“The first reaction to the Brussels massacres among postmodern European intellectuals was predictable: What did we, Europeans, do to them, our Muslims? How could followers of a religion that is proudly called “the religion of peace” commit these kinds of atrocities?
People like Peter Vandermeersch, the Belgian editor-in-chief of Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad, and Belgian writer David Van Reybrouck, both accomplished intellectuals, argued that Belgium must have done something terrible to deserve this. Their line of reasoning: The terrorists’ fury must be a reaction to their inhumane treatment at the hands of the West.”
“The other explanation for the high unemployment figures among Muslims in Europe has nothing to do with exclusion and discrimination. A large segment of the migrant population is doing just fine, but a significant number — some say as many as 50 percent — have not rid themselves of the mental and cultural conditions that have kept their home country in its “developing country” status. The denial of equal rights to women, the lack of separation of state and church, bad education, excessive religiosity, patriarchal machismo — these are all on display in areas with a high percentage of migrants, including Molenbeek.
In December 2013, Professor Ruud Koopmans of the Berlin Social Science Center published a study on “Fundamentalism and out-group hostility,” in which he compared hostility among Muslim immigrants with hostility among Christian natives in Western Europe. He writes: “Almost 60 percent agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, 75 percent think there is only one interpretation of the Quran possible to which every Muslim should stick and 65 percent say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live.” In regards to Christian citizens he concludes: “Less than 4 percent can be characterized as consistent fundamentalists.”
On hatred of Jews and homosexuals among Europe’s Muslim population, Koopmans finds: “Almost 60 percent reject homosexuals as friends and 45 percent think that Jews cannot be trusted. While about one in five natives can be considered as Islamophobic, the level of phobia against the West among Muslims — for which oddly enough there is no word; one might call it ‘Occidentophobia’ — is much higher still, with 54 percent believing that the West is out to destroy Islam.” Recorded rates of Christian hate toward Muslims hover around 10 percent.”
Donald Trump has not had two weeks this bad since he got into the presidential stakes. His general election polling numbers tell the story: on January 31st, just two months ago, his RealClearPolitics polling average put Trump in a statistical dead heat with Hillary Clinton, trailing her 44-41 percent.
It was conceivable at that moment to see a realistic path for Trump not just to the Republican nomination but to the White House – that he redraws the map in challenging ways and would be a competitive campaigner at the least, even given the inevitable attacks of the Democratic machine. But that situation is no longer operative.
As it stands today, Trump is the only Republican who loses to Hillary Clinton by double digits. The two most recent polls, from Fox News and Bloomberg, find her up by 11 points and 18 points respectively. And a great deal of this has to do with Trump’s hardening opposition among women, particularly Republican women. …
… Last year, Stephanie Cegielski agreed to become communications director of a pro-Trump super PAC that was later shut down over allegations that it was illegally coordinating its activities with the campaign. Cegielski has since turned on Trump and this week wrote an impassioned article describing how Trump’s own staff intended for him only to place second in the primaries and have a major impact on the GOP race: “I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters.”
Cegielski’s views are confirmed by Cheri Jacobus, a GOP strategist who had meetings with Trump’s campaign about becoming its communications director. “I believe Trump senses he is in over his head and doesn’t really want the nomination,” she told me. “He wanted to help his brand and have fun, but not to be savaged by the Clintons if he’s the candidate. He wouldn’t mind falling short of a delegate majority, losing the nomination, and then playing angry celebrity victim in the coming years.”
… Last fall, as Trump rose to giddying heights in the polls, a group of his staffers sat around the office imagining what the reaction of their boss would be if he actually won the presidency. One told me: “We concluded that he really would say, ‘Guys, what did you do to me? I had a great life. Now I have to move to the White House?’” …
_________________________________________
From a power line blog post this morning on the prospects of a Clinton-Trump race:
“The steady accretion of power in the federal government, mostly through the growth of the administrative state, has made the presidency a much more powerful office than, under the Constitution, it should be. If we had a more conservative framework of governance, the convergence of two bad presidential candidates wouldn’t be a threat to the Republic.”
Wandering Views 
Obama tangos his way across Cuba, pretending all is well……
Meanwhile his hosts openly mock his naivete.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/03/31/cuban-state-media-negro-obama-incited-rebellion-disorder/
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Refusing to admit the obvious is a big part of the problem here….
http://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-attacks-terrorism-europe-muslims-brussels-attacks-airport-metro/
“The first reaction to the Brussels massacres among postmodern European intellectuals was predictable: What did we, Europeans, do to them, our Muslims? How could followers of a religion that is proudly called “the religion of peace” commit these kinds of atrocities?
People like Peter Vandermeersch, the Belgian editor-in-chief of Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad, and Belgian writer David Van Reybrouck, both accomplished intellectuals, argued that Belgium must have done something terrible to deserve this. Their line of reasoning: The terrorists’ fury must be a reaction to their inhumane treatment at the hands of the West.”
“The other explanation for the high unemployment figures among Muslims in Europe has nothing to do with exclusion and discrimination. A large segment of the migrant population is doing just fine, but a significant number — some say as many as 50 percent — have not rid themselves of the mental and cultural conditions that have kept their home country in its “developing country” status. The denial of equal rights to women, the lack of separation of state and church, bad education, excessive religiosity, patriarchal machismo — these are all on display in areas with a high percentage of migrants, including Molenbeek.
In December 2013, Professor Ruud Koopmans of the Berlin Social Science Center published a study on “Fundamentalism and out-group hostility,” in which he compared hostility among Muslim immigrants with hostility among Christian natives in Western Europe. He writes: “Almost 60 percent agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, 75 percent think there is only one interpretation of the Quran possible to which every Muslim should stick and 65 percent say that religious rules are more important to them than the laws of the country in which they live.” In regards to Christian citizens he concludes: “Less than 4 percent can be characterized as consistent fundamentalists.”
On hatred of Jews and homosexuals among Europe’s Muslim population, Koopmans finds: “Almost 60 percent reject homosexuals as friends and 45 percent think that Jews cannot be trusted. While about one in five natives can be considered as Islamophobic, the level of phobia against the West among Muslims — for which oddly enough there is no word; one might call it ‘Occidentophobia’ — is much higher still, with 54 percent believing that the West is out to destroy Islam.” Recorded rates of Christian hate toward Muslims hover around 10 percent.”
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That (really creepy and ill-timed) tango photo will be a classic for years. 🙄
Kind of visually sums up a lot of things about this administration.
Let’s just tango as the world burns … Sigh.
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Trump is “taking on water”? — we can only hope.
http://thefederalist.com/2016/03/31/trump-is-taking-on-water/
___________________________________
Donald Trump has not had two weeks this bad since he got into the presidential stakes. His general election polling numbers tell the story: on January 31st, just two months ago, his RealClearPolitics polling average put Trump in a statistical dead heat with Hillary Clinton, trailing her 44-41 percent.
It was conceivable at that moment to see a realistic path for Trump not just to the Republican nomination but to the White House – that he redraws the map in challenging ways and would be a competitive campaigner at the least, even given the inevitable attacks of the Democratic machine. But that situation is no longer operative.
As it stands today, Trump is the only Republican who loses to Hillary Clinton by double digits. The two most recent polls, from Fox News and Bloomberg, find her up by 11 points and 18 points respectively. And a great deal of this has to do with Trump’s hardening opposition among women, particularly Republican women. …
______________________________________
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More on the speculation that Trump is purposely sabotaging himself and never intended for things to go this far …
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433526/donald-trump-campaign-self-sabotage
_________________________________________
… Last year, Stephanie Cegielski agreed to become communications director of a pro-Trump super PAC that was later shut down over allegations that it was illegally coordinating its activities with the campaign. Cegielski has since turned on Trump and this week wrote an impassioned article describing how Trump’s own staff intended for him only to place second in the primaries and have a major impact on the GOP race: “I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters.”
Cegielski’s views are confirmed by Cheri Jacobus, a GOP strategist who had meetings with Trump’s campaign about becoming its communications director. “I believe Trump senses he is in over his head and doesn’t really want the nomination,” she told me. “He wanted to help his brand and have fun, but not to be savaged by the Clintons if he’s the candidate. He wouldn’t mind falling short of a delegate majority, losing the nomination, and then playing angry celebrity victim in the coming years.”
… Last fall, as Trump rose to giddying heights in the polls, a group of his staffers sat around the office imagining what the reaction of their boss would be if he actually won the presidency. One told me: “We concluded that he really would say, ‘Guys, what did you do to me? I had a great life. Now I have to move to the White House?’” …
_________________________________________
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So true.
From a power line blog post this morning on the prospects of a Clinton-Trump race:
“The steady accretion of power in the federal government, mostly through the growth of the administrative state, has made the presidency a much more powerful office than, under the Constitution, it should be. If we had a more conservative framework of governance, the convergence of two bad presidential candidates wouldn’t be a threat to the Republic.”
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Donna….. 🙂
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hahaha
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FBI director Comey has a long history with the Clintons.
http://time.com/4276988/jim-comey-hillary-clinton/
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