Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPhilly Inquirer: Trump's Puerto Rico potshots make his racism morally impossible to ignore
http://media.philly.com/images/1200*800/dixon-181504-f-wp-content-uploads-2017-10-836168_b31abf32c7abba3-e1506866892482-1200x801.jpgCamera icon GERALD HERBERT / AP PHOTO
Marta Sostre Vazquez reacts as she starts to wade into the San Lorenzo Morovis river with her family, after the bridge was swept away by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. The family was returning to their home after visiting family on the other side.
by Will Bunch, STAFF COLUMNIST
Its kind of a cliche to say that sometimes you can see a disaster coming from miles and miles away. ......
.........
Trumps international embarrassment of a presidency seemed to reach a new valley one weekend ago, when huge chunks of Puerto Rico were submerged and the full extent of its total loss of electricity and the absence of potable water, food, cash, and gasoline was becoming clear. The president flew on a Friday night to Alabama for a campaign rally for his preferred candidate in a GOP Senate runoff, where he made scant reference to the suffering of our fellow Americans but instead in a state that had once defined state-sponsored racism with biting police dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham went on a not-even-dog-whistle rant against black athletes who kneel during the national anthem as sons of a bitch protesters.
Then he flew back to his upscale golf club in New Jersey, where as the Washington Post reported this weekend in a remarkable tick-tock recounting he completely ignored the Puerto Rico crisis right at the moment it required high-level attention. It was telling that Trump did hold a cabinet meeting during those critical days in Bedminster, N.J. not to talk about the thirsty, starving Americans on the Caribbean island, but on how to continue banning people from primarily Muslim countries from entering the United States. He tweeted up a storm, against black athletes from the NFL and the NBA, while ratcheting up the risk of a nuclear war in North Korea, and, incredibly, even dropped by a gathering of local BMW dealers, the kind of guys that The Donald feels comfortable around.
But Trump has also made it clear, during his White House stint, whom he is not comfortable with: Anyone who criticizes him who happens to be black, brown, or female or some combination thereof. This is a presidency, after all, where officials called for the firing of a black woman, ESPNs Jemele Hill, who dared to use her platform to criticize Trump, but didnt seem too worked up when a late-night TV host such as Stephen Colbert who isnt black or brown or female bashed the president in terms that even many Trump disparagers thought went too far.
So when San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz appeared on cable TV news the only reality that matters in Trump World after wading through sewage-laden floodwaters with her bullhorn looking for survivors, and stated what has become painfully obvious in recent days, that the federal response has been both inadequate and poorly managed and that more help was needed to save us from dying, the presidents response condescending, bitter, narcissistic, and larded with racism managed to be both outrageous and tragically inevitable
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/will_bunch/trumps-puerto-rico-potshots-make-his-racism-morally-impossible-to-ignore-20171001.html
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 2233 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (13)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Philly Inquirer: Trump's Puerto Rico potshots make his racism morally impossible to ignore (Original Post)
kpete
Oct 2017
OP
malaise
(269,157 posts)1. Love this jab - starving Americans on the Caribbean island
and not in the middle of a very big ocean
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)2. Consider the likely response if...
A. PR's population was mostly middle-to-billionaire class white folks, or
B. Mercer Estate's helipad was submerged and unusable, or
C. The Koch Plantation security team was mostly disabled in the storm, or
D. Dozens of yachts were stranded, low on fuel and no shore power.
Some people were just asking....
All speculating aside, please consider helping the relief effort at:
http://hispanicfederation.org/media/press_releases/a_hurricane_relief_fund_for_hurricane_maria_victims_in_puerto_rico/