on the phone call story. But the media would do nothing to jeopardize their credibility right? And then of course there is the tweet sent out by a media member that President Trump removed the bust of MLK. Turns out that there was just a cameraman standing in front of it. The reporter sent out a retraction a half hour later. But the damage had already been done as the story went viral. The media is in such a rush and looking for anything negative on President Trump they don't bother practicing good journalism like checking sources or even facts.

That's why to find out whats going on I watch the daily press briefing and any interviews or press conferences that Trump is involved with. I would rath get it fom the horse mouth.

 

[Oscarfan]

Or in Trump's case, the jackas$' mouth.

SWISH

 

[jvcarroll]

Like I said earlier, President Trump could cure cancer and some would complain that he's taking work away from the undertakers.

Just about every major news outlet reported that President Trump got mad at the Australian Prime Minister and hung up on him. And the Australian Prime Minister directly denies it. I won't hold my breath waiting for the retraction on the phone call story. But the media would do nothing to jeopardize their credibility right? And then of course there is the tweet sent out by a media member that President Trump removed the bust of MLK. Turns out that there was just a cameraman standing in front of it. The reporter sent out a retraction a half hour later. But the damage had already been done as the story went viral. The media is in such a rush and looking for anything negative on President Trump they don't bother practicing good journalism like checking sources or even facts.

The fact that people could easily believe bad behavior from Trump is because he's celebrated his bad behavior in public. Who knows what really went on in that conversation? It came from a leak so people should trust it as much as they would any anonymous source. Speaking of anonymous sources, Trump uses them constantly - like the "people are saying" or "that's the information I was given" excuse every time he's caught saying something untrue. This happens several times daily.

As for the curing cancer comment, some people will remain partisan no matter what. However, Trump has about as much knowledge in medicine as he does in government. Ha. I'd say the same held true for Obama with conservatives, except he was a Harvard taught constitutional scholar.

Attacking the news media in general is kind of weak. Calling into question particular journalists and sources in certain circumstances is our American duty. That, we are in perfect agreement.

PS - My mother, father and sister have all battled cancer. If Trump or his administration ever cured cancer, not only would I give him a hug. I'd give him a reach-around.

My real fear is that cancer patients will lose their coverage under this administration.

[Additional Note - I'm enjoying this lively, but respectful dialog with you. Thanks for that! ]

 

[dwayne1115]

Or in Trump's case, the jackas$' mouth.

SWISH

I thought of that, but was trying to be nice.

 

[MuppetsRule]

The fact that people could easily believe bad behavior from Trump is because he's celebrated his bad behavior in public. Who knows what really went on in that conversation? It came from a leak so people should trust it as much as they would any anonymous source. Speaking of anonymous sources, Trump uses them constantly - like the "people are saying" or "that's the information I was given" excuse every time he's caught saying something untrue. This happens several times daily.

[Additional Note - I'm enjoying this lively, but respectful dialog with you. Thanks for that! ]

But just because people may believe bad behavior by President Trump doesn't give the media license to not fact check or check it's sources. The media's willingness to believe the bad behavior is clouding it's ability to report things impartially. That is a major problem. To me, that is a bigger problem than anything I've seen in the last election or since then. The media is to serve as a government watchdog. It's an important role in a democracy. The media should not become part of the political system and it has.

And as far as who really knows what really went on in that conversation? You had two people in the phone call. BOTH denied what the media has reported. And you still doubt?

 

[D'Snowth]

And as far as who really knows what really went on in that conversation? You had two people in the phone call. BOTH denied what the media has reported. And you still doubt?

The thing of it is, Trump always denies everything the media reports about him, even when they use the actual sources such as video, audio, and other clips to back them up.