Don't downplay this moment in history. Let's hope we don't look back at this episode as the next - and calculated - step in Trump's march to authoritarian rule. The left seems to believe that Trump is a buffoon. This is a dangerous miscalculation, and one Trump is exploiting to achieve his goal. And that goal is making Donald Trump the most consequential figure in the history of the United States, if not the world. Trump is brilliant at floating an idea that is mocked by the left ("he doesn't know the historical significance..."). But once that idea becomes normalized, he floats the next, even more dangerous, idea. Our country is Trump's metaphorical frog being slowly boiled alive. Declaring himself a 'nationalist' is the obvious next idea to float if your goal is to undermine our democratic and republican traditions to establish yourself over time as our Supreme Leader.
1
Trump defines "globalism" as "doing well for the globe".
He rejects that idea, and wants to do well for America alone. Doing so is what he now decides to call "nationalism".
His idea would be possible if we were still at the dawn of human civilization, with each "nation" living in a totally isolated way from the others.
It's utterly absurd in the 21th century, where internet, trade, stock markets, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and the climate constantly bind us all together in such a way that what happens at one side of the planet has an effect everywhere.
Instead of proposing real solutions for real problems, he's giving his followers a narrative that only corresponds to pure fiction.
The advantage of doing so is perfectly clear: once you can get your voters to accept an "alternative facts" narrative, what you do in the real world doesn't matter at all anymore, as you can spin no matter what action in DC, and no matter how much damage it does to ordinary citizens, as "nationalism".
So now the GOP can pass tax reform bills that double the deficit and mainly benefit the wealthiest Americans (and Saudi Arabians ...), as they just did (= what perfectly corresponds to the real-life definition of globalism), and their voters won't start questioning it because they're living in the alternative facts bubble.
Never has the GOP betrayed its own voters as much as it does today.
1
This is news? Trump has functioned as the chief agitator and apologist for white nationalists ever since he claimed the Republican nomination. That's why he was never a legitimate president: he chose to be a white nationalist demagogue instead. Does anyone even remember Bannon?
2
To me, ‘Nationalist’ harks back to Hitler and his National Socialist or Nazi party. Perhaps that’s fitting. In 1936, the mother of a good friend had to review financial books in Fred Trump’s offices. She noticed larger-than-life pictures of Mussolini’s and Hitler on the wall.
3
"That would be true only if he meant incumbent presidents, of course, since he is the only one. Among other presidents, his poll numbers remain low. Both President George W. Bush, viewed favorably by 61 percent of Americans, and Mr. Obama, at 66 percent, rated higher in a CNN poll this year."
Why is George Bush, Jr. referred to in this article as: "President George W. Bush" (and given the full honorific of his title) while Barak Obama is merely referred to as, "Mr. Obama" and NOT granted the same honorific that he is entitled to (as the 44th President of the United States)?
I've noticed such subtle slights before (like failing to use his title when referring to him) in news accounts from other newspapers (even when he was still serving as the President) but I'm surprised to run across such shabby journalistic standards in the pages of The New York Times....
4
If you stop using the word "Muslim" because of Muslim extremist elements in it then I will stop using "Nationalist" because of the White nationalists.
1
He may as well have just called himself a nazi! And he is! Racist? Oh, yes!
1
Nationalist as Trump means it: Definition...
Nazi
noun
historical
1A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
1.1derogatory A person with extreme racist or authoritarian views.
1.2 A person who seeks to impose their views on others in a very autocratic or inflexible way.
‘I learned to be more open and not such a Nazi in the studio’
Nationalism can be a good thing, if one's country is fundamentally good. So it is admirable for the USA, and for many small countries. For example, the great hero Joachim Ronneberg (who died a few days ago) was motivated by Norwegian nationalism (for a fictionalized account of another Norwegian nationalist hero, read Carol Bly's story "Talk of Heroes").
2
Eighty years or so ago Europe was embroiled and practically destroyed in a horrific war that started in the name of Nationalism. Nowadays we have a President that emulates the slogans of that era, lies shamelessly to that people and incites violence to maintain power and continue to enrich himself and his cohorts at the Country's expense. He has no sense of decency whatsoever. My question to you Mr. Baker is, isn't it time we call things what they are? Forget Godwin's Law. If you talk and act as a Nazi you are a Nazi. Let all decent people in this country rise up against the specter of fascism because that is what it is. Enough already. VOTE.
2
Trump is a clown but he knows what the term means. He also knows his followers DON'T know what it means. To them it's synonymous with patriotism. The GOP has greatly benefited drom the dumbing down of America and here's a perfect example of failed history lessons
9
This is a dog whistle, loud and clear, and the man knows darn well what he’s saying. Like my history students, he may not always know the underlying factors of his words—and surely not their long term implications—but he knows that he is saying words that are racially and sociologically charged and, in the moment, all he gives a whit about is getting attention and creating chaos. In the moment. And because both of those things are happening in a profound way, at an alarming rate, I am sure he regards his word choices as successful.
We reap what we sow; one need only to look at today to see that angry words, hostile threats, and the rousing of the rabble have consequences that matter and affect the safety of all of us. The Constitution’s Preamble promises that it will “ensure domestic tranquility.” I sure wish the head of the executive branch would remember that responsibility and act with some modicum of prudence, caution, and calm.
Words matter. When chosen with good intent, words can heal and can unify a people. But words are also weapons, capable of inciting violence and encouraging disarray. Surely (and sadly!), Trump knows this. And his henchmen in Congress keep fiddling while we burn.
7
Nationalism is the most destructive form of identity politics, because it is the form most able to use government coersion against individuals to conform---to act as true Germans or true Americans.
The nationalist view of liberty excludes individual liberty. It it a very un-American creed.
In all of human history, even the most beneficial nationalisms had very dark sides. The 1848 nationalist revolutions in Europe did use national identity to seek more self determination within authoritarian empires, but free societies were not created. The ethnic hatreds it generated were ultimately the spark of the First World War.
7
Our country's Founders called themselves "patriots," embracing the term in opposition to royalists or "tories." President Trump can sound his dog whistle and call himself a "nationalist." I'd rather align myself with Washington, Madison, and Jefferson.
2
Whatever label our so-called president may wish to apply to himself, millions of us view him as a national and international disgrace.
#Vote
8
Don't take the bait, Dems.
It's a trap for 45 to mount a 'they don't love our country' attack.
3
The single most honest thing this demagogue has ever uttered.
2
Yes, unfortunately one of the many thing our President is either ignorant of or chooses not to care about is the whole history of "nationalism," what the word connotes, and how nationalistic systems can run off the rails. One example in our neighborhood of a nationalistic system that didn't work so well was the reign of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
1
Yes, Americans do tend to use the word "patriot". But that is fraught, too. To quote Samuel Johnson, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. And indeed, in practice, although "nationalist" may be more tainted with the whiff of ethnic exclusivity, "patriotism" has often been used to excuse the unforgivable as well.
On the other hand, in a democracy you expect the rule of "the people", but this implies that there are criteria than can / must be applied to determine who belongs to the people and, obviously, who doesn't. The right to participate in that democracy depends on the determination that is made.
This is one of the reasons that democracy as a system of government is finding itself in trouble. Politicians and allied pressure groups have cottoned on to the fact that you can create a captive electorate by redefining the rules that determine belonging in such a way as to include some, "the good ones" and exclude others, "the bad ones".
Since access to shared services and wealth is made dependent on being a member of the right group, this is a very potent way of mobilizing people to want to prove their membership. If the "otherness" can be reduced to external characteristics or recognizable behavior, the schism becomes easy and obvious.
This is the reality facing us all now. It is a reality that is rewarded by the very system that we expect to be inclusive.
As i have said before, this will not end well.
1
Trump introduces a new word, in this case, nationalist in order to freshen up his sermon.
Listening to the evolution of his speeches it appears he received coaching from Evangelicals on sermon delivery including emotion, gestures arms out palms up, voice variety, speed up slow down speech, facial expressions and so on. The same principles are being used for Trump to solicit votes as mega churches.
Referring to his content and delivery as a sermon is a much more accurate description.
It would get under his skin by diminishing his repeated message which isn't about issues or solutions to problems people face. it is merely rhetoric. Voters who are disenchanted are not all church goers and don't want to be lumped in with them
1
You don't get to re-claim a word like "nationalist" without first accepting and owning up to its repugnant past. Claiming ignorance around the connotations of "nationalist" and then proudly confirming its worst attributes through your actions is a clumsy deception and yet another example of Trump telling us exactly who he is: a nationalist.
11
The Republican party is hereby a nationalist party. Conservatism left that building years ago. Trump has formalized the switchover.
9
I lived and worked in Germany for about 6 years and chose to live in German neighborhoods. In addition, I am fluent in German. They have banned the word "nationalist" from their vocabulary. In making a presentation I mistakenly use a phrase that I later learned was too close to the "final solution". All of this is to say, words have meaning! I learned my lesson and spoke more slowly and more thoughtfully.
6
The person occupying the White house is a dangerous man.
We need no longer discuss if he lies on purpose, for which end or if he is unaware of the effects of his conduct.
What he practices almost daily amounts to 'Volksverhetzung'.
Translated to English the word means 'incitement of the masses' and is a German term defined as incitement to hatred against segments of the population. It refers to calls for violent or arbitrary measures against people and the human dignity of others by insulting, maliciously maligning, or otherwise defaming segments of the population.
'Volksverhetzung' is outlawed in Germany for obvious, historical reasons.
We must vote this guy and his enablers out of power to avoid dire consequences for our own, on the whole still peaceful and still beautiful country.
14
One of the few things Trump has said this week that is not an outright lie. Only trouble is since he is a man of limited vocabulary, he forgot to say "White" in front of "Nationalist".
We are in a cultural civil war. It is being fought on the internet, at the polls, and fiscally. I only hope that we can endure this divisive disastrous man and his ugly rhetoric, and repair the road to greatness that we started on 50 years ago. In my lifetime, I have seen our country and others try to work toward peace and understanding. In two years, Trump has reached deep into the darkest heart of America and rendered decades of decency asunder.
11
So his agenda is no longer an unspoken evil. Trump is now openly embracing his neo-fascist underpinnings.
10
America first? Why not?
2
@Bar tenant - Because Trump only means white, male America and he means to keep alienating all our allies while embracing those who would seek to harm us (e.g. Putin). Time to pay attention.
1
Once upon a time, there was a man in Germany saying "Germany first" and Germany "for Germans" he called himself a nationalist.
2
I am stunned by the naivete of the many commenters who think that Trump is "ignorant" of the meaning of what he is saying. He knows exactly what this means, it is completely in line with the outlook, program and policies of his "administration" from the start, and it is heading exactly where it has headed in the past. (Yes, I'm referencing Nazi Germany.)
After the kidnapping of thousands of immigrant children, the feverish attacks on the press, the threats to lock up his political opponents, and so much more... I am really not sure what it takes for people to confront--i.e., to overcome the natural tendency to "denial"--that this is a fascist regime, step by step consolidating power, and moving closer and closer to the point where it will be extremely difficult to challenge or oppose.
And speaking of people being grounded in history and its lessons--think about what it takes to drive out such a regime (think about how Mubarak fell, for example), and what the consequences are--for humanity--if we fail to do that.
14
The U.S. will not do well to follow Trump's notions of America First and to advance any agenda related to "nationalism". Trump is incapable of handling international relations. He has not the mind nor the character to represent this country amongst the other nations of the world. He is a solo act, always has been, always will be. In addition, he is ignoring any obligation to place the national interests before his private interests, continually avoiding actions which could alienate him personally with leaders of countries where his business interests are great.
The greatest challenges that his country faces are not Democrats or Republicans, taxes nor freedom of choice with respect to abortions. The greatest challenges we face are rapid and destructive changes in climate that will destroy much of what people have created, and will begin to do so in about twenty years. If man can reduce coal use by nearly half, the danger can be postponed. This challenge should be the first priority of every nation. It needs to be addressed globally. The second greatest challenge is not Islamic extremists nor immigration. It's how the U.S. will remain a top wealth creator in a world where it remains only 5% of the world's population and the major growth and wealth producing countries are in East and South Asia.
Immigration is not a problem anymore than it has been since 1781. Cultural change is not a problem, not since Pizza became more popular that three days cooked vegetables with mutton.
5
Trump appears to be centrist. That the country becomes apoplectic when he utters the word "nationalist" underscores how deep our REAL racial divisions are.
1
@tigershark
No, it means our pubic school educations still work, at least those of us who got a real one. Did you know Texas eliminated the history of Imperialism during Bush's leadership? It's just a part of Expansionism, now. I watched Eisenhower's film of the rescue of those remaining in concentration camps as did all kids who got a Fairfax County education. I bet you can't even find that reel in a Texas school now.
3
Centrist?! He's alt-right.
1
Mr. Trump is the president of our nation. If the leader of a nation is not a nationalist, I find that a bad thing. What would you think of the president of a union who did not identify himself as a unionist? I felt the same way about his "America First" slogan; as the leader of America that is the only logical attitude to take.
3
To mikecody- True that words have varieties of meanings, and one can always parse them.
Thats why, as in life, intent is everything.
Trumps intent is to gather storm clouds and harness their storm power.
He has to swing for the fences or else he might find up behind them. His liking for the color orange could be the final tell in his destiny.
4
You miss the historical context, most Trump people do.
6
@Mike Historical context can change with usage, "don we now our gay apparel" certainly has a different context than when it was originally penned. The word, however, means the belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals. In that sense, one can be a nationalist or an internationalist. I would prefer that the leader of my country be a nationalist.
1
Fascism!
18
Embracing the nationalist label? Where have I heard that before...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/how-democrats-learn...
"How Democrats Learned to Stop Cowering and Love Nationalist Politics"
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
And now we see the results of this irresponsible promotion of hate. Trump is an opportunist and a racist. His discourse makes him responsible for encouraging certain of his followers to act, attack on Maryland newspaper, Charlottesville, brawls at Trump election rallys, and now a series of pipe bombs. Is this how he wants to make America great? Where are the consequences for his speech? And where is the Republican party? Well they also have encouraged hating individuals, targeting Hillary and president Obama in their discourse. This country is looking a lot like 1930 Germany and the Republicans are looking a lot like the fascist that caused a genocide with their discourse and the policies they promote. We need to take our country back before it is too late, remove the two justices he appointed to the supreme court and treat the republicans like the criminals they really are.
5
“You have to be carefully taught....”
Baby steps.
2
White and black nationalists have a long history in or country due to popular racist ideas. Both promoted separation of citizens from other citizens because of race. Nasty but largely ignored by most people. But the history of nationalism internally has been appalling. Franco was a nationalist who fought the loyalists in the Spanish civil war. The militarists of Germany, Italy, Japan, and many others were also nationalists. Nationalists have a tradition of opposing liberal democratic governance and of liberties for individuals. They consider the nation to be the source of their way of life and the nation comes first. It’s been a totalitarian political philosophy.
Trump is a chump and never worries about anything beyond satisfying his next craving. If he did, he’d know about all the horrors that self proclaimed nationalists have brought, and avoid associating himself with it.
3
Says the man that has his MAGA hats made in China. Many of the commentators on this article reflect what POTUS wants them to think. They are easily swayed by his rehetoric and what he says says and tells them it means, they have been waiting to show their hatred for anyone not like them, people they see as taking their jobs when really they refuse to evolve, which is needed in an ever changing world. Since you can't time travel to a white America where white men always controlled the narrative he's stoking the fires, trying to reignite something that these people long to return to. Time to move on and VOTE.
6
"Nationalism" has a long association with darker political instincts.
The US after WWII sought to create an international political order with the UN and an international economic order (even if it was self serving).
We now have a "nationalist" military agenda that threatens to escalate the nuclear arms race (as if we couldn't already make the rubble bounce to the outer stratosphere), that places national interest before world peace, that places nationalist tariffs before economic stability and prosperity.
So I regard the label "nationalist" issuing from Trump's mouth as a divisive battle cry, echoing another infamous nationalist:
“Nationalism has to be blended into one strong new idea to carry new strength which would make Germany great again.”
7
Peter Baker’s article is far too respectful of what Trump is doing. As Mr. Baker points out “Trump has enthusiastically embraced words and ideas that his predecessors shied away from.” The mention of his slogan “America First” to describe his foreign policy is followed by the suggestion that he might have done so “despite” its association with Nazi sympathizers before World War II. Mention of his frequent suggestions that journalists are the “enemy of the people” is unfortunately followed by the suggestion that he might have done this “despite” its association with Stalin. Consider the fact that all he has done has been very consistent, his creation of a mythic “great” past, his defense of White Nationalists in Charlottesville, his anti-intellectual (anti-science) diatribes, his treatment of women, his crystal clear appeals to bigotry, his cries that white men (including himself) are victims, his pseudo calls for law and order (as long as it does not apply to him), his constant exaggerations and lies and lies and lies. None of this is a mistake. None of this is done “despite” uncomfortable historic associations. Donald Trump is consciously and consistently pulling his scripts from a fascist playbook and his crowds of cheering acolytes, who boo at the mention of “globalist” and cheer at the word “nationalist,” are willing accomplices.
12
Next step: Martial Law, and "postponing " the Midterms. The BOMBS are the perfect excuse. Right, Russia ?????
8
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Yup, Putin's not above blowing up some apartment building to raise the heat on Chechnya. Did he not just tell the press America is over as a super power and he controls our president? Seriously? And Trump's fans are fine with that?
7
What made me take an irrevocable turn to the right was reading comments in these pages about people getting confronted for flying the American flag (on the Fourth of July, no less). I've heard similar stories from people I know. When did being patriotic become synonymous with xenophobic? I love this country, and if proclaiming so incurs the wrath of liberals, then I'm confident I made the right choice by leaving the Democratic party.
3
The Difference Between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does , and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does ; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility while the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to a war .
2
Republican have also embraced the "nationalist" label in fact Steve King calls it what it is, white nationalist. It is no longer the Republican party but the Nationalist Party.
10
"Nationalism" is pretty much an empty word by now, isn't it? It means whatever you want it to mean, within broad limits. To me, it refers to a modern political consciousness that arose to replace empires that ruled over people who at one time in the past had their own states and who would be independent in the future. But it has been used to refer to Trumpian xenophobia, and I suppose it could refer to francophone separatists in Canada.
The trouble with such slippery words is that they can be dog whistles.
While this is another sign of his totally ignorance of history, the real problem with the boast is some far more important. He means to say - I’m fighting hard for this country. But that’s a lie - and it is THE LIE that really matters.
First, he has spent most of presidency attacking the majority of people who voted against him in the last election. You can’t be for America and despise most of the people in the country.
Second, he hasn’t helped most Americans, he has instead made their government weak while enriching a small group of people (you could call them elites).
Third, he cannot strongly defend the U.S. around the world. We saw that with his total meltdown in front of Putin where he backed a foreign leader over our own law enforcement agencies (CIA, FBI etc). We see it in his sudden “love affair” with North Korea - he melted down there, gave them what they wanted and got no tangible action from them.
Forth, we see it in the way he abandoned the US citizens in Puerto Rico - if they can’t vote for him, he doesn’t care. He was giving campaign rallies while hurricanes ripped through mainland U.S.
Fifth, he has refused to take any action to remove conflicts of interest between his private business and the work for the U.S. government. He simply doesn’t care enough about the country to do it.
And finally, he sold this country out before he even took office by conspiring with foreign governments. His campaign chairman is literally in prison as we speak.
3
Have you in the past wondered just how low this man Trump could sink? Well, here is a new low - admits he's a white "nationalist". Most intelligent thinking people already surmised this but here he's out front with it. White nationalists are solely racists but they are anti women as well. What more do any of you who may not truly be racists and mycogists but have clung to the Trump coattails need to wake up?
2
4 deferments. I know he’s not a patriot.
16
If Trump is so proud to be a Nationalist/Patriot, why does he work so hard to pay as few taxes as possible? It costs money to make America great. Trump should put his money where his mouth is.
6
Trump is out of the Bannon school of harsh bigoted language. Turn up the hate is Trump's form of motivation to his base. Nationalism, America First and other rhetoric is soft soap compared with what Trump has publicly declared. But the economy is growing and taxes were cut, although many of Trump's followers only get to vicariously enjoy them, regulations have been cut. His supporters live in the world of Trump noise. One hopes he doesn't cause some preventable catastrophe. We know that middle class and poor programs are on the chopping block to pay for the massive debt incurred by his tax cuts and big defense increases when the election is over.
11
If Trump is truly someone who "loves this country," as he professes, he would resign immediately, acknowledging that his presence in the White House has created an environment of deep hatred at home and disgust around the world. Every additional day he remains in office merely reinforces how much he despises America, and all Americans who do not share his severe Nationalist agenda. Dark days, indeed.
11
Trump is a carpetbagger who rused birtherism to win the presidency and his office to befriend nation states that will benefit his businesses post presidency. . He remains all about Trump.
5
"In Mr. Trump’s view, the history does not matter because . . ." The Times does not know what Trump's view is, it only knows what he said. But let's not pussy-foot around. We know what the words mean in a political context. They are an appeal to the white nationalists, the racists, the modern KKK.
7
Okay, so is this another word that 'white people' are not supposed to utter? Another word that has a definition that is not recognized by progressives outside some use in history? A dog whistle? Every country in Europe is nationalistic. The UN members act based on their national interests before the world's except for those that believe in one world order. We ARE interested in our nation's well being BEFORE the well being of other countries, not instead; before. Every country that has a sound list of laws enforced, and a history of preserving their country and culture is nationalist.
14
@Ma Please. There are plenty of ways to express interest in "our nation's well being" without using terms like "globalist" and "nationalist" which clearly are laden with racist and anti-semitic connotations, to anyone who knows anything about history. This was beyond irresponsible; it was deliberate and meant to appeal to the bigoted core of his base. It's shameful that anyone supports or defends this. Shameful.
45
Nope, you're confusing patriotism and nationalism. Patriotism is healthy. Nationalism causes war and atrocity. Nationalism is bad.
3
In this case, it does come down to semantics & context. To be in favor of your nation/native country protecting it's financial interests at home & abroad does not make you a "nationalist". The only place that the word has is in the history racism, religious intolerance, fascist regimes. And that history is invoked every time it is used. So no, it's not just the crime of making up a word. trump is choosing to use a word with a very specific & dangerous history. For him to profess ignorance of this is typical. He does the same thing evey time he knows he's gone over some line.
1
Sorry, once again, let me para-phrase his words:
He meant:
"“You know what I am? I’m a Neo-Fascist, O.K.? I’m a Neo-Fascist. Neo-Fascist! Use that word! Use that word!”
9
I don't believe Trump embraced anything. I think he simply repeated was Bannon told him say.
3
Recognizing instead of denying one's "nationalistic" predisposition is the first step in achieving enlightened self interest which then can engender a globalist ethos. John Poole
1
Erin, I understood what you’re saying and if those are one’s core feelings, then as your quote reasons, better to come out with it.
I don’t agree that everyone has nationalist feelings. Read up on the subject (I have read only two books dealing with its origins, so certainly no expert) and you’ll discover it to be a relatively modern concept of little influence until industrialization transformed European and American society. It’s generally understood that it has proven a useful tool for those in power to promote the idea of sacrificing older values (family and tribe) and, indeed, the lives of family members in the service of industrialized large-scale war.
The concept of patriotism (my country right or wrong) is similarly shadowed and, again, has proven useful in persuading individuals to sacrifice, even their lives, to protect and expand the interests of a powerful ruler or ruling class. When Americans think of national pride and patriotism they incline to think of Americans’ honorable sacrifices in WW 2. But Nazis were patriots too and Hitler’s ascent to power was enabled by the kind of propagandistic exploitations of “national pride” we’re experiencing in this country today. In both cases pointing to others-Jews in Nazi Germany- to ramp up hate is an essential part of the nationalist appeal.
Don’t be fooled: nationalism isn’t a universal value. It’s a political strategy to preserve and consolidate power, eventually at a high cost of human life.
2
My feelings for King Con verge on physical revulsion and that weird feeling down the spine that comes from moral horror.
That said, here's news for the elites. You aren't going to be able to dismiss the Trump supporters. They are Americans just like you. Unless you can find some way, in your vast expertise and intelligence, to remedy the split in American culture, you will certainly pay an unexpected price.
Secular enlightenment and factual science have met more or less continual resistance since the 17th century; that's historical fact. We must recognize that humans have not "progressed" out of that fundamental divide.
I see a global culture geared toward youth and fully embracing fragmentation, identity "selfie"ism, the free flow of foreigners; technical complexity, regulatory complexity, social complexity, moral complexity, legal complexity, rapid change, economic dislocations and vanishing ways of life.
Following Tainter's lead, I see complexity as a cost, and I believe that the complexity of our society has exceeded the social capability to absorb change.
For the planet, for the people, for social comity, my reaction to Trumpism is that we should all slow down, take stock, worry less about profit and more about people, and bring the rest of the Americans on board with what comes next. Because it is going to be, as the saying goes, a bumpy night.
3
@drollere - They may be Americans but they are not like me. I gladly pay my fair share of taxes, I want EVERYONE to have a living wage, affordable health care and a clean and safe environment. I don't treat anyone like second class citizens and I don't seek to deny anyone their civil rights.
1
Donald Trump has no sense of personal responsibility. Trump has spent the last several weeks sowing seeds of hatred, racism, violence. He has made false claims and accusations against numerous people and appears proud of his gross, obnoxious behavior.
Trump will smear, libel, malign or hurt anyone if he believes it will benefit him personally or politically.
Trump proves everyday he is unfit to be the President of the United States.
When will the GOP wake up and decide this nightmare is not worth their selfish grasp on power? We are losing our country. Why doesn't the GOP Senate and House care?
Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham and others enabling Trump's behavior need to wake up and remember why they were elected to office. To help this man destroy the fabric of our society and our democracy is not why.
5
"Charles de Gaulle Quotes. Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."
17
All he has to do is waffle a little more and add the word "socialist" and the transformation will be complete.
4
It seems to me that when Trump is campaigning he should not be allowed to fly all over the country at the taxpayer's expense. How many hours has he spent out of the Oval Office on personal business? As a Progressive I have come to expect that my politics will be attacked by the Right generally and by Trump specifically; but as I am being pummelled I don't think I should have to pay for it as well.
11
Trump is an abomination, an insult to all Americans (even those who misguidedly support him). He has spent MILLIONS on golf, more millions on campaigning and virtually no time doing his job.
Every time he travels to these hatred rallies, even if his "party" pays for him, the attendant fleet of Secret Service, armored vehicles, local law enforcement, etc. could eradicate the national debt of many small countries or educate our children, take a huge chip out of healthcare costs, build roads and bridges, shore up Social Security and Medicare and any number of REAL, important necessities. Funding Trump is banal, disgusting and humiliating. Ask any European, Canadian, Australian, or Asian. They would agree wholeheartedly and they laugh at us every day for being SO stupid.
13
Trump is really more of a National Socialist. He uses racism and nationalism to control his mob, while he takes control of the government, for his personal benefit, in their name.
13
So is the GOP going to be changing its name to 'The American Nationalist Party'? It would certainly fit.
23
Knowing that President Trump is an avid television viewer, I wonder if he watched the first seasonal episode of Madame Secretary from three weeks ago. Towards the end of the show, the fictional Secretary of State is counseled by Hillary Clinton, Madeline Allbright and Colin Powell (making cameo appearances) on a speech she will give following a terrorist attack by right wing extremists. The end result is a talk that says nuclear weapons are not the greatest threat to America, but "nationalists and nationalism" (differentiated from patriotism) are. I'm just saying, it would not be the first time that President Trump launches his message in response to a television show.
10
@Bob Loewy - Madam Secretary is a smart, thoughtful show about a woman in a position of power. Not exactly Trump's cup of tea.
I read this article with double revulsion. First, the revulsion at the use of the word Nationalist, which has been off limits since Mussolini and Hitler. Second the revulsion at the shear ignorance of the NYTimes reporting staff, who never look at a history book and just go on their own editorial instincts and think the reason the word is not used anymore is because of race. I thought the lesson coming out of the Second World War was "never forget." Apparently not.
5
Nationalist is certainly a reminder of Adolf Hitler. Maybe the people who support these policies don’t study history enough. Hitler was all about Germany and look where that took our world.
9
Nationalist is akin to fascism. Globalist is a dog whistle for the anti-Semites to crawl out from under their rocks. We are living through very dangerous times.
4
The Hysterical left has decided that if you are white and love America you are the enemy. The left live in a Bizarro world of open borders and abolishing ICE that allow more opioids, weapons and child trafficking to go unchecked. What they want is total anarchy.
4
@P McGrath - If you are white and seek to oppress people who aren't white, or who are gay, or female then you are indeed the enemy.
I'm so white I'm almost blue but that doesn't give me the right to treat anyone who isn't white like a second class citizen.
If YOU are NOT for your country, LEAVE! Perhaps YOU can find a nice home in a country to our south so that there is more room here for illegal immigrants.
1
You first. Trump got elected spouting the nonsense that this country was in some , totally imagined, decline. Nothing can be further from the truth. Now that the bill for the billionaires tax cut is coming due, Trumps minions in congress, will gut the social safety net resulting in this country growing closer to the third world fiefdom that trump wanted all along. Nationalism denotes a misguided "love" of country. Why are the GOP determined to destroy the country, and the society that has been built over the last 40 or so years.
4
What is your point? You suffer from the either/or fallacy. There is more than one way to get things accomplished.
1
You do not become an American patriot by hating everyone. Why don’t you go to Russia where Putin is pulling Trump’s puppet strings.
2
When Trump says 'Nationalist', he really means 'White Nationalist'. If you believe anything else, I have a dozen bridges to sell you.
15
I never thought I would see the day when a president would make ignorance a political platform plank, but here it is. Late night television had a field day with this piece of news, that Trump says he's not concerned with the globe, only America.
I believe an 8th grader would be able to see the fallacy of that position. Global warming affects all countries. Nuclear war affects all countries. Poverty and disease affects everyone on the planet.
How stupid and naive his followers must be to cheer this man's remarks at these rallies. He is a fool, and the people who believe in him are fools as well.
10
When Trump has declared himself one of the smartest people in the world, certainly smarter than anyone in DC, it is difficult to accept that he never heard that Nationalist is dog-whistle for white racism.
Even though I doubt his intellectual brilliance, I do give him full credit for being the most vicious, mean, snarky savant ever to hold the office.
2
Trump was probably thinking baseball leagues.
The Nationalists v the Americanalists.
Now all we need are the right names in order to proceed to the next level of chaos. Civil war!
1
You can’t argue with babies or pets. You can’t talk to Trumpers. Also it’s hard to form words with your mouth agape. SAD.
6
"“Does Trump know the historical baggage associated with this word, or is he ignorant?"
No. Yes. He is proud of his ignorance, and doesn't care what lies come out of his motor-mouth. He IS a fascist, make no mistake. He's a very dangerous man as long as he's in OUR WH.
4
I can't believe what on hearing on TV or reading in the papers that are almost praising Trump on how astute a politician he really is that he's tapped into this deplorable section of our society with some unique style for a modern politician. Well, it's not unique. Franco, Mussolini and Hitler did the same over 60 years ago and also were very effective in rousing up a large segment of their societies.
Trump is no different and the lies he's telling are text book fascism.
This country is on the verge of losing our democracy to a public that seems to be unaware to just how dangerous he is or worse want a fascist government as long as they are on the winning side.
These are dangerous times that we are entering into and this election could not be more important to the future of this country.
6
Colbert said it best. "I'm a Klux Klan member, just not the KU Klux Klan." Trump knows exactly who he's talking to and those who pretend not to understand him are not fooling anyone.
9
Now I can drop “suspected” when describing Trump as a white supremacist.
4
This much is clear: he knows what those outside his minion bubble think about the word, and how liberals will react to his election-eve jacking up of the tension by using it so flagrantly. Think for a moment: how will that play on Fox? Keep your head in the game, NYT: you’re being played by the most powerful huckster on the planet. Next headline, please. But I fear we’ll see two weeks of the echo chamber on his little stunt instead of what we actually need from the free press.
2
Yeah, sure, Trump is a nationalist, and just wants to help Americans; as long as you're not LGBTQ, Democrat, poor, black or Muslim.
2
Trumps brand appeals to the demographic of the white male boomer. The me generation has found its king to lead them in their racism, selfishness and greed
1
Nationalist <> racist, and thinking Americans realize that. It is refreshing to have a president who unapologetically places America first. Especially after the previous president made worldwide apologize for America tour.
2
As Masha Gessen stated in her prophetic "Autocracy: Rules for Survival, " "Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says."
2
I am not a supporter of Trump, but this article is disingenuous. The only way to pretend the word is racist is by ignoring its long and prominent association with black nationalism, which Baker conveniently does.
5
Trump is no fool. He knows the idea of liberalism is a story many who are against his policies tell themselves. His bet is that most altruist are romantic and lazy. Our altruistic story will begin to fade if those who believe in it don't vote. The egoist and altruist will always be in battle.The next winner will be determined by who shows up to vote in the midterm elections.
In the recent attempted bombings, we see the results of Trump's persistent encouraging of his fans to take violent action. He is neither a nationalist nor a populist, but is well on the way to being an accomplice to attempted murder. We don't need a Stalin/Pol Pot/Saddam Hussein wanna-be as president. A president must ensure the laws are followed, and if he can't be bothered to do that, he should resign.
2
The USA before all other countries in all matters large or small. Patriot, nationalist, etc. use whatever word you want as long as that sentiment remains a focal point for acting in the world. This article makes me very glad I voted for Trump. I will gladly do so again in 2020 if he keeps this up.
1
Yet another “soft” step to autocracy?
You betcha. Trump has dipped his toe in the water by donning a nationalist identity,and is now ready to dive in. Slowly, in very measured steps, so as not to make too loud a splash. The outcome however remains exactly the same. The likelihood of a descent into chaos has just increased substantially, and with only a few taking note.
3
If being a nationalist means worrying about the security of our people first, if it means having legal immigrant acceptance enacted, having the right that every other country claims to have decisions made within its border made by the citizens and not other countries or populations,then I am a nationalist.
We give aid to Honduras, Mexico, etc. so that needs to be rethought if we are "paid back" by them not taking that money to make the lives of their citizens better within their own borders so that they want to stay there. That makes me a nationalist.
The president of Mexico said he would give the Hondurans Mexican work permits- oh, wow- for what jobs?
We are a nation of immigrants. We should not be a nation of saps.
1
@Millie Bea - Interesting. You might want to take note of the fact that Trump and co. are poisoning the air and water of the people who are born here. They are threatening the health care and safety nets of the people who are born here, and Trump is doing it while wearing his made in China hat and employing foreigners to work in his various businesses.
I fear for my son who delivers for UPS.
4
Please, don't cover these attention getting but meaningless comments. Report the important news to educate people on what is significant. I am guessing that more attention has been focused on these nationalistic comments than what was paid to the UN report on climate change, which just might be a bit more important.
2
@Jim Johnston
Jim, I've been sharing my fear fascism is coming to the US since the crash of 2008, and the day Trump takes up Hitler's mantel, I'm supposed to sit quiet?
National Social Workers Party. Nationalists. It doesn't get much clearer. If we can't see who he's riffing on, we haven't been paying attention. The more attentive know Hitler was no socialist, but he was happy to let German workers believe he cared, only for them.
3
I am a Quebecer and we just had an election. You cannot win an election in Quebec without playing the nationalist card and eight weeks ago when the election was announced our four most important political parties declared their intent to continue their nationalist ideas. Our most nationalist party finished fourth behind our very nationalist democratic socialists. Our very nationalist Quebec Liberals who had been in power for too long finished second and our nationalist conservatives (read centrist Democrats) came to power.
Today we switched off the despair of MSNBC and watched CBC Newsworld. For my wife studying French at the University of Chicago is many decades in the past but for me I live in three countries. Nationalism frightens me whether it be left right or center.
The North American economy has raised our standard of living to one of the highest in the world and while Canada enjoys the lowest unemployment rates in four decades Quebec is desperate for workers for all sectors of our boom economy. Our four week long election pointed out that nationalism has discouraged too many would be citizens who have left Quebec for less nationalist parts of Canada. We look at the refugees from Central America and wish we could get 100, 000 of them ASAP. We are the exact opposite of Republican nationalists we see the need for new citizens and wonder how we can turn them into Quebecers so they stay. We have our own immigration department.
There will be no immigration from Europe!!!
@Memphrie et Moi
I watch CBC all the time; they were the only ones on the Cambridge Analytica story I found worth watching. I find most cable news useless after the news is reported. CBC is a broadcaster, no? Cable is a war zone.
1
@Abby
I think the biggest story should be how Mexico and the USA are quickly approaching 50% of the population being middle-class. We are a country that is solidly middle class and we know what countries without a dominant middle class look like. I am often asked what will happen when the United States drops below the 50% and I say look at Russia. When I am asked where will Canada turn I say Mexico.
1
What he represents and his actions and word support - Trump is a true isolationist!
Trump appeals to the worst emotions and motivations human beings can have. It actually is becoming easier, over time, for me to understand how such an abhorrent human being can be as widely supported as he is.
He simply gives voice to the demons within far too many of us - demons that genuine American leaders, of all political and ideological stripes, have worked diligently for years to eradicate or at least suppress. Trump, though, basks in the “glory” of giving voice and power to prejudice, intolerance, and unabashed and unfettered self-interest.
A crude sledge hammer can lay waste to the finest works of art and architecture in a matter of minutes or hours. It may take Trump a little longer than the average wrecking ball to do all of the damage he will do. But the devastation, I fear, will be beyond repair.
8
And people say Donald Trump is divisive. He is actually trying to unite the country. He’s bringing together nationalists and socialists together under one banner: National Socialism.
2
@Robert F
Good one! But for some readers you have to lead them to the punch line. National Socialist Workers party, aka Nazis.
Of course Hitler was no socialist, but he was happy to mislead Germans to think he cared.
2
Make no mistake: it is now Trump's Republican Party, and for years to come with the support of Fox News and the editorial page of Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.
The NYT does a fine job at providing historical context but it is abused by Trump and his acolytes. The article cites Teddy Roosevelt who will be immediately enlisted by Trump as another "nationalist" without any mention of context. Trump is not only normalized but elevated, just like his approval rating.
I would like to see NYT ask every Republican Congressman and/or candidate if they consider themselves "nationalists" like their party leader , President Trump. Of course, you would have to get them before they slipped out the back door.
Nationalist. Maybe he needs to do some reading. Nationalism went hand in hand with movements that considered liberty and equal standing before the law as unpatriotic because they tolerated non-conformity and dissent against what they saw as the primacy of the nation. The totalitarian fascist states all justified their repressions and wars of aggression with nationalism. Trump should learn to know that about which he speaks, or he might become associated with leaders who used dread and terror to rule.
1
A Nationalist protects infant industries from competition. A Fascist protects mature industries like coal from market realities. Am I the only one who sees this?
Need more proof that The Con Don is part of the International Mafia Robber Baron/radical religion Good Old Boys Cabal who are trying to take over the world?
PBS ran an excellent special by Ric Steves last night about the HIStory of fascism and WW2. It mirrors exactly what is happening today but on a global scale.
The special was only an hour long so there wasn't time for Mr. Steves to explain how Hitler convinced the German people he alone could restore their war-mongering national pride then proceeded to use the results of their hard work to systematically convince other European leaders that they could not fight him. Those leaders were stupid enough to believe him and went along with him. They were victims of nazi propaganda against them and nazi terrorism in their countries to make the leader look bad. Their countries were then systematically taken over and their resources exploited for Hitler's demented "war" and attempts to take over the world.
Stalin and Mussolini were as brutal as Hitler and rode along on his coattails in their own power plays. Just as Putin, Netanyahu, Duerte, Erdogan, Sisi , Bertollini, The Con Don and other supposed "strong' men are using each other today. They aren't "strong". They are cowards who use their stolen wealth to try to control the rest of us.
Are WE THE PEOPLE - average people across America and around the world - going to let them start WW3 and destroy OUR lives again?
Not me. Not now. Not ever.
2
Reminiscent of the time Adolf H. responded to those who labeled him a "barbarian," acknowledging that he WAS one and was proud of it.
14
@stu freeman
I'm old enough to understand Trump is appealing to the fascist sentiments, but look how well it works! They buy that line and then have no problem with Putin telling the press America is over and he owns Trump.
4
I do not see anything derogatory in the term nationalist. President Trump uses this word to describe our country and its citizens. We are the nation of the United States and its people are Americans who should be proud of their heritage. President Trump is correct to be concerned with the wellbeing of Americans first but it does not not diminish the importance of other countries and their citizens.
President Trump should be praised for not apologizing for America and being proud of our accomplishments. We are the first nation that assists other countries in times of catastrophes with money and manpower. They turn to us in their need and we are willing to help.
I am proud to say I am an American and we have many advantages that others do not. We must be a good place to live otherwise we would not be experiencing so many people from others nations who are coming here legally and illegally. We are not a perfect country but close to it. The hordes would not be coming if we were so terrible. Some risk their lives to get here and yet they keep on coming. That says something about our high standards and quality of life. We should be proud Americans first and foremost.
19
@WPLMMT: So how come we're not welcoming those "hordes" with open arms? Actually, most of them are fleeing countries whose leaders are even more corrupt than ours. More of them would likely stay put if the U.S. were as willing to help as much as you seem to think we are.
6
@WPLMMT
If President Trump were truly concerned about the well being of Americans, he would be paying his full share of taxes and seeking to unite the fractured elements of the country.
Instead, he seeks to continually exploit the political divide in this country in order to keep himself in power - and out of jail.
History will not be kind to either Trump or his enablers.
Trump is a terrible human being - but his religious enablers surely make Jesus weep.
15
@WPLMMT A Nationalist protects infant industries from competition. A Fascist protects mature industries like coal from market realities. Am I the only one who sees this?
3
Smart democrats will repeat, yes Trump is a white nationalist. Over and over again. It's true so might as well say it. Just like America First is a celebration of America's nazi support. He says it because he means it.
17
What he meant to say was "I'm a fascist."
35
The Con Don's red meat base is dying. Can't happen soon enough for me.
Have you heard his latest BIG lie. That he is all for health insurance covering pre-existing conditions? He'll make sure his Robber Baron brethren operatives cover them in the "red" states, too.
Rachel Maddow reported last night that 15 red meat states, including Florida, Texas, Idaho and Wisconsin are suing OUR U.S. government to get rid of America's Affordable Health Care Act - aka Obamacare - and the requirement that insurers cover pre-existing conditions without hiking rates.
Ric Scott, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz and all the other republicans who say they are all for pre-existing condition coverage are LIARS. Just like The Con Don.
Are you stupid enough to vote for any republican? If so, you are voting for WW3 and further destruction of OUR lives.
Vote only for democrat/independent Socially Conscious Women and men or don't vote. Do NOT vote to destroy MY life.
18
Don't worry after a few months of rehabilitating the "nationalist" label and after refusing to recognize the next congress, he'll start calling himself - a bit of a fascist - because, well... they're good white people who love tradition, and unlike the socialist Democrat mob, they respect authority.
6
Remember, the White is silent.
9
Trump's dad was in the KKK and they both ended up in court together, repeatedly, for refusing to rent luxury apartments to black people. He knows exactly what he is saying.
18
And why shouldn’t they? The GOP is clearly a white nationalist organization.
6
Why is a nationalist appearing at the TOYOTA CENTER ???
16
Nationalism is at its purist
when it's colored white.
Add socialist to the moniker and
it's a ticket to all their dreams.
But, hey, they're not socialists.
Or so they claim.
Until, of course,
ultimate power is gained.
3
What Trump really believes in most fervently is divisiveness and conflict. His whole life history proves that. He prattles about "our" country and nationalism while despising and ignoring the needs and wishes of over half of its population.
81
The thing about the Trump administration is that he’s ruining the protections that have been put in place over many decades. These protections are for the citizens of the United States. Meanwhile he’s running around the country saying that he’s a nationalist that cares about the country. The destruction of these protections are his achievements. Civilizations are like people, you start out as a child and grow into an adult, hopefully you have several years of stable and good health before you start to deteriorate. Trump represents early onset dementia.
5
Yes Trump's choice of words is an ode to White Nationalists. The problem with the word choice is its roots. Trump and his supporters have every intention of cultivating a White Nation in America, it shares the same seed stock as that which has been repeatedly cultivated to destructive ends in Western Europe. They know that we know what they are doing but they feign ignorance to buy them a little more time, waiting for a 9/11 type event that will allow them to declare martial law and seize power.
3
An inescapable element of nationalism is unity among its citizens. No nation determined to advance its own interests against a hostile world can hope to do so without the united support of its citizenry.
If you accept that premise, imagine Trump marching down 5th Ave, arm in arm with African-Americans, Mexican immigrants, Gays, Transgenders (add what you like to this list).
Having savaged us into divisiveness, "unity" has become a quaint concept confined mostly to any colonies.
3
@CPMariner I meant to write "ant" colonies.
In calling himself nationalist, he'll get automatic fans the people who watch National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC TV. It's an improvement over Fox.
1
I think he misspoke. The word he was looking for is opportunist.
5
He’s walking, talking and quacking like a totalitarian.
We can’t say he didn’t warn us.
9
Nationalism can be used to marshal citizens to work together on behalf of the best principles for which a country stands or, as Trump is using the term, to evoke exclusiveness and even hate. This distinction and the consequences was the subject of a serious and nuanced discussion of both negative in the hour-long symposium on “Populist Challenges to Democracy,” co-sponsored by Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) and the Global Populisms Project, Stanford University. Keep a lookout for the video and the books these major scholars are producing. https://mailchi.mp/casbs/register-now-casbs-symposium-november-14-674009...
3
There should not be a scintilla of doubt in any thinking American's mind that if Trump were to continue in office and, heaven forbid, be elected to another term with a supportive and compliant Republican Congress in place, that the United States would be inexorably transformed into a national socialist, fascist regime. This is our certain, dire future if this Administration, with total Republican complicity, is not stopped in a decisive rejection by the electorate next month. The Fake President, by all available indications, wishes to undermine our balancing governmental institutions and transform our democratic republic into a functioning, authoritarian, dictatorship. The handwriting is not only "on the wall", but is being articulated by Trump week in and week out.
4
Donald Trump is not a nationalist or anything else. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump whose main goal is to procure as much media attention as possible. Since Donald Trump knows that calling himself a nationalist would be a headline, Donald Trump called himself a nationalist.
The Narcissism that dominates Trump's entire existence only serves to feed his overwhelming desire for adulation and attention, even if it's a catcall to White Nationalists and other fringe groups. As long as Trump is loved by his rabid base he'll continue to push the envelope.
12
It isn't just about his need for attention. It is also about controlling what the media reports. How often do you see reporting directly about the Democrats. I am not saying this News outlet is pro Trump. Their reporting is accurate and fair. However, by allowing Trump to control reporting the media (all of them) are doing a disservice to the Democrats and Independents.
A nationalist would not avoid paying taxes he is due. A nationalist wouldn’t squeeze out dollars from his poor tenants. A nationalist would go above and beyond his part to share his wealth with the downtrodden, not just charity in name only, that too non profits as a means to avoid paying taxes to the government of the people for the people and by the people. mr trump is no nationalist. Ask him how many businesses does he have world wide? How many immigrants does he employ?
11
“A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much. And you know what? We can’t have that.”
He’s talking about a conservationist, not a globalist. His copy of ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ must have been redacted.
Trump himself is a globalist, as should be overwhelmingly evident by his slew of business ventures in countries that aren’t the United States of America.
And nationalism is one of the most poisonous ideologies imaginable.
2
The rhetoric and the response to this nomenclature are both “weak sauce.” Hillary C was a nationalist in the sense that, during the Recession, she suggested FDR-era works programs to ensure full employment. That is the meaning of nationalism in the sense of a partial nationalization of the industrial modes of production. We are all nationalists in the sense that we continue to favor US independence from Britain. All politicians give lip service to the nationalist idea of unity. To the extent that modern thinkers view certain norms of globalism as benefiting the nation (by expanding trade in exchange for enabling billions to come out of poverty), they are nationalists as much as the persons who take a retrograde ante-WWI “nation-state first” perspective of how best to advance national interests. The new and very limited sense of the word as relating to race comes from the 1960s Black Nationalist views of the nation of islam and the real dirty idea - caliphate and the intolerance of non-believers. That is the essence of racism. Today, those ideas have resurged in the post-modern views of identity politics; e.g., the views of both today’s college students and reactionary Neo-nazis. Is DJT making a venal appeal to those constituencies? Yes. But when pressed, he states that is not his intent. Meanwhile, the nation descends into an abyss we do not know the contours of.
Don't give Trump cover by writing that he is unaware of the ugly history of nationalism and just means it to describe his patriotism. He knows exactly what he is saying. He and his crew have plans in mind that will lead us to a horrific place. Don't forget he is musing about how great it would be if he could be president for life. He means that too. If the Republicans win the House and Senate prepare yourself for the worst.
4
It just doesn't make any sense.
"Globalism" is supposed to refer to a doctrine where the world's wealthiest elites work together to try to increase the income inequality gap and use the government to shift even more of the GDP produced by ordinary citizens to themselves.
Trump, however, now defines it as "wanting the globe to do well".
As Stephen Colbert already pointed out, that obviously includes the US.
And it might indeed be what Democrats stand for.
So why is Trump now coming up with a new notion of "globalism"? Because of course, if you look at what he and the GOP did in DC, you cannot but observe that that PERFECTLY corresponds to the usual definition of "globalism". Trump and the GOP aren't "nationalists" or "America first" at all, their bills and executive orders systematically benefit the wealthiest Americans (and Saudi Arabians, etc.), to the detriment of the other 99%.
THAT is why Trump can't take over the real definition of globalism during a rally.
2
Ah, the paper of record is slinking toward censorship! Certain words! And coincidentally we have ... a growing audience of people who question free speech, AND a mob of working here who include lots of anti-free speech gender-identity careerists!
Trump using "Nationalist" is on thing: brilliant. And I do not support the nut. I do support truth telling, something lost to the Trump Derangement wing of my side of the aisle.
Note the reactionary posts here, another mob, this time of insult parrots. Endless posts empty of content aside from boo-rah name calling. Trump may be unlikable, but my Liberal side mob has just lost it's collective mind.
3
@CK - Trump lies at least six times EVERY DAY.
Two years ago, in the next neighborhood (with high population of Asian immigrants) there were flyers from a hate group in mail boxes. Very good reason for doing nothing were offered by responsible community elders and authorities. "You never know."
This is no dog whistle, this is a blaring call to action. Soon, much of the local thuggery will dress in fatigues, quasi uniforms with Nationalist insignia, walk around with big guns and menace people. The timing is right. This November 9th, they will be honoring their brave brethren who wreaked havoc exactly 80 years ago. Rocks, torches, graffiti, and book burning.
Thugs will do what thugs will do. It is the citizenry that seems to want this. I expect nationalists to win both the house and senate this November. Who do you think is going to show up to vote and stop them? My guess: virtually no one.
1
Racism, fascism, tribalism, bigotry, military aggression, assassination, political mendacity, the corruption of democratic norms: all of these terms have served at one time or another as synonyms for nationalism.
There is a reason for that: if these terms are not synonyms for nationalism, they have at least been closely associated with it throughout history. The relationship is not merely semantic.
5
Nationalism is not necessarily a bad thing. The idea to create a national identity through works of art, literature and music arose out of 18th and 19th century romanticism. This is called Romantic Nationalism, or, if you dislike the word nationalism, National Romanticism. In music, Ole Bull and his protégé, Edward Grieg created what we recognize as the Norwegian identity; in France, Debussy and Ravel; in czarist Russia, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov; in Stalinist Russia, Shostakovich and Prokofiev. In the United States, African-American music, through the spiritual, became our identifying jazz, and without gospel music, there would not have been an Elvis Presley. Nationalism can be diverse; it can be inclusive; it can build great, open cultures.
Nationalism becomes a bad thing when it begins to exclude, diminish, build walls. Art, literature and music become thinly-disguised propaganda; the identity becomes so narrow that it begins to feed on itself. This is the nationalism Trump is so carelessly willing to play with without concerning himself about the consequences. Nationalism in this sense is a weapon turning on itself; a betrayal of communal values; a backward pathway.
1
Nationalism by definition excludes
2
@alexgri...in spite of your narrowminded and negative approach to MY country, it accepted YOU as an immigrant and YOU are free to espouse your ideas. that won't happen in Trump's future. Do you vote? have you earned your citizenship yet? are you aware of the basic unalienable rights of US citizens until 2016? constitution? bill of rights? real patriots do not swear lufetime allegiance to any party. they are all in flux and we need intellectual flexibility and critical thinking. try it.
4
The old adage still holds. Patriotism is love of one's country; nationalism is the contempt of all other countries. Trump can't claim the title of patriot because he failed the test when he dodged the draft. He could have faced it by accepting induction, protesting induction, performing alternative service, or simply acknowledging that it was a test he failed. He did nothing.
Patriots also acknowledge their obligations, including the fiscal ones. Instead he and his family are tax cheats. He seems to think that means he's smarter than the rest of us suckers.
2
At least the racist is owning up to the fact that he is indeed racist. I kind of doubt though that he truly realizes what the term implies about him. Matters not though because it is truth supported by fact.
4
Why call his words allusions and represent his intent as different from what he has demonstrated it consistently is?
He is a white nationalist and global isolationist. He believes people who are not CIS-gendered, “Christian”, male, white, and rich are less deserving of civil and human rights, if at all. Even when they are paying him. He has said so publicly and almost daily for many years. Why give him the benefit of the doubt that he has neither earned nor has given anyone who isn’t like him or he isn’t in business with?
Stop treating him like a person with morals, or some sort of maverick who changes what words mean when he actually means what those words and phrases originally meant. Or someone who is ignorant of the history or impact of what he is saying.
Stop it! It is irresponsible. Would you give a cannibal a food critic column and call his words and actions unconventional or different from typical food critics, because those words have a “whiff” of murderous insanity?
When his words and actions have racist, misogynist, classist, xenophobic, and anti-religious freedom impact, say it plainly. He means what he said. Do not give him the cover of ignorance, even willful ignorance. He has always been who he is. Believe him already.
3
Well, Mr. President, if you're a "nationalist", then I'm a "rationalist". You deal in white supremacy values, I deal in intellectual supremacy values. You deal in dividing the electorate with hate and discontent, I deal in collaborating with my fellow citizens to bring America into the future, together. You deal in isolationism and fear mongering about people who want to come to our country to share in the American dream, I deal in embracing the global community and how we are a nation of immigrants.
You deal in lies and self-serving fabrications, I deal in transparency and honesty. And most of all, Mr. President, I deal in respect and dignity and trust for others, competence in my work, and a genuine love for my country. You... don't.
You think "nationalism" is something to be coveted. But the rest of us know that it's just another of your hostile, loathsome code words which you think will appeal to your base. But, you see... unlike you, we know the truth. And that truth is this - we are the majority, not you. We are America, not you. Finally, we are the future. Not you.
14
It is absurd to link ‘nationalist’ as exhibited by the dictators, emperors, Kaisers of historically militant nations (China, Japan, Germany, Russia as well as smaller regimes) with the country trying to “make the world safe for democracy”. China, for example, is ultra-nationalist. “There have been millions and millions of Chinese Americans but zero American Chinese” says Harvard Chinese author Eric Liu. China has a tariff on everything and everyone nonChinese and recently killed its first Nobel Peace Prize winner, as did Germany in the 1930s. America is the opposite— so anti-nationalist that being anti-American is a ‘thing’ for wannabe gadflies and miscreants. Ironically, these hapless “againsters” never leave the country they love to hate.
1
I hope people will study history and see where terms like "nationalist" were used in the past and I'm not talking about here in America.
We need to be very careful of the road we're going down.
6
@BTO
Actually, we've suffered several bouts of fascism in America. The American Liberty League were Wall Street's gift to US in the 1930s.
My stepmother's cousin materially funded their uniforms and those stupid bells they rang to proclaim French fascism to be best. She was for a time the wealthiest woman in the US from he father's mining interests.
After sending a brain injured veteran to peruse the fascist styles in Europe to counter labor moving in on their profits, Wall Street settled on the Bleu Shirts, France's fascist gift to history. The Sacre Bleu had already been co-opted by industry and finance to bust heads for them. They even took over an anti-Dreyfus veterans org to go rogue on the countryside in shiny new trucks and snappy uniforms. Think the opening scene of Q's "Inglorious Basterds."
The Croix de Feu Militia instigated the Paris Riot that fed pro-fascist sentiments and overturned the Third French Republic by 1935.
Wall street tried to get a US General to lead the Bonus Marchers in a similar riot to spur America toward the fascists, but the Maverick didn't cotton to fascism. Yup, Major General Smedley Butler told Wall Street he would only advise them, and then he told FDR about their plot to unseat him. That's who John McCain was claiming to be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
1
It's not without irony that republicans have seized on vilifying Socialism and tying that ideology to atrocities of historical tyrants... while completely ignoring that it was the nationalism, the fascism and the corruption that actually made those regimes nefarious... that socialism was a propaganda tool to amass popular support for otherwise nefarious agendas.
---
I firmly believe that the global rise in nationalism has it's roots in 9/11...
Millions of kids sat around at their TVs on that day, watching in wide-eyed horror as the towers came down... behind them the adults were discussing it... it didn't matter if that conversation was conservative or liberal, the connection was made... something bad had happened and foreigners were responsible.
Now those kids are all of age to be politically active and it's no surprise that we see a global rise in paranoia of 'the other'.
We handled all of that wrong. Whether we like it or not, all of this was cemented when Bush Jr. said "either you're with us, or against us..." We haven't shaken that stance since... and it's still bearing rotten fruit.
4
I'm afraid the MSM's attack on President Trump's use of the word "nationalist" is largely driven by its contempt for him. That's fine; we all get that. Globalism in the course of 25 years has dismantled the United States manufacturing sector. Was that inevitable as many economists would argue? I, for one, don't agree that it had to be that way. Has globalism rewarded shareholders at the expense of US workers and thousands of communities? The answer is yes. Just ask anyone who has owned Apple stock, or Walmart stock for that matter, during the past 20 years. Globalism has rewarded shareholders at the expense of US workers while exploiting workers in third-world countries. I say this being a proponent of capitalism. But capitalism, the globalist way, has been wrong for the average American. It will continue to make American workers poorer and global stockholders richer. The people you see at Donald Trump rallies, by and large, aren't racists, mysoginists, xenophobes, blah blah blah. These are convenient terms to write them off; an attitude that cost HRC the presidency. I challenge the Democratic Party and the MSM to spend the next two years out in the flyover states and find out what's truly on the minds of many Americans. You'll find that the vast majority aren't deplorable. They care about their families, their communities and America. In other words, they're nationalists. And that's not a bad thing.
4
You just confirm that the real enemy of these flyover populations are not globalists but the corporations that value only profits. Then they take a sliver of these profits to support media that brainwashes their victims into blaming the poor, minorities and immigrants.
@Jake OK, Jake. And Hilary Clinton won more votes from people making less than 50K because why? And when did the Democrats become solely responsible for globalization? GHWB sr. signed NAFTA, Clinton had a 100% Republican congress for most of his administration-- GW came next.
So for those of us ignorant elites on the coast the question keeps coming back to: How can you possibly trust Donald Trump?
One day this paper will realize and give credit for the genius for political speech that is Trump. No I neither like nor support the man, but wow does he ever know how to communicate for his own advantage. Look at the posts here from my fellow Liberals; 99% pig headed insult. Which of course infers zero insight.
5
"the political sensibilities that he relishes disrupting"...that phrase is what really has Dems and leftists in a panic. Those "political sensibilities" are successfully being disrupted for a reason; they have failed, they have been shown not to work and Americans are clearly seeing that and turning to the "disruptor" whose political sensibilities are not only working but flourishing. The left did not ever see Trump being elected and certainly not having the success he's having. Because of that they are and have been in a state of profound shock, they cannot deal with the clear documented facts of their abject failure at moving the country forward. It will only get worse. We are, at this very moment in American history, witnessing the radical transformation if not the total demise of the Democratic Party in America. They are leaderless, their incompetence has been exposed, they are like a wax figure melting down to a puddle of mush. A huge flag foretold this when they "elected" Tom Perez and Kieth Ellison to lead the party. RIP Tom, Kieth, Nancy, Chuckie, Maxine, Bill/Hill et al.
1
So now the Times has embarked upon a semantic debate over the Trump lexicon? Come on! May as well argue with a scarecrow in a corn field.
1
I've heard folks say you don't say "nationalist" because that's too close to white nationalist, but I'm old enough to first think, "National Socialist." You know, the Nazis. That's what white nationalists intend us to connect to them.
Now, Hitler was no Commie, but he was pitching socialism for German workers ONLY, Trump's immigrant schtick. Europe was a hot mess of displaced persons since WWI, and Hitler took full advantage of them by identifying them as the German's problem. If Germany only had to care for their Aryan selves, Hitler suggested, everything would be great again.
So, the reason you don't encourage Americans to call themselves nationalists is because that's just one short grift away from Nazi.
15
Trump's idea of nationalism is twofold:
1. That our national identity is one of the few things we share that can unite all of us regardless of race, sex, or whatever other divisions exist. That's why he's so against the kneeling at football games during the national anthem. He simply wants people to share a pride of being part of this great nation.
2. That America can do best by the world by making our own garden grow peacefully and hope the rest of the world follows suit. Clearly he's not a nationalist in the Hitler mold. He has no interest in invading other countries and shoving our values down their throats as previous administrations did. He also is not a believer in the utopian ideal of one global society which he considers neither realistic nor appealing.
Unfortunately the left wants to paint this as racist when quite the opposite is true.
20
@rpe123
Trump is not, never has been, and never will be a nationalist.
Trump refused the opportunity to do national service, to pay his taxes, to attempt to unite rather than divide people, etc.
Trump mocks authentic war heroes like John McCain.
Trump is an corrupt authoritarian appropriating nationalism for dubious purposes.
Trump is a symbol of the rot at the heart of the American experiment.
2
@rpe123
Hahahaha! And all the nationalists in history just wanted to help tbeir "garden grow."
“- Growth has its season. There are spring and summer, but there are also fall and winter. And then spring and summer again. As long as the roots are not severed, all is well and all be well.”
Chance the gardener, in Jerzy Kosinski's Being There
1
@rpe123, and, sadly, you do not understand the meaning of the term. Nationalism is not patriotism. Nationalism is a systematic denial of the validity of other nations, races and cultures. The president is a racist who is now publicly espousing a whites only society and a culture based on an idea which has never actually been valid in the United States, that of a Puritan white evangelical society. His own grandparents would not have been allowed into the nation, and his wife's sister and parents would not qualify, under his extraordinary notion that only educated, white people need apply for inclusion in the American population.
1
"Believe them when they tell you who they are." "He is wholly unfit to serve." Cassandra spoke and no one listened.
There should be no surprise in this rotten little man's admission that he puts "nation" (as he defines it, not as Americans nor our Constitution define it) above human rights, human life, survival of the planet as a habitable world for humans; there should be no surprise that his frightened little cult and his rot-wing party fully embrace his putrid, self-serving "ideology."
This is America now. A decaying "democracy" in name only, where an "angry" entitled minority steals elections, steals Supreme Court seats, practices Jim Crow era voter suppression, gerry-manders its way into rule, bullies, lies and slanders its way into legitimacy.
16
Doesn't anyone care that POTUS is so ignorant and proud of it? Surely every citizen of the US hopes the person we elect will, at the very least, be smarter than the rest of us.
3
@barbara Years ago a friend of mine said of Sarah Palin "I love her because she's just like me!" Unfortunately for you and me, many of our peers want people just like them in political office, rather than folks who are better than them.
1
@qisl Isn't that sad?
It stuns me that I have two cousins who adore Donald Trump. Both men had fathers, one of whom died in battle, who fought against Hitler.
7
Yet another “soft” step to autocracy?
You betcha. Trump has dipped his toe in the water and is now ready to dive in. Slowly, of course, in very measured steps, so as not to make too sudden a splash. The outcome however remains the same. The likelihood of a descent into who knows exactly what, has just increased substantially, and with only a few taking note.
10
I love this guy. Finally a president who is not afraid to tell the truth and the over educated ninnies on the other side are apoplectic. Keep it up Mr. Trump, this is fun.
2
@JP The wealthiest 1% and mega corporations who benefited the most from the tax cuts thank you for your support. Give ‘me a bag of Cheetos, a Big Gulp, and a good show to watch and the under educated ninnies will be happy for years.
1
@JP
As a survivor of abduction and gang rape at age eleven, please tell me what fun you find in crushing human spirit. I still don't understand. Trump is advocating fascism, and this makes your day?
2
@Abby what in the world does rape have to do with being pro-America?
Apparently, being a nationalist is just like being a patriot, but better! You don’t need to go to Vietnam, but you get to make fun of a guy who did and got captured. Haha! Sucker! He shoulda been a nationalist and stayed home, too!
15
Charlottesville was one of many other times when the 'nationalist' president supported hate groups. His claim of 'jobs versus mobs' further extends his long list of hypocritical lies.
4
Nationalist, the only thing missing is "White"
4
Just for clarification:
Google definitions.
Patriot
a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.
Nationalist
a person who advocates political independence for a country.
a person with strong patriotic feelings, especially one who believes in the superiority of their country over others.
2
Trump deliberately chose a word heavy with both fascist history and modern-day meaning. For an American president to associate himself so willingly with fascism is unprecedented. But, he is definitely signaling, once again, the direction he is headed and though he may try to claim "nationalist" is no more than a word synonymous with "patriotic", there is no mistaking his meaning or his goal. This is just one more reason to vote Democratic. Congress must act to contain Trump's authoritarian tendencies, before it's too late.
14
I've been reading the comments here and I don't think many people understand what Trump means by "nationalism." Below is a very good interview of Steve Bannon where he discusses the nationalism/globalism debate as it is today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwKLSA6lWdo
2
Why call his words allusions and represent his intent as different from what he has demonstrated it consistently is?
He is a white nationalist and global isolationist. He believes people who are not CIS-gendered, male, white, and rich are less deserving of civil and human rights. Even when they are paying him. He has said so publicly and almost daily for many years. Why give him the benefit of the doubt that he has neither earned nor has given anyone who isn’t like him or he isn’t in business with?
Stop treating him like a person with morals, or some sort of maverick who changes what words mean when he actually means what those words and phrases originally meant.
Stop it! It is irresponsible. Would you give a cannibal a food critic column and call his words and actions unconventional or different from typical food critics, because those words have a “whiff” of murderous insanity?
When his words and actions have racist, misogynist and xenophobic impact, say it plainly. He means what he said. He has always been who he is. Believe him already.
18
Whatever 'nationalist' means, it makes no difference to brutus ignoramus Trump, he wouldn't know the difference between fact or fiction anyway, dedicated and persistent liar as he is, and for whom the truth is what he says it is, according to his needs to fool his base...and keep his cult of personality intact. No scruples whatsoever. And so goes the country, a political weather vane, sailing with the wind...and soon enough with a storm, with untold destruction, unless we stop this vicious runaway president; this monster we fetched ourselves so casuallly, it's scary, and certainly irresponsible.
6
I wonder how this rhetoric is heard around the world. Take our European ally Germany for example. What is the German word for Nationalist?
2
@Syd The German word for nationalist is in fact Nationalist. In German, nouns are capitalized.
Caveat - "his priority of looking out for the United States first..."
Trump isn't (and never has) "looked out for the United States." He is looking out for Trump, and everything he says and does is to that end. Whatever he thinks will rile up his (aptly named) "base" is what he will say. Whether it helps or hurts this county is absolutely irrelevant to him.
11
Mr. Trump professed ignorance of its history but did not back off. “I never heard that theory about being a nationalist,” he said. “I’ve heard them all".
How can you simultaneously have never heard about something that you've heard all of?
And then apparently, a globalist is someone who wants "the globe to do well".
3
Trump is not, and never had been an authentic nationalist.
He might be a white nationalist - but that ain't the same thing.
An authentic nationalist pays his taxes, believes in the virtue of national service, fulfills all reasonable obligations to the whole, and perpetually seeks to a bring a people and nation together.
Trump does none of those things.
Trump takes the side of Russian intelligence while standing next to his master in Helsinki - thus betraying his own country's intelligence services.
Trump is a bigot, fascist, and narcissist.
A narcissist cannot possibly be nationalist, because a narcissist cannot model what it is like to care about the whole of a nation.
George Washington was a nationalist.
John Adams was a nationalist.
Dwight Eisenhower was a nationalist.
Trump is nothing but a loathsome divide-and-conquer authoritarian who appeals to the worst instincts in his followers.
17
Nationalism is just the worst form of tribalism but on a much larger scale. The "globe" has become way too small to survive Trump's warped vision.
2
For whoever cares to exit their nice neighborhood and venture into an ugly one, USA (including NYC) has large areas of squalid poverty like you will never see in Europe, not even in the poorest areas of Eastern Europe and Russia.
Before importing more slums, it is kindness toward these American people who live on squalid poverty to focus on lifting them up, instead of bringing them more people like them to fight with them for crumbs.
The middle class has been decimated since the 70s and the poor resembles the slums in Bombay, but the MSM and the Democrats fear that a focus on the national interest is not virtuous.
1
Those slums are the result of neoliberalist policies not of the democrats
3
If you call yourself a "nationalist," presumably you have some concept of what defines a "nation." Trump's problem is that he fundamentally misunderstands what the American nation is all about. America isn't defined by a group of people who happen to be living in a particular place at a particular time. It's defined by a set of ideals that we try to live up to, sometimes imperfectly. Those ideals are what make America great, allowing us to grow and accommodate change, and to make allies all over the world.
123
@Paul America is define by both the group of people living in a particular place and those ideals.
5
This ex democrat thinks it is about time someone at least claims to be a nationalist, i.e. someone that gives American citizens first priority. The democrats used to do it but at least since Bill Clinton put average American citizens in direct competition with semi-slave labor through NAFTA and China's WTO entrance it hasn't been true. Today's democrats are more interested in immigrants- legal and illegal- and financial elites than in typical American citizens.
22
@Marigrow
"it is about time someone at least claims to be a nationalist, i.e. someone that gives American citizens first priority."
Okay, then let's recognize the rights of trans Americans, who are citizens. Let's make huge increases in relief aid to Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens. Let's have prison and police reform as justice for incarcerated and killed black people, who are American citizens. Let's have universal health care, for all American citizens. Let's stop suppressing the vote of American citizens. Let's stop gerrymandering and flooding elections with corporate money, so that election results reflect the true will of the majority of American citizens. Let's put teeth back into environmental laws, to protect the health of American citizens.
Democrats care about immigrants and refugees because Democrats care about PEOPLE. That means they care about Americans too, much more than Republican politicians who only care about catering to the rich. (Who did their tax cut benefit most?)
Vote this November. The nation and the world literally depend on it.
5
@Marigrow Ah, yes, that must be why Obama tax cuts went to the middle class and Trump’s tax cuts went to corporations. A walloping 14%. And no strings attached! They can still build factories in China.
2
@Marigrow
Wrong. NAFTA has achieved its aims. Mexico is now in reverse mode regarding immigration. They have lowered their birth rate, increased access to education, and those assembly plants are now manufacturing better thermostats and appliances than ours.
We used to rely on Mexicans attending our universities and remaining here to share their advanced skill sets since Americans seemed less interested in those advanced jobs. Now, even our universities are feeling the pinch.
Listen to a liar long enough, he'll talk you into genocide. If you don't like immigration, then you should pay attention to what makes them run.
3
I am not surprised that neither Trump nor his supporters comprehend the historical meaning of the term nationalism. Any student of history knows that nationalism resulted in some of the greatest human tragedies of all time. Nationalist concepts lead to the colonization of Africa and Asia by European nations seeking to plunder resources and do nothing for the indigenous population. Other examples include the American and South American Indians, Hitler, World War II Japan, Russian occupation of European countries, etc. As history has taught, nationalism inevitably leads to war. I doubt Trump knows much history and I know many of his supporters know even less. As a history teacher I once taught a unit on the difference between patriotism and nationalism. Unfortunately, Trump was not one of my students.
201
@Disillusioned, the problem with Trump supporters is that they despise teachers, and fact based knowledge in general. President Trump clearly is steering the USA towards a new type of regime,and this prospect gives me the creeps
1
@Disillusioned
they do comprehend the historical meaning, and embrace it. demographics are against them so nationalism and all its weapons - voter suppression, gerrymandering, national security, de-regulation, "judicial originalism" etc - are unleashed as a last stand.
@Disillusioned "Nationalist concepts led to the colonization of Africa and Asia...." Colonialism was not the results of concepts but of the tangible reality of CAPITALISM. To this day control of some countries by others serves capital accumulation. Although nationalism has had some tragic results in history and could have them today, in the case of colonized countries in Africa and Asia it served to come out of at least classical colonialism.
2
“A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist – that is, he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating – but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the up-grade and some hated rival is on the down-grade.” - George Orwell
Why, yes, Trump is a nationalist.
95
It’s not that the word “Nationalist” is looked on so fondly by the conservative world at large, it’s that the words “Socialist” and “Patriot” have slipped into an abyss due to over stretching and sometimes downright deception! It’s true. First off all, the word Patriot went out the window with the US Patriot Laws after 9/11. Anyone who reads their fine print sees the potential for the stripping of multiple freedoms the US Constitution provides. Even US citizens can lose freedom under those laws: "Patriot" can now only be said with one’s hand in front of one’s mouth. Sadly. Then there is Socialism. Many Americans do not understand the different flavors of Socialism. The word alone is enough for half the population to scurry into grandpa’s McCarthy-era bomb shelter! Countries like modern Germany, for example, with the 3rd or 4th largest economy in the world, are Social Democrats, but not Democratic Socialists. There is a big difference: The Social Democrat is a capitalist that wants everyone to get richer through human investment; the Democratic Socialist wants to take the money from the rich and give it to the poor, democratically. It is a fine difference that some democrats are too oblivious to understand, but republicans see a mile away! What do you do when someone comes at you like that? That’s right, you turn Nationalist, like many of the European countries are now doing because of over-extended concepts mainly regarding immigration. Trump knows exactly what he is doing!
33
@William P It is a shame that we need 1 word to describe a person's views. I want: good healthcare for everyone; fair taxes; keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, mentally unstable people, etc; an excellent education system; infrastructure investment; equal protection for women, minorities, etc; a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. I don't want to be summed up in 1 word.
3
We all know that a party’s base is not enough by itself to deliver victory but that without the base’s support defeat is guaranteed. Since it’s adoption of the Southern Strategy, the GOP had cozied up to racism as a winning motivator; it had done it, however, through innuendo as it knew well an overt approach could backfire given the then recent battles of the Civil Rights movement. Innuendo no more. Trump’s embrace of the “Nationalist” label, knowing well its history and what it connotes, as a way “to galvanize his conservative base to turn out in the midterm elections” sadly confirms what we have feared: the current GOP base is racist. In less than two weeks, we will find out whether the majority of us either are willing to (1) stand up and resoundingly let the world know that we reject racism as the guiding light of our lives; or (2) look the other way and tacitly acknowledge that fear of others is indeed what defines us.
I pray our better angels prevail.
93
Even without "white" in the phrase, the word nationalist implies a unified cultural, language, and/or religious profile. And that is what Trump is trying to convey. This is inherently racist and freighted with religious bias. It is anti-diversity.
So yes, it would never even occur to a real president, actually representing our nation as it is and as it should be, to use the word.
168
@PA Blue What term to use then, "the world's policeman" ?
@PA Blue You seem to be getting hung up on the semantics because you're essentially saying the very concept of a *Nation* is a bad thing.
@PA Blue Seriously? So unified culture is racist? ARe you also one that touts the superiority of Denmark and how they are the 'happiest' of all countries on the planet? Want to know why? Oh, that doesn't meet today's agenda of telling people that want a unified culture (doesn't mean you wear the same clothes, follow the same religion, or live in segregated neighborhoods) they are racist. Sorry, but I don't care who you are or where you came from, I want respect for our laws and our language. That's what most legal immigrants do. Diversity is not inconsistent with a desire for a unified culture. Unless, you believe that you want the US to bend and adopt your culture. Sorry, but that's what I'm seeing in Europe (and Dearborn MI).
The word "nationalist" is misused all the time, by the NYTimes as well as by Trump. "White Nationalist"? "Christian Nationalist"? Whites and Christians are not nations. It's just a code word for frightening Democrats.
2
@Charlesbalpha “Whites and Christians are not nations.”
And crawfish isn’t a fish. What a fascile and silly argument. You’re both poorly informed and missing the very point of those terms.
Those terms refer to people who believe those racial and religious identities should be the basis for national identity. Nazi Germany had a form of racial identity as a national identity, for example. So a white nationalist is someone who believes white racial identity should form basis of one’s national identity. They want a white nation. Same analogous idea behind Christian nationalism.
8
@citybumpkin
I have no idea what a "national identity" is. "Identity" is another word that the Times throws around all the time. It used to mean what made a person unique.
More silence from Republican non-leaders in Congress as their deviant and dangerous fool in the White House continues to spew his negative propaganda.
Name calling, demonizing critics, devising omnipresent media messages and overly simplified terms that require no thought - all designed to appeal to mass emotions of fear and resentment. Trump’s unoriginal playbook follows lockstep w the father of manipulative “public relations” Edward Bernays (1891-1995), the Austrian-American pr salesman hired by governments and businesses to “persuade the herd” masses to follow their irrational impulses and instincts.
It’s all about devious crowd control and selling by deception. Drink this whiskey to be suave! Smoke these cigarettes (“Torches of Freedom”) to look sexy! See Bernays’ books, including “The Engineering of Consent”.
America is being double conned and
Cohned by our biggest carnival barker ever. And the rest of the world knows it.
18
The only surprise here is that it took so long for him to say it. He certainly hasn't been hiding it.
5
Two points to make: if Americans studied American History in the 10th grade and learned a little about nationalism, they have certainly forgotten it. I can think of dozens of words that have a negative connotation to me, that are meaningless to most Americans today: Orwellian, Fascist, Dissembler, America First.
The only thing that sticks is Communist,of which there always were precious few, and Socialist, which is, in fact, what most Americans would like, if they could only get past the word.
The Democrats should be running ads with pictures of Hitler: Nationalist. Mussolini, Nationalist; Trump, Nationalist. Or, maybe not. I'm not sure anyone nows who Hitler or Mussolini are anymore.
16
@VHZ “I’m not sure anyone knows who Hitler or Mussolini are anymore.”
Yet more “very fine people.”
4
@VHZ So right. Too many are ignorant of world history. Too lazy to get educated about it. Tunnel vision from being brain drained/mesmerized by con man trump. This has to end!
3
As an immigrant of a couple of decades and a big Trump supporter, not because he is perfect but because 1) I agree with his politics in the main (yes even the so called controversial ones I find common-sensical) and 2) I find the new Democrats loathsome (I used to lean Democrat prior to Obama), I noticed that the words patriotism and nationalism were used with pride and as a normal thing, up to the end of the second term of G.W. Bush but, slowly, under Obama and HRC, two globalists and open borders advocates, the word became a dirty word.
One more thing. Once the non whites accrued the critical mass number wise, following 40 years of overwhelming priority of colored people in immigration and Affirmative Action, I have also witnessed, with displeasure, an open and unprovoked non-stop attack on whites and whiteness, and on traditional family values. Obama administration started it and fanned it, with the help of MSM and academia. Hence, my departure from the Democrats whom I will not vote again in my life time who have created unnecessary strife and racial wars and did nothing for the welfare of the country, which has fallen well behind Europe and some parts of Asia.
So going back to Trump, I am proud that he is a nationalist!
2
Recent media content appears to express concern about a number of issues abroad. It seems as though a major holder of US debt, China is building and using many incarceration buildings to control the movement of a large community of Muslims in one ethnic group. There is the Middle East where Palestinians have carried the flag for the persecuted when there are so many more. Laborers, household and otherwise whom are imported, persecuted and die in numbers befitting of definition as ethnic cleansing. Whether the killed are Bangladeshi men working on World Cup facilities or women who work and are abused in households, the atrocities have been endemic. Recent murder of a Saudi Aarabinan journalist is that iceberg's tip. He joins the dead from the Phillipines, Bangladesh, African countries and others responding to advertisement for labour.
Is this any different to the treatment of similar groups on the North and South American mainland? Native Americans, many assigned to barren conclaves co tinue to fester in life denying poverty. The descendants of African slaves are imprisoned and killed by law enforcers in numbers which are multiples of our proportion of the population. Our leadership in Congress ignore this while Trump uses Racism, misogyny and xenophobia as electioneering topics. He attracts large numbers whom support such policies.
We appear appalled by action of Saudi Arabia and neighbors yet support our President and party doing the same. C'mon man!
3
President Trump may not know or care about history, but history will have the last and larger word on Trump. I suspect volumes about how we arrived at a Trump Presidency. Later, there will be vast and ongoing works about the aftermath of his single term. As to work devoted to Trump? Brief, revealing, and sealing #45 as the worst POTUS. His opportunistic backers and ignorant/selfish fans? UnAmerican, shortsighted, and bigoted.
5
Two words come to mind with Trump, "opportunist marketeer". With perhaps the run up to the Civil War being the most shameful chapter in our political history, this is rivaling a close second.
8
Hearing a US president call himself a "nationalist" trying to normalize white nationalism for his base is bone chilling and completely UN-American!
We need to kick him where it counts - in the election!
Vote Democrat!
44
@Edyee He never said he was a white nationalist. White nationalist is actually an oxymoron because nation states and races are two different things. There are many nation states that are multicultural.
3
Yes, Mr Trump's version of "nationalism" is appalling. But, in burying its discussion of Theodore Roosevelt's vision of American nationalism deep in his article, Mr Baker enslaves himself to an ahistorical and shamefully shallow understaning of the history of the term. Both he and the ever-silly Professor McFaul need to read Benedict Anderson: https://books.google.co.jp/books/about/Imagined_Communities.html?id=4mmo...
3
Trump embracing the term Nationalist is simply the height of his ignorance to understanding the wisdom of embracing supranationalism or understanding and embracing the simplicity of the African proverb, 'it takes a village'.
And in cold, hard terms we can clearly associate his identifying himself as a Nationalist with his lifelong existential portrayal of himself as a racist and lying bigot.
And the likeness to what we are witnessing in America today to what the world began to see portrayed in 1930's Europe is now clearly evident and frightening, especially as we witness Trump's poll numbers inching higher.
Personally, I can no longer look around and not realize we have reason to harden our resolve to get the vote out like never before and rid ourselves of this destructive cabal Trump has surrounded himself with, specifically the likes of Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway.
12
"Nationalism" started 2 world wars
Patriotism is loving your country. Nationalism is hating all other countries and people.
He flashes a "white power" hand sign when he labels himself nationalist - sending a clear message to all the klan and neo-Nazi Republicans that he too is a white nationalist.
This nightmare has no place in these United States
VOTE
23
@John You should study what triggered the raise of German nationalism at the end of WWI, before Hitler appeared. Germany was bankrupt after WWI, having to pay large sums in reparations and with the Wall Street crash could not get loans from USA. Germans were living in humiliating poverty and extreme inflation, a few kilos of banknotes to buy a loaf of bread or a bag of potatoes. There is always a cause that should addressed first, not ignored.
1
Trump has declared himself to be an exceptionally intelligent man, so, by his own assessment, he could not possibly be ignorant of what the term nationalist means.
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@Charity Eleson
I do not mean to excuse DT for a second, but I do urge you to read Benedict Anderson.
Your interpretation of someone else's statement and your implied meaning is exactly what gives Donald Trump the strength in public opinion.
In case you haven't noticed, not many in the public are buying your interpretation or implied meanings. The majority of people in this country do not care about what the interpretation of a phrase or an implied meaning from the NYT is from people of other countries. You're actually providing the exact rhetoric he attaches to the media in a negative way.
3
But but .... history. It's called history. And understanding it teaches us a great deal about the world.
5
Nationalism/globalism, that seems to be the great divide right now. Both parties and the MSM all seem to be globalists, but nationalism is rising. Trade agreements, with ISDS clauses, take away national sovereignty with global tribunals that can decide if any nation's laws interfere with a corporations right to profits, and these decision cannot be litigated in the defending country's courts. All our environmental, worker's rights, and health and safety laws can be challenged if they interfere with corporate profits. This is the Davos crowd. The globalists can take their corporations anywhere in the world to find cheap labor. They can mine the raw materials from any country. They want open borders for, again, get cheap labor. Europe is rebelling against this as refugees flood their countries and threaten their national identity. I don't know about Trump's nationalists credentials, but Steve Bannon is assuredly one, and the MSM is attacking him relentlessly. I have been curious and have gone online and listened to many of his interviews. He is not the racist monster the American media portrays. It is complex and I have not decided where I stand. I see pluses and minuses on both sides. But it seems to me that globalism puts more and more power into the hands of fewer and fewer people. We can vote in national elections, but if ISDS clauses in trade agreements can override our national laws, which they can, then I stand on the side of the nationalists.
7
I know trump doesn’t read much (understatement ), including history, but even he must be aware that nationalism and patriotism are not synonyms.
Hitler was a nationalist .
Hey Base - are you seriously going to go all “rah rah” over this?
Where is the outrage?
I have never been so sickened.
Shame on every single one of you white sheep.
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@r mackinnon
I studied European history in high school. "Nationalism" was a 19th century idea about breaking up the repressive empires of the day, particularly Austria-Hungary. What does that have to do with 21st century America? Nothing. It has lost its meaning. Or rather "When I use a word, it means what I want it to mean" (ALICE IN WONDERLAND)
1
Trump is literally a white nationalist. I like that! Let’s make that stick.
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Which responsibilities should fall to the city or town, county, state, national, or global government? Not a new question.
Economically, having the "global" government in charge, has the very serious problem, that there is no global government. The whole idea of economic "globalism", has been used to undermine and dismantle laws and institutions traditionally instituted at the national level, to reduce inequality thorough living wages, laws on living conditions, the environment, etc.
Economic "Globalism", was originally proffered as at once wonderful, and inevitable, for all parties. Now, it seems, anyone who is critical of the these policies - and the inevitable and predictable results of putting first world workers in direct competition with workers earning a tiny fraction of first world living wages - is assumed to have horrible motives and character for doing so.
Our discourse has apparently devolved to the point where we cannot even use the words globalism and nationalism in the context of optimum economic policies. We cannot discuss what we cannot name.
As for solutions? After-wage redistribution cannot be practically done on a global level - and indeed is a political non-starter on a national level in the US. So, pardon me if I see non-wage solutions to the inequality problem, as just another disingenuous solution offered by Democrats - the traditional (but no longer) protector of the New Deal policies which gave the middle and working classes livable wages.
4
Trump's use of the word "nationalist" viewed from any lens (political, economic, or personal) is appalling. Whether or not it is coupled with "white nationalism" or in supposed defiance of "globalism," it is the demonstrable historical precursor to the rise of Nazism in Germany, and is undeniable and spine-chilling.
We have been subjected to a POTUS for the past two years who consistently lies, refuses to educate himself on important issues, and who supports and praises dictators across the globe, while abandoning democratically elected leaders in our allied nations.
The "Trumpian base" to whom this "nationalist" label appeals has been harboring racist, xenophobic and misogynistic attitudes for many years. They have now been given validation and encouragement by the deranged would-be despot in the White House.
This midterm election is truly the most important in my lifetime. I've been voting since the early 1970's, and have witnessed many dubious political ploys to attract the votes of our citizenry. However, Trump's lies, fear-mongering, historical ignorance, and his appeal to the basest instincts of the voting public are the absolute worst I can remember.
The only way we can put a check on this delusional, unpatriotic (and perhaps treasonable) behavior of the POTUS is to vote, and kick out the GOP sycophants who have done nothing to stop his madness.
VOTE BLUE on November 6th!
11
9/11 presented the quandary of what to do about Al Qaeda-style actors who defeated many defenses by not caring about them; they were fully prepared to commit suicide to coordinate attacks for an extremist cause. That approach rendered our conventional military tactics outdated. This strikes me as similar in that Trump and his followers increasingly don't seem to care about the racist label and affirmatively embrace white male dominance as a tool to achieve their ends. They can't be defeated by mere social pressure against racist attitudes if they embrace them as a large enough group. After 9/11 the military had to learn to fight differently and now I think the majority of us who don't want the nation to be a racist patriarchy need to rethink our approach too. Dialogue doesn't work. There is no reasoning with Trumpies about ethics and right and wrong because they affirmatively want what the devil is offering. All arguments just bounce off them and ricochet because they just don't care, and I mean they actively do not care, and they aren't going to. Voting is iffy - With gerrymandering and the electoral college and such the Democratic vote now counts for only a fraction of a Republican vote; voting is unequal and under constant assault and that only seems to get worse. We need other tools.
7
Taken alone, a president calling himself a nationalist might not be a nod to white supremacists or put him in league with other self described nationalists that ripped up their constitutions and stated murdering their own people.
However, with Trump it is just one more thread in a tapestry of evidence that he is using white supremacy and jingoism as tools to attack our Republic.
NAZI was an acronym for National Socialist German Workers' Party. "Fine People" is how Trump described torch carrying thugs who chanted Nazi Slogans ("Blood and Soil" and Jews will not replace us."), and went on to beat up a handful of peaceful protesters. (Trump's base is violent mobs, while left activists are merely rude.)
Trump regularly allies himself with racists, and talks in the code of white supremacy. On the day that two out his close allies were convicted of crimes, Trump repeated white supremacist propaganda that South African blacks were murdering whites for their land, for example. When he wants to appear presidential, he woodenly reads denunciations of racism from a teleprompter, but when he gets angry, he blares fluent white supremacist off the top of his head.
Trump regularly uses ancient insults when talking about blacks like "low IQ," called Mexicans rapists, etc.
And it's not limited to Trump. The Republican Metropolitan Club of NY invited white supremacist thugs to speak last week.
Nationalism is a call for war, and white nationalism is s call for civil war.
Save the USA!
10
Sadly, it's no surprise Trump is unaware of historical context of nationalist/nationalism. Past poor academic performance and daily examples of low I.Q. are evident for anyone to see.
Sadder still is how Trump unapologetically floats his fictionalized definition knowing (and/or ignoring) political consequences to our diverse America.
Yet another obvious example of Trump's racism, ignorance and self-aggrandisement. The definition of deplorable.
29
Well, Fred Trump was arrested at a KKK rally. White nationalism seems to be a center point to their philosophy. Trump does worry about "good people" at the unite the right riot. He does ridicule people of color. Have you noticed Trump is having trouble knowing the difference between people i.e. Michael Bolton vs. John Bolton? Cory Booker vs. Andrew Gillum? Comprehension of the connotation of the word "nationalist" seems to be a problem too. "America first does not mean America alone". Ok.
9
If trump were truly looking out for America first, he would resign. That would be best for America. If trump were truly looking out for America first, he would not have walked away from the Paris agreement. Or denigrated the Free Press. Or criticized athletes for kneeling in protest. Or called women pigs. Or treated most Americans as if we did not exist. Or read a history book to understand the principles this country was founded on. No trump is not putting America first, he is putting trump first, as always. End the trump charade. Correct the 2016 election. Vote Blue.
28
Word meanings do change over time. Today the president said nationalist was a good thing. My dictionary says “a person who advocates political independence for a country.” Ok so it no longer has the old meaning with all its baggage. Except that and welcome to 2018. Gay used to mean happy “ look he’s gay.” Meaning that guy is happy. Not so much today. I think it’s knit picking. Nothing wrong with promoting your own country. I did find it humorous that this MAGA was held at the “ Toyota Center” but maybe being a nationalist it will change to the Chrysler Center some day.
2
That would be the Fiat-Chrysler Center.
1
@J Clark I'd maybe agree with you if this was the only example of trump ignoring historical context---or being completely ignorant of history, for that matter. He knows shockingly little about US and world history and cares even less. That much is very, very clear.
PS, it's "nit", not "knit", as long as we're talking about traditional use of language
3
@Katherine
He knows very, very little about his job. I remember before the election when he said he didn't like one of the Constitutional Amendments and would ask/tell Congress to change it. Congress has no power to change amendments. That's when I realized that he was an idiot who shot off his mouth without knowing what he was talking about.
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.”
- Sydney J. Harris, a journalist who would now be labeled an “enemy of the people” by our Nationalist-in-Chief
44
Trump claims to "love America." Is that because he and his daddy were able to avoid paying their fair share in taxes over the years? My mother had a word for people like Trump - freeloader. If Trump loves America he should show us his tax returns.
50
Yep, Trump is truly a freeloader when it comes to paying taxes to support America & its people.
And don't forget his freeloader mentality and daddy's wealth saw him dodge civic responsibilities during the Vietnam war. McCain was one of your American patriots, while Trump is a freeloader nationalist who greedily chants "gimme gimme gimme more".
1
And why not just describe yourself as American? Being American includes some brashness, some thinking outside of the box, and a struggle to follow the ideals of the Bill of Rights and the message on the Statue of Liberty.
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@Monica C
Yes, I agree, but that view is in a 'perfect world' scenario and we are clearly not there right now with Trump in office. We can no longer keep taking spatulas to knive fights.
Why?
Requires thought
Ie before opening one’s mouth
Or being American describes one as being an inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere which includes all the people brashly marching north in desperation.
2
There is a better word, one that those who are riveted by the need to appear all fair-and- balanced are afraid to say: crooked. He can call himself a nationalist all he likes, clicking his heels while yelling, "America First," but he's still a crook and always has been.
115
@Mark Lebow Yes, and won't we be glad when he proclaims, "I am not a crook." And then ends up in the same place as his predecessor who first said it.
The whole Nixon quote is even more interesting in its parallels, given the recent NY Times exposé on how Trump got rich and how he has lied about it:
Nixon replied “people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
It is sickening to watch Trump inflict punishment on his own base, taking pleasure in watching them blindly follow him as he pulls the rug out from under them. Honesty, decency, respect and kindness - this nation needs to return to these basics.
Trump is glad he gave 62+ % of last year's trillion dollar tax cuts to folks within the upper 1% of income, and glad to enact additional cuts earlier this year and to have proposed this week to give another huge tax cut to these same blokes.
Although he failed to repeal Obamacare, over the past two years Trump and Congress enacted many measures that raised premiums 20 percent over what they would have been if they didn't cut out such protections.
Trump’s tariff policies force working-class families to pay lots more to buy groceries and other products.
Trump's policy to remove requirements for more efficient cars require that working-class families pay more for gas.
Trump's environmental and worker protection policies removed many regulations that require industry to protect human health and the environment, resulting in shorter worker lifespans and increased rates of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Hopefully the American electorate wakes up, change their 'lifestyle' for 15 minutes, and go to the polls.
Hopefully, turnout on November 6th will break records, especially among women voters.
And hopefully, Trump and his actions to support and benefit only the rich will hit a brick wall and be properly pushed back.
107
@Ed I’m much less sickened by Trump punishing his base than his punishing everybody else. Trump supporters are getting exactly what they voted for. They’ll tell you so themselves.
11
Ignorance is bliss yet again for Trump for not knowing or checking on the definition of nationalist. How hard is it to use a dictionary or do a google search? Then again perhaps he wants to reinforce his relationship with white supremacists. Bring out the tiki torches!
44
@Brenda PratherI
I deplore Trump's words and actions, but if you look up the definition of nationalist, Trump IS using it correctly. While it is often associated with "White Nationalists," this is NOT how he is using it. Could we please stop focusing on this word and instead focus on the very real problems he is creating? By creating a media storm on issues like this word, we dilute the argument against his reckless actions and people in the undecided middle might start to take his side because they can easily see the media as slanting his words.
5
Will no politician just stand up at microphone and just laugh at him and say “man, just when I thought Trump could not say anything more stupid, he goes again and tops his last one”? I think if politicians just shook their heads and laughed that it would eventually get to him... they have to be blunt and dismissive of him regardless of the topic.
Trump is the drunk uncle at thanksgiving that spouts racist things but of course he also has another thing in common with drunk uncle, just as his daughter.
42
The UN assembly did openly laugh at him during his last speech. And now he’s turned it into a badge of honor.
29
@Michmike978 - the people in front of the microphones are the staff at Fox News where the producers take Trump's rhetoric, add background music then nod admiringly at the cameras which is then viewed by his supporters at home. The Trump supporters aren't watching "Meet The Press" to get a dissection of the words and meaning. Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court - they won, as Trump says. This successes as presented on Fox are all the happy supporters see.
9
The problem is that, while it is easy to dismiss Donald Trump, you cannot dismiss the President of The United States. Unfortunately, Donald Trump happens to be President.
2
If Democrats and independent voters sit out the midterm electiom, take a guess what DT and the GOP will evolve into if they retain control or even win more seats?
140
You mean if GOP are successful in continuing to disenfranchise and suppress voters most likely to vote democratic, right?
2
As with most of his comments, policies, and opinions, Trump speaks off the cuff and from a position seated firmly in ignorance. His only goal is to promote Trump. Whether we are discussing his ego or his brand is all the same. Trump just wants to keep the press talking about him. It distracts us from the real issues and problems in this world. His presidency has been one crises after another. We pinball from one to the next so quickly that we can't even remember what happened two weeks ago. Trump controls the message, the dialogue. He dangles the worm in front of us and we bite. Trump is in control and the press his outraged puppets.
58
@TW
Wrong. Trump is the leader of the U.S. white supremacy movement.
Sheriff Arpaio was running what HE called "concentration camps" for Spanish people that he decided were illegal immigrants without due process. Some were U.S. citizens! A judge ordered him to stop. He was convicted of contempt of court because he ordered his department to ignore the judge's ruling.
Trump pardoned this racist state terrorist.
Do you think that people that fly the Confederate flag and chant "Jews will not replace us" think Trump is their savior by accident? Do you think the leaders of white supremacy organizations thank Trump for his support out of some kind of misunderstanding?
While denying that thousands of Puerto Ricans died after Hurricane Maria, Trump said there were "unsung successes" in that recovery effort he led. I guarantee that he was telling the white supremacists that ignoring the deaths of thousands of brown U.S. citizens is success.
People that chant "Jews will not replace us" before they beat up a handful of peaceful protesters are not "Fine People." They are white supremacist terrorists.
While the Party of Trump bans immigration from Muslim countries (as he kow tows to Saudi Princes), and whines about politicians being yelled at in restaurants, right wing terrorists have killed many thousand of Americans of in the last 25 years, more than all international terrorists combined. The left has killed almost no one.
See the big picture. None of this is an accident.
5
What is going on here? No checks or balances against this?
36
@ACB Yes, there is. It’s called voting. No one to save this country except the people.
8
@ACB
The Party of Trump is actively attacking all checks and balances. That is the plan.
4
“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” ~Charles De Gaulle
309
@Lebowski2020 When Trump cried out for Patriotism, progressives called him a racist and isolationist. I doubt there is a word that the far left would except from Trump except 'I quit.' The resistance is really getting old, especially when you turn against those of us that want borders controlled and respected and an end to illegal immigration, calling us racists.
1
N in Nazi for National stood
And Trump’s in the same neighborhood,
His addled brain this idea can’t accept
He never reads, watches TV
A thinker he will never be
A Nationalist he thinks is his concept.
Coincidentally a racist, too
Another term that he will never rue
A white man with an orange face, it seems,
Misogyny thrown in
Thinks grabbing’s not a sin
Completely harebrained in his many schemes.
91