(a snippet of a thread, context isn't critical)
I think (hope) Carlos knows the difference between someone with a thoughtful and reasonable reasons (even if he disagrees) vs. someone that hates something and is dishonest about why. It’s easy to say “Trump is a racist that hates Mexicans” Or even “Republicans are horrible and all of them are evil.” Neither of those are my argument. I’d like to think that among reasonable people, it’s understood that sometimes there isn’t a right and wrong. The trap is that when people disagree, both think they’re right and the other is wrong. A gun owner that grew up hunting absolutely should have a different view on gun ownership than a vegan from Williamsburg Brooklyn. Bill Gates may (and should) have an entirely different view on who should get tax breaks than my dad.
I believe the issue Carlos takes isn’t with people who dislike trump, it’s with people who need to add fuel to the fire. You can make very arguments against anything he stands for without saying he’s a racist or a Nazi. Or adding motives to shits he’s said or done.
Fer instance: It was recently a big deal that trump invited some sportball team to the White House and had it catered with fast food. One response to that was that is was racist and since so many of the sportball players were black, he assumed they’d love some McNuggets. I presume Carlos has a problem with that narrative. My argument is that you don’t even need to go to racism to find a problem with that. It’s shows a complete lack of respect for a guest to have an event catered by McDonalds, even if they really like McDonalds. It shows your guest that you did the easy thing and didn’t put an ounce of thought or effort into entertaining them. It makes you look foolish in the eyes of the world. Servants in white gloves lighting candles around a tray of Big Macs while you stand there smiling like and idiot makes you look like the worst possible leader that’s even been chosen to lead anything. A den mother wouldn’t pull that shit on a Cub Scout troop.
Is trump racist? Probably. But in reality, I think he’d join the klan, or kiss a black man on his ball sack, whichever would get him more popularity. But there are so many problems with him, racism isn’t even in the top 10.
Justin
January 28, 2019