Who Is To Blame for Trump’s Win?

I’ve seen many Facebook/Twitter friends post this story from Newsweek:

The implication is that if not for Sanders supporters, Hillary Clinton would be POTUS, not Trump. It wasn’t Bernie Sanders supporters that sunk the Clinton campaign. It was a team effort. It also wasn’t the fault of:

• the Democratic National Committee (DNC),  who  tipped the scales during the primary for Clinton.
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s rigging of the primary for Clinton.
• the lack of an anti-racist candidate with a day one plan for racial justice.
• the DNC’s memo that gave suggestions on how to ignore Black Lives Matter activists.
• Donna Brazile’s leaking of debate questions to the Clinton campaign during the primary debates.
• Bernie Bros.
• #neverhillary voters.
• third party voters
• Sanders’ racist dog whistle of  “going beyond identity politics” in an attempt to sway racist white voters.
• DNC lawyers admitting they would be well within their rights to rig primaries and select their own candidate.
• Russian “hacking.”
• Clinton supporters putting out the myth of violent Sanders supporters.
• Republican voter suppression.
• a corrupt superdelegate  system.
• an archaic electoral college system.
• 53% of white women voting Trump, or Clinton under-performing with Latinos or African Americans.

No, it’s not any one of those things…IT’S ALL OF THEM.

Rishawn and Abdul

Masson’s Blog recently posted about Republicans and Democrats being at each other’s throats and the prisoner’s mentality that has manifested itself here locally.

I think that description applies pretty aptly to the local blogosphere here in Indiana. It reminded me of a recent post over at Taking Down Words blog titled “Law License Flap: When To Let A Story That Really Isn’t Much Of A Story Go.” I’ll let the content of the post speak for itself, but the ensuing orgy of insults disgusted me… and these people are on MY SIDE!

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz and RiShawn Biddle were verbally assaulted in this thread to a point that makes my heart hurt.

Example:

“abdul is a complete moron with a mouth bigger than his ego (if you can imagine that)…”

“She owes you no explanation so shut the xxxx up.”

“Beth = Matt Simmons, the moron who’s running Brizzi’s issueless negative campaign. (he’ll be about as popular as mike murphy by the time this is all done). He’s the same moron who’s running that dumb TDW-wannabe blog about Indianapolis. Zzzzzzzz.”

“You guys are real thinkers…first guys, learn how to write. seriously, you guys are bad. Remember that scene from Top Gun…you stink!”

“Are you billing the State for posting on the blog, Beth? Must be nice to get those insider blow job contracts!”

As my readers know, I’m about as liberal as they come… but when it comes to ad hominem attacks that’s where I draw the line.

RiShawn and Abdul are both conservative pundits. RiShawn works for a conservative newspaper and Abdul works for the local extreme right wing AM talk radio station. At times I find RiShawn to be condescending and aloof. Abdul can be bullheaded and dogmatic… SO WHAT???? Neither resort to personal attacks to get their points across. RiShawn is VERY well read in statistical analysis and theory. Abdul will invite both sides of a topic to speak on his show and he lets both sides talk. It’s obvious to me that he’s got a bias, but he doesn’t let that bias affect the interview.

I’ve had debates with both RiShawn and Abdul on their blogs. Neither have ever stooped to personally attack me. I’ve learned from both Abdul and RiShawn. They’ve challenged me to seek, to dig, to understand the topics that they post about.

I know they have a bias going in… but so do I! There isn’t a person on this earth that doesn’t have some kind of bias, especially when it comes to things political. If a person thinks he’s not biased in some way or another he’s either a fool or a liar.

I think an email response from Abdul says it best, “Good spirited debate is a great thing. It’s the only way to get to the truth. Let’s keep the dialogue going.”

Terrorist Dalia Lama

“If we tackle these problems the wrong way, then while today there is one bin Laden, after a few years there will be ten bin Ladens. And it is possible that after a few more years, there will be 100 bin Ladens.” – liberal commie terrorist Dalia Lama in a January 2006 interview with “The Progressive Magazine.”

TRUTH IS BAD!

A youth opinion writer for the Indianapolis star wrote recently that

“Howard Dean’s recent comment generalizing the GOP as ‘pretty much a white, Christian party’ was both untimely and ill-advised.” and that “The greatest prospect for the Democratic Party to win the 2008 presidential election is its potential to exploit the flaws of the Bush administration. Repetition of the issues, however, and not mindless name-calling, is the key to Democratic victory.”

I responded with the following:

Mindless name-calling? Is it suddenly a mudslinging to speak the truth?

44 of 3,643 Republicans serving in state legislatures across the country are minorities. For those of you into percentages that’s about 1.2%. In Washington, 274 of the 535 elected Senators and Representatives are Republican… 5 are minorities (2%).

Howard Dean simply spoke the truth…. This type of comment is similar to the rhetoric of the Right that demonized John Kerry for pointing out that Dick Cheney’s daughter was a lesbian. Somehow its become controversial to speak truth.

Promise of America

“The promise of America is government that does not seek to regulate your behavior in the bedroom but to guarantee your right to provide food in the kitchen. ”

I’ve not been a real big fan of the Reverand Sharpton…. but last nights speech was AWESOME!