Hillary Said What Needed To Be Said


Let's be clear here. Hillary Clinton did not misspeak at her fundraiser when she said that half of Donald Trump's supporters are racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist and Islamaphobic. In fact, she left out misogynistic. Anyone who has been paying close attention to Trump's rallies and the general tone of his campaign and is honest with themselves would come to the same conclusion.

What she said needed to be said, and the rest of us, including the media, should stop pussyfooting about it and admit the painful reality that what we are witnessing in this country is the rise of white nationalism, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the mid-60s when the Ku Klux Klan ran roughshod throughout much of the South after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. The alt-Right movement has found a home in the Trump campaign and that is no accident; it's as deliberate as it gets.

Kellyanne Conway can rant about how Hillary has "insulted millions of Americans" all she wants. These people should be insulted; in fact these people should have a spotlight turned on them so that who they are and what they stand for are exposed for all to see. If it's insults she's so concerned about, where is her outrage over Trump calling Mexicans rapists? Spare me, Kellyanne. If the hood fits, where it.

And for those who are thinking that this is Hillary's 47 percent moment, not even close. For one thing, Mitt Romney was speaking generally about what he and many Republicans view, unfortunately for them, as the bulk of the Democratic base that they could never get to vote for them. Of course they never quite realized that when you demonize a whole voting bloc you're pretty much toast with that group.

Hillary was speaking about HALF of Trump's supporters, which if you look at the national polls, comprises between 18 to 20 percent of the overall electorate. We can debate if that number is a bit high or a bit low, but it sure as he'll isn't a tiny percentage. I'm on record as saying the percentage is as high as 15 percent. So there.

It also should be noted that Hillary took great care to mention that the other half of Trump's supporters are people who feel that "the government has let them down" and are "desperate for change. These are people we have to understand and empathize with."

Again, she is right. I'd even be willing to stipulate that that number could be a bit higher, but not much higher. But whatever that percentage is, she's got her work cut out for her trying to turn them. Will the press give her credit for that? Somehow I doubt it. Not with this motley crew. Most of them still think Matt Lauer did a good job in the Commander in Chief Forum. Nuff said.

The truth is the Trump campaign is not a Republican version of the Sanders campaign. Not even close. I will not rehash what I thought of Bernie and his supporters - you can read it for yourself. But one thing is for certain: there were no skin heads at his rallies, and he never brought in someone as despicable and loathsome as Stephen Bannon to run his campaign. Show me the tweet of Alex Jones or David Duke saying Bernie speaks for them. Do that and I'll shut up.

Kellyanne Conway can try her damnedest to dress up the turd that is her candidate; that's her job and her problem. He is what he is and a good chunk of his supporters - roughly half - are what they are. From the moment he started in with his bullshit over Obama's birth certificate, he made a calculated decision that he was going to court a certain segment of the population. Well, mission accomplished. That segment now sees him as their savior. What was it he said in his convention speech: "I'll be your voice?" Guess what? He is. The truth hurts, doesn't it?

Eighty years ago the world was brought to the brink of destruction by a perverted and racist movement that scapegoated Jews and in the process murdered many of them. I and a lot of people just like me will be damned if we are going to let that happen again. Not on our watch.

Bravo, Hillary. Bravo!

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