Mastodawn

William Lindsey

Irish writer Colm Tóibín addresses what Trump has shown the world about Americans, and Americans about themselves:

"Tóibín believes Trump has indelibly tarnished the idea of the US as the so-called land of the free. 'America can never really lift its head again,' he says."

#Trump #America #morality #Christianity #democracy
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https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/features/colm-toibin-books-news-from-dublin-interview-b2948353.html

Colm Tóibín on a post-Trump world: ‘America has a stain on its soul’

The Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Brooklyn’ is not one for parties, preferring to spend his time either at home or in the library. He speaks with Claire Allfree about his hermit lifestyle, his new collection of short stories – and the irreversible damage done by Donald Trump’s presidency to America’s legacy

The Independent

William Lindsey

"'It can go on about itself all it likes, but after all this is over, we will always know that under certain pressures, it caved in easily. People say that, after Trump, America can go back to being itself – but no, there is no going back.'

The problem, he says, isn’t just political, but goes to the heart of the country’s spiritual delusions about itself."

#Trump #America #morality #Christianity #democracy
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William Lindsey

“'The issue is moral. America has a stain on its soul. It often thinks about itself in religious terms, as a shining city on a hill. Well, it’s a shining city some way down the hill now, and it has to get on with re-forming itself as a normal country, rather than as a beacon built on a set of ideals – because those ideals have turned out to be pretty tawdry.'”

#Trump #America #morality #Christianity #democracy
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William Lindsey

And:

“'I had a big argument with a lot of people on the left in America, who wouldn’t vote for Kamala Harris in 2024,' he says. 'The idea that if you’re a Democrat, you can swan around as though you’re in some utopia, and are [entitled to the ideal candidate], is madness. Even if you disagree with some of the things they care about, you’ve still gotta vote for them.'”

#Trump #America #morality #Christianity #democracy
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@wdlindsy
it is, and always has been a steaming load of horseshit advertising...
take the apple pie and shove it up your white picket fence

William Lindsey

@DonChacale Best wishes to you, too.

@wdlindsy
the you in YOUR is not yourself, pard...

it's the purveyors of propaganda.
scuse me if i offended.

William Lindsey

@DonChacale Offended? I don't give this kind of trolling a second thought. When someone reveals himself (it's usually a him) to be about that kind of adolescent bullying, I shrug and move on — and I stop engaging, as I intend to do so now.

@wdlindsy
right on.

Bytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱1d ago

Hmm... have the fash yet actually *removed* the poem that starts

“Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” etc?

@bytebro @wdlindsy I think that it suits right-wing governments to maintain the myth of being a freedom-loving country. Sure, they're probably going to invoke the imagery of "Uncle Sam" more than "Lady Liberty" but:

Reagan and his "shining city upon a hill" speech relied on this idea of the US being a "beacon" (note the Liberty-style shout-out) to the world
people have been pointing out the hypocrisy for years (eg, Lou Reed in the 80s (?) singing "your poor huddled masses, let's club em to death, get it over with")

Mirishuli 1d ago

@wdlindsy Ever again is a bit much. But for the moment, we should hang our heads in shame. And then get to work creating a better America.

@MiriShuli
It really isn't. It's been said at multiple levels, we will never trust you again. And still the US keeps doubling down on the cruelty and the grift.

And until the citizens understand that, until they have made clear changes, and shown their commitment to never again, to actual equality for all, genuine rights, and humane treatment of *all* their citizens, as well as aliens, then there we have to say never again.

Trying all your war criminals at an international court would be a start.

Mirishuli 10h ago

@hypostase @wdlindsy Kit, you won’t, and nor would I if I were you, but your lifespan doesn’t include forever. Many people thought the same about Pearl Harbor/The Japanese, Germany, Vietnam.

There is a statue to John McCain in Hanoi, a man who was bombing them.

I hope I get to live long enough to watch Nuremberg 2.0.

@MiriShuli
Japan and Germany changed. under occupation, true, and in the case of Germany with an enforced change to the electoral system designed to create weak government, in Japan, the overthrow of the Emperor.

Vietnam? Vietnam was just another US war crime.

Serge 🔻1d ago

@wdlindsy @alex_p_roe they’re finally forced to look in the mirror and it’s Donald John Trump staring back at them.

William Lindsey

@xerge @alex_p_roe Indeed. And this is exactly why they elected Trump: he mirrors who they are and what they have made of themselves.

disorganized tropical low 1d ago

@wdlindsy Never again is an awfully long time. I agree we have a long road ahead and a lot of work to do. So did Germany. But “never … again”? I want a more hopeful vision than that. I’m not giving up on my home.