Latest news with #2016Election
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Sanders knocks Democrat establishment's strategic use of 'identity politics' to vilify Bernie bros, podcasters
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., compared the Democratic establishment for demonizing his supporters in the 2016 election to how male podcasters are being vilified today. Sanders spoke to Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh of the "Flagrant" podcast on Monday, agreeing that the Democratic Party has robbed their constituents of their right to participate in the democratic process. After discussing how the 2016 primary nomination was stolen from Sanders for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Schulz asked, "Could we not also say, ostensibly, there hasn't been a fair primary for the Democrats since 2008, are they not also a threat to democracy?" he asked. "Yes," Sanders replied. But another key element about the 2016 election was how Sanders' supporters, then referred to as "Bernie bros," were condemned by the Democratic establishment and the media in 2016. Singh recalled claims that they "have a racism problem, a misogyny problem," and asked, "do you think that's a super PAC thing behind that?" "That was the Democratic establishment," Sanders replied, arguing he had a diverse grassroots base. "They were sitting there - We had a lot of young people, we had people-of-color and, you know, they create this kind of myth with the help of the corporate media and all that stuff." "You know it's kind of interesting, to that note, is during this election, the podcast space which the Democrats largely avoided, they feel had some influence in the election and um they started to label us 'the podcast bros' and said that we were sexist, and we were racist and bigoted," Schulz recalled. "It's almost like it's the exact same strategy to get you out of there." "Yeah," Sanders replied, agreeing that's what the "liberal elite" does. The Vermont senator went on to argue that there is a clear distinction between working against "all forms of bigotry" versus engaging in "identity politics." "'You're Black? You're wonderful, you're tremendous. You're gay? You're the greatest human being on Earth,'" Sanders said, criticizing the identity politics. Sanders argued advocates of identity politics are failing to ask the real question, "'What do you stand for?' You're gay? That's fine, who cares? But what do you stand for?" Sanders continued, "You know, is every gay person brilliant and wonderful and great? No, of course not. Everybody's a human being. So the issue is 'What you stand for?' which gets you back to what we discussed earlier. Class politics, in the sense of 'Which side are you on?' Are you going to stand with working families? Are you going to raise the minimum wage to a living wage or not? Are you going to guarantee - fight to guarantee - healthcare to all people or not? Are you going to demand that the wealthiest people stop paying their fair share of taxes or not? Those are the issues, and no one cares what color you are, you know, what your gender is etc. etc."
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Is Donald Trump's movement really a "cult"? Well, I ought to know
In July of 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump announced that the fate of the country was in peril. In a televised speech, Trump announced that only one person was equipped to turn the sinking ship of America around. This wasn't the first 'fire and brimstone' political speech in our history, and certainly wouldn't be the last. And this man once seen as a performative figure — a political sideshow — has metamorphosed into a towering and singular figure in America whose significance goes far beyond politics. Some would argue his influence has taken on an almost religious character. That speech at the Republican convention in Cleveland marked the moment when I started to internalize how much the political and ideological winds were shifting in the nation. At the time, Trump's words shook me, and not only for the obvious reasons. It wasn't his now-ubiquitous polemical flourish, or even what that implied about his approach to governing. It was actually his exact phrase that I couldn't let go of: 'I alone can fix this.' To say that I alone can do virtually anything suggests a degree of permanency, perhaps even supernatural power. In a world that is entirely interdependent down to the molecules that make up our bodies, to suggest that any one person can singularly do anything without the support of others is quite a stretch. And hearing the phrase 'I alone' invoked for me a memory of another time. I'd heard that phrase before, as a kid in Northern California, sometimes living on a commune and surrounded by hundreds of people who had all come together to do the same thing — worship a man named Franklin Jones. If you wanted happiness or salvation, you needed to follow him. The overall message of one of Jones' most prominent books could be summarized as 'I alone am the way,' meaning the true path to enlightenment. He was a controversial guru and spiritual leader who also went by the names Ruchira Avatar Adi Da Samraj, The Divine World Teacher and True Heart Master Sri Sri Bagavan Adi Da, among others. He called his group Adidam. By the time I was a teenager, he had declared himself to be a unique incarnation of God, a physical manifestation of divinity here on earth sent to liberate us from what he called the 'dark times' or 'Kali Yuga.' His seminal essay was entitled 'I Alone Am the Adidam Revelation.' It will come as no surprise that Jones has often been described as a cult leader, although that was certainly not how I viewed him growing up. He was the wise and compassionate guru, as well as the person who captured virtually every moment of my parents' interest and attention. I was along for the ride. As a teenager, my parents became Jones' personal acupuncturists, which brought them very close to his inner circle of followers, at least until a falling out severed them from the group completely. I lived quietly with the inner turmoil and trauma of my adolescent years in Jones' group until 2017, when I released the documentary podcast series 'Dear Franklin Jones,' which detailed my life in the group and featured interviews with other former members, including my parents. The success of that series forced me to confront difficult aspects of my childhood, including the fraught relationship I had tenuously built with my dad. By the time word got around about the series, my father and I were very much estranged. But after he was diagnosed with dementia and became unable to care for himself, I was forced to confront our toxic relationship while also becoming responsible for his care. It's the subject of my new audio memoir, 'The Mind Is Burning: Losing my Father to a Cult and Dementia.' In my creative work and especially in writing my memoir, I have become attuned to making connections between my past and present. When I first heard Trump's speech in 2016, those words — 'I alone' — took me to a very specific, very raw place. It reminded me of the years I spent as a child under the specter of an authoritarian spiritual figure. As a child, I was led to believe that one man — in our case, an ordinary-looking guy from Jamaica, Queens, New York, exactly the same neighborhood where Donald Trump was born and raised — was in fact … God. The startling parallel between these two men, and that phrase in particular, remains intensely resonant for me. They both seem to be reaching towards a kind of ubiquity. An authority that transcends their own personhood. A godlike persona. My journey to finding peace with everything that I saw and struggled with in Jones' group was neither straightforward nor easy. In the years since then, I have continued to write and report on various fringe religious groups, including several that have been labeled as cults. What I continue to struggle with, however, is the word itself. Is it an extension of fandom, with public figures amassing cults of their own? Are the worldwide legions of 'Swifties,' Taylor Swift's most devoted fans, actually members of a cult? What exactly is a cult, and under the new Trump administration, are we living in one now? Somewhere along the line, 'cult' has come to mean so many things that I'm no longer sure it means anything at all. And no modern public figure is more often described as a cult leader than our duly elected president. A few months into his chaotic second term, the question of whether or not the movement that he has started is effectively a cult has become a live one once again. To appreciate how we got here, we need to understand the word itself, and how it caught fire in popular culture. The meaning of the word 'cult' has changed quite a bit. It was originally used simply to describe small, fringe religious movements — groups that were offbeat and outside the mainstream, but not necessarily sinister. In fact, many groups that were once considered cults, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as the Mormons) or the Seventh-day Adventist Church, are now widely regarded as mainstream religions. Then came Charles Manson. The Tate-La Bianca murders of 1969 struck fear into mainstream America, and this frightening hippie who had supposedly compelled his acolytes to commit murder became the bogeyman of the counterculture era. Suddenly, a 'cult" meant something worse and more dangerous than a small group of ideologues or a charismatic leader. It could be a threat to public safety. Meanwhile, alternative religious movements were flourishing. There was the rebirth of evangelical Christianity known as the 'Jesus movement,' the Hindu sect that became the Hare Krishnas and dozens more gurus and spiritual guides, churches and communes. Many were harmless, but others wielded deep and troubling control over their members. Then, of course, came Jonestown. More than 900 people died in a 1978 mass murder-suicide at a remote encampment in Guyana ruled by the Rev. Jim Jones. Cults were no longer just fringe oddities — they were existential threats. The images from Jonestown were horrifying: rows of bodies, cyanide-laced Flavor Aid, and chilling recordings of Jones commanding his followers to die for their cause. Suddenly, "cult" became synonymous with totalitarian mind control. The idea that someone could be brainwashed to the point of self-destruction shook the public to its core. A wave of anti-cult activism followed. Families claimed their loved ones had been "brainwashed," and groups like the Cult Awareness Network emerged to fight back. Suddenly, any religious movement that deviated from the mainstream risked being labeled a cult. Once that happened, society saw these groups as dangerous. 'Deprogramming' became a huge (and controversial) practice during this time. Families, terrified that their children had been sucked into cults, hired deprogrammers who sometimes literally kidnapped adults and forcibly tried to re-educate them to break free of their existing beliefs. A vigorous debate on terminology ensued, rife with controversy. Some scholars began to use the term 'new religious movement' to differentiate small religious groups from the stigmatized word 'cult.' By the 1980s, the term 'destructive cults' begain to appear. It seemed to offer a clearer definition of the kinds of cults that scare us, while also insulating anti-cult advocates from the threat of litigation, which became a tool of suppressing dissent for certain well-funded religious groups. The 'cult wars' broke out — an intense series of disputes over what a cult actually was and what rights or recourse dissenters had against these groups, playing out both in the courts and in public discourse. More recently, documentaries like 'Wild Wild Country,' 'The Vow' and a million rehashes of the stories of Jonestown and the Branch Davidians of Waco have cemented an image of dangerous leaders with spellbound devotees who commit heinous acts. But while these stories are frightening, the way that the concept of 'cults' has migrated into pop culture has, in my view, effectively disarmed the term. We've made "cult" into a kind of aesthetic. It's no longer only, or even primarily, about control and coercion. Now we use 'cult' as a kind of metaphor to describe anything with an intense following. Just search the word on Etsy and you'll find dozens of pithy phrases on cute stickers and T-shirts that minimize or contradict the word's original import. And of course there's also a mountain of product equating Trump and the MAGA movement with cultism: 'If you're not outraged, you're in a cult.' Seeing these ideas permeate the culture over the years has left me confused and frustrated. As someone raised in a group that went from a polite hippie-ish spiritual community to an isolated entity with its own cosmology, I think we've lost the thread. We joke about 'cult favorite' beauty products and "cult status" movies, it's a shorthand for devotion, loyalty and obsession. And when people talk about MAGA as a cult, it seems to exist in that hazy liminal space between a negative attribution of a fan group and something more sinister. As American politics have become increasingly divisive and supercharged by misinformation, the term seeks to apply our understanding of dangerous and fanatical religious groups to extreme political beliefs. Is that a fair application? Is MAGA really a cult? The definition that makes the most sense to me is the one that tells us what a cult does, rather than what it is. Robert Jay Lifton, one of the first scholars to explore on what cults are and are not, says that a cult exhibits three main characteristics: A charismatic leader. A compelling thinker and speaker who can make people believe anything. Trump absolutely fits this bill. In fact, it appears to me to be one of his superpowers: the ability to read how a large population is feeling and to compel them to act in his interest. Which brings us to Lifton's second defining characteristic. A process. To be a cult, a group must have a philosophy unto itself, and a process of re-educating its followers in the philosophy of the group. For me growing up, that included communal acts of worship, rituals and an impossibly long reading list of doctrinal considerations from the leader. It's a bit of a stretch, but MAGA, in a way, does appear to deploy a re-education process. If you are unhappy with the way your life is going and believe America is on the wrong track, the promise is offered that Trump is here to give your life meaning and make America great again. Abuse. Once followers of a cult are under the sway of their leader and have been re-educated in the belief systems of the group, Lifton stipulates that they can be compelled to act against their personal interests. This can mean anything from giving away their personal wealth and belongings to the leader, all the way up to acts of terrorism or mass suicide. When we reach the third point, I believe the purest definition of a cult starts to fall apart, and it becomes another culturally expedient term used to describe our complex political moment. Two-party politics contains a built-in dialectic about the interests of the people, in which each side will always accuse the other of acting against those interests. While one party or leader might possess qualities that appear cult-like, the U.S., at least for now, is still a democracy. There are nominally equal branches of government that provide important checks to the balance of power. Recent efforts to minimize the reach of the courts over executive privilege notwithstanding, the judiciary is still empowered to halt executive is by no means to suggest that the mass destruction of the federal bureaucracy we are currently witnessing isn't alarming. As a parent of two young boys, I am concerned about the character of the men in our highest office and how they present themselves to the public. I believe in the government institutions that make us a union of states rather than a pastiche of fiefdoms. For the time being, however, I do not believe we are in a cult. One of the strangest things I witnessed during my years living in and around my parents' guru came after we had left the group. My father began to hold his own weekly meditation groups and became more outspoken about his spiritual beliefs and abilities. He started to believe that he had the ability to heal people by touching them, and that he could divine their futures with the help of his psychic abilities and tarot cards. He began to have visions of angelic souls from other dimensions visiting him with important messages for humanity. He wanted the power and reach of the guru who had left him behind. He wanted to be a guru himself. Until, of course, he got sick, and then it all fell apart. Few people would deny that Donald Trump has a powerful desire for authority and control. Many find that cumbersome, obnoxious or dangerous. But his desire for control does not make him a cult leader. We may have elected a president who seeks more than his fair share of authority over the three branches of government, but until or unless we disassemble those powers, there are still boundaries to his behavior. Whatever your feelings might be about Trump's sociopathic behavior, the term 'cult' doesn't feel effective. Should his administration succeeds in dismantling the branches of government and giving full authority to one individual, that would be a different situation. Trump's worldview may be informed by an outsized ideology, and he is clearly energized by the vigor and purity of his believers. He hungers for the allegiance of the crowds at his rallies, and runs his staff through a byzantine maze of loyalty tests. A cult, however, is a group singularly directed by a sociopathic narcissist who seeks to control their followers to do their bidding and move in whatever direction they, alone, choose. For now, we still have a choice.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Readers sound off on papal politics, the Merchant Marine and bodega panic buttons
Keep pols off the pope, and him out of politics Astoria: I agree with Cardinal Timothy Dolan that President's Trump's AI image of himself as pope 'wasn't good.' While Trump should not have done this, it is no big deal. However, why didn't Dolan and others in the American Catholic hierarchy speak out when Pope Francis irresponsibly lashed out and criticized presidential candidate Trump at a pivotal point during the 2016 Republican primary? Returning from a trip to Mexico during which he visited the border, Pope Francis said to reporters on a plane that candidate Trump was 'not Christian' for wanting to build a wall at the border to keep out illegal migrants. The pope's highly publicized statement occurred on Feb. 18, 2016, only two days before the South Carolina Republican primary on Feb. 20, which was a defining primary in the 2016 nominating process, as Ted Cruz had won the Iowa caucuses and Trump had won the New Hampshire primary. Trump was by no means a sure thing to win in South Carolina, as the Christian evangelical vote there was key and Cruz's father is an evangelical pastor. Statistics later showed that in the previous five South Carolina GOP primaries, only 10% of the voters had been Catholic. It is safe to say that Pope Francis lashing out at Trump drove many voters over to his side and gave him a decisive victory, as many Protestant voters in South Carolina did not want a Catholic pope trying to dictate policy. Pope Francis' reckless big mouth helped Trump win in 2016. In 2024, Trump was able to win without his help! Kyung Park Nice one Bedford, N.Y.: Voicer Gerald Browne's letter is one of the most clever and witty takes on the Kentucky Derby and Trump's incompetent and ignominious race. Céline Secada All bad things Richmond Hill: To Voicer JoAnn Lee Frank: Yes, Trump does make things happen. He has made steep cuts to child care, disease research, renewable energy and peacekeeping abroad. He has cut staff at the IRS, Social Security Administration (causing offices to close and an inability to reach anyone), Health and Human Services, CDC, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education. He also wants to stop all funding for PBS and NPR, and even universities that don't agree with his policies. This is blackmail. He also feels the right to punish people and institutions he disfavors. Do you actually feel these are good things for the citizens of the U.S.? Also, please don't refer to those who do not agree with you or the president as 'left-wing radical Democrats.' We are a country of free people who care about freedoms of speech and democracy. Not radical at all. Ene Kelly Infantile interpreter Boynton Beach, Fla.: Fortunately for me, I have a 3-year-old grandson who is able to translate Trump's answers into coherent, understandable language. My grandson David was particularly insightful in explaining what Trump was talking about when he was asked questions about Alcatraz. William T. Bredin More than welcome Brooklyn: Personally, I think it would be fantastic if Canada became our 51st state. Canada is just what America needs! Imagine: An extra 35 million voters who believe in affordable health care, who care about preserving their environment and who believe in stronger gun control! Canada, please join our country! Robert Gomez Call of duty Shaftsbury, Vt.: Trump has called veterans suckers and losers. So, will he honor these veterans who died in battle in World War II today (VE Day) and Memorial Day? As president, he has a duty to honor our vets and our allies, does he not? If he fails to do so, it will be another black eye for us all. He may just have to get up off his Republican rear end and get to work. Is playing golf more important? We can understand why he was 1-Y during the Vietnam War. His bone spurs made him exempt from the draft unless in times of war. Well, Vietnam was a war, right? So, what happened? Trump 'got really lucky' and was never drafted. Does that make vets like myself and thousands of others suckers and losers? This kind of thinking is not presidential. Tom King Setting sail Londonderry, N.H.: Trump plans to revive the U.S. maritime shipbuilding industry, including levying tariffs and fees on Chinese ships entering American ports. Now Congress must pass the SHIPS Act, which will increase our shipbuilding capacity and hopefully the size of our Merchant Marine. It could also provide economies of scale and expertise to rebuild our Navy. Since World War II, the U.S. has had a steady decline in U.S.-flagged merchant ships from about 50% of the world's cargo shipping to about 1% today. The Merchant Marine has fewer than 10,000 mariners compared to 50,000 in 1960. Our Navy is hard-pressed to find commercial ships to support its operations. Approximately 90% of the world's goods are transported by ships. We must increase U.S.-flagged ships to compete with China and other countries, and for our national security. Donald Moskowitz Overstated overwhelm Philadelphia: To Voicer Charles T. Compton: You promote another Trump election lie, this time stating, 'Trump was elected overwhelmingly with a decisive mandate' in the 2024 election. Sorry to burst your fact-free bubble, but receiving less than 50% of votes cast — in Trump's case, 49% of votes cast to Harris's 48% — is not by definition an 'overwhelming mandate,' as you and Trump propagandize. If you factor into the equation the number of people who opted to sit the election out, approximately 86 million voters, Trump only received 32% of eligible votes of the entire American electorate. So finally, Mr. Compton and all the other MAGA faithful who adhere to another of many Trump-promoted fallacies, can we put the '2024 overwhelming mandate' lie to rest along with the '2020 stolen election' lie? Diane Doberman Looks off Edison, N.J.: Am I the only one who looked at the picture of Mayor Adams and the bodega owners ('Help on way for bodega owners,' May 5) and said, 'Now's there's a photoshopped picture if I ever saw one!' Maybe it's the angle, maybe the paper was weirdly printed, but it sure doesn't look real to me. Diane Diamond Who shows up? Whitestone: So now bright light Adams wants to use $1.6 million to buy panic buttons for bodegas. It's fine and good to give a secure outlet to the bodega owners. However, my question to Adams is what good is that gonna do if you don't have the police personnel to respond to the panic button? Wouldn't it be smarter to take the $1.6 million and put more police on the street? Gene O'Brien Young & wild Valhalla, N.Y.: Migrant members of Diablos de la 42, an offshoot of the notorious Tren de Aragua street gang, ages 12-19, are committing crimes in groups by surrounding their victims and even attacking police for kicks! They have no remorse and are even taking selfies and pictures of their gang stripes, bragging about them and posting them while under arrest! They have more than 240 arrests between them and are still allowed to run free in NYC! The police catch them, but when ICE comes to check them out to possibly press federal charges and initiate deportation proceedings, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch states, 'The NYPD doesn't aid in civil deportation efforts'! Also, the City Council attempts to delete the database that law enforcement uses to try to control these criminals! What's wrong with this picture!? Michael Grisanti Soul in a skin suit Brooklyn: Man is not a physical being with a spirit or soul attached. Man is a spiritual being in a physical body. You are not the captain of your soul. Your soul is the captain of you. Arthur Mazlin Kill, cleanse and replace Bronx: It's obvious that Israel is seeking to do in Gaza what the U.S. did with its sea-to-sea Manifest Destiny plan, killing Palestinians like the U.S. did to the indigenous natives to reach the Pacific Ocean — using Hamas as an excuse to murder all who are in the way. Edwin Garcia
