An ugly pattern is taking shape. Trump exaggerates certain threats. He plays down other ones.

[Arkansas Granny]

President Trump’s reluctance to issue a direct, full-throated condemnation of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville continues to be scrutinized for clues to Trump’s personal sympathies (his racism and white nationalism) and to his political imperatives (his need to avoid alienating hard-core elements of his base at a time when scandals are closing in and his unpopularity has driven him into the danger zone).

But that reluctance should also be looked at against the backdrop of a broader pattern that has taken shape, one that could have serious policy consequences for the country. Trump has been dramatically inflating certain types of threats (those posed by immigrants and migrants from majority-Muslim countries) while playing down or failing to acknowledge the seriousness of other ones (those posed by domestic right-wing extremists and potential Russian sabotage of upcoming elections).

Two new pieces make this pattern starkly clear:

First, Trump continually exaggerates the threat posed by immigration. The Post’s Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports on a new Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that has been filed against Trump’s Justice Department. To summarize, the lawsuit seeks to establish whether Trump lied in a speech to Congress this year when he claimed that according to administration data, “the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country.”

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Second, Trump appears to be reluctant to confront the far-right fringe threat — and the Russian threat to future elections. NBC News’s Benjy Sarlin talked to multiple experts who have concluded that Trump needs to more aggressively confront white supremacist groups who, they believe, have been energized by his rise. They are demanding that his administration roll out a comprehensive plan to try to contain this trend. Meanwhile, a memo from the FBI and DHS that was obtained by Foreign Policy warned this spring that white supremacist groups carried out more attacks than any other domestic extremist group in recent years and “will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/08/15/an-ugly-pattern-is-taking-shape-trump-exaggerates-certain-threats-he-downplays-other-ones/?utm_term=.91a7c52a5e85

Personally, I think this is all a part of Trump's attempt to deflect attention away from the Russian connection with his campaign.

[ck4829]

1. It's state sponsored psychosis

I have actually witnessed a person say they would rather be shot at by a white non-Muslim than by a Muslim. And the thing that preceded it wasn't "Would you rather..."

The correct thing here should obviously be "I don't want to be shot at by anybody", how our country is degenerating into this, I don't know, but we need to figure it out, it needs to be treated like a disease.

[MFM008]

2. He IS an ugly pattern

..........