Like him or not, Donald Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential candidate nomination. To ask for his name to be cleansed from our campus or for Emory as an institution to disavow him is to insult the plurality of Americans who support him. Such actions will never help show that plurality that Trump is the wrong answer to their problems.
I am not a Trump supporter in any way. His racist comments are disgusting and shocking. The nativist sentiment he inspires is alarming. How far down he has dragged the level of discourse in American politics is disappointing. His lack of policy and his xenophobic fascist overtones are revolting. But I strongly sympathize with his supporters — a group of Americans who follow him not because he is racist or intolerant, but because they have seen their position in life decline steadily over many years and are desperate for radical change in our political system.
A recent article in The Atlantic highlighted a number of common factors among Trump supporters, all of which indicate that Trump supporters are not a well-represented group at Emory. Attending college is the biggest predictor of whether or not you support Trump. Most of his support comes from white men without a college degree earning less than $50,000 a year. Emory graduates are earning an average of $95,100 per year once they reach the middle of their careers. So attending and graduating from Emory immediately means you are safe from the economic and societal conditions that are heavily predictive of supporting Trump.
Because we do not see many of them, it is easy for us to condemn Trump supporters, but it is wrong to do so without seeking to understand them. They are a group that has truly suffered in recent years. A study from the Hamilton Project found that the full time employment rate for men without a bachelor’s degree has declined by eight percent since 1990, and their real wages have declined by 13 percent. The mortality rate for middle-aged white men has grown since 1980. In the past 20 years, Trump supporters have seen their economic opportunities dwindle and their lifespan shortened. From their perspective, politicians have done nothing to alleviate their troubles or fix their situation, so they have grown desperate and angry. In their desperation, they have turned to a candidate that looks nothing like a traditional politician, someone who has promised to bring a paradigm shift — a shift that working-class people desperately seek.
People in desperate circumstances can make mistakes in whom they support politically. When that happens, every effort should be made to show them why their choice is the wrong. They should not simply be told that they are wrong and need to shut up. It is dangerous not to take the political movement behind Trump seriously, and the students who protested Trump’s name being written in chalk did exactly that. The student protestors reacted with disgust and disappointment: some requested that the school disavow Trump, and some argued that merely seeing Trump’s name written on campus made them feel unsafe. The school has now indicated that whoever made the chalking will face either the school’s conduct process or legal charges, which means if you are a Trump supporter at Emory who voices your political opinion, you will literally be persecuted. The protesters and Emory’s pejorative attitude towards Trump supporters can only further alienate Trump supporters. Condemnation by an institution of higher learning only reinforces their notion that the political and economic elite of America do not care about their problems.
Now is a critical time to listen. It is not to a time to to take actions that will further divide Trump supporters from the rest of America. Erasing reminders that Trump exists doesn’t make him go away, but it does help alienate his constituency, and it demonstrates a lack of respect for the fundamental problems that led to his rise. Anti-Trump forces must first and foremost empathize with Trump supporters. Their issues are valid and noteworthy, and those issues must be addressed before Trump supporters can realize that Trump is a con-man who seeks to take advantage of them. Changing their views will take time and effort. But banning the voices and opinions of Trump supporters is a major step in the wrong direction. Disenfranchising people will never help change their minds.
Duncan Cock Foster is a College junior from Seattle, Washington.
Good article and the reaction to the chalkings have done a lot more than alienate Trump supporters they’ve made Emory a global laughingstock so hopefully someone will do something to try and change that view. What it all really comes down to, and this (at least partly) explains the popularity of both Trump and Sanders to vastly different groups of people, is that the “little guy” is getting pinched in favor of the 1% and big corporations. We were told in school that automation would let us all work less and enjoy life more, but instead all of the machines and their profits are owned by only a handful and now we all have to compete with machines so we work more and for less. Where it was possible 50 years ago to make a decent living without a college degree by rolling up your sleeves at putting your back into it, those jobs have largely been outsourced to other countries (mostly China) or eliminated by automation. The newer trend is to outsource “white collar” jobs to English speaking countries like India so 10,000s of thousands of 9 – 5 office jobs are disappearing every year. Through in the growth of online shopping and you have stores closing with all those jobs being lost in favor of a few new warehouse and delivery jobs.
Where does it stop? It isn’t just corporations and the rich to blame here it is all of us. Every time you pat yourself on the back because you got something from Walmart (for example) for some insanely low price YOU are part of the problem since the only way you got that price is because it wasn’t Made in America. Every time you go into a store to look at something and then leave to order it online you are putting another nail in the coffin of that store and all of its employees. Don’t blame just the 1% or corporations for this, but look in the mirror.
By the way, the United States is now the country where more and more previously American owned companies are now over seas and outsourcing here. (while they build their corporate headquarters and plants, all the Nabisco jobs and many others will be all gone very shortly) They get out of some of the highest corporate taxes in the world. Hillary the Hag said something so funny the other day, she said, “companies like Nabisco would be heavily fined if they continued to send jobs outside the country. ” LOL, Nabisco is a South American owned company now and Hillary the liar could not fine them for moving employment outside the country. Just more propaganda and lies spewed by the Libatards. Go ahead and do some homework, see how many companies have already been sold to foreign conglomerates. Our own Secretary of State, the pompous John Kerry just sold his company, Hienz, for over a billion dollars to a company in Venezuela. Yes, the libatards will tell the dumbbells who listen to them one thing, but are always doing the opposite. What is it the Democrats have been saying for years? “We can get things done the way we want if we rely on the stupidity of the American People.” (they mean Democrats, because they are the ones listening to them). So there you go, Hillary and Bernie are relying on your stupidity.
What exactly did Donald Trump ever say that was racist?
That Mexico sends it’s rapists and criminals here, among others who are good people? I just finished defending an illegal alien rapist on rape charges. Are you claiming I didn’t?
That, after the San Bernardino killings in the name of Islam by refugees allowed in because they could not be adequately vetted, we should have a temporary ban on Muslim immigrants from countries which sponsor terrorism or which are sourcing radical Islamic terror? Do they block the news on campus for you? Do Brussels or Paris mean anything to you?
When you say he has “dragged the level of discourse in American politics”, you seem to forget Joe Biden telling an audience of how Republicans “want you all back in chains!” and Hillary telling an NAACP audience, “Republicans want you back on the plantation!”. Or Obama (“I want you to get in their face” and “If [Republicans] bring a knife to the battle, we bring a gun.”
Or read the comments of Democrats on Huffington Post, ThinkProgress and MoveOn.Org’s websites about desiring to assassinate Trump and his family.
And what is more disgusting than Trump’s occasionally rough-toned rhetoric than to ban conservative speakers at the university for DECADES, even as they represent almost 35-40% of the US population? What is more disgusting than the violence and violent rhetoric of Democrat-heavy #BlackLivesMatter and it’s demand for “separate-but-equal” facilities for the races. Even the KKK gave up on that demand decades ago.
HERE’S THE DEAL: Donald Trump, being self-funded and rich, is able to do what no one else running is capable of doing: Exploding the cancer that is politically correct speech, exposing and dismantling the establishment cronyism of BOTH political parties, and calling out the dishonesty of the mainstream media — on both the Left and Right. And that last one means someone’s beloved television cable news heroes are in the line of fire, as they deserve to be.
I see you mean well. But a little research goes a long way too.
He wasn’t prophetic about his bankruptcies, LOL. I’m sure he totally planned that, no sorry, those! Especially Trump Taj Mahal, which he bought in 1990 and declared it bankrupt in 1991! ONE YEAR LATER!
Oh sure, the typical Trump response is, “but I still fared well after the bankruptcy” — but the investors didn’t! The people who trusted Trump to deliver the goods got bilked, just like the students at Trump University, and airlines, and steak…
He can disrespect Romney all he wants but at the least, Romney was actually a successful businessman, regardless of both of their father’s wealth.
Trump’s song and dance is repeated in the political stage, and his supporters and the American people will get bilked much the same way.
Again, not a Trump man. However, there are no guarantees in investing.
LOL.
Trump didn’t just make bad investments. Look up his shenanigans with Trump Taj Mahal and Trump University. These weren’t investments, they were out and out bad management propagated by lies and the same blowhard attitude he’s winning over the GOP with.
Oh, I don’t doubt it. But my point is that there are no guarantees when investing money.
I think that year, 2,000,000 bankruptcies were filed. What a stupid comment.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, so his bankruptcies mean absolutely nothing, he just bilked all his investors and somehow this is a quality needed for a president, LOL!
NEWS FLASH: Trump is bilking his voters right now! And you’re swallowing every drop.
GET ON YOUR KNEES, Donna.
Trump2016!!! Yeah! Now go to your safe zone and put your thumb in your mouth you uniformed baby.
I don’t use or need safe zones. I’m just intelligent enough to know their actual qualities versus their perceived weaknesses.
You need help. Badly.
You need a safe zone, but it is also a place that requires straight jackets as well….
For someone who doesn’t believe in safe zones, why are you tying to put me in one? HYPOCRITE!
And you’re swallowing every drop.
GET ON YOUR KNEES, Donna.
Now that sounds more like what goes on in your lol! safe zones.
Just quoting our Republican frontrunner.
Open wide, Donna.
=O
Not til I’m in my safe zone, that is what they are for, right? LOL…they are covers for human traffickers.
Now if I were a liberal snow flake, I’d be crying by now.
Your article, even well intended, is not different than all antitrump liberal ones: condescending and patronizing. Another one that misses the mark of correctly defining trumpism, parrots the same distortions with the hope it will stick until it goes unquestioned, and with all of it, just add a new voter to trump, in this case, me: independent, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, masters degree holder, no white, not male.
So let’s start with the liberal tactic:
1. Repeat a lie ad nauseam until it’s sticks: “trump is racist, trump is xenophobic”.
The problem with this tactic is that is been exploited and used so many times that it has no intimidating effect anymore, if anything the opposite is more likely to happen, as in “so call me racist.. I.don’t care”.
2. Prove it. Find me ONE, just one example or link showing trump saying something racist. And by that I mean something in the way of: “people of xcolor are inferior”. That’s racism. Saying illegal Mexicans here maybe a poor generalization of an entire nation’s nationals, but racism is not. Just because so happens that the majority of Mexican people are not European whites, doesn’t automatically infer that it is racism. That’s like me saying the majority of the poorest countries in the world are African. True statement. That majority of Africans are black, doesn’t make the statement racist.
3. Xenophobia is hatred of foreigners, ANY foreign. Trump has referred specifically to illegal immigrants and done so in the context of the law. So again, find me a REAL xenophobic statement from trump. You won’t because there’s none.
4. Education level. Another myth. Trump won on all levels of population on Super Tuesday, except in two contests were Rubio won, trump still got second place among most educated. But let’s say “only” non educated liked him… So what? Aren’t those voters too? How about the 97% African Americans and 80%+ Latinos that voted for Obama? Do you think those are Ph.D. Holders? They are indeed the least educated bunch in this country, yet I never hear republicans using the argument the least educated are the ones voting for Democrats, much less the democrats themselves, so why this obsession with the trumps voters and their educational level? Bias, double standards by liberals to feel themselves superior, and that’s all there is to it.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
There’s no reason to look for facts because you and the average Trump supporter won’t believe in them anyway!
I’ve seen countless times, how the much more reputable Romney, Cruz, Jeb, and Kasich call Trump out for his lying crap, and he just keeps rising in the polls. Sadly, winning too. The facts don’t matter to the average Trump supporter. What matters is what they “feel” and Trump is making them feel good by saying CLEARLY bigoted remarks like banning ALL 1 billion Muslims out of the country. That doesn’t strike you as xenophobic?! it inherently appeals to a non-Muslim American population that Muslim foreigner are out to “get” them.
Calling Mexican rapists (but some are good people) doesn’t strike you as xenophobia? That doesn’t stoke fear and resentment to the imagined, fantastical Other going to rape your children? Especially when you consider that most rapes and sexual assaults occur within friends and acquaintances! So unless you are friends with a Mexican, you will not be raped by one!
So the fact that Trump is only bigoted towards Muslims and Mexicans means he’s not really a xenophobe? Wow, what a great exception to the rule. That’s similar to saying black people can’t be racist. Dumb!
Trump is winning all educated levels in the Republican primaries. He’s not winning the same demographics in the general.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
Jimmy Carter banned all Iranians from entering our country after Iranian revolution and take over of US Embassy in Tehran. Was Carter a Xenophobe for banning all Iranian citizens from entering US due to the actions of a few?
In addition to announcing an end to diplomatic relations with Iran, freezes of Iranian assets and economic sanctions, Carter ordered administration officials to “invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly.”
Iran is a country who held American hostages. Perfectly reasonable to ban Iranian interests in America. Iran is a nation-state. It’s not xenophobic to kill Germans left and right during WWII either. Two nations at war. Are you suggesting that the US is at war with one of the world’s largest religions? The same rhetoric employed by ISIS to get recruits? If so, you’re complicit in their raison d’etre.
There are European Muslims who have never set foot in the Middle East, listen to Britney Spears, and don’t pray five times a day. They’re banned too? What about the largest Muslim majority country in the world, Indonesia. Are Indonesian Muslims banned just cause of their religion? Still not bigoted to you?
Read the first amendment again. The very notion of having religious tests to enter this country smacks of unconstitutionality because this isn’t just going to be applied to Muslims, it’s going to be applied to every American reentering the United States. Still Constitutional to you?
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How would this ban even work? Are Muslims not capable of lying to immigration officers? Are immigration officers forced to feed bacon and pork to all migrants to prove they’re a devout Muslim? Are radical Muslim terrorists not capable of lying to get into the country? If you’re an American Muslim, are you allowed back in if you left the country to visit family in the middle east?
With respect to your last paragraph and ONLY your last one…
It would work by not issuing visa from majority Muslim countries. As has been pointed out before, Carter did it. No one complained.
Radical Muslims lie to customs every day when they “self declare” they’re not radical so a check box on some form can be checked.
How about not issuing visas to them in the first place? How about telling them “No, not today” when they apply.
Personally I detest Trump. However, letting anyone in willy-nilly isn’t helping at all. And the people who come here under visas are NOT citizens and do NOT enjoy full constitutional rights. Nor should they.
If you’re an American Muslim, go home to visit, then since you’re an American CITIZEN – of course you get to come back. You’re a citizen. Why is that question even being asked?
Indonesia is the largest majority Muslim country, they’re the victims of radical jihadists because they get bombed by the likes of ISIS too. You don’t hear about it on the news. Indonesian Muslims have little to do with the violence engulfing Syria, why are they not allowed visas?
This past weekend, more people died in Pakistan from a terrorist attack, another Muslim majority country. Why are Pakistanis, some of whom may be Christian, not allowed visas? Actually, the response to Pakistanis or Turkish people dying from radical jihad is much more subdued than Parisians. #AllLivesMatter right?
How about Muslims from Muslim-minority countries? Russia has had it’s fair share of radial jihadis committing acts of terror against Russians. So the ban won’t take affect for them because they live in a Muslim minority country?
And Carter did it to Iran, A NATION who held American hostages.
Also, 40 years ago, political discourse has evolved with the advent of the internet..kind of a dumb point to make. That’s like saying how come no one was tweeting about Reagan buying illegal weapons from Iran.
No one is talking about letting people in willy-nilly. That’s a strawman. Russian student worker visas in the US has declined since Putin’s aggression in the UK. Look it up. What’s being discussed is the bigotry of a religion-wide bans.
In order for a religion ban to take effect, one religion specifically, laws have to be passed that will inevitably affect Americans entering and leaving the United States. I predict that if this ban were passed, it’d reach SCOTUS a month later.
That final question is being asked because Trump is not proposing bans on Muslim-majority countries, it’s proposing bans on Muslims, full stop. If you don’t think this would have disparate effects of American Muslims, that would be incredibly shortsighted.
I’ll be sure and point them all in your direction, to live in your neighborhood.
Better yet, how about you show some charity and “tolerance” and invite them to come live in your home.
How about that?
lololol. There is a mosque several miles from my house and countless Christian churches. And I’m pretty sure the guy I buy kebabs from is a Muslim as was the guy who drove my taxi the last time I went out at night.
One of my neigbhors has a Bernie sticker on their car, and the person across from him has a Trump yard sign.
Why the heck would I invite a stranger to live in my home, Muslim or not?
Lololol. You’re a joke.
Iran holds like 4 Americans hostage today, but Oslima does not seem to think anything of it.
And yes, the US is at war with one of the worlds largest religions, Christianity.
Yes we should have a temporary ban on people traveling from certain countries that are know to sponsor terrorism and have visceral hatred towards the US and it’s citizens. That does not mean a certain religion, but it will be mostly Muslims due to the countries that should be on a ban. It only makes sense to protect ourselves. Europe is having extreme second thoughts on it’s immigration policies, we should learn by their mistakes and take heed.
We’re talking about Trump’s ban, and his ban is on Muslims! Not countries that sponsor terrorism. DEAF AND DUMB!
No, you listen to sound bites. Just plain stupid.
Actually, I watched every GOP debates hoping I see what others see in Trump.
I saw…NOTHING! LOL.
At this point, I’d choose a Cruz or a Kasich because they actually KNOW what they’re talking about! Unlike you!
You saw nothing because your not intelligent enough to see anything.
No. I’m so smart. I’m smarter than anyone I know. All my friends say so. I’m definitely smarter than Cruz. He’s a liar. Ben, my friend, says the same thing. The problem with America is that we’re not smart anymore. We lose all our smart people. I’m going to make America smart again. So smart. So good. Tremendous. We’ll be the smartest country in the world again.
Sound familiar?
No, not familiar, but refreshing!
Ahhh, of course, you’re simple so you would find that refreshing.
Since you’ve tacitly acknowledged my superior intelligence, please let me make all the decisions from now on and just look pretty for me, if that’s possible.
I can look pretty, but your not my type. I detest weak, useless, irresponsible, safe zone seeking, unintelligent men. They bring nothing to a relationship.
By the way, your multiple posts to me targeting me as a women and using insults only because I am a women, and not relevant at all to our discussions shows just what a true bigot you really are. Typical Democrat.
What about O’slima and Iran who is now holding hostages?
Iran still has American Hostages today….President Oslima did not care about them, but he is not as decent a man as Carter is. As you said, perfect reason to continue to ban Iranian interests in the US, but someone went wrong, namely our president.
Your sloppy little editorial encapsulates the ignorance of college students today who rarely research multiple sources or primary source material and simply repeat buzz words and specious data. You clearly don’t know that in primaries Trump has consistently won every demographic category including PhDs. My IQ is 140s and is still lower than Trump’s. In my experience, his supporters on Twitter and Reddit are the best-informed of all the candidates. You try to be politely patronizing but instead your lack of information makes you look ridiculous. I dare you to watch one single Trump rally–or all of them–and then reply below with his “racist” “xenophobic” comments. If you think his comment on illegal Mexicans being rapists was “racist” 1) “Mexican” is not a race and 2) a simple Google search reveals hundreds of cases of rapists and child-rapists (including those previously deported) entering our country. Our current immigration laws actually represent the same doctrine Trump is advocating; the difference is our current laws are not being enforced. We already have a law that the border has to have a double-fence but Obama won’t allow it to happen. You are slandering the one man who will ensure you actually have a future in this country but you are too young and ignorant to understand what’s at stake.
Condescending ignorance is the best. I highly doubt you have an IQ of 140, LOL, or that Trump’s is any higher, well higher than yours, at least, at about an 82.
I’ve watched every single GOP debate with Trump, and compared to Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, he is know-nothing blowhard who has taken the political discourse of this country to the lowest lows I’ve seen in my lifetime. We’ll even put aside the “important” discussions he has to say about his hands, Fiorina’s face, Cruz’s tabloid affairs, Jeb’s lack of energy, as if that was somehow a valid criticism of Jeb’s political achievements in Florida.
Here’s your typical Trump response/rally: “We’re going to be so good. So great. We’re making America great again. We’re not winning anymore. We’re losing. With me, we’re going to win. We’re going to make great deals. We’re winning in all the polls.” Full stop.
Rinse and repeat. — There’s nothing remotely substantial, intelligent, or worthy of discussion in that. The fact that you and a plurality of GOP voters seem to think so speaks highly (or lowly) of your electorate.
I agree and wish Trump had run on the platform and soaring rhetoric of HOPE and CHANGE instead
Please compare Trump’s debate performance with Obama’s and get back to me.
Hint: One of them doesn’t scrape the bottom of the barrel with personal insults.
LITTLE MARCO AND LYING TED CRUZ. Great debate, buddy, for the second grade.
I dont support Trump but I think that he and sanders is what our democracy needed as both DEM and GOP have morphed into subservient tools of Oligarchy and Corporate America. Why do we have the immigration policies we have? Why do we have free trade in the way we do? Both these issues were never brought up by establishment of both parties in a meaningful way except to pander to their various constituencies. Sure Trump did it in a polarizing, infantile and coarse way but without him and Sanders both parties would have paid lip service to democracy while blindly implementing the wishlist of Corporate America and Wall Street
The biggest problem is that the current 2 party system is inadequate for a large and complex society as our country. Trump would not have had this success if the politicians had actually paid attention to the what average american people need instead ofonly listening to the same 10,000 influential elites in DC/NYC
LOL.
Immigration has been a major issue for TWO decades and beyond. Only people who say they’re not brought up as legitimate issues are uninformed and ignorant. W. Bush supported the immigration bill in 2007 before it was obstructed by Republicans and Mr. Sanders. Serious immigration reform was tried (and achieved) again by both parties, including Rubio, before it was blocked by House GOP.
Suddenly some guy shows up talking about some fantastical Wall, and now, it’s a “serious” issue. Give me a break and pay attention! Serious proposals have been made and they’ve been rejected. Now, a stupid proposal has been made and it’s “serious.” LOL.
Illegal immigration exists in the United States because AMERICANS LOVE cheap labor. NEWS ALERT: undocumented workers don’t wait around Lowe’s parking lots for welfare, they wait around for Americans to come pick them up and pay them less than minimum wage! That’s not Wall Street, that’s a mom-and-pop construction business. JP Morgan isn’t losing jobs to migrant workers, LOL.
Immigration exists the way it does because Americans prefer it that way. Paying someone under the table is better for a small business’s bottom line. The ones who don’t prefer that way are the people who only graduated out of high school who find themselves having to compete against more hard-working, legal or illegal, migrants. Americans feel entitled to a job just cause they’re American, lol.
Immigrants aren’t taking American jobs, it’s being given to them by Americans!
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Free trade isn’t a new issue! Republicans LOVE Free Trade. Republicans put NAFTA on Clinton’s desk to sign. They put another on Bush’s desk. It’s the one thing Obama and current GOP agrees on, it’s TPP.
Suddenly a birther who calls Mexicans rapists makes a splash, and tried-and-true Republicans are suddenly against trade deals that brought them Wal Mart and Hondas.
Clinton and Obama are considered GOP-lite by those on the Left. Liberals and Progressives like Sanders have been against Free Trade since the beginning but it’s only when the bigoted Birther starts talking about it that Cons. GOP start believing in it.
The problem, dear Brutus, is not in the stars, but in Republicans who refuse to listen to the reasoned arguments of progressives against Free Trade from the very beginning cause he’s a “socialist who hates America,” LOL.
And now they’re listening to a guy who blames everything on non-Americans, but that’s not xenophobic apparently, LOL.
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DEM AND GOP are VOTED IN by THE PEOPLE. Congress, and in fact, most elected officials in American are incumbents around 80% of the time.
It’s not the politician’s who aren’t paying attention, it’s the people! NO ONE says you have to vote Dem or GOP. No Constitutional document advocates for a two party system.
They’re powerful not because the people are weak but because the people are too dumb! Now they’re following a Music Man who hurls insults instead of serious and specific ideas to fix things, and that would change things? LOL.
Still dumb!
“Illegal immigration exists in the United States because AMERICANS LOVE cheap labor.”Really? Illegal immigration exists because DUMBOCRATS LOVE the votes. It was the Democrats that did not want e-verify. Every company I knew of used it or are still using it. Just the Government of Dumbos don’t. Cheap labor, no. Votes for the Dumbos, YES, YES, YES.
LOLOLOLOLOL.
Illegal immigrants can’t vote, moron.
Americans, Dem or GOP, benefit from cheap labor. DUMB!
You’re so stupid you don’t understand why he uses simple, repetitive language and keeps it general. People DO NOT HEAR/REMEMBER DETAILS. It is a fact of neuroscience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvVfj0ov8k8
So scientifically, Trump supporters are a simple people. LOL!
You really have not listened to him then. Closed minded, typical for a Dumbocrat. That is why the Dumbocrat mantra is “rely on the stupidity of the American people to get a something passed.”
Are you serious? Obama still blames George Bush for everything wrong in this country. He blames George even for the things Oslima has done wrong and they are too many to mention.
Bush invaded Iraq on false information. The crash happened on his watch. The Twin Towers fell on his watch. New Orleans flooded on his watch.
Those didn’t happen? MORON! DELUSIONAL!
Blame Bush for a Flood? You are talking biblical stuff here. If you listen to the propaganda of the current administration, he blames Bush for a whole lot more than these things you mentioned. But you must be a mindless Dumbodrat, who holds on to soundbites for comfort. Dumber than a stump.
Compare Bush’s response to New Orleans and Obama’s response to Sandy that decimated the East Coast. See the difference in good emergency management?
DELUDED!
You have to look at the differences between Governors, you moron. The governor of the state declares a state of emergency to allow the federal government to get involved. (IE national guard to help which was necessary in both instances.) The idiot in New Orleans did not do that until AFTER the hurricane and not until after a levy broke. (dumb$ss governor) Christy did it before, allowing the fed to come in and assist PRIOR to the disaster. You are so spoon fed with so much propaganda you $hit it daily.
HURRDURR, Sandy affected all of the East Coast, not just NJ. DUMB!
Yes, but there were other states that also declared a state of emergency that allowed the feds to come in. Only the complete moron in LA did nothing to protect it’s citizens and caused the outcome. Not to mention the idiots on the roof of the dome shooting at helicopters trying to land to bring supplies and airlift people, let’s not forget about those complete useless brainless idiots.
A debate is not a rally. You’re only repeating what you heard about the rallies from the mainstream media; you haven’t watched one. Trump suffers from being smarter than people like you who think they are smart. You don’t see what he’s doing linguistically because clearly you don’t understand persuasion or NLP.
I know you won’t check these links because you are mentally lazy but I am posting them in case someone with an inquisitive mind actually reads my comment.
http://reason.com/reasontv/2015/10/06/donald-trump-is-a-master-wizard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvVfj0ov8k8
Thanks for sharing that people who believe Trump are scientifically simple, LOL.
Since debates are where candidates are actually questioned and challenged about their proposals, you’d think that’s when Trump gets “cerebral.” LOL.
Apparently, he saves that for moments when millions of possible supporters aren’t watching him.
Look if you wanted to know his detailed policies you’d go to his website and read them. He’s won every debate according to every poll because he uses rhetorical techniques. He doesn’t have to impress you because you’ve made up your mind without researching him. You’ve trolled almost every comment on this page when almost all of us are pro-Trump or at least understand his policies. Good luck to you. Trump will be PotUS without your vote but we’d be glad to have you if you change your mind.
Extrapolating from my GRE score and my MCAT score, my IQ is about 145. (It’s even higher if you think the old verbal reasoning MCAT section was more “g-loaded” than the science sections.) But I went to Emory, so now I’m unemployed. #Trump2016
The most ridiculous aspect of this protest is the claim that colleges are meant to be a safe space where emotionally fragile millennials can hide away for 4 years without being exposed to any dissenting opinion or thought. I think to the contrary universities are meant to prepare and mold you as thoughtful, intellectual citizens who can face and address the challenges facing our world after graduation. This requires you to be able to listen, engage and debate people who may propose ideas that you strongly disagree with.
In real world you cannot run away from all the things that offend you nor can you control your environment to eliminate all things that you disagree with. So what are the protesters going to do this summer when they return home and see countless Trump signs and Trump supporters all over America? Are they going to demand that the city/state governments remove all signs and silence all trump supporters so these precious little snow flakes are not triggered?
Finally I find the conduct of the Emory President even more inexcusable. At least these protesters can hide behind their youth and immaturity but for the leader of a major university to coddle and support this misguided protest and threaten to punish somebody participating in our democratic election process is disheartening.
You don’t understand the concept of a “safe space” if you think it’s supposed to shield a person from dissenting opinion.
It’s a space where people can share their honest beliefs without fear of being attacked so safe spaces are actually places where one can more freely share their dissenting opinion.
Your mischaracterization is nothing new but sadly misinformed.
This is Kafkaesque. But even accepting your definition at face value then it is the protesters who demanded punishment and disavowal of Trump the attackers and it is the people that wrote these chalk slogans who need a safe space to express their support of Trump without fear of being attacked and punishment. I find this concept of safe space bizarre to start with. Is anybody physically attacking these protesters on campus for their anti-Trump or anti-conservative activism? What exactly do they need protection from? I can understand safe space in the face of physical violence but it is wrong to provide safe space in the face of opposing speech and opinion. They should have stayed in their mom’s basement if they need a safe space from speech
Finally it is the liberal left wing that attacks people for their opinion and tries to shut them down for example Condoleeza Rice at Rutgers. When was the last time you saw Campus Republicans at an university protest a speaker inside the event and disrupt the speech or try to shut down an event because the speaker GASP did not agree with established liberal orthodoxy? Almost all these incidents are from the liberals and left wing cry babies who dont want Condoleeza Rice or Ben Shapiro or Ben Carson to speak at their luxury spa aka university
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/stop-blaming-trump-supporters-for-campaign-violence/2016/03/14/33e45b7e-e9f1-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html
In 2013, student protesters forced Ben Carson to cancel his planned commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University. In 2014, student activists forced Brandeis University to cancel a commencement-day speech by author and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Also in 2014, protesters forced former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to cancel her commencement speech at Rutgers University, declaring that “war criminals shouldn’t be honored” by the school.
I’m not defending these Emory crybabies. Save it. Merely pointing out you and most of the media’s mischaracterizations of “safe space.” Again, promoting safe spaces isn’t promoting a “no hurt feelings zone,” it’s promoting the idea that you can freely share your deepest thoughts or be your true self even if it hurts another person’s feelings. So yes, a “safe space” would work perfectly for students who support Trump who are likely, unable to express unpopular opinions. That’s mind boggling, I know since it squashes every little trope that’s trotted out every couple of months.
If you look at the coverage of these students outside Conservative outlets, prominent liberal pundit like Bill Maher has eviscerated them, and most his audience agreed.
I agree with you that students who protest Carson, Rice, or whoever can stfu and not attend the event. Similarly, they have a right to protest if they want to. It’s sad that a few students can do this but lay off the “Leftist liberal students” crap. They’re just the loudest voices in the room. The vast majority of students, who typically vote Left, could not care less. You just don’t hear about them. The Emory case, for example, had roughly 40 students protesting out of 17000…do the math. They’re loud, that’s all. Social media and now, just the media merely gave them a bullhorn that didn’t exist before.
That said, students can choose whoever they would like to speak at their graduation, and refusing a speaker no way infringes on a speaker’s right to freedom of speech.
Everyone has a right to free speech, not to give a speech at a ceremony.
sure there is no right to give a speech at a ceremony but why is that only left wing liberals do this because they disagree with a speaker or his opinion? In a democratic society don’t you want a debate and exchange of ideas? Bernie Sanders spoke at Liberty University without any problem so why couldnt the cry babies at Rutgers listen to Condi Rice?
What do you think is better for our society – Listening to and debating with Condi Rice or preventing her from speaking and thus denying the opportunity to thousands of students who wanted to hear her speak?. Remember there is no speaker who will be acceptable to every single student in a large university
Get rid of the notion that there’s “debate” when a speakers come to town, especially a commencement one. The speakers makes a speech, answers a few questions, and leaves. There is no debate.
I don’t agree with those students and I agree with you on the role of speakers, lol.
I can’t and won’t speak for them.
Exactly. The left is full of budding totalitarians.
“We must crush speech we disagree with or may challenge our views!” – Nearly EVERY liberal.
FWIW, I’ll go on record as a conservative who thinks Condoleeza Rice was continually promoted far beyond her intellectual capacitiies throughout her academic and professional careers.
She wasn’t. Nor was Thom Sowell or Ben Carson. But that’s the problem with AA: it calls into question the competence of truly qualified human beings (You try separating twins joined at the brain). Clarence Thomas, included, which is one reason he and Carson oppose AA.
I totally disagree.
We call those private meetings.
We call those “private meetings”, not “safe spaces”. “Safe spaces” is a dog-whistle intended to imply that the yard victims of right-wing censorship and must seek a place to protect themselves from it. Which is absurd. Right-wingers do not ban liberal speakers with the threat of violent e or blocking the doors to enter lectures.
Safe spaces were a positive development in post-secondary classrooms and discussions before it was bastardized by the toxicity of the Right.
If things continue on their current course – with children being raised to believe that “sticks and stones may break their bones, but words will kill them stone dead”, and grow up to become intolerant students intent on purging anybody who fails to fawn deferentially over their delicate sensibilities – then before long, we will lose the intellectual and social robustness required of an engaged citizenry.
Academia has become infected with a virus which produces legions of what can only be described as adult babies – people who are physically mature, but with the emotional and psychological resiliency of a toddler.
The extent of the rot was laid bare in Spiked’s 2016 university free speech rankings, which forensically detail the extent to which free speech is curtailed at every university campus and students union in the country.
Several student unions which have banned newspapers, several have banned mainstream hit songs for being “offensive” and several have banned clubs or societies. But they only take their cue from the universities themselves, nearly half of which enforce “No Platform” policies against controversial speakers and “safe space” policy onto their campuses.
I’ve met a few these “feinting daffodils and have found they need serious psychotherapy and should not be in an academic setting which is meant to invite strange, foreign and alternative ideas and thinking.
lolol. It must be scary to live in your world. lolol.
Not in the least. I’m free, I get to express myself freely. I am not enslaved by a leftwing ideology, nor do I suffer from such sensitivities that I must seek out a “safe space” or ask a university to bully, censor, and destroy others on my behalf so I feel safe. Freedom is a wonderful thing. And we’re gradually losing it in America.
LOL. Doesn’t sound like it from your post.
I’m free and happy too. I like little strawmen you made though, very cute.
Have a nice day in our beautiful country in no danger of electing a know-nothing blowhard!
=)
Having an opinion doesn’t mean I’m not free. Cheers, mate!
And water is wet? No one is saying you’re not free for thinking differently. But ok. lol.
I wish some people understood what a “straw man” argument was and didn’t misapply as a means of virtue-signaling. And comprehended what they read better they than do. Well, that’s the way it is…
LOL. Yes, “some” people. meaning you and those who agree with you so you can stop employing it.
So how are you not free because you have an opinion, or was it the other way around? LOL.
Have it your way, Roy. We’re done.
Oh, I never even started with you.
Go scurry away to your hole now.
Lern to love and forgive yourself for whatever it was that happened to you.
Yep. Children always feel safe in their crib with their widdle wubbies!
That’s the point of the crib! HA!
Pathetic.
That is soooooo funny! How about a playpen, same concept?
Safe spaces are spaces where you can express your opinions. Have a problem expressing truth? LIAR!
Have a problem with someone who needs a playpen in order to express it. Weak, Weak, Weak.
Awwwww, that’s cute. You still don’t understand it’s actual purpose.
That’s ok, not everyone is cut up for higher level thinking.
LOL! I do understand it’s actually purpose. Stupid Stupid Stupid. Truly STUPID reasoning for it. It is for the weak-minded in society.
You said you were going to run to one. WEAKLING!
No, the world doesn’t understand why these snowflakes can’t handle actual reality at this age.
What a crock of $hit.
Boo hoo, burst your bubble there, sweetie? lol.
How?
Typical.
I got to hold your hand through this too? Sorry, Donna, I’m not a kindergarten teacher.
No, you just don’t make any sense.
Sweetie, nothing makes sense to you.
Now go be a good girl and let the adults be.
Awe, you hurt my feelings Time to run to a safe zone.
So you do use one? LOL.
That is called sarcasm. I know you do not know what it means, but while you are diddling yourself in your safe zone, you can look it up.
In the real world, there are no “safe spaces”. Welcome to reality.
Yeah, those snowflakes surely were attacked by those chalkings… HA!
Real adults don’t need a safe space to discuss things.
You’re being just like those kids.
I don’t use or need a safe space but I understand their utility.
Well, that’s good for you – truly.
However, actual adults don’t need one either. And these snowflakes are not adults. To not recognize the childishness of “safe spaces” in colleges is beyond unreal.
But, fortunately I never had to experience these little snowflake’s cushioned life growing up (except as an actual child) and I was actually prepared for real life.
And I thank God and my parents for that.
I never defended these Emory crybabies.
If you want to call safe spaces, “private meetings” as someone else said on here, than you’ve just recognize their validity. You just don’t like the semantics.
Not when those semantics seem to defend the actions of these children.
Now maybe you think you’re not defending them, but it most assuredly sound like you have been. Pretty heavily. By using semantics.
Private meetings vs. “safe spaces”… these “safe spaces” are now somehow “private meetings” so these babies can whine “safely”? No, I’m not buying that. And I’m well aware that no one cares if I “buy that” or not. I don’t care.
In my estimation, this is a lot of hullabaloo wrought by whining children because their feelings got hurt. And clearly, my opinion is pretty much shared by the nation’s populace and alumni. The only ones crying about it are the students.
You keep talking about “whining” as if that’s the only reason safe spaces exist. One necessary use for a safe space is for a person who decides to come out as gay, since at times, some reactions have been violent. Therefore, it’s necessary that a student or anyone know they’re entering a space where they’re not in fear of their life. But you think it’s just a place to “whine.” Another can be for a victim of rape or sexual abuse to know they have someone they can approach.
A psychiatrist’s office is a “safe space.” Or a guidance counselor in high school. Or a college administrator. I guess people who use them are just whiners?
You need empathy.
Private meetings was brought up by someone who also had a problem with the label of “safe space.” But it really does sound like you just have a problem with the semantics, not with their function.
Or, you fundamentally misunderstand their utility, as you’ve already shown.
It doesn’t matter if “whining” is the reason for so-called safe spaces or not.
What you’re missing here is that real ADULTS don’t need “safe spaces” like these whiny little babies. It’s that simple.
And no, I don’t need any empathy for scaredy-cat kids who are afraid of a dissenting opinion and run to their daddy (the university president) to fawn over them “in their pain”. That’s pure hogwash.
Don’t change the subject. This is about petulant kids “creating a safe space” – which to them, is a special place so they can speak without having to hear any dissenting opinion.
Want a safe space? Utility? Go have a private meeting. Problem solved.
None of this is difficult to understand. And the rest of the world gets it completely. But these simple concepts are apparently too complex for Emory “chalking victims”.
Those other cases are the reason for safe spaces, full stop. Not just the “whining” you keep linking it to.
You keep mentioning private meetings again if people want a safe space, LOL. You just have a problem with semantics. That’s it. Not with the concept itself.
The empathy isn’t for the students, it’s for the need and utility of safe spaces.
You don’t comprehend well. DUMB!
Look. I’m not wasting any more time on this B.S. and I really don’t care what you think – and I’m also aware you don’t care what I think. I don’t have any more time for it, and I have not the desire to try to change a mind that locked and won’t change. And you’re probably not going to change mine. That happens sometimes. That’s life. We can still move along.
SO: I think we agree that the other cases are certainly in need of a safe space. Notice no quotes. These are cases with real victims, actual VICTIMS.
I think we disagree on the need for a “safe space” (notice the quotes) for people who are whining about being a victim – when they are nothing of the kind. These protesters are simply NOT victims here. Not at all.
Roy, it is that simple. I would hope that this would clear up any ambiguity about safe-spaces versus “safe-spaces”. The first one is for actual victims and is certainly VERY necessary. On that I’m sure we can agree.
The second one – well, for people who are not real victims, I have zero point zero sympathy OR empathy.
Capiche?
Read this entire thread, starting from my original response to OP to yours.
All I’ve done is discussed the utility of safe spaces. That’s it. Not about how it applies to Emory students or whether it’s necessary for them.
Comprehend better and don’t waste your time arguing a point I wasn’t even making.
LOL.
Then you surely went a long way around to say something simple. There was a lot of obfuscation to me…
Get a life John. I said it at the very beginning.
Unlike you, I am actually tired of wasting my time on someone who is unable to comprehend a simple point.
Same here.
If someone chalked “Bernie 2016,” would anyone take that as a threat of violence? Well, actually, that’s not so farfetched. Bernie has called for “revolution,” and pretty much every socialist revolution ever has ended up in a blood bath. So it would be perfectly reasonable for people to fear “Bernie 2016” as a threat of mass murder of class enemies. See, two can play this game! What fun!
Someone chalking ‘Bernie 2016’ doesn’t scare Republicans purely because they are a stronger breed than Democrats, and fight for what they want instead of whining about it and thinking someone should give it to them.
Exactly. Nailed it.
Trump has made no racist comments. Neither illegal immigrants nor Muslims constitute a race. No one has a right to enter any space without consent, not for immigration, not for burglary or trespassing, not for rape. Consent is the cornerstone of civilization.
Trump is not a nativist. A nativist gives superior powers to born over naturalized citizens. Naturalized citizens have all the powers of native-born citizens. A natural born citizen may be president. That’s the only limitation: take it up with the Constitution, not Trump. People on visas, and people who are permanent residents, have fewer rights: they can’t vote, for example. Illegal aliens have fewer rights still. Again, take it up with the Constitution or the legislative branch.
Trump has written no laws. He is applying to head the executive branch, not for a role in the legislative branch. As president, he will be called upon to execute all the laws, not the ones he likes, while ignoring the ones he doesn’t. That is corruption. That’s what exists now.
Trump’s appeal? Try these on for size…
The GOP debate format has taken on the qualities of a ‘Reality Show’.
Political prima donnas vs. Media prima donnas.
The former pursuing votes; the latter pursuing viewers.
The event is tailor-made for Donald Trump…a celebrity, a media mogul, who has decided to wear a political hat…one with a simple message, “Make America Great Again.”
America is tired of political correctness. Trump is crude and vulgar.
America is tired of class warfare. Trump is filthy rich and unapologetic.
America is tired of the trumped-up ‘war on women’. Trump reminds the Clintons that there are skeletons in their closets.
America is tired of open borders. Trump promises a wall.
America is tired of the ‘Religion of Peace’. Trump questions why we’re inviting Islamists into our midst without reliable background checks.
America is tired of ‘You didn’t build that’. Trump builds things.
America is tired of being bad-mouthed by the ‘Blame America first’ crowd. Trump
believes in American exceptionalism.
Republicans expect to be lied to by Democrats. Now, they’re tired of being lied to by
Republicans.
So the uber-rich guy from Manhattan might be a liar? Meh.
Jeebus! I’m no Trump supporter but those points ring true. I think Trump appeals to Americans who have been ignored by politicians for both parties. For example, on immigration, every news piece since 2006 focuses either on the “needs and rights” of illegal immigrants or on the needs of the parasitic employers who get rich off them while shifting their costs on to tax payers. The 2007 and 2014 comprehensive immigration bills were written jointly by the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Council of La Raza, neither of whom gives a crap about the American people. That said, Trump is still a crude, rude, clown who lacks the dignity to represent the USA.
“The GOP debate format has taken on the qualities of a ‘Reality Show’.”
As opposed to the president being on Between Two Ferns, Comedians in Cars with Coffee, and actual reality shows like Running Wild with Bear Grylls? Not to mention every sports show, the Grammy’s /Oscars/ Emmys, and a wash of IMDB listings that would make every Kardashian blush?
Oh. Wait. You were talking about the ridiculousness of the GOP debates looking like a reality show? As opposed to “Coffee with Rachel Maddow”?
https://vimeo.com/145010500
John,
I guess I ran out of ink.
Thanks for filling the gaps…
MSNBC the most bigoted white hating news outlet out there. Notice not a white face in the crowd.
Everyone in the audience is focused on the two white faces on the stage. I see plenty of white faces in the crowd.
BLIND TOO! LOL
If you want less immigration, Trump is the logical choice. If you want more immigration Hillary is the logical choice. Why shout at each other?
Article: “…Trump is a con-man who seeks to take advantage of them. Changing their views will take time and effort.”
I’ll say it: Clinton and Sanders favor amnesty, few if any improvements in border security, and increased legal immigration, including increases in the number of Muslims from countries with strong ISIS presences. What will it take to change their supports’ minds?
“Emory graduates are earning an average of $95,100 per year once they reach the middle of their careers. So attending and graduating from Emory immediately means you are safe from the economic and societal conditions that are heavily predictive of supporting Trump.”
False. I’m an Emory Alum who is involuntarily unemployed. #Trump2016 Nurny nur nur. Can’t get me; I already graduated with two degrees. My friend is in the same situation, having also graduated from Emory. He answers phones for a technical support hotline. You can’t get him, either. Our parents/roommates will be very mad if you try to find out who we are.
Make America great again! Trump 2016!
“I am not a Trump supporter in any way. His racist comments are disgusting and shocking. The nativist sentiment he inspires is alarming. How far down he has dragged the level of discourse in American politics is disappointing.”
This is really, really funny, almost fell off my chair laughing. How naive are you? The discourse in American politics were dragged down to it’s lower level by our current racist president, Oslima.
Trump has said nothing racist, he wants to close the boarders, how is that racist? When he said there were rapist and murders coming in from Mexico? There are! Not all people coming in from Mexico of course, but there are. Even if it is 1%, we need to stop it, period.
Obama is much more of a hater and racist than Trump. And he is also a much bigger liar than Trump. I think the chalking have done a lot to garner more support for Trump. I was really not sure until I read about the chalking and the crying and other happenings of course, but I am Trump all the way. Our country can no longer afford to have weakness taking over this country.
That is because you support Sharia Law.
Pity the poor cupcakes of Emory University. Speaking of cupcakes, how about President Wagner?
Actually, Trump won all income groups in almost every state (except Virginia, Utah, Ohio, and Texas). Including the Emory big earners!
While this writer tries to go elitist (Emory is not an Ivy League School), he should remember, a majority of every race but Asian lack a college degree.
Who gets a college degree is still starkly divided by race – 27.6 percent of blacks, 23.4 percent of Native Americans and 19.8 percent of Latinos hold at least a two-year degree, compared to 43.9 percent of whites and 59.4 percent of Asians.