I believe also that Drumpf's mother was ironically a Scottish immigrant, from a remote island in the Hebrides. Not Scandinavian. And Grandpa (Fred's father) ran a brothel for awhile when times were tough ...
@jewels. If you want to read about Trump's grandparents, there is plenty of fact-checked information on the web starting with History.com.
Interesting fact about his grandfather Frederich, -- he came to the U.S. from Germany in 1885, avoiding compulsory three-year German military service. So draft dodging runs in the family.
Then there was the family lie about being from Scandinavia rather than Germany, so as not to offend Jewish patrons in the real estate business:
From History.com https://www.history.com/news/donald-trump-father-mother-ancestry
But for decades, Trump denied this German heritage altogether, instead claiming that his grandfather’s roots lay further north, in Scandinavia. “[He] came here from Sweden as a child,” Trump asserted in his co-written book The Art of the Deal. In fact, his cousin and family historian John Walter told The New York Times, Trump maintained the ruse at the request of his own realtor father, Fred Trump, who had obfuscated his German ancestry to avoid upsetting Jewish friends and clients. “After the war,” Walter told the Times, “he’s still Swedish. [The lie] was just going, going, going.”
To be fair, there are a lot of Americans of German heritage today who can trace their ancestry back to immigrants leaving Germany in the mid to late-1880s in order to avoid compulsory military service. I'm married to one.
This is not to excuse or mitigate in any way the Mango Menace's personal history of draft-dodging, just to say that the Drumpf grandfather had a lot of company.
@seeker4it
[content removed] Cadet Bonespurs is as big a coward as they come. He's ALREADY been calling the upcoming election "rigged" knowing he is likely to lose. [link needed] That is his usual M.O. He is so predictable in certain ways...
@jeanne-mayell. Fascinating. His family will be studied in psychology classes from now on. So much feral dysfunction, and predatory nature to boot. Thanks for the History.com tip! Addictive site, I bet. Interesting note about draft dodging. In Germany back then, it seems noble to do so.
Just a meme, but this cracked me up:
(couldn't remember which thread had the discussion of sage)
It's ironic that the best anti-Trump ads come from Republicans.
@jewels
Lols ... or not so lols? Was actually going to put that down next to the unholy one's name, but thought the Great Idjit might go further down the whacko rabbit hole if he discovered that his title (and his thunder) had been usurped by his lowly henchman. ?
@jewels
I like giving the Idjit in the WH his due... was referring to him as the PofD. Erik Prince is just the 'unholy one'....
I remember seeing one episode of Celebrity Apprentice a very long time ago, and Ozzie Ozbourne's wife was a guest.... she got mad at the Drumpf for dissing her and threatened him with retaliation from Ozzie ..she said "I am married to the Prince of DARKNESS you know!"
Hah. Little did she know.
I can’t help think that all those protest in Europe and other countries have more to do like an F..to T then anything else. I don’t remember these protest at other times. Either way I am sure George Floyd is happy that his death brought these actions of love and solidarity (not unemployment rate like T said on Friday) not only in the US but around the world. Also, on a lighter note him and Obama had more people at DC then trump hades at his inauguration ??? no wonder he is mad. Imagine Obama and George 2 Black men are more popular then he will ever be.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/world/george-floyd-global-protests.amp.html
@jessi1978 There's a lot of racism around the world in relation to the treatment of immigrants. The US has its own very serious problems, starting with the treatment of black Americans, and native Americans, and moving on from their, but we are still a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society in ways the rest of the world isn't. I see the protests as the world's youth calling their own countries to account for how black and brown people are treated. It was also heartening to see protests in Berlin, since they have their own history, and since antisemitism is Europe is still a very real thing.
There have been many predictions on this page about the youth leading the way, and I think we're seeing an example of it with these protests.
My cousin in Germany told me that all of Europe is worried about the USA and they are in solidarity for Black Lives Matter and wanting Trump gone. She sent me the replay of Michelle Obama's speech on Whatsapp that everyone is sending to one another in Germany. It's about Trump from October 2016 when Michelle was campaigning for Hillery. (If you even skim the comments from then you can see the blatant racism and the GOP/Russian campaign hate points people spewed.) Her speech was wonderful though so I've included it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dEjkT-wdGA&list=PL8oBpBrPGy4u05CmffTfXxSP8gb1w-wLW&index=11
Let's try not to conflate issues of immigrant justice with issues of social justice, ok? I'm not saying anyone is wrong to point them out, just saying let's not conflate, which leads to less understanding and awareness rather than more.
The issues the US has with racism stem from the genocides the country was founded on and built with - that of the indigenous peoples living here prior to colonialization, and that of the international slave trade which brought people to this continent very much against their will.
The issues European countries have with racism (and I'm setting aside anti-Semitism for a moment) stem from issues with immigration that are less rooted in colonialism (although that's not completely to be excluded), and are more rooted in ancient tribalism that's been conflated with economic pressures. Yes, there is more bias against people of color in most European countries than there used to be, but it's still WAY less than here in the US.
As for anti-Semitism, suffice to say that the classics never go out of style. One of my brothers converted and is a rabbi. I have seen first hand some of what his "neighbors" do and say in regard to Jews. Personally, I no longer believe in anything the Abrahamic religions have to say, and I believe that unless organized religion of all types disappears, this inter-faith animosity (which is descended from the ancient tribalism I mention above) never will either.
I have seen online a map posted - it showed areas of red as areas of conflict. And then it showed with ONE black dot where all the strife the rest of the map showed is coming from. That dot was centered over Jerusalem. It's not a judgment - it's just the truth. There are too many traditions that created deities that basically said "My way is the only way, everyone else is wrong, so it's okay to kill them in my name." And before you go quoting me all the Bible stuff that talks about love, I concede all that is in there, yet somehow that message has always been subjugated in favor of the more vengeful and inhospitable stuff.
My mind is officially blown by the BLM protests that are happening throughout Texas. And not just in the liberal strongholds of the big cities, but in mid-size cities and little towns and everything in between. Throughout the state, in some of the deepest red parts of it. Corpus Christi in South Texas, near the town where I was born, had 200 or so people turn out! My grandmother used to rail against the lack of civic engagement in Corpus, and I only wish she were alive to see this moment.
Something is happening. I don't want to get my hopes up, but this is the first sense I've felt that Texas could maybe turn blue in November.
Tagging @deetoo - LOOK! that stupid confederate soldier statue in Leesburg will come down soon! It rankled me every. damn. day.
@laura-f I think it's fine to disagree with others, but that can be done without asking that others not voice an opinion or a point of view. I was making the point that people of color are marginalized in Europe, and a reason for that is because while anyone who is born in the US or attains citizenship can call themselves an American, the same isn't true everywhere in Europe. That opinion doesn't seek to minimize the other issues you raise, so there is no conflation.