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You Are Still Crying Wolf

(slatestarcodex.com)
104 points primodemus | 2 comments | 17 Nov 16 14:22 UTC | HN request time: 0.475s | source
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JamilD ◴[17 Nov 16 15:06 UTC] No.12977998[source]▶
I tend to agree with this article; I don't think Donald Trump, a New Yorker and a businessman, is a racist.

However, the people who he surrounds himself with, are. This article makes no mention of Steve Bannon, who suggested too many Asian CEOs is a threat to civic society [0], and ran a website that peddled anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Come January 20th, he'll be the chief strategist for the nation's highest office.

Nor does it mention Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State who has ties to white nationalist groups [1]. He's now on Trump's transition team.

I don't doubt Trump's intentions, but it's looking like the alt-right is using his campaign (and will use his administration) for their own ends.

[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bannon-flattered...

[1] https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/11/02/what%E2%80%99...

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1. dasboth ◴[17 Nov 16 15:16 UTC] No.12978099[source]▶
> However, the people who he surrounds himself with, are. This article makes no mention of Steve Bannon

That was my biggest gripe with the article. Otherwise I thought it was refreshing to read such a well-presented argument, regardless of whether or not I agreed with his points.

Back to the issue: the kinds of people Trump seems to be surrounding himself with shows bad judgment, which is very concerning and should not be downplayed. We have many reasons to be wary of his presidency but maybe they're not the ones people shout loudest about.

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2. JamesBarney ◴[17 Nov 16 19:55 UTC] No.12980854[source]▶
I think this was exactly Scott's(the author's) point. He thinkd Trump will be a terrible president, just not terribly racist one.

And while we focus on all of this dog-whistle, he's secretly a racist BS, we lose focus on the the true ways that he's a bad president.

I don't he would have won the election if the focus had been on "is Trump a good president" instead of "is Trump a racist".