Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Trump and Biden Are Irrelevant in This Election - great read

[malaise]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar-trump-and-biden-are-irrelevant-in-this-election

In a final plea, the Hollywood Reporter columnist urges voters to reject the status quo: "For the first time, an election is not about the content of the candidates’ character, it’s about the content of the voters’ character."
This is the first presidential election in my lifetime in which the candidates are irrelevant. For the first time, an election is not about content of the candidates’ character, it’s about the content of the voters’ character. We aren’t selecting a president as much as we are proclaiming to ourselves and the rest of the world what America means: Either we want to be a theme park version of Mayberry in the 1950s, or we want to be a vibrant and vigorous leader in democracy that our founders envisioned. One is a simplistic soundstage illusion made of painted plywood that never existed, the other is a commitment to build a reality that embraces the U.S. Constitution’s values of equality and inclusion.

This election is like a UV light at a crime scene that reveals the blood, fingerprints and fibers hidden from the naked eye. Except in this case, the blue light is illuminating the dangerous subversives who openly undermine the country’s most sacred political and social values. A recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that 67 percent of terrorist plots and attacks in the U.S. in the first eight months of 2020 were carried out by white supremacists and other right-wing groups. This follows a report by the Department of Homeland Security that violent white supremacy was the “most persistent and lethal threat in the homeland.” And yet, Trump and his Republican talking heads — who not only don’t condemn such groups, but tell them to “stand by” — have instead tried to frighten us about the 15 million to 26 million protestors who took to the streets this year to support the end of racism.

The past four years have indeed been a crime scene in which the America of the U.S. Constitution has been duct-taped to a chair and relentlessly waterboarded by those chanting “Make America Great Again.” To them, Trump is not a real person, he is a cult figure in whom they have blind faith regardless of what he says or does. Evidence is dismissed — including his own recorded admissions of guilt that prove he has disregarded their welfare, health and even their lives. They worship their fantasy idea of Trump: a comic book maverick who doesn’t need to read, listen to experts, adhere to the rules of decency or follow any code of ethics. Instead, he fulfills their vision of America, not as a land of equal opportunity — but as a feeding trough only meant for those big enough and ruthless enough to bully their way to the front and consume all that they can. The rest can fight over whatever crumbs fall to the ground.

If you think that sounds harsh, then you haven’t been paying attention as the Trump Administration has reduced benefits for the poor, dismissed the existence of systemic racism, endangered the free press, and fought to reduce the rights of women, immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. In Authoritarian Nightmare, authors psychologist Bob Altemeyer and former Nixon lawyer John W. Dean report that about half of Trump supporters agreed with the statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within,” which Altemeyer and Dean describe as “practically a Nazi cheer.” For daddy-issue loyalists, Trump is an authoritarian ideal for those in need of a stern father figure to tell them what to think and do.
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more at link

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. Love Kareem!

[BusyBeingBest]

2. Did not know Mr. Abdul-Jabbar was this good of a writer. One of the best summaries

of the tRump cult I've read anywhere.

[malaise]

3. I try to read everything he wrotes

He's top class

[CrispyQ]

6. He's written a couple of fiction books about Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother.

I have a friend who read one of them & said it was pretty good.

[DFW]

4. Well thought-out.

It's important to remember that when Jabbar was in college, he took his studies as seriously as his athletics, and his writing reflects it.

[bullwinkle428]

5. Damn, this is brilliant. John Fugelsang has used a similar analogy with

the UV lamp. He says something along the lines of, "America is a filthy disgusting old couch, and Trump is the 'black light', illuminating all of the nasty stains and evidence that might not be all that visible at first glance".

[malaise]

7. It's a great analogy

[FakeNoose]

8. Well done!

I didn't know he's a regular columnist at The Hollywood Reporter.
This is quite good. I've already forwarded to a friend of mine.

[malaise]

9. A good friend sent i tto me - sent it to all my siblings

[Hoyt]

10. "It's about the content of the voters' character." +1000000000000000000000000.