August 29, 2015

Bill Maher took on the uncritical media and their coverage of Donald Trump's unbridled hate speech toward immigrants in this country, after shaming Republicans for not standing up against it.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-Stupid), defended Trump's xenophobia by claiming he's defending middle class Americans who are adversely affected by illegal immigration. That is utter bullshit. Middle class people benefit from immigrants who aren't afraid to do the jobs they don't want to do.

Wendy Davis jumped in and called it what it is: Race-baiting. She went on to say "It's a page right out of the George Wallace playbook."

Michael Weiss nailed it when he said Trump is "a European-style demagogic politician in the American context." That's exactly right, and I'd go one step farther and agree with this article calling Trump a "proto-fascist."

The first half of the definition fits the Trump movement pretty well. His slogan "Make America Great Again" isn't too far from the average political bromide, but its intention is much different than, say, Reagan's "Morning in America." Reagan did deal in his fair share of veiled race-baiting, but Trump straight-up rants about how non-white foreigners are ruining the country. From claiming unauthorized Mexican immigrants are drug dealers and "rapists," to saying he wants to deport 11 million people, to arguing that China is "killing us" on trade, Trump's political message is uncut xenophobia if not outright racism — all of which is coupled with how he, as a very masculine tough guy who will never back down, is going to fix everything. Just watch him give the bum's rush to the most famous Hispanic journalist in the country!

This has been an enormous political success, with hundreds of thousands of people enthusiastically flocking to the Trump banner (just look at the people in this picture). With the exception of Bernie Sanders, Trump is now drawing bigger crowds than any other candidate. That mass basis is a key foundation of fascism — without the delirious crowds, the fascist demagogue is little more than a deranged street preacher. Many of those supporters are out-and-proud white nationalists, as documented in a fascinating New Yorker investigation.

So we've got the victim complex, the incipient personality cult, the mass nationalist support, and the obsession with purifying the polity (like this Trump fan arguing that the government should pay a $50 bounty to murder people crossing the border).

With that said, Maher takes on the whole thing, taking on the media monster that surrounds Trump, mocking them for claiming they have to cover him because he's at the top of the polls.

Maher supposes, "Maybe he's at the top of the polls because you cover him endlessly."

Even here, every damn day I hope I don't have to write yet another Trump post, and every day I end up writing one, if only to debunk all of the lies he tells in the span of 30 seconds or so.

For example, Friday he sucked up the entire Friday news cycle by trashing Huma Abedin and John Kerry during a speech, which was aired (commercial-free) by MSNBC and Fox News. Only CNN cut away.

Maher is funnier than Trump, while getting his licks in on our stupid, starstruck media while speaking some truth to the insane news editors who keep pretending a proto-fascist outrunning the rest of the Republican field is somehow a story they should cover uncritically, with no followup, no fact-checking, and no counterpoint.

I'll take two Bernie Sanders rallies straight up with no commercials as recompense, cable news.

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