Trump supporters are the nicest people, don't you agree?

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A pair of Trump supporters were caught on camera this past weekend issuing unhinged threats to a left-wing bookstore in Berkeley, California. 

The video, which was posted on YouTube by Berkeley’s Revolution Books, shows the Trump supporters coming into the store and confronting people working there. 

The video begins with a woman Trump supporter asking a store staff member if she really thinks “I’m racist because I support our president?” 

“Yes, basically, yes,” the staff member replies. 

A male Trump supporter, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, called the staffer “commie scum” and told her that “we’re going to burn down your bookstore.” 

The staffer informed them that she had video of them threatening to burn down the store and told them to “please leave” the premises. 

“This is America, f*ck you!” the man shouted at her.

And THAT is the result of being exposed to programming from Fox News, Sinclair Broadcasting, and Right Wing Twitter accounts.

Though to be fair this guy would clearly be a racist asshole regardless of where he got his news.

It's just that racist assholes know where to go to have their prejudices and hatred refueled with misinformation.

Producer from the Apprentice is astounded that people bought their bullshit and elected their fake reality star to be president.

Here are a few excerpts from this article over at Vanity Fair:  

The Apprentice contributed to that. People lapped up what the producers were putting out, and the danger became real as news directors, desperate to compete with ratings, started putting music under soft news stories. Facebook started pushing altogether fake news. Opinions on Twitter became truths over lies. People were prone to clickbait no matter how salacious or factually questionable it was, and the entire journalism world turned on its head. 

At the very same time, some clever producers were putting forth a manufactured story about a billionaire whose empire was, in actuality, crumbling at the very same time he took the job, the salary, and ownership rights to do a reality show. The Apprentice was a scam put forth to the public in exchange for ratings. We were “entertaining,” and the story about Donald Trump and his stature fell into some bizarre public record as “truth.” This is nothing new, and the impact it’s having on the history of the world is best depicted in the Academy Award-winning film Network, a satire.

So essentially just about everything that people think they know about Trump's "success" was written for the caricature of himself that he played on TV.

The producer, Bill Pruitt, also ads this: 

We are masterful storytellers and we did our job well. What’s shocking to me is how quickly and decisively the world bought it. Did we think this clown, this buffoon with the funny hair, would ever become a world leader? Not once. Ever. Would he and his bombastic nature dominate in prime-time TV? We hoped so. Now that the lines of fiction and reality have blurred to the horrifying extent that they have, those involved in the media must have their day of reckoning. People are buying our crap. 

You have probably all read comments by that insignificant little troll POS who keeps remarking that liberals are "lost in the wilderness." But the ironic part of that statement is that liberals knew that electing Trump would abandon this country in that wilderness and so we fought hard to prevent it. 

And we are not by any stretch of the imagination alone in that wilderness, the conservatives, racists, Islamophobes, and Xenophobes are right there with us, they are just too fucking slow on the uptake to realize it.

In fact the ONLY people who are not soon going to be stumbling around in the darkness looking for a way out are the big business folks who are about to have the best, most financially lucrative, four years of their careers.

And Donald Trump is signaling that truth with every new cabinet member he puts in place.

I mean does anybody REALLY think that the new Secretary of State Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson is going to put the needs of this country ahead of the only company he has ever worked for?

Or that Rick Perry is NOT going to fuck up the Department of Energy?

Or that the WWE's Linda McMahon knows dick about small business?

Or that Betsy DeVos does not believe she is on a mission from God to destroy the public education system?

Let's face it Trumpsters, you got tricked into watching a nationally broadcast reality show and convincing yourselves it was real.

And now you get to witness what happens when scripted reality crashes head first into actual reality.

Unfortunately the more intelligent of us, the ones who saw this coming from miles away, the ones you derisively label as "libtards," have to experience that reality right along with you.

Donald Trump appointed a racist, xenophobic, anti-semite as his chief strategist. So he's off to a good start.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

Donald Trump's decision to make Stephen Bannon, former Breitbart News executive turned campaign CEO, his chief strategist and senior counselor in the White House was met with criticism. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Bannon's appointment in a statement, calling him an "anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and White nationalist alt-right extremist." The council pointed to the alt-right news website he used to run as proof of his views on Muslims and other minorities. 

In the statement, the council's executive director, Nihad Awad, said, "the appointment of Stephen Bannon as a top Trump administration strategist sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and White nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House."

Trump also appointed "Reince once and Priebus" as his Chief of Staff but that was really just to provide cover for what is sure to be a cabinet filled with an incredibly ill equipped group of internet trolls brought to life who would seem more at home crewing a pirate ship rather than providing counsel to the next, and perhaps final, president of the united states.

Remember before he was Trump's campaign strategist Bannon was Sarah Palin's biggest fan, which proves he just wants to sit back and watch the world burn.

His appointment also means that Trump will be getting all of his "news" from the Alt-Right controlled Breitbart, Alex Jones, and of course those voices in his head.

In short we are fucked!

We are also now learning that Trump was so ill-equipped to take this job that his first meeting with our current President left him shell shocked:  

During Trump's private meeting with President Barack Obama on Thursday, Trump "seemed surprised" by the scope of the president's responsibilities, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. 

Trump's aides were also apparently unaware that the entire staff of the president working in the White House's West Wing would need to be replaced, according to The Journal. 

Obama reportedly will spend more time counseling Trump about the presidency than most presidents do with their successors.

Wat in the hell did I get myself into?

But don't get your hopes up that Obama will be able to change Trump's perspective in a way that will stick for long, because the minute he is finished talking sense to him Stephen Bannon will return to whisper nastiness into his ear like Gríma Wormtongue did for King Theoden in The Lord of the Rings movies.

Here is a side by side comparison of Trump and Bannon's ideas for the country just to give this a little perspective.

Two quotes you need to read side by side.
1. From Trump
2. From Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon

Spread this widely. pic.twitter.com/lKMoDpMW0X

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) November 14, 2016

Yeah, now try to get some sleep tonight.

Prominent white nationalists gather to celebrate their favorite presidential candidate. Go ahead, guess which one.

NPI president Richard Spencer

Courtesy of Media Matters:  

Prominent white nationalists touted their growing media influence in the wake of Donald Trump’s rise to the Republican presidential nomination on a wave of bigoted rhetoric at a September 9 press conference titled “What Is The Alt-Right?” 

The press conference, organized by white nationalist “think tank” the National Policy Institute (NPI), aimed to explain how the “alt-right” -- a movement of fringe modern white supremacists -- had “become a force in American politics in such a short period of time.” The racist movement has garnered renewed interest from media outlets in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s August 25 speech decrying the Trump campaign’s cozy relationship with the movement, including the hiring of Breitbart News executive chairman and alt-right leader Stephen Bannon as campaign CEO. 

The press conference featured three prominent white nationalist speakers: NPI president Richard Spencer, who coined the term “alt-right;” Jared Taylor, who publishes the white nationalist online magazine American Renaissance; and Peter Brimelow, who founded the white nationalist anti-immigration site VDare.com. 

The press conference came just hours before Clinton told supporters at a fundraiser that half of Trump’s supporters belonged to a “basket of deplorables” -- people who harbor "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic” animus who have been “lifted … up” by the Republican nominee. Indeed, the white nationalist movement has provided Trump with some of his most fervent supporters and praised him for helping to grow their ranks.

Yeah Hillary Clinton should never have offered any regrets.

Her description was right on the money.

Quote from Muslim-bashing Trump supporter: “America is the ark of Noah, Trump’s gonna win.”

Islamophobe, xenophobe, racist, and Trump supporter Emirieta Xhelili.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News:  

A bigoted Brooklyn woman launched a sickening attack on two Muslim women pushing their babies in strollers — punching them in the face and trying to pull off their hijabs, prosecutors said Friday. 

Emirjeta Xhelili, 32, hurled Islamophobic insults as she pounced on the two victims near her Bath Beach home about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. 

“Get the f--k out of here,” Xhelili, 32, allegedly yelled at the pair, according to prosecutors. “Get the f--k out of America, b-----s.” 

As she punched the 23-year-old women in the face and kicked them in their legs, she tried to rip the traditional Muslim veils off their heads at Bay 20th St. and Cropsey Aves., police sources said.

“This is America — you shouldn’t be different from us,” she yelled, prosecutors said.

The woman also has a rather repugnant presence on social media: 

Xhelili has no previous arrests and works at Noi Due, a kosher Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side, her lawyer said. Her vile social media musings include several bizarre tweets cheering the candidacy of Donald Trump. 

“America is the ark of Noah,” one reads. “Trump’s gonna win.”

Gee, can you even imagine what this country will be like if this woman's candidate actually wins?

I am just going to move my refrigerator, computer, and TV's into my bedroom now, because if that happens I am never getting out of bed again.

Trump campaign demands an apology after Hillary Clinton refers to their supporters as a "basket of deplorables." Oh, I was just calling them a "flock of assholes." Update!

Courtesy of Politico: 

Donald Trump’s campaign is demanding an apology for comments Hillary Clinton made at a fundraising event in New York City, where she said half of his supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables” -- “the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it.“ 

Clinton’s comments came as she urged the crowd of donors not to “get complacent” after seeing “the latest outrageous, offensive, inappropriate comment” from Trump and assume, “Well, he's done this time.” 

“You know,” she said, “to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.” 

“Right?” she said as the crowd laughed and applauded. 

“The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it,” Clinton continued. “And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric.” 

Some are referring to this statement as Hillary's 47 percent moment, after the famous comments made by Mitt Romney during the 2012 election, but that is just bullshit. Not to mention wishful thinking on the part of the Trump campaign.

Instead of painting all Republicans with the same broad brush strokes Hillary is trying to cut the non-crazies from the herd and convince them to vote for her, or at the very least NOT vote for Donald Trump.

Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2016

No, it won't.

Let's face it the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic voting block is NEVER going to vote for her no mater what she says or does, so she is simply attempting to draw a bright line between that part of he GOP base, and the part who are simply habitual Republican voters.

And it's working.

So is she going to apologize?

Fuck no!

Update: Well crap she kind of did apologize. Well kinda.

"I won't stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign." —Hillary pic.twitter.com/C3Z7GybJ53

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 10, 2016

Personally I would have let the statements stand, since we all know that most Americans likely to vote for Hillary agree with them 100%.

Update 2: And this is WHY she should not have even KINDA apologized:

Look at these traits of Trump supporters and tell me Hillary didn't underestimate size of the #BasketOfDeplorables pic.twitter.com/A8kMwNSg7G

— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) September 10, 2016

Because she's fucking right.

Yeah this will cost her the election just like Obama's "bitter clingers" comment cost him his two elections. 

Unfiltered video of Trump supporters. (NSFW because, you know, Trump supporters.)

And just imagine if these unwashed racist assholes suddenly all felt empowered because THEIR candidate was in the White House.

This whole country would be like Arkansas in the 1950's.

Doonesbury's take on Donald Trump.

Doonesbury has had Trump's number for over twenty years now.

Speaking of Trump it appears that the business school he is always bragging about attending, would like him to stop.

This is from an open letter written by some Wharton School alumni: 

We, proud students, alumni, and faculty of Wharton, are outraged that an affiliation with our school is being used to legitimize prejudice and intolerance. Although we do not aim to make any political endorsements with this letter, we do express our unequivocal stance against the xenophobia, sexism, racism, and other forms of bigotry that you have actively and implicitly endorsed in your campaign.

We, the undersigned Wharton students, alumni, and faculty, unequivocally reject the use of your education at Wharton as a platform for promoting prejudice and intolerance. Your discriminatory statements are incompatible with the values that we are taught and we teach at Wharton, and we express our unwavering commitment to an open and inclusive American society.

Damn, you have to be some kind of POS for students of your old alma mater to organize just to let people know that their school is not responsible for your bullshit. 

Just your daily reminder that Donald Trump is truly a horrible human being.

"@DiCristo13: @realDonaldTrump let's have the policy speeches on immigration, economy, foreign policy, and NATO! pic.twitter.com/Uuit2hWmhW"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2016

Such a humanitarian, don't you think?

Presenting the Donald Trump interactive hate map.

Courtesy of America's Voice:

We’ve seen the proof over the past few weeks. Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric hasn’t just pushed his fellow candidates to the right on immigration (in what has become known as the “Trump Effect”). It’s gone beyond the political world and injected itself into everyday life — and, in at least one instance, in a very violent way. 

This map shows documented instances where Donald Trump, his supporters, or his staff harassed or attacked Latinos and immigrants.

This is only the beginning.

By the time we get to November this will be a country ablaze with hatred. 

Students removed from Trump rally for the crime of being black.

Courtesy of USA Today:  

About 30 black students who were standing silently at the top of the bleachers at Donald Trump’s rally here Monday night were escorted out by Secret Service agents who said the presidential candidate had requested their removal before he began speaking. 

The sight of the students, who were visibly upset, being led outside by law enforcement officials created a stir at a university that was a whites-only campus until 1963. 

“We didn’t plan to do anything,” said a tearful Tahjila Davis, a 19-year-old mass media major, who was among the Valdosta State University students who was removed. “They said, 'This is Trump’s property; it’s a private event.' But I paid my tuition to be here.”

Of course the Trump campaign denies that this was their doing, but seriously who do they think they're fooling?

This is the atmosphere created and nurtured by Trump, his campaign, and his supporters.

Remember this is the guy who declared that he would like to punch a protester being escorted out "in the face." A guy who has said publicly that when he is President he would like to relax the libel laws so that he could sue journalists. And a guy who fans the flames of Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Racism at virtually every one of this rallies.

The other day there were commenters who were angry at me for suggesting that Trump was to blame for the fact that a member of his Secret Service detail choked a Time magazine photographer.

Of COURSE it's Trump's fault.

This is the atmosphere that he is creating, and this is the result of being exposed to it over and over. (Just check out this uber creepy announcement that is broadcast before his appearances.)

I am sure that the Secret Service agent is probably a highly trained professional, who typically would never even consider slamming a man to the ground by his throat.

But hang around Trump rallies long enough and there is no telling what actions might seem reasonable.

And folks what do we think happens if he actually gets the nomination?

Donald Trump releases first TV ad. Update!

Damn, I don't think the grand wizard of the KKK could have created a more xenophobic advertisement.

So to be clear folks, If you ain't white, you ain't right. 

Update: Hey you know that footage that appears at the 23 second mark on the video of Mexicans streaming across out border?

Yeah well that's actually footage of the Moroccan border.

Doesn't really make any difference though. After all who DIDN'T expect Trump to use false information in his first TV ad?

Self taught mapmaker creates the saddest map depicting the fate of the Native Americans ever.

Courtesy of NPR:

Aaron Carapella, a self-taught mapmaker in Warner, Okla., has pinpointed the locations and original names of hundreds of American Indian nations before their first contact with Europeans. 

As a teenager, Carapella says he could never get his hands on a continental U.S. map like this, depicting more than 600 tribes — many now forgotten and lost to history. Now, the 34-year-old designs and sells maps as large as 3 by 4 feet with the names of tribes hovering over land they once occupied. 

"I think a lot of people get blown away by, 'Wow, there were a lot of tribes, and they covered the whole country!' You know, this is Indian land," says Carapella, who calls himself a "mixed-blood Cherokee" and lives in a ranch house within the jurisdiction of the Cherokee Nation. 

For more than a decade, he consulted history books and library archives, called up tribal members and visited reservations as part of research for his map project, which began as pencil-marked poster boards on his bedroom wall. So far, he has designed maps of the continental U.S., Canada and Mexico. A map of Alaska is currently in the works.

These were proud people, living a subsistence lifestyle that was in harmony with the nature around them.

Just imagine how different America would look today if the white settlers had respected their sovereign right to the lands that they had lived on for thousands of years.

But sadly they were non-Christian heathens and were at the mercy of Manifest Destiny: 

The religious fervor spawned by the Second Great Awakening created another incentive for the drive west. Indeed, many settlers believed that God himself blessed the growth of the American nation. The Native Americans were considered heathens. By Christianizing the tribes, American missionaries believed they could save souls and they became among the first to cross the Mississippi River. 

At the heart of manifest destiny was the pervasive belief in American cultural and racial superiority. Native Americans had long been perceived as inferior, and efforts to "civilize" them had been widespread since the days of John Smith and MILES STANDISH. The Hispanics who ruled Texas and the lucrative ports of California were also seen as "backward."

Just another shameful chapter in the book of horrors visited upon those ethnically impure heathens who  dared to stand in the way of the Christian Caucasians who felt duty bound to destroy their cultures and bring them to Jesus whether they wanted it or not.

My favorite part of this morning's Meet the Press.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Talking to David Gregory on NBC’s Meet The press, King argued that immigration reform would entail granting citizenship to “a lot of people…up to the age of 35″ who smuggled drugs over the Mexican border. Navarro hit back hard, telling King he needed to “get therapy” for his bigoted views about Latinos: 

KING: This proposes to legalize a lot of people that will include the people who are drug smugglers up to the age of 35. You cannot do a background check on people that don’t have a legal existence in their home country… 

NAVARRO: First of all, I think Congressman King should get some therapy for his melon fixation. I think there might be medication for that. I think he’s a mediocre congressman with no legislative record and the only time he makes national press is when he comes out and says something offensive about the undocumented or Hispanics.… There are other voices who are the adults in the room and who are working hard towards a reform. and I think it’s going to happen. I’m more optimistic than most. 

GREGORY: Before I let him go, he just heard that. Congressman King, do you want to respond to that in terms of what actually is going to get accomplished? 

KING: Well, I would say this. First of all, I spoke only of drug smugglers. If Ana understands the language, she should know that. I didn’t insult her or other Republicans and I didn’t – 

NAVARRO: I’m not undocumented. I vote, Congressman.

God I loved that!

"You're going to talk to ME about insulting people Congressman?" I am not always a fan of Ana Navarro but I liked how she slapped the shit out of King for saying such overtly racist things about Hispanics.

And here's the thing, he made it sound like he was ONLY talking about drug smugglers, but his actual quote was “For [every DREAMer] who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that — they weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. Those people would be legalized with the same act.” 

He is clearly saying that out of 101 immigrants that 100 of them are drug smugglers. There is no way NOT to take offense at those remarks if you re Hispanic, or even simply a reasonable person.

Like I said I don't there will be too many times in the future where I agree with Ana Navarro, but in this case I thought she was awesome!

Tell me again that there is no GOP "War on Women." Update!

Just take a moment to look at that graphic from today's vote on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Oh, and it is not ONLY women they are at war with.

This from Mother Jones:

Republicans had held up the law for more than a year over provisions designed to protect undocumented immigrants, Native Americans and members of the LGBT community. In a separate, earlier vote, the House rejected an alternative, stripped-down VAWA pushed by House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, instead embracing the bipartisan version of the bill the Senate passed last week. 

The Senate version of the bill, however, was itself a modified version of Democrats' original bill, passed after Democrats acquiesced to Republican objections and removed a section that would have made more visas available to undocumented victims of domestic violence who help law enforcement prosecute their abusers. But the Senate's compromise bill wasn't good enough for the House Republican leadership, who introduced an alternate version that removed protections for members of the LGBT community and made it harder for tribal courts to prosecute non-Indian abusers. 

Just to provide some context:

Thursday's vote was much closer than 2005, the last time the Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized. This year, the bill passed 286-138, with just 87 Republicans joining all 199 Democrats (one Democrat did not vote). In 2005, there were only four "no" votes. 

And look at the groups of people that this act will help protect, women, gays, and immigrants. The VERY people that the Republican party has admitted they need to do a better job of reaching out to.

Well good job so far morons!

If this does not absolutely prove beyond any shadow of the doubt that this Republican party is overrun with most misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic group of chubby old men in all of Washington D.C., I don't know what will.

You know in the sixties women symbolically burned their bras to demonstrate their independence, perhaps now is the time to burn their Republican party member card to demonstrate the same.

Update: Just what in the hell is wrong with Michelle Bachmann?

Courtesy of Star Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann was the lone member of Minnesota's congressional delegation to vote against the Violence Against Women Act, a law credited with raising awareness about abuse of women

A woman hating woman. 

I think it is high time that Minnesota kicked this batshit lunatic to the curb.

Feds find blatant pattern of discrimination in Sheriff Arpaio's office. Seriously, is anybody surprised by this?

"You know Sheriff Joe, when they accuse me of being a racist I just hold up little Trig as a human shield. You should get yourself one of these, it stops all kinds of criticisms."

Courtesy of Google News:  

A scathing U.S. Justice Department report released Thursday found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos and held a "systematic disregard" for the Constitution amid a series of immigration crackdowns that have turned the lawman into a prominent national political figure. 

Arpaio struck a defiant tone in response to the report, calling it a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration that will make Arizona unsafe by keeping illegal immigrants on the street. "Don't come here and use me the whipping boy for a national and international problem," he said at a news conference. 

The government found that Arpaio's office committed a wide range of civil rights violations against Latinos, including unjust immigration patrols and jail policies that deprive prisoners of basic Constitutional rights. 

The Justice Department's expert on measuring racial profiling said it is the most egregious case of profiling in the nation that he has seen or reviewed in professional literature, said Thomas Perez, who heads the Justice Department's civil rights division. 

"We found discriminatory policing that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department, a culture that breeds a systematic disregard for basic constitutional protections," Perez said. 

The findings will force Arpaio's department to make major changes to carry out new policies against discrimination and improve training of staff and officers. Arpaio faces a Jan. 4 deadline for saying whether he wants to work out an agreement to make the changes. If not, the federal government will sue him, possibly putting in jeopardy millions of dollars in federal funding for Maricopa County.

This is why we need a federal government. To keep assholes like this from running roughshod over those who simply cannot defend themselves, and who use their office to act as if they are above the laws that govern our country.

I assume that all of the time Arpaio spent protecting Arizonians from people with brown skin, kept him much too busy to protect children from being molested.

I guess you have to have your priorities straight don'tcha.

Asshole.