"I Will Heal America" (Trump)

[Peter Pedant]

Yeah OK no wonder you clicked on "read"
He didnt of course - (Trimp) - nowhere near
but nonetheless America Burns ( well 80 bits of it) and there is no visible thread

what does Answerbank think of the civll unrest ?
( no not the kneeling on someones neck - we are all agree that may end in death)

[Peter Pedant]

No yes - the president speaking is the problem
he doesnt DO anything - unless you say that calling the Governors jerks is 'an action'

oh and he has spoken out in support of the 2nd amendment which I regard as maladroit - in that the rioters might think: "o 2nd amendment tha is a good idea!"

[naomi24]

//I am still more interested in how viewers think this will play out in an election//

Course you are. :o)

[1ozzy]

:-)

[jim360]

Any comment, Naomi, on the use of armed police to drive peaceful protesters out of the President's path? Any comment on the brazen use of a Bible and a Church as props for a political stunt? Any comment on the total and utter condemnation of that stunt by the Diocese's own bishop?

[Peter Pedant]

thank you Jim
Hi jim ! - look over 100 posts ( I only say that because I know you can count)

yeah I have to admit I would be non plussed if Boris - you know our Prime Minister and the best one we ve got! - knelt down at Westminster ( Cathederal that is!) said a bit of Hail Mary (*)- and said he was a Roman Catholic ....

(*) his stab would be - Hail Mary Have I met you before I like making babies ....
or whatever the proper words to the nunc dimittis are

er no I wd say - the Roman church is a church of sinners .....

[naomi24]

Jim, peaceful protesters, debatable. The bible and church a political stunt? Maybe. A symbolic gesture? Maybe. All I can say about the bishop is that I would have hoped a senior member of the church would have more sense than to create more problems by encouraging further disharmony rather than promoting peace. Not impressed.

[pixie374]

//Hi jim ! - look over 100 posts ( I only say that because I know you can count)//

Not at the point you posted, four were removed... so, maybe not Jim that can't count :-)

[jim360]

Sending in the army isn't promoting peace. It's promoting war. Meeting violence with violence just ends up with more violence.

I absolutely deplore the rioting, looting and violence. But dispersing the peaceful protesters outside the White House with tear gas and rubber bullets is absolutely not the solution to that. Likewise, I agree with cassa that the problems that are leading to the riots are nothing to do with Trump and go back decades. In which case he should be trying to solve those underlying problems, not place a sticking plaster over them.

[naomi24]

What would you do?

[jim360]

I'll try my best to answer later, but I just want to point out that you don't need to know what the right solution is in order to recognise the wrong one. Trump's approach is clearly and obviously flawed, because it isn't even trying to address the systematic problems that sparked the protests; he only sees the violence -- and it is possible to see this without having an answer to those systemic issues.

[naomi24]

Jim, Of course he sees the violence. We all - well those of us who are actually looking - see the violence - and it has to be dealt with right now. What do you want him to do whilst America burns at the hands of people bent on anarchy? Sit back stroking his beard trying to decide how best to deal with social injustices going back decades? I'm fully aware of your poor opinion of Trump but get a grip on reality for goodness sake. This is ridiculous.

[Peter Pedant]

// What would you do?//
er the question I was pondering was not
what does Naomi think? ( a deep thought is inevitable here)
but what does Naomi think the President ( the greatest man on earth ) will do and why
The 'why' bit is in the end 'because Trump thinks it will do Trump good' however knocking over the press isnt in this long terms interests is it [ yes I am interested in ABers' opinions]

[Spicerack]

The US media are useless (ditto in the UK) More and more people are waking up to the fact. Pointing the truth out won't do Trump any harm.
While we're on the subject, the media have blood on their hands re the current unrest.

[naomi24]

PP, Crikey! You think he's the greatest man on earth? I can't agree with you there.

[Spicerack]

Oh, I don't know.

[tomus42]

// Any comment on the brazen use of a Bible and a Church as props for a political stunt? //

Trump has been shoehorning (Christian) religion into a lot of his output of late. e.g, referring to the virus as a plague and trusting in the lord to deliver us from it etc. This latest stunt is a continuation of that.

Clearly he sees this as a key block of his potential voters. It seems to be the one thing he's genuinely good at, ie convincing the gullible that he's anything other than a charlatan.

[jim360]

How typical that you either overlook or deliberately omitted the key word in my post before rubbishing it. I said that Trump *only* sees the violence. Of course it's appropriate to respond to that with proportionate measures -- sending in the army isn't an appropriate measure and isn't even something he can do anyway, but let's leave that aside.

But it's also what Presidents are supposed to do. Try to solve the problems facing the country. Trump wanted to make America Great Again. Doesn't that involve trying to solve long-standing problems, or was he only ever planning on being a reactive rather than a proactive president?

Put another way, what is the point in dealing with these protests and riots if all that will happen in a few years is that they could end up happening again? The underlying issues of police over-aggression, of the lack of accountability, of the broken relationship between the police and those they are meant to protect, will continue to fester unless somebody tries to do something about it. And, here's the point, I *want* Trump to do something about those problems. Nobody is better of if he fails to do so. Or, rather, when he fails, which is the sad point.

[jim360]

Anyway, in short summary:

1. Sending in the army is a bad thing.
2. Ignoring the underlying issues is a bad thing.
3. There is no sense at all in which wanting a President to deal with the wider issue means that he has to ignore the violence.
4. There is no sense at all in which understanding the motivations behind the protesters means supporting the violence and looting.

[naomi24]

//Put another way, what is the point in dealing with these protests and riots if all that will happen in a few years is that they could end up happening again?//

You are kidding - right?

[Spicerack]

People like Jim make me laugh with their support for the rioters and claims that violence isn't the answer.
You must feel safe with them 3,000 miles away.
If they were marching toward your home, you'd want a swat team at the end of the road. Failing that, a gang of those rednecks with automatic rifles, both of which come in for regular abuse from the usual crew on here.