Comment by eesmith | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eesmith | Hacker News Reader

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Calling for a safe spaces? "Trump demands safe space for Mike Pence after he was booed at Hamilton" - https://news.avclub.com/trump-demands-safe-space-for-mike-pe... ("The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!")

Trying to ruin someone's career? "Donald Trump Casually Threatens To ‘Destroy’ The Career Of State Lawmaker" who promoted asset forfeiture reform. - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-destroy-state-lawm... . I believe most people are for forfeiture reform.

Or more recently, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out," Trump said amid applause. "He's fired. He's fired!" - https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-protests-donald-trump... . This form of silent protest against discrimination is increasingly common.

Always claiming to be a victim (though not from some -ism)?

"Trump claims to be victim of ‘witch hunt’ following appointment of special counsel in Russia case" - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05...

"Trump on sex assault allegations: 'I am a victim'" - http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/14/politics/donald-trump-sexu... ("As you have seen, I am a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country")

"Trump paints himself as the real victim of Charlottesville in angry speech" - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/23/donald-trump...

"Trump: IRS audits me because I’m a “strong Christian”" - https://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/26/trump-irs-audits-me-b...

Is Trump an SJW?

Trump is deliberately using the language and tactics of his political enemies against them in a kind of counter-trolling demagoguery.

This is ugly stuff. The discourse has descended to the level where the media is dominated by two different groups of extremist trolls taking potshots at each other using the language of outrage and grievance. The rest of us are caught in the middle and our society is becoming deranged as a result.

Indeed he is. Even more so, go download Tor Browser Bundle and read what the Daily Stormer has to say. Aside the obvious racism, it seems to match what and how Trump talks. Its one of their ways of conducting rallies as well, to cloak themselves in "normalcy" and use the weapons of the other side against them.

On the other side, they are willing to stop at nothing to destroy lives of people they see a threat as well. Ive seen it time and again. It turns into what amounts to a mob, exerting its will.

This is going to end very badly, for many. I see the underlying grievances as something neither side can amicably talk about, nor will either side give up.

How can you tell? Perhaps he's using the language because he really thinks it's meaningful?

How do you know there isn't only one group of extremist trolls?

If two groups disagree, they don't have to be balanced yin and yang.

If two groups disagree, the real answer doesn't have to lie in the middle.

In the 1850s US, there were pro-slavers and anti-slavers. Who was in the middle, and were they right?

But hey, I watch Democracy Now, 'cause I think the the real problems are corporate owned media and media centralization. At the very least, DN doesn't dominate the media.

> In the 1850s US, there were pro-slavers and anti-slavers. Who was in the middle, and were they right?

Abraham Lincoln

And was he right? Because he seems to have changed his mind.

was he right? he's one of the most historically examined leaders of all time and we still don't know. In the present we have the benefit of hindsight and can more easily see that war was inevitable and we might even think Lincoln was foolish to initially pursue a policy that sought to avoid war. Was that so obvious in his own time though?

Lincoln did change his mind but he seems to have changed it not because he had an epiphany about the evil of slavery, but because he became convinced during the war that it would be a total war and not a containable skirmish. once that logic was in play the Emancipation Proclamation made sense to issue. It also bolstered his support with abolitionists.

Today we have no ambiguity about the evil of slavery and view it as one of the greatest moral failings in our history and a legacy we are continuing to face down and one which has caused huge misery for millions of African-Americans. Even with this modern perspective, it's hard to view Lincoln as anything other than a conflicted man trying to weigh very heavy decisions indeed. So I dunno if he was right. I don't think Lincoln knew in his own time and I don't think we will ever be able to adequately judge. We know what happened but we don't know what else could have or should have happened instead.

So the middle between "pro-slaver" and "anti-slaver" is "anti-slaver". Got it

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