View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: What do you think of Donald Trump’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination?
No respect
Donald Trump is, in no uncertain terms, a jack-a-ninny.
He is the picture of what’s wrong with the Western world, or at least the picture of what plagues the rest of the Western world: a self-entitled, cocky, arrogant jerk that needs to tear down other people and insult entire religions because his simple mind simply can’t grasp anything more than what horrible hairstyle to go with and what idiotic insult to hurl.
By now you can tell that I’m not a fan of Trump. It’s very obvious. But then of course it’s probably because I dislike racism, stupidity and idiocy.
Trump has said he wants to close the borders to Muslims. On the surface maybe (but doubtfully) you could see a reason for that rash statement. The majority of the terrorist attacks as of late have been committed by Muslim extremists.
Oh wait, extremists? Not your average, every day Muslim? Well!
Nothing Trump has said is even worth repeating. Everything he’s proposed or said he’d do if he was elected as President of the United States is basically evil. He’d be the new Hitler, except dumber and more egotistical.
This is a man that made fun of a reporter that suffers from a congenital joint condition and mimicked his movements on live television. He’s insulted countless people online for their looks, took shots at women for their personal monthly business and spouted hatred on more than one occasion.
If he is the next President of the United States then we’ll see two things happen. The first will be that Canada will double in its population with the amount of Americans seeking refuge here from their dictator.
The second? We wouldn’t have to worry about being overcrowded in Canada, because within two years there would be a nuclear war that would wipe all of us off the face of the planet.
Why? Because Trump.
-Randy Brenzen
American fascist?
It has basically become canon in legitimate journalism circles that one does not play the Hitler or Nazi cards.
As comparators, the logic goes, they are so hyperbolic that any argument derived thereof is moot by virtue of ad absurdum.
Of course, there are extreme, right wing, white supremacist, anti-semitic movements pretty much everywhere in the Western. Increasingly, they are turning their attention from Jews to Muslims. There are political parties operating in Canada right now with this kind of bent.
In North America, they tend to be so far out on the fringe as to be dismissable. In Europe, they have actually enjoyed a fair amount of electoral success.
If, for some reason, a journalist was talking about one of these groups or its leaders, the Nazi or Hitler reference would be fair comment, but if presented in the context of a mainstream politician, all credibility would be lost.
Then along came Donald Trump. The utterances that come out of this man’s head are so reprehensible, I will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say, the policies he is proposing are sufficient that a journalist would not be out of line to ask the question, “is Donald Trump an American fascist?” Fascism manifests itself in various ways, but Trump seems to qualify.
Fortunately, I don’t think the Republicans will let Trump win the nomination. If he does, I have faith the American people will not elect him president.
Unfortunately, though, his repugnant views represent those of a sizable segment of the American and Canadian populations. It is no longer fringe to be a hate-mongering anti-Islamist. We have a major problem in this world with Islamic extremism, but we must fight the urge to scapegoat innocent people. That is precisely what ISIS wants. Blowhards like Trump, and to a lesser extent (but only because Trump is so reprehensible) all the Republican candidates, are playing right into their hands.
-Thom Barker
No laughing matter
If Donald Trump’s run at being the Republican candidate for President of the United States was a Will Ferrell movie it might be humourous on some low-brow level.
But this isn’t a Hollywood concocted movie.
This is an all too real effort, and Canadians should be collectively appalled, and just a little scared by Trump’s effort.
The man is either a total buffoon with the wisdom of a wad of chewing gum, or a megalomaniacal racist. Either way he is not someone you want to give the power of the American presidency.
As much as this man is a frightful human being, you can’t float cockamamie ideas like a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to keep out Mexicans, or to ban an entire religion (Moslim), and not be seen as frightful, there is a scarier part to this guy’s presidential run.
People are showing up at his events, cheering, and suggesting they will support his run come decision day. What that says about the mood of American voters, and their leanings in terms of ethnic and religious tolerance, is that the world should be scared.
Not that his supporters are confined to the racist fringe in the U.S. On a least two occasions I have overheard snippets of coffee shop conversations here in Yorkton supporting Trump for telling it like it is. How those people can walk down the street of a growing ethnically diverse community and not feel shame is beyond comprehension.
Humanity should be beyond even listening to the tripe this man spews, and that there are those who not only listen, but applaud his words tells the rest of us there is still a long way to go in terms of how society treats those in that society.
-Calvin Daniels
