Obama Compares Trump Supporters to Racists of the

New Post Public Reply Private Reply Replies (0) Message Board

Oct 14, 2016 at 10:59 AM

Obama Compares Trump Supporters to Racists of the Past

lecturer-in-chief can't help but disparage Americans unhappy with his failed tenure
by Keith Koffler | Updated 07 Oct 2016 at 7:30 AM

It’s couched in fancy language, and he doesn’t mention Donald Trump by name, but President Obama’s message in a new piece written in The Economist is clear: Trump supporters are a bunch of racists descended from intolerant movements of the past.

In a column titled, arrogantly enough, “The Way Ahead,” Obama asserts the current moment “reflects any number of eras in which Americans were told they could restore past glory if they just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control.” He adds, “We overcame those fears and we will again.”

What a stunning remark, dripping with contempt for the Americans whom he supposedly represents and who, in many cases, are suffering because of his policies.

Let’s start with the beginning of his phrase, in which he says, “Americans were told.” It’s the paternalism of a liberal speaking, and a particularly condescending one. Poor, stupid, gun and Bible-clinging Americans, who believe what they are told to think

And look what they are receptive to, a message that they’d achieve “glory” if they could enact their racist fantasies by getting “some group or idea that was threatening America under control.”

Obama’s implication is obvious. Trump supporters are responding to the same call once issued by the leaders of the lynch mob, which got people “under control.”

Obama says that everywhere he goes, people — no intellectually advanced souls such as himself in America and overseas — constantly ask him why America "has suddenly developed a strain of anti-immigrant, anti-innovation protectionism." Why, they want to know, "have some on the far left and even more on the far right embraced a crude populism that promises a return to a past that is not possible to restore — and that, for most Americans, never existed at all?"

That is, Trump's legions dream of the good old days, when swarthy immigrants and African-Americans stayed in their places and white working folk clocked out of the factory and returned home to wives named Betty who served them and their 2.1 children roast chicken and potatoes before everyone gathered around the TV to watch Milton Berle.

Actually, what Americans are hoping for is an economy that grows by more than Obama's 1.5 percent and some decent-paying jobs, instead of the globalization and welfare state expansion that is driving people out of the workforce, stunting wage growth, creating hopelessness, and helping feed an epidemic of heroin use.

But for Obama, the Trump movement is not about the pocketbook or concerns that, with unlimited immigration, a great culture may be changing too rapidly. For him, it's about hatred of the unfamiliar.

"Much of this discontent is driven by fears that are not fundamentally economic," Obama pontificates, proceeding to delineate specific racist movements of which Trump supporters are simply the latest incarnation.

"The anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee sentiment expressed by some Americans today echoes nativist lurches of the past — the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the Know-Nothings of the mid-1800s, the anti-Asian sentiment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries," Obama writes.

Comparing Trump's movement to the Know Nothing Party, a sometimes violently anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant movement that flourished briefly in the 1850s, is contemptible. Invoking late-19th century discrimination against the "yellow peril" of the immigrant Chinese is equally egregious. Obama is saying that Trump's millions of backers are a bunch of rank bigots.

The president wants to see himself as the Lincolnesque warrior making a stand against neo-racists who would secretly like nothing better than to reinstall Jim Crow and boot everyone with a tanned or darker complexion out of the country.

But the movement behind Trump has legitimate, rational concerns that an immigration spigot that never closes introduces a foreign culture into America too quickly for assimilation to occur, threatening to adulterate — rather than slowly enhance — an American way of doing things that has succeeding brilliantly and made the entire world a better place.

Turning off the spigot is exactly what America did in the early 20th century, after millions immigrated from Central and Eastern Europe. For decades, immigration came to a halt as the country successfully absorbed alien cultures and fashioned them into a new, but not wholly changed, America.

The person who actually has a "crude" understanding of social forces is Obama. Blinded by his instinct to vilify his enemies and consumed by the egotistical self-absorption that makes him need to understand himself as a Great Man fighting the forces of evil, Obama misunderstands the sentiment that has arisen in rebellion against his policies.

Trump's voters are not "anti-immigrant" or "anti-Mexican." They are against unlimited immigration, a substantial amount of it illegal.

They are not anti-refugee or anti-Muslim, but are concerned that we are allowing into this country too many people whose world outlook is hostile toward the United States and who may bring terrorists with them.

Americans who support Trump are not driven by hate. They are driven by love, the love of a nation and a culture they see slipping away under a president who doesn't understand the country's history and, worse, holds large swaths of it in contempt.

Featured stocks: Coffee Shoppe
For conservative debate: "Keeping it Real"
Game Changing stock $SHMP

Newer

Older

Scroll down for more posts ▼

Top 10 Most Recent News Articles

Citrine Finalizes Sale of Illinois Senior Living Asset

Citrine's Strategic Exit from River Glen Every now and then, you see a company pull off something that makes you nod and say, "That was smart." Citrine Investment Group's sale of River Glen of St. Charles fits that bill. For those keeping tabs, this wasn't some quick flip—Citrine worked on the rock for a good while before cashing in. They secured River Glen back in...

Orthopedic Expert Highlighting Midwest Pain Access Gaps

Over in the vast sprawl of rolling plains and prairie winds, folks in the Upper Midwest are grappling with an ironic reality. As technological advancements blaze trails, people suffering from vertebrogenic pain are finding themselves up against a wall of limited access to specialized care. We’ve got Dr. James T. Brunz, the man of the hour, one of only about 15 Intracept...

FC2 Condom Educates NYC on Health and Wellness

Union Square Becomes a Hub of Interactivity The heart of NYC pulsed with purpose as FC2 Female Condom set up shop in Union Square, using the iconic location as a stage for a different kind of celebration. Clear Future, the manufacturer behind FC2, marked Global Female Condom Day with an event unlike any other. It wasn't just about the product—it was a call to educate...

CSS Revamps Identity, Emphasizing Senior Living Tech

CSS Takes a Bold Step with a Fresh Brand Identity Every now and then, you see a company shake off the old coat and put on a polished new one. That's what CSS is doing with its updated brand, staking its claim as a heavyweight tech player in the senior living sector. No small feat, given the challenges stacked against these aging communities—tasked with keeping...

Mutare Sharpens Security for Webex Calls with Precision

Control Dialed In: Tailored Call Screening Kicking things up a notch, Mutare is redefining call security by fine-tuning their Voice Security for Webex Calling. Imagine this—custom rules now let organizations shape a security policy down to the very last detail, ensuring unwanted calls don’t slip through the cracks. Wave goodbye to the broad-strokes approach. Precision...

NY Sheriffs' Court Battle: Immigration Policies Under Fire

Sheriffs Clash with State Over Immigration Policies In a tense showdown reminiscent of an old-time standoff, 15 New York county sheriffs have drawn their battle lines against the state’s capricious maneuvers by pushing a federal court to hit the brakes on Albany’s newly minted immigration rule. The so-called “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” is catching serious heat,...

Robotics in Cleaning: 2026 Sees Double Adoption Rates

Cleaning Industry Eyes Robotic Solutions Amid Labor Squeeze In a twist that's got industry veterans nodding knowingly, the cleaning industry is tipping towards automation. The recent 2026 Building Service Contractor Market Study reveals a massive leap: 32% of building service contractors (BSCs) plan to embrace robotic floor equipment in the coming year. That's a...

WellLink Advisory Board Eyes Future of Healthcare Innovation

Strategic Collaboration for Healthcare Evolution Ready to shake things up in healthcare, WellLink is setting the stage with its brand new Advisory Board. This move isn’t just about having fancy titles sitting around a conference table — it's about grabbing onto the future with both hands and figuring out just what the heck the healthcare industry needs next....

TGI Fridays Unveils New 3 For All Menu Options

Hedging Bets on New Dining Strategies Oh, the restaurant battlefield—where one day you're the toast of the town, and the next, you're hustling to keep those seats filled. TGI Fridays, a name as synonymous with casual eats as long as I’ve been in this game, is rolling the dice with a new offering dubbed '3 For All.' Doesn't sound like your average meal deal either....

Rosewood HK Tops Best Hotel List Again; Asia Shines

Holding the Crown: Rosewood Hong Kong's Triumph When a single hotel keeps nabbing the top spot in the world's most prestigious rankings, it's worth taking a closer look. That's exactly what's happening with Rosewood Hong Kong, crowned the world's best once more in 2026—its second consecutive year at the pinnacle according to The 50 Best Hotels. Defining Luxury on a...