Let this sink in: The Republican Party has chosen a birther/bigot as its presidential candidate.

[kpete]

Trump understands very well that racism and sexism are crucial components of the nationalistic insurgence he wants to lead; he appeals openly to some of the darkest impulses in our political id.


............


Remember this, no matter what Trump now says, his entire political existence is built on bigotry


............. here’s what everyone should never forget: No matter what Trump now says, he owes his entire political existence to bigotry. The inimitable James Carville recently wrote a piece making what will, increasingly, be a critical point:

“I’m a Catholic. I’ve seen enough baptismal water spilled to fill William Taft’s bathtub ten times over. But it doesn’t take a Catholic like me to understandthe original sin of the Trump candidacy. His first act on the political stage was to declare himself the head of the birther movement. For Trump, the year 2011 began with the BIG NEWS that he had rejected Lindsey Lohan for Celebrity Apprentice, but by April, his one-man show to paint Barack Obama as a secret Kenyan had become the talk of the country. Five years later, Trump is nearing the Republican nomination.”

Birtherism is how Trump lunged into presidential politics. It was his first – and loudest – dog whistle. And the thing about birtherism, in addition to being patently untrue, is that there’s no reason to believe it apart from bigotry. To support the theory is to announce, in the clearest possible terms, one’s own prejudices.

Again, Carville explains:

“Look, I understand that there’s plenty of craziness to investigate in our politics. Cruz believes that global warming is a hoax. Ben Carson claimed that the Biblical Joseph built the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Heck, once upon a time, George W. Bush famously thought the jury was out on evolution. But Trump’s birtherism is far, far more important – for two reasons. First, in my experience, when a politician says he doesn’t talk about an issue, that’s precisely what you should ask him about. Second, there’s another difference between being a birther and a flat-earther. It’s possible to believe the Earth is flat and not be a bigot, but it’s impossible to be a birther and not be one.”

MORE:
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/05/let_this_sink_in_the_republican_party_has_chosen_a_birther_as_its_presidential_candidate/


***********

Rob Reiner voices the frustration of millions, calls out media coverage of Donald Trump on “Morning Joe”
The "Being Charlie" director excoriates Scarborough & Co. for their refusal to acknowledge Trump's racist appeal VIDEO: http://www.salon.com/2016/05/05/rob_reiner_voices_the_frustration_of_millions_calls_out_media_coverage_of_donald_trump_on_morning_joe/

[pampango]

1. Trump doesn’t want to talk about birtherism anymore – for obvious reasons. It’s bad public relations

Trump doesn’t want to talk about birtherism anymore – for obvious reasons. It’s bad public relations. The few times reporters have brought it up, Trump dodges or bullies his way out of it. “I don’t want to talk about that anymore,” he told Chris Matthews. But make no mistake: Trump knew exactly what he was doing when he embraced the birther movement. “I don’t think I went overboard,” Trump said in 2013. “Actually, I think it made me very popular….I do think I know what I’m doing.”

I can’t say whether Trump is a bigot or not, but I can say that he deliberately endeared himself to bigots. If you want to understand why Trump is the overwhelming favorite of racists, why he’s the preferred candidate of David Duke, look no further than his birtherism. If you want to understand why 80 percent of Trump supporters believe the “government has gone too far in assisting minority groups,” look no further than his birtherism. If you want to understand why exit polls in Pennsylvania and New York and Wisconsin and Florida and Georgia and New Hampshire and Ohio show that the majority of Trump voters support his proposed ban on all Muslims, look no further than his birtherism.

Trump’s success springs from this “original sin,” as Carville put it. Many of his supporters received the signal he sent in 2011 and have internalized it; they know – or think they know – that Trump is one of them. Not all Trump supporters are racists, of course, but a terrifying percentage are. And that’s no accident.

That Trump has catapulted to the top of the Republican Party, that he’s now the presumptive nominee, says a lot about the GOP and our country. He’ll very likely lose in an electoral landslide to Hillary Clinton, but that’s beside the point. His campaign has already done incalculable damage. He’s tapped into an undercurrent of bigotry and exploited it for political gain. The results of that will, unfortunately, survive his self-serving campaign. And no one, especially in the media, should let Trump forget that.

He would be a catastrophic president but he will be an excellent campaigner because he knows how to stoke his supporters fears and offer up scapegoats for them to blame. He should not be underestimated.

[hibbing]

2. Rob Reiner....everyone watch that video!

I love how Mika and Joe are incredulous that someone would say that the Trump racism that appeals to so many. You very rarely hear anyone in the corporate media address the blatant racism of Trump, which I find very interesting.


Peace

[SusanLarson]

3. Us too...

And the Democratic party is trying to do the same, luckily Bernie Sanders has the wherewithal to stick it out.

[Katashi_itto]

4. Agree

[Bodych]

5. Oh god...

...I've been trying to write the correct response to this ridiculous scenario.

The Democratic Party has a choice between a man of honesty and integrity and a woman who is under criminal investigation for crimes against her country and its people.

And the front runner is?????

Pot meet kettle.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. FFS.

No, Hillary Clinton is not a birther and a bigot.

Get a grip, please.

[skepticscott]

6. And still, lots and lots of DUers are saying Bernie or Bust

Even though THIS is the "Bust".

[iandhr]

9. No one ever said DUers were intelligent.

[Skittles]

14. idiots

[zalinda]

7. The Trump campaign is more about anger

than bigotry. When people are angry and feel frustrated, they have to place their anger somewhere, and it will go to whoever is available. Some white guy who yells about a black person or woman getting a job he wanted, may not be racist or sexist, but frustrated. The person who yells at someone who uses food stamps, may not really be yelling at the person, but venting their frustration that they are having a tough time making ends meet. Is is right? No! But it happens, just like a person kicks a car when they get a flat tire, they need to lash out.

Anger is mounting in this country, and if you don't know that, you have blinders on. Anger is what happens on the way down to despair. Bernie is turning that despair into hope. If you take away that hope, it can give way to anger, which is why many Bernie supporters will vote for Trump. Or, they just might not vote and take their anger out on the Democratic Party.

This is an emotional election which is why it is so animated. Bernie=hope Hillary=meh Trump=anger

Z

[fbc]

8. And the democrats are choosing a center-right war monger.

[JDPriestly]

10. She hasn't been chosen yet. It's quite possible, but please keep making phone calls to

California and Oregon. We still have a chance.

The math does not add up for either candidate at this point.

[struggle4progress]

11. Their track record in recent years doesn't seem to have been particularly good

They gave us Tricky Dick, who turned out to be such a POS that even the Rs were going to have to vote for his removal if he stayed in office

They gave us St Ronnie d'Teflon, who increasingly confused movies with history and whose administration contained a remarkable number of crooks, culminating in an illegal war run from the White House basement

They gave us Poppy and Sonny. Later they offered us Half-Baked Alaska as our national insurance policy. And then Mittens, who believed that 47% of Americans were government dependents with a sense of entitlement ...

And I supposed to act surprised now that they've come up with yet another air-headed blowhard?

[L. Coyote]

13. Its like Obama is going to win three elections in a row, maybe four if they don't learn from this.

First two as a candidate, next two because the Republicans were so racist and reactionary once Obama was in office that they went over the stupid cliff like lemmings to the sea.
Maybe this should just be the new Republican platform, a nice, plane field to build upon that encompasses so many positions they already have.