There’s a rather telling detail in a piece in Politico on the reactions of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to the attacks on 9/11.
In a television interview only a few hours after the twin towers collapsed in flames, Trump managed to work in a strange little boast about his real-estate empire:
“40 Wall Street,” he said, referring to his 71-story building blocks away from the now-collapsed twin towers, “actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan … And now it’s the tallest.”
Trump will always be Trump, I guess.
But the Politico story does note that aside from this little bit of brand-building, Trump was actually rather restrained in his response that day, at least by normal Trumpian standards:
A decade and a half before pledging to “bomb the shit out of” ISIS and proposing a deportation force and a Muslim ban, Trump didn’t talk about retribution or leap to conclusions about who was responsible. In fact, he avoided identifying potential enemies—any terrorist organization or Muslims in general.
We live in what is, in many ways, a much uglier America today, and Trump has been one of the leading enablers of this ugliness.
As Mic noted in a post yesterday, Islamophobia is much worse today than it was on 9/11/2001, and hate crimes against Muslims are on the upswing.
Immediately after 9/11, there was a significant rise in anti-Muslim activity.According to the FBI, in 2001 anti-Islamic hate crimes spiked by 1,600 percent with 481 incidents. CAIR noted another surge in 2006 — the reason for it remains unclear. Another spike followed the Park51 controversy in 2010, in which New York City considered building a Muslim community center and mosque near Ground Zero.
But the highest concentration of anti-Muslim crimes came at the end of 2015. According to CAIR’s latest report, 78 mosques were targeted for vandalism that year — more incidents than they had documented in any one year since they started tracking in 2009. Compare this to 2014, when CAIR only documented 22 similar incidents, or 2013, when they documented 20. The 2015 spike came after the attacks at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris and around the same time Donald Trump infamously proposed that the country should ban Muslims from entering until we “figure out what’s going on.”
Similarly, the Southern Poverty Law Center found that in 2014 while the rate of hate crimes overall had fallen compared with the previous year, hate crimes against Muslims saw a 14 percent increase.
Emphasis mine.
The vicious attacks against Muslims have continued apace this year. The latest: an attack on two Muslim mothers in Brooklyn last Thursday. The New York Daily News reports:
A bigoted Brooklyn woman launched a sickening attack on two Muslim women pushing their babies in strollers — punching them in the face and trying to pull off their hijabs, prosecutors said Friday.
Emirjeta Xhelili, 32, hurled Islamophobic insults as she pounced on the two victims near her Bath Beach home about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.
“Get the f–k out of here,” Xhelili, 32, allegedly yelled at the pair, according to prosecutors. “Get the f–k out of America, b—–s.” …
Brooklyn prosecutors said her attack included an attempt to knock over a stroller carrying a 15-month-old baby.
Happily, the baby (and both mothers) are ok, and Xhelili was quickly arrested.
The alleged attacker is, of course, a Trump supporter. The Daily News notes that
Her vile social media musings include several bizarre tweets cheering the candidacy of Donald Trump.
“America is the ark of Noah,” one reads. “Trump’s gonna win.”
Such is life in America fifteen years after 9/11.
H/T — Raw Story/Liberaland for highlighting the Trump quote.
Oh Marky Mark, never change. Unless it’s to get back together with your “Funky Bunch”. If you do that, you’ll have all the company you need on Snake Island.
***
There’s no need for anyone to get nailed to a cross here. Crucifixion martyring is unnecessary and a painful way to go. If our trolls are so anxious to be martyrs, I’d like to suggest trying the fabulously entertaining being eaten by lions at the Colosseum.
@Policy of Stupidity
I’ll have you know, I am 329 years old. Do you want to know what I do for a living? I am an engineer, I produce things that are useful for my society, things that snotty little dregs like you use and take for granted without a single thought. Now what do you do for a living? Live off of welfare, taxes from money and wealth that I generate? HR assistant, making sure that everyone’s not “problematic” or something? At most I see you as some kind nincompoop librarian’s assistant; anything more difficult or taxing might prove to be too much for you. You are nothing, you’re just some snotty little self-obsessed piss-livered olive-brained numbskull that learned a few big words in some useless liberal arts college you attended back in the day (one which you probably want people like me to pay for), and now you think you have the right to interfere with the designs of your superiors. The only conceivable way I see you ever getting hired is through some coercive measure like affirmative action or gender quotas, or possibly by some useless bureaucratic government job that people like you will defend to the death so that you don’t have to find real work.
@msexceptiontotherule
Or they could actually go their own way and become anchorites. Fewer opportunities to post unpleasant screeds on the Internet, mind you, but you can’t have everything.
You’re 329 years old?
Do you sparkle and eat people?
The trolls so often want us to feel sorry for them.
What on Earth is that about?
I always find it hilarious when trolls forget that they came to us, we didn’t go to them. As if anyone is forcing them to troll feminist blogs.
It’s especially funny because they come here trying to “debate” us, get seriously outclassed and then think it’s not completely obvious that they’re just throwing these tantrums to try and cover up just how badly they’ve gotten their asses handed to them.
Ooooh the beautiful, beautiful, beautiful meltdown. What’s wrong ? Losing your shit that the people you came here to harass and troll aren’t suitably losing theirs because of your brilliant rebuttals to actual knowledge ? Well, must be tough.
I notice TOWIE has gone thermonuclear.
Mig,
I warn you, pumpkin, when you make believe we can tell.
I wonder, Mig…
Do you have a place directly on the beach?
*sips tea*
@mig
I’m an engineer and a woman. Checkmate, jerks!
Edit: wasn’t that other troll also an engineer who made logic gates?
I’m kind of impressed that you managed to get an internet connection in here
@MiG
You come here to speak
On the behalf of racists
And bloody fascists.
Use classic “Leftists”
But then support the killers
Who would want me dead.
Your feeble attempts
to find some hypocrisy
Are so pathetic.
If you’re unable to
Even argue without your friends
Why bother trying?
Good ole’ three two nine
You have lived in history
And yet you’re like this.
@Marky Mark
We told you before
Why you are wrong many times.
Read the damn replies.
Go go shoo shoo shoo.
You keep saying you will go
But you never do.
If you’re going to lie about your age, you need to be sure you type your lie correctly the first time, or else you wind up with a typo like this.
Like what? What are you working on right now? What kind of engineer are you and what do you design?
I’m a political scientist and urban planner. Don’t strain yourself too hard worrying about what that means: it means that all the infrastructure that you take for granted every day, like where the roads are laid and how tall the buildings are, and whether there are sidewalks for you to use, and whether you can see anything other than a solid wall of billboards outside your house, are things I take care of on your behalf. You’re welcome.
Now, what is that super-special product you’re working on right now? If you’re actually an engineer, you’re engineering a real thing, so what is that thing? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’re not a civil engineer.
Put down the thesaurus honey. It’s not a good look for anyone.
What? What does this even mean?
I have my own designs. Site planning is a thing.
Already working, been working since the late 80’s, but thanks for caring.
So you never use parks or sidewalks or roads or public water, and you don’t breathe air, or at least you don’t care if your air is full of poison. Got it!
Now, what kind of engineer are you? And what are you designing right now?
I think “I’ll have you know, I’m 329 years old!” might be the best line we’ve gotten from a troll all year. It’s not a high bar to clear because the troll harvest has not been bountiful lately, and I’m sure it’s just a typo and he mean to say 29 or something, but damn if it didn’t have me cackling with laughter.
@OoglyBoggles
Your poetry gets better and better. Are you working on an anthology?
https://goo.gl/images/c701pI
Best troll implosion I’ve seen all week though.
10/10 would reply to again.
@Sinkable John
“Must be tough.”
You want to know what’s tough? Waking up day after day, only to realize that all the useless filth in society doesn’t take itself out. I produce infinitely more than ANY of you, I’m willing to bet my life on it (no, wait, never mind, you’re not worth that). What gives you the right to think that you deserve equal rights to someone of my abilities, to someone who contributes as much as I do to the economy? I keep up all the useless breeders in society, who will no doubt grow into a life of criminality and complain about how poorly they’re being treated by the police. I earn my dough, I don’t sit around and expect people to hand me something, or, god help me, say that the hardworking people on top are exploiting me or oppressing me by not giving me all sorts of goodies (If you’re American, I’m probably paying for your food and housing as well as mine; you’re welcome). I don’t shake my fists and stomp my feet and say that the fucking federal government should shake Micky D’s down until the money falls and I’m making 27 dollars an hour. You’re nothing. You-re a blip, son.
Like a Roman candle
@All That Glitters is not Gold
Everything except the tantrums describes me. And everyone to varying degrees. That’s some vague ass, job interview shit. Weak as water
My main form of critiquing you has been making stupid puns on your name. Why would you think any of us need you to take us seriously. You’re 1 troll in a long list of em. Just this month. Go Your Own Way, and we’ll Go Ours
@Dry Erase Marker
Dude, come back later. We’re dealing with some other shit right now, and you’re far less interesting
MGTOW: obsessing about other people, especially women but also everyone else. Because nothing says “I don’t need or care about any of you” like thinking of those people constantly.
@This website
I meant to say that I’m29 years old, so fuck you. Don’t ever compare me to some shit-stain 18 yo crapnugget who probably doesn’t even have a job, unless it involves flipping burgers and “would you like fries with that?”
They all wanna be Patrick Bateman.
Do go on, Mig. Show and tell.
Oh, that’s nothing – I’m 574!
@TOWIE
I take back my earlier comment about you making sweeping generalisations about us.
No, wait…