Politics
Out of context: Reply #24301
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The Left is Self-Destructing
The mindlessness is unbearable. Amnesty International tells us that we must “fight the Muslim ban” because Trump’s bigotry is wrecking lives. Anthony Dimaggio at CounterPunch says Trump should be impeached because his Islamophobia is a threat to the Constitution. This is not to single out these two as the mindlessness is everywhere among those whose worldview is defined by Identity Politics.
One might think that Amnesty International should be fighting against the Bush/Cheney/Obama regime wars that have produced the refugees by killing and displacing millions of Muslims. For example, the ongoing war that Obama inflicted on Yemen results in the death of one Yemeni child every 10 minutes, according to UNICEF. Where is Amnesty International?
Clearly America’s wars on Muslims wreck far more lives than Trump’s ban on immigrants. Why the focus on an immigration ban and not on wars that produce refugees? Is it because Obama is responsible for war and Trump for the ban? Is the liberal/progressive/left projecting Obama’s monstrous crimes onto Trump? Is it that we must hate Trump and not Obama?
Immigration is not a right protected by the US Constitution. Where was Dimaggio when in the name of “the war on terror” the Bush/Obama regime destroyed the civil liberties guaranteed by the US Constitution? If Dimaggio is an American citizen, he should try immigrating to the UK, Germany, or France and see how far he gets.
The easiest and surest way for the Trump administration to stop the refugee problem, not only for the US but also for Europe and the West in general, is to stop the wars against Muslim countries that his predecessors started. The enormous sums of money squandered on gratuitous wars could instead be given to the countries that the US and NATO have destroyed. The simplest way to end the refugee problem is to stop producing refugees. This should be the focus of Trump, Amnesty, and Dimaggio.
Is everyone too busy hating to do anything sensible?
It is very disturbing that the liberal/progressive/left prefers to oppose Trump than to oppose war. Indeed, they want a war on Trump. How does this differ from the Bush/Obama war on Muslims?
The liberal/progressive/left is demonstrating a mindless hatred of the American people and the President that the people chose. This mindless hatred can achieve nothing but the discrediting of an alternative voice and the opening of the future to the least attractive elements of the right-wing.
The liberal/progressive/left will end up discrediting all critics, thereby empowering those to whom the liberal/progressive/left are most opposed.
- Good piece but yet again makes too many assumptions.fadein11
- 1. The idea that the left hasn't opposed all those wars is a sweeping generalisation.fadein11
- 2. Is the definition of left now someone who voted for or liked Obama? There hasn't been a left administration for decades.fadein11
- 3. The Muslim ban is potentially an omen of a far more dangerous regime than anything that has come before.fadein11
- And I thought you had written it - was about to virtually shake your hand on some great writing. You forgot the quotes.fadein11
- Trump's 'America first' policy would suggest that people opposing Trump also need to maintain their focus domestically, if they are to effectively challenge theBuddhaHat
- changes happening in the US that they don't agree with. That's not to diminish the suffering of others, it's just not where the political battleground is atm.BuddhaHat
- Silencing the EPA, immigration bans, suspect cabinet nominations, lack of transparency are by and large domestic concerns.BuddhaHat
- There is far more general outcry against Trump than, for example, the Yemen War. I think that's a fair point and not an assumption at all.********
- Everyone I speak to is hating Trump. There was an anti Trump march in Brighton last night. Yet, no one is talking about the war that...********
- ...creates the refugees in the first place. That is the main point here.********
- I never saw an anti-Obama march in Brighton.********
- I've been shown videos of people crying because their brother or cousin can't get back in to America. That's sad but fuck me is that worse than...********
- ...the children that die in Yemen every single day because of the war? Yet people's focus is on one man who hasn't really even done much yet.********
- I think it's just a bit scary how warped people's moral compasses are.********
- http://www.washingto…
As of 2015, the US had been at war for 222 of its 239 years.BuddhaHat - I think that statistic alone sort of normalises the average American's opinion on their country being at war. Much closer to home however, a new, extremelyBuddhaHat
- It's a fair point that we should be concerned about both. However...when he says "the war that Obama inflicted on Yemen" that isn't accurate at all.yuekit
- polarizing figure has taken the White House, and has caused a degree of chaos within days of his inauguration. I think it's understandable in this contextBuddhaHat
- that people's attention might be elsewhere. Again, I'm not trying to diminish the support of Saudi troops in Yemen, or the victims of the war. It's a tragedy.BuddhaHat
- the US* support of Saudi troops in Yemen. Apologies.BuddhaHat
- What is happening in Yemen is a civil war between two sides. Saudi Arabia intervened on the side of the government, the U.S. provided logistics support.yuekit
- By all accounts it's been a brutal intervention against the rebels on the Saudi part and has ended in a stalemate...but there would still be a civil war goingyuekit
- on regardless.yuekit
- @set but agree on the march aspect. Where i live there was a huge protest in the city last night and i was flabbergasted at some of the people i knew who attendfadein11
- ed. But perhaps that's a good thing.fadein11
- I hear you. I think it's a good thing that people are getting out and trying to do something, I fear they're focusing on a futile end goal...********
- ... but yea maybe it's better than nothing. I'm not so sure at this point.********
- Wordfadein11
- Amnesty was very vocal throughout the last few presidencies, it's probably been said here already, but you clearly do not know what you're talking about.ben_
- Have a little read through the notes here before coming in with silly quick fire opinions, bentard.********