Trump, A Moment of National Mourning, and DEI

[Jersey Girl]

Trump, as the Nation mourns the loss of soldiers and civilians in the first large-scale air tragedy in at least a decade, has blamed DEI for the incident. Particularly, DEI in the Military. Reporters have pushed him on it, and he has not only doubled down, but tripled down. This was entirely the fault of DEI.

One pilot of the plane and the crew chief of the helicopter have now been identified to the media. They are both white men.

Bannon called this strategy of Trump's (i.e. being an absolute baboon in every imaginable way possible) "flooding the zone." It's a way to have so much absolutely surreal stuff happening at once, that none of it can be properly covered in the media. This allows you to pepper opportunistic and unpopular smash-and-grab policies without raising alarms. Freeze federal funding, create a concentration camp in Guantanamo, nominate morons to high level positions, unleash child sex predators and violent criminals onto the public... etc. The only question is if Trump is a knowing part of the strategy, or if the strategy was kind of created because of how unhinged, unintelligent and chaotic he is.

It's been a few weeks, and feels like years.


(Crew chief, Ryan O'Hare. May he, and his fellow soldiers rest in peace.)

And despite this, Donald Trump's Approval Rating Now Higher Than in First Term!

This is totally incomprehensible to me! How can anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus Christ so enthusiastically embrace such hateful sentiments! It is now more obvious than ever that to Trump and his MAGA sycophants religious freedom means the right to demonize and persecute anyone who don't share one's own religious convictions.

I would add to your last...or anyone they can't control.

[Gunnar]

What makes Trump's accusation that DEI policies are somehow responsible for the crash the most ridiculous is that he is the one who is trying to replace experienced, career government employees with others based more on their loyalty to him than on their competence and experience. Thus air traffic controllers (for example) approved by Trump, are far more likely to lack the competence to do their jobs properly than DEI employees. I have no doubt that Trump's idiotic vendetta against DEI is far more likely to contribute to tragic events like this than DEI initiatives.

[Gunnar]

And despite this, Donald Trump's Approval Rating Now Higher Than in First Term!

This is totally incomprehensible to me! How can anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus Christ so enthusiastically embrace such hateful sentiments! It is now more obvious than ever that to Trump and his MAGA sycophants religious freedom means the right to demonize and persecute anyone who don't share one's own religious convictions.

I would add to your last...or anyone they can't control.

Agreed!

[Jersey Girl]

I'm just going to quietly place this here. Excerpt. More at the link below. Best to read the full article. I don't even want to think about how this is going to get twisted by the current administration.

Pediatric patient among 6 people on plane that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia | LIVE

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A medical transport jet carrying six people slammed into a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood moments after taking off on Friday, erupting in a fireball and engulfing several homes in fire.

It happened near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard just after 6 p.m. Friday.

Where was the plane going?

According to the FAA, a Learjet 55 departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it went down.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a company based in Mexico that provides global air ambulance services, said the plane was carrying six people, including four crew members, an escort and a pediatric patient.

https://6abc.com/post/northeast-philade ... /15852260/

[Gunnar]

I'm just going to quietly place this here. Excerpt. More at the link below. Best to read the full article. I don't even want to think about how this is going to get twisted by the current administration.

Pediatric patient among 6 people on plane that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia | LIVE

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A medical transport jet carrying six people slammed into a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood moments after taking off on Friday, erupting in a fireball and engulfing several homes in fire.

It happened near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard just after 6 p.m. Friday.

Where wathe plane going?

According to the FAA, a Learjet 55 departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri when it went down.

Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a company based in Mexico that provides global air ambulance services, said the plane was carrying six people, including four crew members, an escort and a pediatric patient.

https://6abc.com/post/northeast-philade ... /15852260/

Yes, I have very little doubt that for the next 4 years, Trump and his administration will twist any disaster or unpleasant news or situations as somehow the fault of Democrats, progressives or any other individuals or groups not slavishly loyal to him or who push back against any of his extremely ignorant views, actions and outright lies, especially disasters or bad outcomes resulting from his own malfeasance and corruption.

[Some Schmo]

And despite this, Donald Trump's Approval Rating Now Higher Than in First Term!

This is totally incomprehensible to me! How can anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus Christ so enthusiastically embrace such hateful sentiments! It is now more obvious than ever that to Trump and his MAGA sycophants religious freedom means the right to demonize and persecute anyone who don't share one's own religious convictions.

Most Americans are stupid, Gunnar.

[Gunnar]

And despite this, Donald Trump's Approval Rating Now Higher Than in First Term!

This is totally incomprehensible to me! How can anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus Christ so enthusiastically embrace such hateful sentiments! It is now more obvious than ever that to Trump and his MAGA sycophants religious freedom means the right to demonize and persecute anyone who don't share one's own religious convictions.

Most Americans are stupid, Gunnar.

I didn't want to believe that. When Obama was elected President, I thought and hoped that, at last, America had finally turned the corner on hateful racism and bigotry and started to move to more tolerance and inclusion of other races and cultures. Alas, because of Trump and his ilk, it seems to have reignited latent bigotry and hatred that I had hoped were on the wane. The deplorable fact that Trump was elected, not once, but twice, led me to the reluctant conclusion that maybe you are right that most Americans are indeed stupid. The decades long efforts of hard right conservatives and wealthy elite to dumb down the American populace seems to be succeeding!

Yet, despite some of its historic and still remaining deficiencies, our country has managed to accomplish many admirable things during its history. The brightest of Americans are unexcelled by the best that any other nation has produced and have created things and ideals that have benefited and inspired most of the world. If only our country had always lived up to its most noble and admirable ideals! The sentiments expressed in the Declaration of independence, the preamble to our Constitution and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are not to be disparaged, and few, if any, countries have advanced the progress of scientific knowledge and technology as much as have the best of the best of our scientists, scholars and inventors.

And what nation in history has dealt with its defeated enemies more fairly and generously than did the USA?

It's sad that, thanks to Trump and MAGA-ism, our nation is devolving into a pariah and laughingstock in much of the rest of our world.

[Jersey Girl]

And despite this, Donald Trump's Approval Rating Now Higher Than in First Term!

This is totally incomprehensible to me! How can anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with the teachings of Jesus Christ so enthusiastically embrace such hateful sentiments! It is now more obvious than ever that to Trump and his MAGA sycophants religious freedom means the right to demonize and persecute anyone who don't share one's own religious convictions.

Most Americans are stupid, Gunnar.

Stupid, disengaged, and lazy.

[Some Schmo]

Most Americans are stupid, Gunnar.

I didn't want to believe that. When Obama was elected President, I thought and hoped that, at last, America had finally turned the corner on hateful racism and bigotry and started to move to more tolerance and inclusion of other races and cultures. Alas, because of Trump and his ilk, it seems to have reignited latent bigotry and hatred that I had hoped were on the wane. The deplorable fact that Trump was elected, not once, but twice, led me to the reluctant conclusion that maybe you are right that most Americans are indeed stupid. The decades long efforts of hard right conservatives and wealthy elite to dumb down the American populace seems to be succeeding!

It's actually America's past accomplishments as well as humanity's in general that gives me the contrast with the way most people behave that leads to the conclusion most people are stupid. I'm of the solid opinion that the fat lazy comfort Americans have enjoyed for so long has made them spoiled and complacent, and unwilling to learn from anything but their feelings.

Learn from history? Bah! What do a bunch of old-timey folks have to teach us?

Stupid, disengaged, and lazy.

Yes... in a big way.

[Moksha]

Learn from history? Bah! What do a bunch of old-timey folks have to teach us?

Stupid, disengaged, and lazy.

Yes... in a big way.

Fox has been shining its Bizarro Ray on the news for so long, that folks do not know any better.