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In the middle of betraying his voters by appointing a cabinet of rich oligarchs and conspiring to strip 20 million of them of their health insurance with no replacement in sight, draft-dodging Donald took time on Twitter to criticize Representative John Lewis as all talk, no action. This is the same John Lewis who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights movement. The same John Lewis who was arrested while standing up for his beliefs. The same John Lewis who had his skull fractured while acting on his beliefs.

I've run out of words to describe Trump's profound and impenetrable ignorance. Perhaps someone else would care to give it a try? --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:In the middle of betraying his voters by appointing a cabinet of rich oligarchs and conspiring to strip 20 million of them of their health insurance with no replacement in sight, draft-dodging Donald took time on Twitter to criticize Representative John Lewis as all talk, no action. This is the same John Lewis who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights movement. The same John Lewis who was arrested while standing up for his beliefs. The same John Lewis who had his skull fractured while acting on his beliefs.

I've run out of words to describe Trump's profound and impenetrable ignorance. Perhaps someone else would care to give it a try? --Bob

Your profound and impenetrable bitterness over the election results makes it impossible for you to see anything clearly. Trump posted 2 tweets. You didn't post them. Instead you chose to reinterpret them.

In Tweet 1, Trump wrote:Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......

In Tweet 2, Trump wrote:mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!

He clearly was talking about Lewis needing to do something to help his district today. He was not disparaging anything Lewis did 50 years ago.

Estonut wrote: He clearly was talking about Lewis needing to do something to help his district today. He was not disparaging anything Lewis did 50 years ago.

Well, this is almost as bothersome a comment and shows Trump's profound ignorance of Atlanta. For most of my marriage to Mrs. SSS, I lived in John Lewis' district (due to redistricting, we now live in Tom Price's district, so we'll be getting a new Congressman soon). I work downtown in Lewis' district, which is the home of the Georgia Dome (and the new football stadium that will host next year's college football championship). The 2019 Super Bowl will be held in Atlanta, and the SEC Championship game is held here every year. The NFL would not be holding its premier event in a crime-infested combat zone.

Lewis' district has crime, and there are some rundown areas, but a great deal of it has been renovated and improved substantially during Lewis' term in Congress, and we have a lot of neighborhoods, both white and black, that are great places to work, live, and go for entertainment on weekends.

As usual, Trump displays his ignorance and his willingness to appeal to racial stereotypes by trying to lump all majority-black areas together as drug-infested, crime-ridden combat zones straight out of a movie like Judgment Night.

http://www.ajc.com/news/john-lewis-5th- ... TPMexDR7K/

Drumpf is too busy urinating himself about Alec Baldwin on SNL to care about doing research.

silverscreenselect wrote:

Estonut wrote: He clearly was talking about Lewis needing to do something to help his district today. He was not disparaging anything Lewis did 50 years ago.

Well, this is almost as bothersome a comment and shows Trump's profound ignorance of Atlanta. For most of my marriage to Mrs. SSS, I lived in John Lewis' district (due to redistricting, we now live in Tom Price's district, so we'll be getting a new Congressman soon). I work downtown in Lewis' district, which is the home of the Georgia Dome (and the new football stadium that will host next year's college football championship). The 2019 Super Bowl will be held in Atlanta, and the SEC Championship game is held here every year. The NFL would not be holding its premier event in a crime-infested combat zone.

Lewis' district has crime, and there are some rundown areas, but a great deal of it has been renovated and improved substantially during Lewis' term in Congress, and we have a lot of neighborhoods, both white and black, that are great places to work, live, and go for entertainment on weekends.

As usual, Trump displays his ignorance and his willingness to appeal to racial stereotypes by trying to lump all majority-black areas together as drug-infested, crime-ridden combat zones straight out of a movie like Judgment Night.

http://www.ajc.com/news/john-lewis-5th- ... TPMexDR7K/

John Lewis' district includes an Hermes store. Donald Trump's neighborhood contains an Hermes store. You don't have Hermes stores in crime-infested neighborhoods.

Lewis' district is comparable to the Second Congressional District of PA. That district is 61 percent minority and also includes some pockets of deep poverty. When we sell our house in a couple of years, this is where we will be moving.

Because, it also includes areas of Center City Philadelphia (including the expansion of Comcast/NBC Universal's flagship), areas of growth/gentrification, stable black neighborhoods in SW Philly and Mount Airy, stable majority-white and predominately blue-collar neighborhoods like Roxborough and East Falls and at least seven colleges that I can think of off the top of my head -- Penn, Drexel, Temple, St. Joseph, LaSalle, Philadelphia University and PCOM -- plus the world-renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Plus, historic Germantown, the tony area of Chestnut Hill and parts of the Philadelphia's Main Line, including Bryn Mawr.

I used to drive through Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill on the way home from TLAF's assisted living/nursing home. It's ain't a ghetto.

Trump needs to STFU or research before he tweets. You can't see "majority-minority" and assume the worst. But, jeez, he has no trouble doing that, does he?

And, these tweets and phone calls .... are they on a secure cell phone that can't be hacked?

Estonut wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:In the middle of betraying his voters by appointing a cabinet of rich oligarchs and conspiring to strip 20 million of them of their health insurance with no replacement in sight, draft-dodging Donald took time on Twitter to criticize Representative John Lewis as all talk, no action. This is the same John Lewis who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights movement. The same John Lewis who was arrested while standing up for his beliefs. The same John Lewis who had his skull fractured while acting on his beliefs.

I've run out of words to describe Trump's profound and impenetrable ignorance. Perhaps someone else would care to give it a try? --Bob

Your profound and impenetrable bitterness over the election results makes it impossible for you to see anything clearly. Trump posted 2 tweets. You didn't post them. Instead you chose to reinterpret them.

In Tweet 1, Trump wrote:Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......

In Tweet 2, Trump wrote:mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!

He clearly was talking about Lewis needing to do something to help his district today. He was not disparaging anything Lewis did 50 years ago.

I'm fairly sure it would be impossible for draft-dodging Donald to disparage Congressman Lewis's heroism during the Civil Rights struggle because he was ignorant of it. Just as he's also ignorant of the actual facts concerning Congressman Lewis's district.

But facts didn't matter to him because he was appealing to the stereotype that Congressman Lewis and his constituents are lazy and shiftless. --Bob

While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

flockofseagulls104 wrote:While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

You keep yelling fake news and then you post a link to Breitbart? That was meant as a joke, right?

elwoodblues wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

You keep yelling fake news and then you post a link to Breitbart? That was meant as a joke, right?

Anything there that's not true? Did he say those things, or did he not? And I am not citing these things as 'news', I am citing them to support my opinion (see above). He is entitled to his opinions, but then again, so am I.

I'll bet you spell fox with an 'a' and a 'u' just so you can disregard anything they report that you don't like.

flockofseagulls104 wrote:While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

Leaving aside your refusal to acknowledge the enormous respect Representative Lewis still commands, as demonstrated during last year's sit-in, that's got nothing to do with my point. Trump called this hero of the Civil Rights movement, who literally spilled his own blood during the struggle, all talk and no action. That's despicable. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

Leaving aside your refusal to acknowledge the enormous respect Representative Lewis still commands, as demonstrated during last year's sit-in, that's got nothing to do with my point. Trump called this hero of the Civil Rights movement, who literally spilled his own blood during the struggle, all talk and no action. That's despicable. --Bob

I acknowledged his contribution to the civil rights movement in the 60's. Trump was not referring to his actions then, he was obviously referring to his Congressional career. You seem to be blinded by your hatred of Trump. I am surprised, I once thought you were reasonable but misguided, but you are a hater.

flockofseagulls104 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:While I applaud Rep Lewis for his courageousness and heroism during the Civil Rights struggles in the 60's and 70's, he has, like Jesse Jackson and several others, completely turned his back on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. (IMO). In Congress, he has become nothing but a political hack, and his main weapon is slinging the charge of racism at anything or anyone who doesn't agree with him.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -partisan/

Leaving aside your refusal to acknowledge the enormous respect Representative Lewis still commands, as demonstrated during last year's sit-in, that's got nothing to do with my point. Trump called this hero of the Civil Rights movement, who literally spilled his own blood during the struggle, all talk and no action. That's despicable. --Bob

I acknowledged his contribution to the civil rights movement in the 60's. Trump was not referring to his actions then, he was obviously referring to his Congressional career. You seem to be blinded by your hatred of Trump. I am surprised, I once thought you were reasonable but misguided, but you are a hater.

Trump was obviously playing on the stereotypes of blacks being lazy and shiftless. Apologists like you are simply enabling him.

Trump is a very real threat to American democracy. He has been bought and paid for by the Russians, and the second he takes the Oath of Office, he'll be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. I'm glad that the Senate appears as though it will undertake a serious investigation of his connections to Russia. In the meantime, I'll be doing everything I can to oppose him in any way, shape, or form. And I will never, ever treat him as normal. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:Leaving aside your refusal to acknowledge the enormous respect Representative Lewis still commands, as demonstrated during last year's sit-in, that's got nothing to do with my point. Trump called this hero of the Civil Rights movement, who literally spilled his own blood during the struggle, all talk and no action. That's despicable. --Bob

I acknowledged his contribution to the civil rights movement in the 60's. Trump was not referring to his actions then, he was obviously referring to his Congressional career. You seem to be blinded by your hatred of Trump. I am surprised, I once thought you were reasonable but misguided, but you are a hater.

Trump was obviously playing on the stereotypes of blacks being lazy and shiftless. Apologists like you are simply enabling him.

Trump is a very real threat to American democracy. He has been bought and paid for by the Russians, and the second he takes the Oath of Office, he'll be in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. I'm glad that the Senate appears as though it will undertake a serious investigation of his connections to Russia. In the meantime, I'll be doing everything I can to oppose him in any way, shape, or form. And I will never, ever treat him as normal. --Bob

What is "shiftless"? Interesting you use a word that probably hasn't been used since the 1950s. Are you still living there?

From Breitbart:

2012: Falsely accused Republicans of wanting to take Americans back to Jim Crow. Lewis gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in which he recalled being beaten by white racists, along with fellow Freedom Riders, in 1961. He concluded by implying that Republicans wanted to bring back those days of blood and hatred: “Brothers and sisters, do you want to go back? Or do you want to keep America moving forward?”

Considering that the U.S. Court of Appeals found the North Carolina legislature guilty of intentional racial discrimination in passing their new voting restrictions, I'd call Lewis rather prescient here.

flockofseagulls104 wrote: What is "shiftless"? Interesting you use a word that probably hasn't been used since the 1950s. Are you still living there?

Look at the comments page on Breitbart and you'll see a lot of people who apparently haven't caught your memo Flock; they use "shiftless" a good bit there.

Honestly, Lewis fired the first shot and as such, Trump had a right to respond...it's HOW he responded that is, and has been, my main concern.

As usual, he resorts to his "bull in a china shop" response rather than a reasonably well-thought out rebuttal. As with his reactions to SNL parodies, Hollywood criticism, etc., he goes right to his Twitter account and acts like a 12 year-old girl who has just been insulted by the mean girls at school. His massive ego combined with skin as thin as paper is a tremendous danger. Those who rushed to elect him because he shot straight from the hip lost sight of the absolute necessity of keeping that gun holstered at times. Not even taking into account my disagreements with most of his stated goals (differences in political ideology is one thing, this is another), my biggest fear is and has been that, given his lack of restraint, this knee-jerk response tendency, this inability to absorb criticism of any kind without firing back with schoolyard taunts, indeed without any indication he even knows the meaning of the words dignified or diplomacy, that America elected World War III back in November.

T_Bone0806 wrote:Honestly, Lewis fired the first shot and as such, Trump had a right to respond...it's HOW he responded that is, and has been, my main concern.

As usual, he resorts to his "bull in a china shop" response rather than a reasonably well-thought out rebuttal. As with his reactions to SNL parodies, Hollywood criticism, etc., he goes right to his Twitter account and acts like a 12 year-old girl who has just been insulted by the mean girls at school. His massive ego combined with skin as thin as paper is a tremendous danger. Those who rushed to elect him because he shot straight from the hip lost sight of the absolute necessity of keeping that gun holstered at times. Not even taking into account my disagreements with most of his stated goals (differences in political ideology is one thing, this is another), my biggest fear is and has been that, given his lack of restraint, this knee-jerk response tendency, this inability to absorb criticism of any kind without firing back with schoolyard taunts, indeed without any indication he even knows the meaning of the words dignified or diplomacy, that America elected World War III back in November.

Thank you, T-Bone. That's exactly what I think. What I object to is the people who make things up and stretch logic to pin things on Trump. He provides enough fodder in reality to be worried about. You don't have to make stuff up. But that's what they have been doing for so many years, it must be hard to stop.

But over all, I think it would have been worse with Hillary. It's a close call, though.

T_Bone0806 wrote: my biggest fear is and has been that, given his lack of restraint, this knee-jerk response tendency, this inability to absorb criticism of any kind without firing back with schoolyard taunts, indeed without any indication he even knows the meaning of the words dignified or diplomacy, that America elected World War III back in November.

To at least a limited extent, other world leaders may be a bit reluctant to provoke Trump for fear he might do something incredibly stupid in retaliation that would harm the entire world. One group that won't be reluctant will be ISIS and the other terrorists, because any sort of ham handed, poorly-thought-out reaction by Trump helps their cause and the alternative is that Trump is revealed rather quickly as a paper tiger (which I actually suspect he is).

You can expect them to test Trump within the first few months of his presidency.

silverscreenselect wrote:

T_Bone0806 wrote: my biggest fear is and has been that, given his lack of restraint, this knee-jerk response tendency, this inability to absorb criticism of any kind without firing back with schoolyard taunts, indeed without any indication he even knows the meaning of the words dignified or diplomacy, that America elected World War III back in November.

To at least a limited extent, other world leaders may be a bit reluctant to provoke Trump for fear he might do something incredibly stupid in retaliation that would harm the entire world. One group that won't be reluctant will be ISIS and the other terrorists, because any sort of ham handed, poorly-thought-out reaction by Trump helps their cause and the alternative is that Trump is revealed rather quickly as a paper tiger (which I actually suspect he is).

You can expect them to test Trump within the first few months of his presidency.

It is my belief that a good percentage of American citizens have grown tired of being called -ists and -phobes any time they raise questions about the liberal agenda and narrative. They saw someone who fought back against this unashamedly and many backed him, even though he seemed vulgar and petty. The media gave him so much more airtime than his opponents, some of whom understood the problem and maybe could have addressed it in a more thought out way. The democrats nominated the worst candidate they had, but they didn't have much. So Trump was elected.

That's why we are saddled with Trump. But he is our President, or will be this week. We only hurt ourselves by undermining him regardless of what he does. IMO we have to support him when he does appropriate things and reproach him when he gets out of line. That's all we can do. Making stuff up about him will not help the situation, and if the left want any chance of being an alternative they need to come to the center and stop throwing epithets at everyone who disagrees with them. That's the flaw in Alinsky's method. Once your target becomes aware of your tactics, you become the marginalized party.

[Added] Once you see it, you can't unsee it. For example, after all these years in the public eye, how did Trump suddenly get to be racist number one, associated with the ubiquitous (in election years) David Duke?

flockofseagulls104 wrote:Making stuff up about him will not help the situation, and if the left want any chance of being an alternative they need to come to the center and stop throwing epithets at everyone who disagrees with them. That's the flaw in Alinsky's method. Once your target becomes aware of your tactics, you become the marginalized party.

[Added] Once you see it, you can't unsee it. For example, after all these years in the public eye, how did Trump suddenly get to be racist number one, associated with the ubiquitous (in election years) David Duke?

The notion of "coming to the center" is as quaint as the horse and buggy. When I was growing up, there were centrist Republicans, people like Dwight Eisenhower, Margaret Chase Smith, and Everett Dirksen. They've been drummed out of the Republican party everywhere with the possible exception of one senator from Maine.

There's little that's made up about Trump, but a lot of people like Flock who just won't see what's been shown over and over again. Most people see the problems with Trump (his latest approval rating is 37%, probably a historic low for someone assuming office for the first time. http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presi ... rends.aspx). And let's remember that the "alternative" got three million more Presidential votes than Trump did.

And you do realize that most of us on the left have at best a vague idea of who Saul Alinsky is and we certainly don't study and use his tactics. He's only an all-around boogie man for rightwingers to fret about, who have probably "studied" him far more than any liberals have.

silverscreenselect wrote:
And you do realize that most of us on the left have at best a vague idea of who Saul Alinsky is and we certainly don't study and use his tactics. .

Possibly, but his tactics rely on useful idiots.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote: What is "shiftless"? Interesting you use a word that probably hasn't been used since the 1950s. Are you still living there?

Look at the comments page on Breitbart and you'll see a lot of people who apparently haven't caught your memo Flock; they use "shiftless" a good bit there.

Took you up on that. I did a search for the string 'shift' on the comments section. I got 2 hits. I then changed it to 'shiftl' and got none. Another stereotype that you and Bob are sharing.

As per the content, there were a few nasty shills on both sides, but for the most part the comments were on topic, though not very friendly to Rep Lewis. Compared to the comments sections on some of the left leaning websites, they were love poetry.

flockofseagulls104 wrote:
Took you up on that. I did a search for the string 'shift' on the comments section. I got 2 hits. I then changed it to 'shiftl' and got none. Another stereotype that you and Bob are sharing.

I did a quick google search for "shiftless breitbart" and got 13,800 hits.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:
Took you up on that. I did a search for the string 'shift' on the comments section. I got 2 hits. I then changed it to 'shiftl' and got none. Another stereotype that you and Bob are sharing.

I did a quick google search for "shiftless breitbart" and got 13,800 hits.

All people like you.

silverscreenselect wrote:

flockofseagulls104 wrote:
Took you up on that. I did a search for the string 'shift' on the comments section. I got 2 hits. I then changed it to 'shiftl' and got none. Another stereotype that you and Bob are sharing.

I did a quick google search for "shiftless breitbart" and got 13,800 hits.

I did a more accurate search: "shiftless site:breitbart.com". It got 97 hits. Most of them called somebody (like Obama or Mexicans) shiftless. Some objected to stereotyping. None were about Congressman Lewis.