Editorials & Other Articles

dalton99a

(81,515 posts) Fri Jun 22, 2018, 09:36 AM Jun 2018

Return of the Blood Libel

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/opinion/blood-libel-trump-immigrants.html
Return of the Blood Libel
By Paul Krugman
June 21, 2018

The crowd at the Make America Great Again rally in Minnesota on Wednesday joined the president in jeering and outrage. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

The speed of America’s moral descent under Donald Trump is breathtaking. In a matter of months we’ve gone from a nation that stood for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to a nation that tears children from their parents and puts them in cages.

What’s almost equally remarkable about this plunge into barbarism is that it’s not a response to any actual problem. The mass influx of murderers and rapists that Trump talks about, the wave of crime committed by immigrants here (and, in his mind, refugees in Germany), are things that simply aren’t happening. They’re just sick fantasies being used to justify real atrocities.

And you know what this reminds me of? The history of anti-Semitism, a tale of prejudice fueled by myths and hoaxes that ended in genocide.

First, let’s talk about modern U.S. immigration and how it compares to those sick fantasies. ...

4 replies

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Return of the Blood Libel (Original Post) dalton99a Jun 2018 OP

I get it that you are charging Trump with spreading false stories about immigrants. Nitram Jun 2018 #1

Krugman mentions the correct usage in his essay DavidDvorkin Jun 2018 #2

I had assumed that the term "blood libel" was reserved for the history of the Jews. Nitram Jun 2018 #3

Viscerally, I share your reaction DavidDvorkin Jun 2018 #4

Nitram

(22,813 posts)

1. I get it that you are charging Trump with spreading false stories about immigrants.

Reply to dalton99a (Original post)

Fri Jun 22, 2018, 01:26 PM

Jun 2018

But I believe the term "blood libel" refers to an accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered the children of Christians in order to use their blood as part of their religious rituals during Jewish holidays.

Sarah Palin used the word in a much broader sense to describe the criticism about her violent and self serving political rhetoric to defend her cause to take over the world. It also allowed Palin to paint herself as a victim so she could gain sympathy while secretly continuing on her agenda of attempting to get her opponents assassinated.