320 Years of History
Gold Member
Paul Ryan could not have been more clear. Trump's citing Judge Curiel's heritage as being the sole reason why he is incapable of doing his job of impartially assessing the facts and circumstances of the Trump U. case before him (and presumably any other case that comes before him), is, as Spkr. Ryan stated the very definition of a racist's remark, a racist's line of reasoning. I applaud the Speaker for having publicly and unequivocally having said so, for to do otherwise is to (1) show one's own abject stupidity, (2) imply that the most of the rest of us are too stupid to ourselves know blatantly racist remarks/thinking when we see or hear them, and/or (3) to give a furtive "wink and nod" embrace of approbation to racists in the GOP, or some combination of the three.
What is yet unsettling, however, is that alongside his luculent denotation of the nature of Trump's remarks, Spkr. Ryan stopped short of delivering an excoriating and direct condemnation of Trump himself. Moreover, just days later, he reconfirmed his support for Trump. Other GOP leaders have done the same. That they have is deeply troubling to me as I consider the integrity of the GOP and its key leaders.
I don't know how your company works, but in mine, were an employee or principal in the firm to have made such a remark about anyone -- a colleague, a client or a third party -- that person would have had to pen their resignation or be summarily fired, at their option. They'd be gone in the space of hours.
I'm not saying that there are no racists in the firm. (I don't know if there are any; I presume there are none.) I'm saying that once there arises the plausible perception that an individual is a racist, bigot, gay-hater, sexist (either direction), ageist, XYZ religion hater, etc. who harbors feelings or beliefs that any of those types of characteristics are impediments to another's competency and capability to do their job well, they have to go. Period. Indeed, people have been let go for less.
So when I hear the wealth of GOP leaders rightly call Trump's remark for what it is. I say, "Right on." Then I ask myself, "Who other than a racist makes racist remarks like that? Who other than someone who actually believes as true the sort of claim as Trump made would utter such a claim?" Anyone in their right mind, and anyone having half the sense God gave a goose, could have foreseen the rancor and remonstrations that followed remarks such as Trump's and therefore realized nothing encomiastic would come of it.
Accordingly, though I applaud the GOP leaders for what they have said, what they've largely not said and done -- retract their imprimatur of him -- is actually more disconcerting than is their outcry commendable. What am I to think of grown men and women, ostensibly respectable people who hold among the land's highest offices, who "half step" like that? Who puts party loyalty ahead of loyalty for their nation's values? I can see who appears to be doing it right now.
Frankly, it doesn't make me feel good about a large segment of our society, and I'm a white male who has a very long ancestral lineage in the U.S. If I, someone who has little to no personal reason to be distraught by racist remarks, thoughts or acts against non-whites, can see the mixed message being sent overtly and tacitly by the GOP's leadership, I know damn well, that folks who are non-white have to be near apoplectically incensed. At the very least, the dichotomous obliquity between words and deeds has to give them pause when evaluating the veracity of the GOP's claims to want to be more inclusive and welcoming. Those folks know when they are being given the "okey doke," and that's what the GOP leaders' actions and words look like.
What is yet unsettling, however, is that alongside his luculent denotation of the nature of Trump's remarks, Spkr. Ryan stopped short of delivering an excoriating and direct condemnation of Trump himself. Moreover, just days later, he reconfirmed his support for Trump. Other GOP leaders have done the same. That they have is deeply troubling to me as I consider the integrity of the GOP and its key leaders.
I don't know how your company works, but in mine, were an employee or principal in the firm to have made such a remark about anyone -- a colleague, a client or a third party -- that person would have had to pen their resignation or be summarily fired, at their option. They'd be gone in the space of hours.
I'm not saying that there are no racists in the firm. (I don't know if there are any; I presume there are none.) I'm saying that once there arises the plausible perception that an individual is a racist, bigot, gay-hater, sexist (either direction), ageist, XYZ religion hater, etc. who harbors feelings or beliefs that any of those types of characteristics are impediments to another's competency and capability to do their job well, they have to go. Period. Indeed, people have been let go for less.
So when I hear the wealth of GOP leaders rightly call Trump's remark for what it is. I say, "Right on." Then I ask myself, "Who other than a racist makes racist remarks like that? Who other than someone who actually believes as true the sort of claim as Trump made would utter such a claim?" Anyone in their right mind, and anyone having half the sense God gave a goose, could have foreseen the rancor and remonstrations that followed remarks such as Trump's and therefore realized nothing encomiastic would come of it.
Accordingly, though I applaud the GOP leaders for what they have said, what they've largely not said and done -- retract their imprimatur of him -- is actually more disconcerting than is their outcry commendable. What am I to think of grown men and women, ostensibly respectable people who hold among the land's highest offices, who "half step" like that? Who puts party loyalty ahead of loyalty for their nation's values? I can see who appears to be doing it right now.
Frankly, it doesn't make me feel good about a large segment of our society, and I'm a white male who has a very long ancestral lineage in the U.S. If I, someone who has little to no personal reason to be distraught by racist remarks, thoughts or acts against non-whites, can see the mixed message being sent overtly and tacitly by the GOP's leadership, I know damn well, that folks who are non-white have to be near apoplectically incensed. At the very least, the dichotomous obliquity between words and deeds has to give them pause when evaluating the veracity of the GOP's claims to want to be more inclusive and welcoming. Those folks know when they are being given the "okey doke," and that's what the GOP leaders' actions and words look like.
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