Immediately after Stephen Bannon was named by Trump to be his chief strategist in the White House, he was roundly condemned as an anti-Semite. I don't know - maybe he is. But what bugs me is that the liberals whiffed ammunition against Trump, and without any critical thinking, began to relentlessly say that this only affirms Trump's racist ideology and his plan to make America into Nazi Germany.
So the first thing I did was look up why people think he's an anti-Semite and White Nationalist. He was accused by his ex-wife of saying something about there being too many Jews and too many Jewish books at an elementary school his daughters was looking to attend. Yet he ended up sending his daughters to this school anyway, and he denied ever saying that. Not terribly convincing proof.
It looks like he was accused of battery against his wife during their divorce, but that was thrown out in the courts.
There's more evidence from Breitbart.com - the fact that he has been Executive Chairman there during its rise as a central site for the alt-right is a bit more damning that he oversees some pretty stupid articles being written. I don't deny how totally ignorant and dumb these articles are, in particular those of Milo Yannopolous: Donald Trump Would Be The World's First Black President; and Does Feminism Make Women Ugly. Here's a fuller article on Bannon's own words, and articles he has published on Breitbart.
I agree he seems ignorant and stupid, and I agree he seems like a really rotten choice for a Chief Strategist in the White House.
Is he an anti-Semite? A White Supremacist? Does he want America to be like Nazi Germany? I'm not so sure about those things. There's a lot of difference between being an ignorant idiot, and someone committed to creating an Aryan Nation.
It's not like he was the CEO of the KKK or of the White Aryan Resistance. He said things and oversaw people saying things very similar to what Trump said about grabbing pussies. Ultimately, it's inexcusable, but at the same time, it's locker room talk. There's a big difference between talking about grabbing someone's genitals and actually raping someone, and almost 50% of voters in the presidential election agreed on that point.
Does Bannon really think feminism makes women ugly? Probably not - we can't take that literally.Was he (or the writer) trying to be provocative and make a point? Yes. Is it a stupid thing to say? Absolutely. Does he hate women? I doubt it.
Does he really think Trump would be the world's first black president? Probably not - we can't take that literally. Was he (or the writer) trying to be provocative and make a point? Yes. Is it a stupid thing to say? Absolutely. Does he hate black people? I doubt it.
Does he want to kill black people? Make them slaves? Reduce their civil rights? Deport them? Probably not.
Could I be wrong? Of course. I hope I am not. However it's also not so black and white - there's a lot of gray.
I do agree, though, that Trump could and should have chosen someone less controversial.
My only point is this: I wish the liberals had done their research on Bannon. I doubt that they did. I seriously doubt most of them read any articles, did any research, or thought at all critically about Bannon. They just whiffed controversy and pounced on it, tweeting and posting on Facebook that this proves how awful Trump is. I guarantee you the great, vast majority did this. We need more critical thinking, more research, more thinking about the other's decisions, before saying anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment