Crying Wolf or Sounding the Alarm – How Scared Should We Be of Trump?
Is the media crying wolf about Trump? The case that they are.
Detractors and supporters need to (a) create a list of win conditions and fail conditions that they can use to be clear, in advance, about whether or not Trump will be a bad president. For example, one should rarely if ever use the economy as an index of success. Economies go up and down under president X because of the policies of the congress or president Y from 8 (or 20) years ago. And (b) wait until the cabinet and presidency actually take power to see what they do. Trump is not likely to enact any racist policies, as Slate Star Codex correctly points out:
What about Trump’s “drugs and crime” speech about Mexicans? Trump said that: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. Their rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Note how totally non-racist this statement is. I’m serious. It’s anti-illegal-immigrant. But in terms of race, it’s saying Latinos (like every race) include both good and bad people, and the bad people are the ones coming over here. It suggests a picture of Mexicans as including some of the best people – but those generally aren’t the ones who are coming illegally. Compare to eg Bill Clinton’s 1996 platform (all emphasis mine): “We cannot tolerate illegal immigration and we must stop it. For years before Bill Clinton became President, Washington talked tough but failed to act. In 1992, our borders might as well not have existed. The border was under-patrolled, and what patrols there were, were under-equipped. Drugs flowed freely. Illegal immigration was rampant. Criminal immigrants, deported after committing crimes in America, returned the very next day to commit crimes again. President Clinton is making our border a place where the law is respected and drugs and illegal immigrants are turned away.”
Point being, if Trump does go full Hitler, we’re going to need to save some rhetoric for that day. If we’ve already accused him of being Hitler before he’s even in office, then there is nothing left in the chamber.
