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What is More of an Existential Threat to America

What is more of an existential threat to America, Trump and all his Trumpublican Trumpaneses or terrorism?

For example - Trump promotes gun violence by supporting the NRA. "Using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we found that from 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil. (2013 is the most recent year CDC data for deaths by firearms is available.) This data covered all manners of death, including homicide, accident and suicide.

During the same period - all terrorism incidents inside the U.S. and found that between 2001 and 2013, there were 3,030 people killed in domestic acts of terrorism.* This brings the total to 3,380."

There are numerous other policies Trump and the Republicans have promoted - like the Tax Bill which is adding nearly $2T to the debt and having a negative effect on the stock market for consumers, a kind of financial terrorism for them - not the rich of course, they sell short. Etc...

[cnn.com]

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jeffy 7 Feb 11
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9 comments

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1

A friend of mine voted for DJT because he is not pro-choice and wants to end abortion because his Catholicism tells him to. We live here in California so even if it is made illegal at a federal level, abortion will always be legal here. The thing I can't get past is that he (DJT, my friend, most GOP) want to make a law from a religion and we don't do that here. That's what I can't stomach the most, is that they are so willing to blindly trash the Constitution in order to force the country into their dogma and stay in control that it makes me sick. Our friendship has suffered because of this and I don't think that things between us will never be the same.

1

I would say the continuation of the "American way of life" is the greatest threat. Trump is but a symptom of the desire to continue as we always have. To clarify, I do not believe Clinton would have materially improved a thing. The only benefit would be that She would not have been so frightfully inept.

1

@jeffy Isn't it amazing that people are willing to give Putin a pass??? Like he's not a murderous dictator who has interfered in our elections. I can't figure out why there are only a few voices that understand we've been attacked!

Glad to see Robert Mueller finally indicted the Russians. I wish the wheels of justice were a little faster though.

2

Gullibility and the greed that exploits it. Those are what may very well do us in.

1

neither. try concentrating on what's important like your local school and courts

3

I think this is a false choice. Terrorism is not now and never was an existential threat to this country. Naturally, if you or someone you love was a direct victim of it, that's absolutely horrible. But as a nation, we've lost many more lives and much more money to automobile accidents, preventible medical mistakes, and natural disasters than we have to terrorism. It isn't even close.

Our reaction to terrorism has the potential to change our national civic character -- and for those of us old enough to remember before 9/11, we can see how it has changed our national civic character, for the worse. As a nation we are more xenophobic, less respectful of our civic institutions and the notion of due process, and less able to respond to challenges with a measured, rational approach addressing the nuances of a given problem.

Trump & Co. are at once a facet, symptom, catalyst, and embodiment of our giving in to those impulses.

3

In my opinion the policies of the tRump administration not only cause more loss of life through loss of basic and preventative health care, the loss of funding for planned parenthood, the safeguards set in place by the EPA thrown out the window just to scratch the surface. Not to mention the rise of domestic terrorist that are bolstered by his nationalist b.s. will only endanger more people in the future. Then there is the basic deterioration of our so called democracy by his absurd rhetoric. The last thing I'm worried is a foreign terrorist attack, the thought police is where the true danger is!

0

The main stream media is the biggest threat. Here's why:

  1. You won't find a war they didn't like.
  2. They're pushing a US vs. Russia narrative.
  3. They cheer Trump every time he orders a military strike.
  4. They bash Trump every time he pursues a non-military relationship with Russia.
Marz Level 7 Feb 12, 2018

I don't know which outlets you're accessing, but I'm not seeing what you described.

Where to start? The Washington Post wrote whatever the CIA tells them to (i.e. the lies that brought about Vietnam War). The NY Times wrote whatever the Bush Administration told them to, which lead to the Iraq War. CNN correspondents said Trump was "presidential" after he dropped bombs on Syrian hangars, then said "we're guided by the glory of our bombs" when he dropped the MOAB in Afghanistan. CNN and MSNBC have pushed the Russia-collusion/election fraud/existential threat endlessly, because they bought Facebook ads during the presidential election. The Democratic establishment is issuing the red scare tactics of the cold war. If anyone disagrees, they're a Kremlin-puppet.

@Marz There are facts. It is a fact sources lie to the media. It is a fact the media reports when it is fooled by false information. It is also a fact that media is increasingly owned by internationalist oligarchy and they attempt to steer public opinion. However it is a fact that Russia is not a democracy, Putin is a high level member of the international oligarchy, and he is at odds with America. Putin would like to see America fall, just as the USSR did. It is a fact we need an effective media for democracy to continue. The fact is we need the journalists - the real ones will always have an important role to play. And we need the Fairness Doctrine back. What is this Russia?

@VictoriaNotes democracy [ can] = " tyranny by the masses "

@jeffy and we're a democracy? The candidate with the most votes has lost 2 out of the last 5 presidential elections. A Harvard study showed that public opinion has almost no effect on public policy, but if corporations want something it was 100% guaranteed to pass. The net neutrality bill was favored by about 7% of Americans, and passed easily. That happens in an oligarchy. PACs don't have to report their donors, which makes elections sold to the highest bidder. Dark money runs our political system, because it allows the donors to own our politicians. If it was an effective media we needed, you can thank Pres. Clinton for passing the Telecommunications act which monopolized the industry. Went from 23 to 3 media companies. The mainstream media doesn't hold our government accountable, they carry their water.

@Marz We are a democracy if we want it to be, it's Constitutional. The problem is apathy, 49% of the people didn't bother to vote in the last election. The fascists are winning because we are letting them win. The PA Supreme Court just threw out there gerrymandering as unconstitutional and this will apply to the rest of the country. Ask yourself, what is the benefit of doing what they want you to, and you know they do want you to give up. You aren't Russian are you?
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@jeffy first you voter shame, then you red bait? Straight out of the neo-liberal handbook.

@Marz Interesting - I ask about Russia, because 50% of you original argument concerned Russia - it seems reasonable to ask if you have a connection. I wasn't blaming you for anything. I asked if it is rational to do nothing when there in fact are foreign governments and mega corporations working with a single political party to seize power controlling all three branches of government and perhaps convert this country into a fascist dictatorship?

5

My quick reaction to your question is that Trump and Terrorism are the same. Evil is evil in whatever form.

thank you! -think-beyond

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