When Was America Great?

[georgephillip]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/20/when-was-america-great/

"Since Trump’s target audience was comprised mainly of people who are at least middle aged, it would be fair to say that his goal was to get them to think of post-War America as their personal Paradise lost.

"This is nonsense, of course; but, by now, the span of time between the late forties and early sixties is remote enough to be looked back upon in ways that Trump could and did successfully exploit..."

"He wanted his marks to yearn for a Golden Age in which hard working white men could make a decent living doing honest, productive labor in jobs that were not about to go away; and in which everybody else knew his or her place: blacks in the back of the bus, women standing by their men, gays in the closet, Hispanics in Mexico or Central America."

How long before "Make America Great Again" begins sticking in Trump supporters' throats the same way "Hope and Change" currently gags some of those gullible enough to have supported Obama in 2008?

 

[PhilFish]

always?

thinking it's a trick question..

 

[georgephillip]

always?

thinking it's a trick question..

Well...maybe it is?

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/20/when-was-america-great/

"From the sixteenth century on, there have been political thinkers in Western countries for whom ancient Sparta and the Roman republic served as political models. What they esteemed was their egalitarianism (applicable, however, only to free male citizens) and their ideal of civic virtue, according to which the public good takes precedence over individuals’ private interests.

"In the ideal world envisioned by republicans, small, mainly rural, largely self-sufficient households prosper together – with no one rich, no one poor, and everyone happy."

Does this sound like a time billionaires yearn for?

 

[PhilFish]

Well...maybe it is?

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/20/when-was-america-great/

"From the sixteenth century on, there have been political thinkers in Western countries for whom ancient Sparta and the Roman republic served as political models. What they esteemed was their egalitarianism (applicable, however, only to free male citizens) and their ideal of civic virtue, according to which the public good takes precedence over individuals’ private interests.

"In the ideal world envisioned by republicans, small, mainly rural, largely self-sufficient households prosper together – with no one rich, no one poor, and everyone happy."

Does this sound like a time billionaires yearn for?

no such time ever existed.. or will. dont know about a world such as that envisioned by republicans..

 

[Jen]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/20/when-was-america-great/

"Since Trump’s target audience was comprised mainly of people who are at least middle aged, it would be fair to say that his goal was to get them to think of post-War America as their personal Paradise lost.

"This is nonsense, of course; but, by now, the span of time between the late forties and early sixties is remote enough to be looked back upon in ways that Trump could and did successfully exploit..."

"He wanted his marks to yearn for a Golden Age in which hard working white men could make a decent living doing honest, productive labor in jobs that were not about to go away; and in which everybody else knew his or her place: blacks in the back of the bus, women standing by their men, gays in the closet, Hispanics in Mexico or Central America."

How long before "Make America Great Again" begins sticking in Trump supporters' throats the same way "Hope and Change" currently gags some of those gullible enough to have supported Obama in 2008?

America was GREAT until Obama came into the presidency and started telling us all how bad we are/ were/ will always be.

First thing Obama did was tell us that 9/11 was OUR fault. Then he went on a tour of the world apologizing to them for our awfulness.

The whole nation has sunk into a morass of violence and hatred. The Democrat Party - once the party of hippie love and tolerance, has reversed course.

But hey................ go ahead and beat up on Trump and his promise to make America Great again.

This is what I think of it:

 

[georgephillip]

no such time ever existed.. or will. dont know about a world such as that envisioned by republicans..

I don't think it's likely small "r" republicanism can exist in a society where private ownership of the means of production and market relations dominates politics to the extent it does in the US; the concentrations of wealth produced in such nations works against those kinds of egalitarian ideals.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/20/when-was-america-great/

"America’s founders were influenced by republican thought – Thomas Jefferson, most famously – and, early on, strains of republican thinking found a welcome home in the collective consciousness of the American people.

"The fortunes of republican thinking have waxed and waned in the years that ensued, as has the appeal of republican values – in part because republicanism’s fortunes and capitalism’s are thoroughly intertwined."

 

[georgephillip]

America was GREAT until Obama came into the presidency and started telling us all how bad we are/ were/ will always be.

First thing Obama did was tell us that 9/11 was OUR fault. Then he went on a tour of the world apologizing to them for our awfulness.

The whole nation has sunk into a morass of violence and hatred. The Democrat Party - once the party of hippie love and tolerance, has reversed course.

But hey................ go ahead and beat up on Trump and his promise to make America Great again.

This is what I think of it:

Apparently, Trump believes the US was "great" during "...periods of military and industrial expansion at the onset of the 20th century and again in the years after WWII."

Do you see why that makes some people uneasy?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/26/politics/donald-trump-when-america-was-great/

"'If you look back, it really was, there was a period of time when we were developing at the turn of the century which was a pretty wild time for this country and pretty wild in terms of building that machine, that machine was really based on entrepreneurship,' he told the Times.

"Trump also pointed to the 'late '40s and '50s,' a time when, he said, 'we were not pushed around, we were respected by everybody, we had just won a war, we were pretty much doing what we had to do.'"

 

[Craig]

Apparently, Trump believes the US was "great" during "...periods of military and industrial expansion at the onset of the 20th century and again in the years after WWII."

Do you see why that makes some people uneasy?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/26/politics/donald-trump-when-america-was-great/

"'If you look back, it really was, there was a period of time when we were developing at the turn of the century which was a pretty wild time for this country and pretty wild in terms of building that machine, that machine was really based on entrepreneurship,' he told the Times.

"Trump also pointed to the 'late '40s and '50s,' a time when, he said, 'we were not pushed around, we were respected by everybody, we had just won a war, we were pretty much doing what we had to do.'"

Trump learned at the feet of Roy Cohn for heavens's sake.

He's trying to "blacklist" the entire media.

 

[georgephillip]

Trump learned at the feet of Roy Cohn for heavens's sake.

He's trying to "blacklist" the entire media.

"You can’t understand Donald Trump without understanding the influence of his political mentor, Roy Cohn.

"Cohn came to prominence as chief counsel for Joe McCarthy’s contentious anti-communist Senate investigations in the 1950s before becoming a prominent New York lawyer to both New York’s high society and underworld.

"He represented everyone from New York Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner to mob boss 'Fat' Tony Salerno

"'Roy was brutal, but he was a very loyal guy,' Trump explained in 2005. 'He brutalized for you.'”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/03/what-roy-cohn-taught-donald-trump/#ixzz4WaNJuNw3

Journalists like Wayne Barrett and David Cay Johnston who've covered Trump for decades also claim understanding Trump begins with Roy Cohn; however, I don't know if either Trump or his mentor can/could function effectively while operating in the sort of spotlight that Trump is now in.

His solution might very well come down to blacklisting all media that consistently criticizes his administration

 

[Sickofleft]

always?

thinking it's a trick question..

It is a trick question.

Democrats have been trying to get Conservatives to say something akin to the "it was the 1950's" or something similar. So they can accuse them of trying to send every woman back to the kitchen etc.

"Make America Great Again" i think it has more to do with a mind set that this country could accomplish anything. I feel overall people do not feel that way anymore and have not in some time.

Considering a "Republican" won PA, WI and MI in the last election in what was considered the blue wall for Democrats.........my guess is a lot of the country feels that way as well.

Only time will tell if that mind set actually changes.

 

[Corruptbuddha]

It has always been great. And as long as we maintain a capitalist republic it will remain so.

Socialism fails because it exists in opposition to the human desire to excel.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Well...maybe it is?

That's the whole enchilada right there. Damn, for some reason I just thought about Tommie's and those awesome chili hamburgers. I gotta add that to the list of to do's next time I'm in LA. Surely you've indulged, yes?