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.
I see “Migging” and I think of Miggs from Silence Of The Lambs.
You know, the one that threw his semen on Starling?
Something sure is being flung here.
@Mig, I am a computer scientist. Not a programmer, mind you. The old term for my field is Artificial Intelligence. I’m a researcher working at a university.
You’ll also find lawyers, doctors, astrophysicists and yes engineers amongst the social workers and artists and dreamers who frequent this site.
Stop trying to use your pointless credentials to bully people. Being an engineer doesn’t make you right, nor does it earn you any respect outside of your field. That’s called an Appeal to Authority, and it’s a bullshit claim.
I thought you said you were smart?
Stop acting like one, and maybe I’ll stop thinking that you actually are one and not 329 like you claim.
@Policy of Badness
I’m only obsessed with you people to the extent that people who live near a land-fill must be obsessed with it; it stinks like shit and is impossible to ignore. What do you do for a living that makes you think you’re so special? What do you contribute besides a load of hot air and exhalations that sound like dying cars?
Holy shit is he insecure about his job…
Oh my. We are ever so impressed, Mig. Just look at you. So special and so eager to make sure everyone knows.
Twenty-nine you say? Wowsers. And $27 an hour? What a spectacular sum! Do you own both a mansion and a yaht?
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18r55r4e1r2sdgif/ku-xlarge.gif
I’ll enlighten you, and pretend that this never happened : you don’t know me. You don’t know who I am, what I do for a living, or indeed where I live even though I mentioned that one upthread. You don’t know any of us.
You don’t get to make assumptions about me. You don’t get to make assumptions about any of us.
You don’t get to pull out your credentials to try and bully us into silence.
I’ll say it again, and again I’ll say it nicely : no one forced you to come here, no one’s forcing you to stay. Of course, now you’ve lost any chance of leaving with your dignity intact. Should’ve listened.
I’m a Darrian Toms!
@mig: Wowwwwwww. Okay, what does your job have to do with anything? It doesn’t make you better than anyone, only fortunate enough to probably have a) been born to a family who could afford a good school, b) afford post secondary education and c) find a job in a company that would hire you.
Here’s a comic that explains it pretty well:
http://thewireless.co.nz/system/production/content_images/images/000/002/336/full/01.gif?1432154934
On mobile, don’t know if that will embed or link or what.
But wait! You say. I got my job on merit!
The truth is, there might have been other factors involved.
Others are denied because of ‘ethnic’ sounding names:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/03/22/how-to-root-out-racist-hiring-practices.html
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/business/blind-recruitment-marketplace-1.3462061
These are both from 2016, which was why i chose them. There are multiple studies and articles if you google it.
Turns out if you have an ‘LGBT indicatior’ on your resume, you are also less likely to get that job:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2012/04/16/11494/the-gay-and-transgender-wage-gap/
http://fusion.net/story/255628/lgbt-women-employment-discrimination-less-callbacks/
It also turns out that the jobs you poopoo are typically ones staffed by women, which means they are both less valued by society and lower paying.
As more women enter the field, the pay drops:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/upshot/as-women-take-over-a-male-dominated-field-the-pay-drops.html
And even in those female dominiated professions, men still can make more on average:
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2015/03/124266/male-registered-nurses-make-thousands-more-salary-female-counterparts
Plus, you say you have a fancy degree. Did you never avail yourself to the library on campus, and the people there who worked at it? Why not? They’re just there to help. They’ve got training in it.
I’m also Canadian, and incredibly grateful that the government helps to pay for schooling. More kids going through university will mean a higher standard of living for us all. It’s still expensive, and i still went pretty deep into debt. But i’m talking like, 30k. That’s tuition for one year at a comparable college down south.
I paid it all off too, whoop woop!! Super excited.
Why yes, it is an art degree. And while i’m not going to specify, i’m sure something that i or a friend had a hand in has shown up in your life in the past month. You probably didn’t even notice!
@Axecalibur
I actually have one; you should try it, instead of leaching off of the welfare system. Of course, you would need a modicum of something we call “talent” in order for that, and you would need to be able to get off your ass and put your brain (what little of it you must possess) to work. Yes, that word that you and everyone else on the left hates, WORK.
Since Muggy Toes here has claimed to be 329 years old, I’m just going to respond to him with vampire gifs. I hope that’s cool with everyone. Since he’s tantruming, there’s not much point to attempting an actual conversation with him or anything.
@TOWIE
Following on from your landfill comment, please reassure me that you aren’t actually my neighbour.
Am I correct in assuming you live in the US? Yes? Phew! (Although I commiserate with Stateside Mammotheers – hopefully TOWIE isn’t actually your neighbour either, despite his charming metaphor.)
When Hitlery takes over it’s gonna be Gynocratic Apocalypse
https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/nmwebsite/fiction/the-gynocratic-age
I’ll say it yet again, and this time not as nicely.
You do not get to make assumptions about any of us. Now fuck off.
ETA : @Dick Marsh
Oh for fuck’s sake ! Is this meektoe night or something ?
Oh, you BEAUTIFUL precious little thing, are you able to comprehend anything anyone says?
We don’t have any reason. Just go. Bye.
I would be, too, if I were making that kind of pay* as an engineer.
*Not trying to say that’s not a decent wage, but it’s low even for an entry level engineer.
http://38.media.tumblr.com/22d954134a41b8211dbae937eadfb5c5/tumblr_nga74hbvd41rp0vkjo1_500.gif
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140420184241/creepypasta/es/images/3/3d/Fluttershy_Vampire.png
Still waiting for what kind of engineer you are and what your current project entails. Come on, it’s okay. You can tell us. Share your engineering wisdom with us. Wow us with your manly STEM knowledge.
I’m a 6000 years old submarine. Yes, just like the Earth.
@Weatherwax
I wish I was good enough to get published. For now I cower under the lyrics of Rigamortis and how much wordplay is in this piece.
@All that Tripping and Stumbling
Oh my stars poor MGTOW,
Uttering bitter words,
Of meritocracy.
Did you think we’re spacey?
Or only squak
What terrible/wonderful thing did we do to deserve such an embarrassment of troll-related riches?
Aw, snookums. Are you jealous that the other troll is getting attention? Don’t worry. We still love you just as much as we do your new brother.
I saw the word “landfill” and this is the first thing to come to mind:
https://youtu.be/gpDBd9efcMo