Post by tacosforlife on Aug 17, 2015 14:52:05 GMT -5
Trump's slogan is "Make America Great Again." But it's not like he's the only one who uses this type of rhetoric.
I always want to ask exactly when it was that they think the U.S. was great and when exactly it stopped being great. Was it when women had fewer rights than they do now? When black people rode on the back of the bus? When we were putting folks of Japanese ancestry into internment camps?
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this kind of thing just makes me RAGEY and I had to get it out somewhere!
I'm thinking maybe it was when we were forcing the Native Americans onto reservations and then ripping their children from them to strip away their culture.
Chuck Todd asked him this yesterday. He was like, "under Reagan" (of course). Then Chuck Todd whipped out a clip from Trump from like 1987 saying that the country was in the gutter.
Chuck Todd asked him this yesterday. He was like, "under Reagan" (of course). Then Chuck Todd whipped out a clip from Trump from like 1987 saying that the country was in the gutter.
LOL forever
Somehow I knew this.
All that 1980s cocaine probably destroyed The Donald's memory anyway.
FALSE! You cannot say America started going downhill right after the Constitution was ratified. FOUNDING FATHERS!
Yeah, but once John Marshall and his fellow unelected activist judges started tearing apart the Constitution in 1803 with Marbury v. Madison, it's been nothing but a cesspool!
I think it's telling that the rhetoric is about making "America" great, not making "Americans" great. It's a creepy fantasy about the 1950s when America was a boss on the world stage, making cars and rockets, and, oh, just ignore all the rampant bigotry/sexism/racism from that period, because at least AMERICA WAS GREAT.
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
What's funny is if you're a rich, white man hearkening back to the days when the US had the greatest economy the world had ever seen (post-WWII) - well, the income tax rate was pretty astronomical. Which kind of allowed us to do things like create a national high way system and stuff. Still sucked to be a minority, a woman or not straight, though.
Are they thinking of the gay 90s, when capitalists were making money hand over fist? Because we're pretty close to that now. In fact, I think the wealth gap is even greater than it was with unbridled capitalism, back when it was legal for 7 year old kids to work, women died in factory fires, and nativism was rampant.
Hmm. Yeah. I'd say the gilded era is pretty much what they're trying to achieve.
America is always great if you ask me. I mean, this clown can run for president. It's like the ultimate in the American Dream. You can be a total offensive asshat, who uses the country's bankruptcy laws for your own gain, say whatever the EFF you want, and be a viable presidential candidate. How is that not great?
Seriously, though, there is a lot about this country that is great. There's a lot that isn't great. That's sort of how this whole country thing works, IMO.
It is hilarious that he invoked Reagan as a time when America was great, though. I'm not even sure I'd put that in my top 3.
Post by downtoearth on Aug 17, 2015 15:06:41 GMT -5
Yeah, like eclaires, it's funny that he borrowed Regan's slogan and then also was found criticizing the country during Regan's presidency. It's also funny that he's trying to keep the other republican candidates from saying things like this by trademarking it, isn't it?
"...However, Trump is clearly not the first to use it: President Ronald Regan prominently featured the words on his campaign materials. The Daily Mail reported the Trump slogan was an homage to Reagan, whom both Trump and his father supported for president.
For his part, Trump backed up that interpretation on Twitter:
Trump has publicly criticized at least two of his potential rivals in the 2016 race of their use of the phrase. He reportedly told the British newspaper he was "disappointed" Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) used it in a speech last weekend. And Trump previously accused Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) of stealing the line during the senator's presidential campaign announcement last March.
"That's my expression," Trump said in a Fox News interview reacting to Cruz's candidacy. "I've been using it all over the place. And I noticed that they're all copying it now. Everybody's using it. I was the first by a long shot. And that's interesting."
Trump's lawyer, Alan Garten, reportedly told the Daily Mail the trademark is still being finalized, but Trump already has the right to legally challenge anyone else using "Make America great again" in the political arena.
"The issue is not whether it is being used verbally by others in public," Garten was quoted saying. "The problem is that it is repeatedly being used by others as a slogan or catchphrase. That is what the trademark filing protects against."
Post by StrawberryBlondie on Aug 17, 2015 15:09:59 GMT -5
See, this is why I can never be a politician. I don't think America is the greatest country EVAR. I mean, I like it here and stuff but I don't think we have the market cornered in amazing-ness.
Post by Velar Fricative on Aug 17, 2015 15:11:58 GMT -5
I will say that I think the US is a great country. Thank goodness my parents moved here before I was born or else I would have been using an outhouse for a bathroom until 1991 and been forcibly removed from my home (and probably worse) during a war and been living in a now-independent country with a 35% unemployment rate. So I'm about as FUCK YEAH, AMERICA! as one could be, without feeling like I'm obligated to wear to wave bigass American flag wherever I go. BUT, it's not perfect (no country is, not even Sweden), and I wish MIL would understand that when I talk about how we could be better, I somehow hate my country and disrespect my parents by doing so. No, the US can and should do better in terms of race relations, gender equality, crime prevention, education, etc.
I think believing in American exceptionalism is dangerous, but it's sadly pervasive.
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
I remember asking my dad (an Iowa white guy) why everyone says the 1950s and 1960s were so great. I remember vividly he said "I was there. It was shit."
Post by secretlyevil on Aug 17, 2015 20:32:18 GMT -5
I was trying to think of a genuine answer and really can't think of anything. U.S. history is full of ugliness. I'd like to say the 1920s but nope, prohibition.
I think he's probably talking about the 50s (a golden political period for the U.S. government and middle class maybe but only if you were a white male) and possibly the 80s/90s boom. There's a fundamental problem with economic booms though.