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Category Archives: Politically Incorrect
5 Reasons ‘Seinfeld’ Would Get Crushed by SJWs Today – PJ Media
Posted: February 13, 2017 at 8:46 am
"Seinfeld" stands the test of time ... so far.
Culture is constantly in flux, and sitcoms that once represented the pinnacle of humor can seem antiquated over time. Much of "The Honeymooners" still works as intended, but not every classic crack lands like it once did.
So it's possible "Seinfeld's" signature shtick may strike the next generation as far less funny than audiences who grew up with the show.
And then there's the Social Justice Warrior crowd. They often see today's humor as unacceptable, let alone jokes a mere decade old. These scolds are ready to engage in hashtag wars with any comedian who tells a joke that isn't as polite as they want it to be.
That means SJWs would find plenty of "Seinfeld's best bits offensive. Let's count the reasons SJWs would freak if "Seinfeld" hit NBC today and not during the 1990s.
The four-person ensemble isn't gender balanced. Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine is the only woman in the quartet. That alone could spark trouble. Much worse? The show features a predominantly white cast, and that includes the guest stars. Once more, progressives would actively pressure the show to be more inclusive, particularly in a series set in New York City.
The fact that some of the progressives caterwauling about the ethnic disparity may belong to similarly monochromatic social circles won't stop them.
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He Will Not Divide Us: A Case Study – The Michigan Review
Posted: at 8:46 am
The first week of Donald Trumps presidency has been met with an outpouring of frustration. Large protests and demonstrations took place across the country following the presidential inauguration. Notably, 3.4 million took part in a Womens March, including an estimated 11,000 person crowd in Ann Arbor this past weekend.
More symbolic protests took place as well: in a performance art project co-created by actor Shia Labeouf, a 24/7 livestream recording passerby in New York City chanting the phrase He Will Not Divide Us. According to the projects website (hewillnotdivide.us), the repeated mantra represents a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.
The livestream takes place in an enclosure attached to NYCs Museum of the Moving Image, and is open to the general public. The projects creators intend to continue the stream for the entirety of Donald Trumps presidency. However, the first few weeks since the projects unveiling have been tumultuous, to say the least. Contrary to the projects intentions and intended subjects, the livestream has featured a large number of Trump supporters, white supremacists, and representatives of 4chans /pol/ politically incorrect image board.
These members of the Internets anti-left sphere have gleefully and effectively disrupted he will not divide us using the guerrilla tactics of online trolling. A now-viral clip from the stream shows a young man (reportedly 16 years of age) interrupting a crowd of He Will Not Divide Us (HWNDU) chanters, including Shia Labeouf, and yelling white nationalist slogans such as 1488. Enraged, Labeouf began verbally assaulting the young man and chased him down the street. The exchange led to Labeoufs arrest live-streamed a few days later, and a subsequent flurry of memes highlighted the absurdity and hilarity of the incident. Though this white nationalist appeared to be sincere, he aptly demonstrated the fundamental trolling technique of baiting in other words, saying something inflammatory with the primary intention of provoking a negative reaction in others.
Other, more playful forms of trolling take place constantly. Counter-protestors carry signs displaying /pol/ memes such as Pepe the frog and chicken tenders. On one occasion, counter-protesters wearing Make America Great Again hats began chanting Trump, drowning out the anti-Trump demonstrators gathered. Later, a man managed to convince a crowd of HWNDU chanters to sing a rendition of Happy Birthday addressed to Sam Hyde, comedian and icon of the anti-left Internet. Popular threads on 4chan and Reddit document the derailment of the project, venerating the more clever trolls who appear on camera with affectionate nicknames and memes.
Overall, He Will Not Divide Us has undoubtedly devolved into chaos. Despite the projects goal of 24/7 livestreaming, organizers have fenced off the enclosure several times due to conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters. Even aggressive policing of the area (by organizers and actual police) has failed to prevent more covert trolls who use subtle symbols and gestures to convey politically incorrect sentiments.
Why did He Will Not Divide Us attract such a widespread and persistent trolling campaign? The answer speaks to two important characteristics of contemporary political spheres: the stagnant vapidity of mainstream leftism and the reactionary chaos of the online right wing.
For the former category, He Will Not Divide Us epitomizes the superficiality of celebrity activism and virtue signaling. The chant itself rephrases our complex political climate into an easily digestible, feel-good sentiment: Donald Trump is trying to pull apart our multicultural society, so we need to stick together. Painting Trump as an intentional detractor of societal unity is highly questionable; if anything the left has been hell-bent on destroying a sense of national solidarity post-election (We Will Not Divide Us?). Beyond the message itself, HWNDU comes across as a rather tone-deaf, masturbatory exercise. The endless repetition of one chant is both highly annoying and suggestive of brainwashing. Moreover, chanters carefully dress up to get in front of the livestream camera, taking selfies while looking as indignant as possible. It seems as if this particular brand of protest is intertwined with a desire for social approval.
To the anti-left Internet, these off-putting characteristics of HWNDU make it a target. Perhaps the defining characteristic of the underground-internet right is disillusionment with mainstream leftism. Secondly, this sense of disdain is bolstered by a sense of loyalty towards Trump, a disposition widely shared in the online right community. Indeed members of the alt-right diligently troll never trump neo-conservatives on Twitter such as Rick Wilson.
The final piece of the HWNDU puzzle is 4chans ideology of chaos. Though the anonymous image board has no formal creed, it holds a proud legacy of large-scale trolling attacks; for example, in 2009 users successfully rigged Time magazines Worlds Most Influential Person online poll to award the title to Christopher Poole, 4chans founder. In general these concentrated efforts have been motivated by little other than schadenfreude and a nihilistic pleasure in seeing the world burn.
Intrinsically counter-culture, 4chans ethos found its most potent political match in Donald Trump. Interestingly, 4chans political board (/pol/) held a mix of largely left-wing and libertarian views during the Bush years. However after 8 years of an Obama backed by an increasingly zealous left-wing media establishment, /pol/ rallied around Donald Trumps inflammatory tweets and anti-establishment rhetoric. As the election progressed, /pol/ culture spread beyond 4chan to a wider range of online political communities, such as the pro-Trump subreddit /r/the_donald. Though considerably watered down, these cultural outposts retained much of /pol/s slang, memes, and rhetoric.
Taking into account the online right-wings influences, the He Will Not Divide Us fiasco thus appears as an explosive intersection between two contemporary political forces. On the one hand, a passionate left-wing vanguard struggling to find a revolutionary foothold; on the other, a nihilistic force of destruction, only loosely bound by Trump and anti-Leftism.
Though the HWNDU battle will likely fade into obscurity, it may hold great significance for the future of political discourse. The two parties on display are relatively young, both in age and political relevancy; they are active and growing forces in the increasingly-important political world of the Internet. As a result, their incompatibilities and tensions will only grow in relevance as the nature of the modern left-right political spectrum evolves. It is crucial, then, to trace their developments and understand their dangerous incompatibilities these factors will undoubtedly help define American politics in the Trump era as well as the Internet era.
Amo Manuel is a sophomore studying History and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, he is a "political agnostic" and plays jazz bass in his spare time. He can be reached at amory@umich.edu.
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Stutch’s compliment comes with a sting – Crikey (registration)
Posted: at 8:46 am
Ms Tips often enjoys the weekly email from Australian Financial Review editor Michael Stutchbury sent to subscribers of the paper, but we found last Fridays edition particularly revealing when Stutch recounted speaking at the launch of Spectatoreditor and AFR columnist Rowan Deans new book, Way Beyond Satire.
Stutch wrote: The upstairs room in Sydneys Pyrmont Bridge Hotel was pumping, with the Australian Spectator editors fellow Sky News identity, Paul Murray, in full flight and a crowd that included David Flint, Keith Windschuttle, Bronwyn Bishop, John and Nancy Stone and new NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet but also state Labor leader Luke Foley.
If that line-up isnt pumping enough for you, Mark Latham was also there, and the upbeat mood was pro-Trump, Malcolm-sceptic, politically incorrect and conservative-identifying. The write-up gives a bit of insight into what Stutch thinks of Dean, who he calls the papers leading deplorable:
Called up to speak, I said that Dean had become the leading deplorable for our Nancy boy finance sector publication following Lathams controversial 2015 departure. I regurgitated Fleur Andersons line about Cory Bernardi no longer identifying as a Liberal. I half-mentioned how Latham himself had been known to bag fellow columnist Dean as a right-wing nutter. And I lamely suggested that, while Trump had demolished the cultural Left, the conservative Right was surely becoming fertile ground for satire. Not sure that registered!
As a side note, Deans book of columns is published by Wilkinson Publishing, which also published Andrew Bolts latest, Worth Fighting For,and will soon publish Australian cartoonist Bill Leaks collection of cartoons titled, Trigger Warning. Looks like the outfit might be a competitor to Connor Court publishing, which has almost had a monopoly on the weird and wonderful of the Australian political publishing world.
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Another View: Campus free speech comes under attack – The Daily Telegram
Posted: February 12, 2017 at 6:45 am
The Orange County Register
This editorial appeared Thursday in The Orange County (Santa Ana, California) Register:
The violence that erupted Feb. 1 at UC Berkeley during the protest of a planned speech by Breitbart News senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his conservative and decidedly politically incorrect views, was a sorry display and a blow to free speech.
It is ironic that such a demonstration took place at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement during the 1960s. The demonstration began peacefully, with up to 1,500 protesters expressing their opposition to the conservative journalist and speaker. But then about 150 black-clad and masked agitators infiltrated the event, shooting fireworks at police, setting fires and smashing windows on campus and in the surrounding downtown area. Several apparent supporters of the event were beaten or pepper sprayed.
The provocateurs are reportedly from a group called Antifa, which claims to be an anti-fascist organization, yet remains oblivious to the fact that it adopts fascist tactics to violently suppress opposing views.
We regret that the threats and unlawful actions of a few have interfered with the exercise of First Amendment rights on a campus that is proud of its history and legacy as home of the Free Speech Movement, the university said in a statement. (W)hile Mr. Yiannopoulos views, tactics and rhetoric are profoundly contrary to our own, we are bound by the Constitution, the law, our values and the campus Principles of Community to enable free expression across the full spectrum of opinion and perspective.
If only others, particularly on left-leaning college campuses, felt the same way. Even before the violent agitators arrived on campus, for example, the peaceful protesters voiced their opposition to free speech, shouting Shut it down outside the building where Yiannopoulos was to speak and cheering when it was announced that the talk had been canceled.
Yiannopoulos remained defiant afterwards. One thing we do know for sure: the left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down, he wrote in a Facebook post.
Such actions by progressive students to stifle nonliberal campus speakers have become a disturbing trend, however, and have only intensified since the election of President Donald Trump.
There seems to be a cognitive dissonance among them of equating speech that they deem intolerant with violence, and then using actual physical threats and violence to prevent that speech.
It is a sad commentary on our supposed institutions of higher learning when diversity is idolized in every respect but the most important one the diversity of thought; when tolerance is a virtue except when it comes to the tolerance of contrary viewpoints. The culture of too many college campuses has shifted from one of a search for knowledge and truth to indoctrination camps for immature, malleable minds and training grounds for social activism.
Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If youre really in favor of freedom of speech, that means youre in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise, political philosopher and author Noam Chomsky asserted. If our universities are to regain their reputations as places of serious scholarship and intellectual growth for our young adults, then liberal students, faculty and administrators must rededicate themselves to creating an atmosphere that embraces and respects the competition of differing ideals.
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Whoopi Goldberg, a blackface Ted Danson, and the most politically incorrect comedy routine of all time – Telegraph.co.uk
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 7:45 am
On Saturday, Whoopi Goldberg will bring her stand-up show, Whoopi Goldberg Stand Up Live! to the UK for the first time. For one night only, the Oscar winner will give the London Palladium a taste of the kind of outrageous, boundary-pushing comedy that has come to define her over a three-decade career. How outrageous? Well, in 1993, she was partially responsiblefor a comedy routine so incendiary and offensive that it threatened to topple a comedy institution, offended Americans of every race, and possibly ended her relationship.
Now 61, Goldberg, who has dabbled in activism and childrens books in recent years, launched her newest venture last year: a company that makes medical marijuana products to help ease period pains. She also continues to rack up credits on film and TV series. However, Goldberg is more often making headlines for her provocative support of controversial figures, such...
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Whoopi Goldberg, a blackface Ted Danson, and the most politically incorrect comedy routine of all time - Telegraph.co.uk
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Campus free speech under attack, literally – The Spokesman-Review
Posted: at 7:45 am
The following editorial is from the Orange County Register.
The violence that erupted at UC Berkeley last week during the protest of a planned speech by Breitbart News senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his conservative and decidedly politically incorrect views, was a sorry display and a blow to free speech.
It is ironic that such a demonstration took place at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement during the 1960s. The demonstration began peacefully, with up to 1,500 protesters expressing their opposition to the conservative journalist and speaker. But then about 150 black-clad and masked agitators infiltrated the event, shooting fireworks at police, setting fires and smashing windows on campus and in the surrounding downtown area. Several apparent supporters of the event were beaten or pepper sprayed.
The provocateurs are reportedly from a group called Antifa, which claims to be an anti-fascist organization, yet remains oblivious to the fact that it adopts fascist tactics to violently suppress opposing views.
We regret that the threats and unlawful actions of a few have interfered with the exercise of First Amendment rights on a campus that is proud of its history and legacy as home of the Free Speech Movement, the university said in a statement. (W)hile Mr. Yiannopoulos views, tactics and rhetoric are profoundly contrary to our own, we are bound by the Constitution, the law, our values and the campus Principles of Community to enable free expression across the full spectrum of opinion and perspective.
If only others, particularly on left-leaning college campuses, felt the same way. Even before the violent agitators arrived on campus, for example, the peaceful protesters voiced their opposition to free speech, shouting Shut it down outside the building where Yiannopoulos was to speak and cheering when it was announced that the talk had been canceled.
Yiannopoulos remained defiant afterward. One thing we do know for sure: the left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down, he wrote in a Facebook post.
Such actions by progressive students to stifle nonliberal campus speakers have become a disturbing trend, however, and have only intensified since the election of President Donald Trump. There seems to be a cognitive dissonance among them of equating speech that they deem intolerant with violence, and then using actual physical threats and violence to prevent that speech.
It is a sad commentary on our supposed institutions of higher learning when diversity is idolized in every respect but the most important one the diversity of thought; when tolerance is a virtue except when it comes to the tolerance of contrary viewpoints.
The culture of too many college campuses has shifted from one of a search for knowledge and truth to indoctrination camps for immature, malleable minds and training grounds for social activism.
Published Feb. 11, 2017, midnight in: free speech, UC Berkeley, Violence
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Donald Trump: America’s Politically Correct President – The Atlantic – The Atlantic
Posted: February 9, 2017 at 5:44 am
During the 1990s and again over the last several years, the United States engaged in an intense, wide-ranging argument about the contested concept of political correctness. For its most incisive critics, political correctness was a problem insofar as it elevated deference to political sensibilities overstating or acting on the truth.
Last year, numerous supporters of Donald Trump declared over the course of the presidential election that they supported the billionaire in part because they were tired of political correctness, a phenomenon they associated with the political left. A small portion of those voters were itching to engage in hateful speech. In contrast, many others merely hoped that if elected, Trump would govern as a hard-headed businessman who spoke plain truths about problems that the United States faces. No longer would politically tinged falsehoods shape the presidents words or actions.
Alas, that isnt what happened.
Yes, President Trump is gleeful in offending the political sensibilities of his opponents on the left and right. Sometimes, as with his attacks on the Iraq War, his irreverence is even useful. But Trumps lodestar isnt truth. It is an alternative dogma shaped by his peculiar coalition. And it distorts his words and actions as much as any Washington politician. Rather than address the problems that face America, political correctness be damned, Trump constantly utters falsehoods to gain political advantage, coddles Vladamir Putin, and panders to the sensibilities of Breitbart News, the website formerly run by Steve Bannon, his chief strategist.
Since his political correctness is informed by different orthodoxies of thought, it is aimed in a different direction, but its most dangerous attribute is exactly the same: It is grounded in a refusal to deal with the world as it is. Whats more, complaints from across the political spectrum are long overdue, because Trumps political correctness is already causing him to fail at governing.
This may be most consequential in the realm of counterterrorism.
The United States ought to be on guard against acts of terrorism perpetrated by radical Islamists. And it ought to be on guard against terrorists with other motives, too. Given the scale of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, al-Qaedas ambition to top it, and the rise of ISIS, many intelligent observers have concluded that Islamist terrorism is the sort that poses the biggest threat to the West. If that judgment is correct, there is little doubt that the next biggest threat to the West, judged using the same standards, is the one posed by right-wing extremism.
The body count illustrates why that threat is not to be ignored.
The second most deadly terrorist attack in American history occurred on April 19, 1995, when Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used a truck bomb to blow up an Oklahoma City federal building, killing 169 people and injuring hundreds more. A New America Foundation study released in June 2015 found that right-wing terrorists killed 48 people on U.S. soil in the period after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For example, on June 17, 2015, the white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. And Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old with ties to neo-Nazi and white-supremacist groups, killed six and wounded four in a 2012 shooting attack on a Sikh temple.
In Europe, Anders Behring Breivik, an anti-Muslim and anti-feminist radical, killed eight people with a bomb in Oslo, Norway, then shot 69 people at a youth camp for future leaders of his nation, hoping to draw attention to his right-wing manifesto. After extensive study, the Terrorism Research Initiative attributed 303 deaths to right-wing extremist terrorism in Western Europe from 1990 to 2015.
Most recently, on January 29, Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old, allegedly burst into the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City and killed six Muslims at prayer, The Economist reports. The victims included a university lecturer, a pharmacist and a halal butcher. More than a dozen other worshippers were wounded. A friend of Bissonnette said the killer was enthralled by a borderline racist nationalist movement.
During Barack Obamas presidency, critics repeatedly charged that Obama was unable to effectively keep America safe because he refused to use the term Islamic terrorism. They saw his reticence as political correctness run amuck. Obama retorted that he of course understood the nature of the threat, but that he chose his words carefully to avoid legitimating the religious claims of extremists or helping them to drive a wedge between moderate Muslims and the West. There is no doubt, and I've said repeatedly, where we see terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda or ISIL, they have perverted and distorted and tried to claim the mantle of Islam for an excuse for basically barbarism," Obama said. "What I have been careful about ... is to not lump these murderers into the billion Muslims that exist around the world, including in this country, who are peaceful who are fellow troops and police officers and fire fighters and teachers and neighbors and friends."
Obama ordered lethal action against terrorists inspired by a radical interpretation of Islam on hundreds of occasions. Drone strikes approved by his White House killed thousands of people suspected of ties to Al Qaeda or ISIS in majority Muslim countries (along with hundreds of innocent people in those same countries). Regardless, some Obama critics argued that to adequately protect America from a terrorist threat, a president had not only to act, but to name the threat explicitly.
Trump has yet to name right-wing extremism.
He said nothing about the attack in Quebec City. His press secretary, who did mention that attack, suggested that it showed the need for recent security measures taken by the Trump administration, though those measures were targeted narrowly and exclusively at stopping foreign threats from seven majority-Muslim countries. It was as if the press secretary could only conceive of Islamist terrorism.
That is the politically correct posture under Trump.
And Trump hasnt just failed the conservative call terrorism by its name litmus test. It appears his White House will act to reduce right-facing counterterrorism efforts.
The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, Reuters reports, citing five people briefed on the matter as sources. The program, Countering Violent Extremism, or CVE, would be changed to Countering Islamic Extremism or Countering Radical Islamic Extremism, the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States.
Those groups will nevertheless remain a threat.
Just three months ago, in fact, Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were charged with conspiring to detonate a truck bomb in a Kansas apartment complex where more than 100 Somali immigrants lived, Nick Wing of Huffington Post notes. All three were members of a white supremacist group called The Crusaders. The group espoused sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs, according to an FBI agents affidavit All pleaded not guilty.
Once one understands that Trump is inclined to pander to the Breitbart-loving wing of his base, in place of the progressives to whom Obama and Clinton tried to appeal, examples of political correctness within the Trump administration abound. Trumps executive order on travel into the United States didnt flow from a rigorous analysis of flaws in the existing system, or a diligent attempt to study, understand, and improve upon any shortcomings in consultation with people whove worked within the system and understand how it operatesrather, it was a rushed attempt to placate those who want a Muslim ban. While popular at Breitbart, it was executed in a manner so blind to opportunity costs that it likely made America less safe.
Trumps tweet, Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flagif they do, there must be consequencesperhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail! was not a response to an epidemic of flag burning. Indeed, it likely resulted in more American flags being burned than wouldve otherwise been the case. And given the First Amendment and relevant constitutional law, it did not articulate penalties that can realistically be imposed. It was, in other words, factually dubious but politically correct, given a coalition that includes nationalists with authoritarian inclinations.
With regard to Russia, Trump seems to be taking great care to avoid micro-aggressing against its leader. On the alt-right, Vladamir Putin is something of a hero. When confronted by Bill OReilly with the charge that Putin is a killer, a reference to attacks on his domestic political opponents, Trump bizarrely retorted that the United States is not so innocent and that America has lots of killers itself. In fact, domestic political opponents are not murdered in America. Trumps words made no sense as an attempt at clarity, but they make perfect sense if one understands the way Trump has tied his political fortunes to Putin. Rather than say what is true about Putin, Trump says what is politically correct.
In this case, a side-effect is moral nihilism.
Now consider the unusual White House statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Its failure to mention Jews, the group for whom the Final Solution was developed, struck many as incompetence until CNN asked if the omission was deliberate.
Hope Hicks, the White House Director of Strategic Communications, declared that despite what the media reports, we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered. She then referenced all the non-Jews killed in the Holocaust, as if it wouldve been politically incorrect to explicitly mention Jewish victims. Politico later reported that the State Department drafted its own statement last month marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day that explicitly included a mention of Jewish victims, according to people familiar with the matter, but President Donald Trumps White House blocked its release.
The White Houses behavior doesnt make much sense if it prizes common sense over political correctness. But it makes perfect sense if a White House staffer wanted to maintain plausible deniability while catering to the sensibilities of the alt-right, a community where diminishing the relative suffering of Jews in the Holocaust is politically correcttransgressing against Holocaust norms gives them a special thrill. Or even if the original omission was inadvertent, but the White House didnt want to offend those sensibilities by changing the statement.
While Bannons project involves trying to foster white identity politics in countries across the West, Trump himself cares less about the alt-right than an even smaller constituency: himself. He often strays from facts in deference to his own sensibilities.
Prominent among them is vanity.
The plain truth is that Trump lost the popular vote by a wide margin. The politically correct fiction among Trump and his subordinates is that voter fraud cost him the popular vote. And Trump has called for a massive, nationwide investigation into the matter, though he won the election, the Republican Party won both the House and the Senate, and there is no evidence of significant fraud. Rather than adhere to facts, Trump grasps at conspiratorial fictions to coddle himself.
The plain truth is that Trumps inauguration was less well-attended than the inauguration of Barack Obama eight years prior. On the morning after Trumps inauguration, acting National Park Service director Michael Reynolds received an extraordinary summons, the Boston Globe reported. In a Saturday phone call, Trump personally ordered Reynolds to produce additional photographs of the previous days crowds on the National Mall, according to three individuals who have knowledge of the conversation. The president believed that they might prove that the media had lied in reporting that attendance had been no better than average. He pressured this underling to reach a false but politically correct finding.
Whats more, Trump also expressed anger over a retweet sent from the agencys account, in which side-by-side photographs showed far fewer people at his swearing-in than had shown up to see Barack Obamas inaugural. The tweet was factually accurate. The photos werent misleading. But they were incorrect, politically speaking.
I believe that a majority of Trump voters dont give a damn about Breitbart and its ideological project. And they dont care about Trumps vanity either.
They wanted a leader who acted on and spoke the plain truth.
But Trump cant handle the truth. He cannot squarely face the degree to which he is disliked. And Bannon or other advisors seem to have somehow persuaded the president that shamelessly pandering to the alt-right serves Trumps interests. In fact, it makes him more disliked.
A critic of political correctness who planned to vote Trump told me, months before the election, it's almost impossible to have polite or constructive political discussion. Disagreement gets you labeled fascist, racist, bigoted. It can provoke a reaction so intense that youre suddenly an unperson to an acquaintance or friend. Say things online and they'll try to find out who you are and even get you fired. Being anti-PC is not about saying, I want you to agree with me. It's about saying, Hey, I want to have a discussion and not get shouted down because I don't agree with what is considered to be politically correct.
Now that Trump is in power, it is almost impossible to have a constructive political disagreement with the president. Criticism gets one labeled a failing liar who peddles fake news, or a so-called judge. It provokes a reaction as intense as the public ire of the president. His surrogates are trying to get people fired for what they say about him. For Trump, its not about having a discussion, its about agreeing with him. As he admits, he says nice things about people who say nice things about him. And he reverses course not based on the truth, but on if others criticize him.
As if unaware of sounding like a parody of a catastrophizing college student, Trump even went so far as to complain that Mike Pence was criticized in a safe space:
He would have Americans believe that a 57-year-old man with a Secret Service detail was unsafe because cast members of a Broadway show made a statement criticizing him!
Trump displays all the flaws attributed to Social Justice Warriorsthin skinned, quick to take offense, a bullying presence on Twitter, aggressively disdainful of comedy that pokes fun at him, delighting in firing peoplejust without any attachment to social justice. On matters as grave as counterterrorism and as inconsequential as the size of crowds, Trump is more contemptuous of the truth, and as driven by what is politically correct, than any president of recent years. That shouldnt bother those who only complained about political correctness as a cover for bigotry. But everyone who complained on principle, knowing a country cannot thrive when disconnected from reality, should demand better.
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Savage Truth: Native American applies to most – 13WMAZ.com
Posted: at 5:44 am
WMAZ 10:47 PM. EST February 08, 2017
Read an article recently in which the writer declared the only true Native Americans are American Indians.
The writer, who'll remain unnamed, apparently adheres to the politically-correct (PC) notion that people born in the United States other than American Indians can't claim to be natives.
That definition for Native American is "a member of any indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere." The PC group use that definition because the followers think Indians are offended by the word Indian.
But many American Indians, including Russell Means, the Lakota activist and founder of the American Indian Movement, favors Indian over Native American.
"I abhor the term Native American," Means said.
Actually, the writer wasn't concerned about Indians or their welfare. She was attacking President Donald Trump on his immigration policies. She claimed the President should remember that everyone in the United States, except Native Americans are immigrants.
That's ridiculous.
Trump's policies include deporting millions of alleged illegal immigrants and preventing people from some countries from entering the United States.
The definition of immigrant is a person who comes to a country "of which one is not a native usually for permanent residence."
A native is defined as "a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth."
The first sentence in Section 1 of Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside."
The amendment was adopted July 9, 1868.
Granted, Christopher Columbus attached the name Indian to the people he saw when he arrived in what's now America. He attached that label because he mistakenly thought he was in the West Indies.
Since then, millions of people have come or been brought to American shores. Indeed, those first arrivals were immigrants, but the sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and generations of grandchildren of those immigrants are Native Americans.
Millions of Americans are descendent of immigrants. They proudly call themselves Native Americans, and they find it politically incorrect and offensive when an ill-informed politically correct person says they're not.
( 2017 WMAZ)
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Lawrence Modisett: Need for political correctness still holds true – The Providence Journal
Posted: February 7, 2017 at 7:44 am
I am writing in response to Thomas Dentons Feb. 2 letter, Politically incorrect crowd doesnt grasp the new rules. Mr. Denton suggests that outside of the Northeast and California, political correctness has taken on a new meaning. He concludes by asking, in a rather mocking tone, How do you like being politically correct now?
Here is my answer. The phrase politically correct may invite ridicule, but the intent behind it should never be a subject for mockery, particularly in our country. Simply stated, the intent is to encourage respect for the feelings of others. It means trying to avoid words and actions that imply that someone who is different in some way is therefore less valued as a human being. Put another way, it means following what Christians refer to as the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. This principle has its counterpart in every major religion.
Contrary to what Mr. Denton implies, I believe the majority of Americans still value this rule, including the majority of those who voted for Mr. Trump.
In todays turbulent political environment, it is more critical than ever to hold true to this sacred principle and defend it whenever it comes under attack.
Lawrence Modisett
Portsmouth
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Letter to the Editor: Political dishonesty – The Lake Country Echo
Posted: February 6, 2017 at 2:46 pm
They promote speculative conspiracies to somehow make people think they are smarter than everyone. And they are going to show us by resorting to violent protests, threats and obstruction of the political process set forth by the Founding Fathers.
Grow up. Our government's first loyalty is to its citizens and the national interests and the preservation of our culture and our civil institutions. The people who elected Donald Trump top worries are terrorism, national security, the economy and the ballooning national debt. We voted for Trump because he isn't afraid to say the things we also say, even if those things are deemed racist, sexist, xenophobic or politically incorrect.
People are fed up, people are hurting, they are very distressed about the fact that their kids don't have a future. America is tired of the 20 percent professional class, which encompasses the vast majority of our media figures, economists, Washington officials and Democratic powerbrokers destroying what built this country - jobs and American ingenuity.
The other 80 percent, the working class, is tired of the 30 years of Washington's free-market consensus, which did nothing more than weaken our economic future. We are the people who elected Donald Trump.
Pastor Dale Anderson,
Backus
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