Does anyone else think Trump has a point?

GG I'm sorry you think my post condescending it wasn't meant to be

I'm not saying I'm a US history buff and perhaps that's the point. If I understand enough of the situation then I assume that most people would be the same since I am by no means an expert on the subject.

You said that you felt articles covering the Charlottesville protests should cover a wide-ranging history as to how the current situation came to be. What I'm saying is that the history of the US is widely known and that it is entirely reasonable for an article focussed on the Charlottesville fracas not to have a potted history or massive back story for people to understand it.

Something I read maintained that the supremacist rally was organised because a confederate statue was being or going to be torn down because people at the other end of the political spectrum didn't like it (I don't need to go into details about why they didn't like it, do I? It's on a par with other recent campaigns to get rid of historical statues of various people). Quite apart from the fact that tearing down statues of confederacy supporters (or anything else) isn't going to change history so I don't see the point, I can't help but wonder if the rally would not have been organised had the statue simply been ignored by those whom it upset because it reminded them of some past truth, an unpleasant truth to them, no doubt, but still a truth.

I am happy to be corrected if I have any of this wrong. I'm just relaying what I've come across.

bags I think that it was done by a democratic vote.

But even if it wasn't does that constitute a reason for marchers with torches used by the KKK to chant "Jews shall not replace us"and other dreadful chants?

GG Sorry meant to say that I wasn't being facetious about recommending you to use Wikipedia or Google. If I don't understand something I use both the above all the time.

There's an amazing amount of information to be accessed nowadays.

Indeed not, ww.

Thanks for the apology Oriel. I probably have as good an overview as you do about the history of the Southern states - my brother has lived in Virginia for about 25 years and my niece lives in Birmingham Alabama - both are American citizens, neither voted for Trump.

What I think we need to do is to understand and that, to me, means we need to know more than a brief summary.

Trump is unreliable in many ways and has had to change his reported comments after advice. However there is uaually something within his comments that reveals the way he is thinking. On this occasion I think he was simply trying to get things cooled down and to stop violence. What he actually said did not help.

Yes - democratic vote by local council not just in Charlottesville but other areas e.g. new Orleans as already mentioned several times on the thread. This nazi rabble used the decision as an excuse but if it hadn't been this, they would have come up with something else at sometime no doubt. I think we probably underestimate the depth and range of these people in the Sothern states in particular. Did you read the post about 9 black people burned to death in a church in Charleston 2 years ago?

I think I am going to leave you all to blether on for a while on this one.

We all agree that Nazism and White Supremacy are bad things.
We all agree that bad things have been done in their name and because of their views.

I think many of you will enjoy this but do watch it to the end. The bit where he says that "this is us, it's a part of this country, we can't pretend it's not".

For all yours and my condemnation of what happened and horror about the beliefs of a section of America, it exists and in large numbers. So far I have seen nothing on this thread that tells me how this problem can be dealt with and if it is just dealt with by force I do not believe it will go away.

Trump was trying to be honest and say what he felt - he doesn't think what he says is unreasonable. He was voted President of the most powerful country in the world and by a lot of people who agree with him so all I can do is wonder where this very powerful country is going but also where all the other countries in the world who have a large tranche of their population who believe 'the other' has taken from them are going too.

Oriel I think you are wrong in your assumption that the history of the US is widely known by most people whichever country they inhabit.You will find quite a lot of people who don't know the history of this country, who have been born here and lived here all their lives, let alone the US.An American friend of ours ( our age) didn't even know which century the American Civil War was in and thought it may be the 18th Century.
You can't assume that everybody has the same knowledge as yourself ( am assuming you are an old alumni of Oriel College?)

A letter from Stonewall Jackson's great great grandsons, asking for the removal of his statue:

www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/08/stonewall_jackson_s_grandsons_the_monuments_must_go.html

Roses wrote
"Oriel I think you are wrong in your assumption that the history of the US is widely known by most people whichever country they inhabit."
I agree. And their history helps to explain Trump's continuing support.
They're different from us, in spite of speaking the same language ( and even that's debatable.)

ps - sorry!
I intended to go on strike and make no more posts. Because of the limited forum.
So disappointing.

'Divided by the same language' TriciaF ?

I don't think that he has a point and am disappointed that Theresa May hasn't come out to firmly condemn his views.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Leticia I have heard Theresa May roundly condemning all violent far right groups.

Well said AmMaz, I was in 2 minds about pointing out to people that it wasn't 'righteous violence' that won the west 2 wold wars it was us going over and kicking the sh*t out of them

Bum I wish I'd put a bet on Bannon!!!

The latest sacking.

Any bets on the next one?

I must give it some thought

Brietbart aren't happy.

They've tweeted "#WAR!!"!

I would love Gorka to be next

The White House needs its own Reality TV show. The rest of us could vote on a weekly basis, which person working there we want to evict.
Guess who'd go first?>

Wonder if Bannon will be another Chapman and Osborne??

That will be fun.

I suppose Miller could be the next to go?

On second thoughts he is a bit flavour of the month at the moment