So, I've now read the full transcript 3 times, because I wanted to understand all the contexts, what was actually said, and why it might be said. I refuse to comment on what I believe, but as always, I like to provide 'foot for thought.'
First off, let's start with the exercise that is often repeated about Republicans and Trump voters, even in the US media at times ... They often take the worst thing prominent, public Nazis say, and assert them to Trump and anyone who votes for Trump. And when objective people challenge that assumption, to not equate the two, the counter-argument is that ... "This is what they really think, but don't say. They vote for it, and that's why they are really all racists underneath."
Understand the Nazi isn't afraid to say what he wants. He's already an outcast, and like other people who 'say what they want,' they have a 'support network' to re-enforce those views. So they ignore the responses. But the Nazi hardly represents the right or typical, Republican voters -- especially those tired of the Republican establishment as much as the DC Beltway self-interest -- even if I feel they are misguided at times, as a Libertarian. I say the same about Democratic voters too.
So, secondly, now let's flip this script ... and this is where it gets interesting. One on the right, using the same logic -- even if I disagree -- could take what Don Lemon stated and discussed and assert this is how anyone who voted for Hillary Clinton thinks. That on its own, to me, really isn't a big deal, any more than what the left says about the right in reverse. If anything, it's just as sad as when it's done the opposite way too. I don't think Democratic voters think this way, not even Hillary supporters.
No, to me what is more scary is that ... the US media has reached a point where analysis feel free to say things like this. That they have a 'support system' for bucking the backlash. That is what is really scary.
Because like the Nazi who bucks society, the US media has reached the point they say things that would never be acceptable in everyday society, people who work real jobs.
I don't say this to say "The US media is bad" or "An enemy of the people." But as they are advertising-driven, it is getting to the point they've long left their job of "educating Americans" and have gone full-bore scientifically ignorant, with 3rd grade level economics, math and physics (don't get me started). They were already pretty bad with history, always saying, "This is the worst ever" (only to be constantly disproven), but my engineering education is just continually insulted any time I watch.
And now, we have this. Agree or disagree, it is deep food for thought. I'm not calling for Don Lemon to be taken off-air. I'm far more concerned about how much the US media will continue to alienate everyday, hard working people ... especially as European-Americans will no longer be the largest set of Americans by 2024.
Don Lemon may assert the biggest issue(s) is (are) as he says, and I'll let the full transcripts speak for themselves. But if there is one thing I've always learned, people tend to redirect their blame when it suits the purpose ... and that never works. Because it can change on-a-whim, even against others ... like the Jewish-American, which has been a popular target, and far from Trump too. And after 2024, I fear for our fellow Hispanic-Americans too, beyond the current level of rhetoric, including from Trump.
No, the only solution is to work together, not blame others. People needs solutions, not blame, not rhetoric.
But I'm an engineer. I focus on solutions. I don't focus on blame. I'm also a civics-loving Libertarian, and I know my history ... and statistics.
E.g., regarding ... "Even though more people died in attacks by Islamic extremists (119 vs 106), the vast majority of deadly attacks in this country from 2001 to 2016 (62 vs. 23) were carried out by far-right violent extremists" ...
Statistics 101 ... evaluate how many Republicans v. Muslims in the US, and one starts to understand why the US media continually fails at math when it comes to concepts of 'per-capita' and the like. It's part of the reason I feel continually insulted, being a math-centric, educated American.
I don't get upset with the US media, I've learned to stop doing that. I can just point out their folly, and how they are undermining themselves.
