Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

babylonsister

(170,955 posts)
Wed Dec 28, 2016, 11:33 AM Dec 2016

Trump has released a malevolent spirit upon the land. Happy new year!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-released-a-malevolent-spirit-upon-the-land-happy-new-year/2016/12/27/f6aa37b2-cc6a-11e6-b8a2-8c2a61b0436f_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-c%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.d37648d100c1

Trump has released a malevolent spirit upon the land. Happy new year!

By Kathleen Parker Opinion writer December 27 at 8:00 PM


CHARLESTON, S.C.

snip//

To put a fine point on it, Donald Trump’s election has released a malevolent spirit upon the land. He invoked the magic message — essentially them vs. us — and the demons disembarked from their dark hiding places. He raided the lost ark and lifted the lid, and the whirlwind of humankind’s worst impulses escaped.

Hyperbolic, yes. But when the next leader of the free world casually comments that we need to build up our nuclear arsenal — and seems to welcome a return of the Cold War — alarm expressed in the strongest terms possible is required. When such alarm did find expression around the nation and the world, the president-elect huddled in his “fake news” bunker and claimed that his remarks were quoted incompletely. He took special aim at NBC News, tweeting that the network “purposely left out this part of my nuclear qoute {sic}: ‘until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.’ Dishonest!”

snip//

“We won, you lost — get over it” is what now passes for a serious dialogue about matters of immense importance.

The notion that people who still express concerns — including three professors of psychiatry who’ve signed a letter suggesting the man isn’t well — are just sore losers is nonsense. When the president-elect of the United States so cavalierly threatens to unravel the fragile threads that hold civilization together, there are no winners. He or she who is not worried is not paying attention.

My personal stake, other than the fears herein described, is well and good. What’s bad for the republic is good for columnists and cartoonists, though this time, I admit, the muse’s generosity is less enjoyable.

These are also not simple partisan fears. Many Republicans I know are “slightly terrified,” as one Trump voter recently put it to me. That most, if not all, Democrats are, too, doesn’t have to mean they’re all excessively disappointed, though many surely are. Nor, as the incensed have written, does my non-support of Trump translate to support for Hillary Clinton. We call that a non sequitur.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Trump has released a male...