POLITICAL SATIRE: “Donald Trump Sings ‘White Xmas'” / Funny Or Die ☮
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Category Archives: Xenophobia
RURAL, WHITE, CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM: “On Rural America: Understanding Isn’t the Problem” / Forsetti’s Justice / MUST READ ☮
As the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides-”Democrats failed to understand white, working class, fly-over America.” Trump supports are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete bullshit. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to throw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t east coast elites don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is rural America doesn’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because the don’t want to admit it is in large part because of choices they’ve made and horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe.
I grew up in rural, Christian, white America. You’d be hard-pressed to find an area in the country that has a higher percentage of Christians or whites. I spent most of the first twenty-four years of my life deeply embedded in this culture. I religiously (*pun intended) their Christian services. I worked off and on, on their rural farms. I dated their calico skirted daughters. I camped, hunted, and fished with their sons. I listened to their political rants at the local diner and truck stop. I winced at their racist/bigoted jokes and epitaphs that were said more out of ignorance than animosity. I have also watched the town I grew up in go from a robust economy with well-kept homes and infrastructure turn into a struggling economy with shuttered businesses, dilapidated homes, and a broken down infrastructure over the past thirty years. The problem isn’t that I don’t understand these people. The problem is they don’t understand themselves, the reasons for their anger/frustrations, and don’t seem to care to know why.
POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Who Should Lead the DNC Now?” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur ☮
The DNC is an abject failure in every way and needs a complete overhaul. Many progressives, including Bernie Sanders, want Rep. Keith Ellison to lead it going forward. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.
POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Racists Emboldened by Trump Victory” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur, and John Iadarola ☮
The racists are coming out of the woodwork. Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.
“Students at a western New York college are alarmed after they found a black doll hung in effigy on campus — and they wondered whether racial harassment will grow worse with the election of Donald Trump.
The doll hanging from a noose was discovered Wednesday in an elevator at Canisius College in Buffalo, where the student government has promised to address the incident, reported WKBW-TV.
A black student-athlete told the TV station he was considering leaving the campus, saying he’d experienced similar racist bullying since enrolling at Canisius, where 71.9 percent of students are white and 6.9 percent are black.”
POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Chris Hedges: Liberal Failings Have Contributed to the Appeal of Trump’s Rhetoric” / RT America ☮
CHRISTIAN WHITE SUPREMACY: “Former KKK Leader David Duke Running for Louisiana Republican Senate Seat” / The Young Turks / Mark Thompson, and Elliot Hill ☮
Former KKK leader David Duke thinks the time is right for another senate run. Is Louisiana racist enough to elect an open white supremacist to its senate? Time will tell. Mark Thompson (The Edge Podcast) and Elliot Hill (The Lip TV), hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, is running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana.
Duke is a well-established white supremacist, Holocaust denier and anti-Semite. He has endorsed Donald Trump for president.
In his announcement video, posted Friday morning to Twitter, Duke says he’ll fight for the rights of “European Americans” and that “The New York Times admitted that my platform became the GOP mainstream.” He touts his opposition to affirmative action and immigration, and cites his joy at Trump’s rise to power.
“A revolution is coming in the United States of America,” he says.
Trump disavowed Duke’s support in March, but his campaign has echoed many of the themes Duke’s announcement touched on, such as a distrust of immigrants and anger towards the media.
Trump and Duke also share common ground in their love of conspiracy theories. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the father of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), his former presidential rival, was involved in President John F. Kennedy’s death. Duke, meanwhile, believes that “Jewish Supremacists” who secretly control the U.S. are attempting to commit some sort of “white genocide.”
CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN BIGOTRY: “Florida Residents Refuse to Vote in New Polling Place” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur, and Ana Kasparian ☮
Residents of Boca Raton are outraged by a new polling place in their town. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“When told his Islamic Center of Boca Raton would no longer be allowed to be a polling place, President Bassem Alhalabi says he was saddened. “We were very happy to serve the community.”
He says he was especially stunned because of where he votes himself.
“Personally me and my wife and all the kids, we vote at a church. And we made friends there,” Alhalabi says
Alhalabi says Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher called him personally because of the role the Islamic Center already plays in the community.
The mosque also functions as a hurricane shelter, feeds the homeless and even works with the juvenile justice department.”
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY – ETHNOCENTRISM: “Americans Unwilling to Marry Outside Their Politics” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur, and Ana Kasparian ☮
A very low percentage of Americans are married to spouses that have opposing political views from then. The number of interracial couples may soon exceed those with differing politics. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“Would you believe us if we said you’re about as likely to marry someone of a different race as you are someone from the other political party?
Buried inside a new Pew Research Center survey on political polarization is this nugget: Americans say they are overwhelmingly married to people with whom they agree politically. In fact, just 9 percent of Republicans and 8 percent of Democrats say their spouse or partner is a member of the other major political party.
By contrast, Pew estimated in 2015 that 6.3 percent of Americans in 2013 were married to a spouse of a different race. But that number is climbing. It was less than 1 percent in 1970, but about 1 in 8 marriages in 2013 (12 percent) were interracial.
Bipartisan marriages still far outnumber gay marriages — another fast-increasing kind of marriage, thanks to its nationwide legalization in 2015. Gallup data suggests about 1 million American adults are married to a spouse of the same gender; but that’s still less than half a percentage point of the entire U.S. adult population.”
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY – ETHNOCENTRISM: “Brexit Fallout: Why UK Should Embrace Diversity” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur, and Ana Kasparian ☮
The Brexit vote has led to a rise in open racism in the UK. But does nativism, and anti-immigration policies really benefit a country?
SATIRE: “Christian Bigotry: Tennessee’s Anti-Gay Tourism Commercial” / Funny Or Die ☮
Always Question Authority 