What’s in a name? That which we call a knucklehead by any other name would smell as sweet
Trump called Tim Walz a “retard,” and Walz is understandably miffed:
TIM WALZ says that people are driving by his house and using the term ‘retard.’
“This creates danger… we know how these things go, they start with taunts, they turn to violence.”
Well no, Tim. The term “retard” is rude, but doesn’t usually lead to any violence – except, perhaps, in Nazi Germany, where they killed disabled people as “life unworthy of life.”
In this country, however, calling someone “Nazi” or “Fascist,” as the left is inclined to do, is more likely to lead to violence against the person so labeled. And in fact, as luck would have it, Walz himself has used terms like that for people on the right, or even for law enforcement. For example, here he called ICE agents “modern-day Gestapo” (he mispronounced the word, but it was clear that’s what he meant). And here’s some of Walz’s oh-so-gentle rhetoric about Trump:
Those words are far more likely to incite violence compared to “retard,” which is very mild in comparison.
And of course, during the 2024 campaign Walz called himself a “knucklehead,” which means “a stupid, bumbling, inept person.” He was being too kind. Knave and fool.
I will not be invited to the funeral for Governor Walz, but I will approve of it highly.
OK, that is all fair enough.
I am nevertheless sick and tired of (among other things) hearing the President of these United States make public statements and issue insults in the style of a low-life, low-class, rowdy teenaged bully. And that is true irrespective of what anyone else says about him.
Malevolent Minnesota Maroon, sigh, 3M is already taken.
Is Trump calling Walz a retard more rowdy teenaged bully than Walz calling everyone right of Stalin a fascist, Nazi, white supremacist, Zionist murderer, Betsy? Grow a brain.
I laughed out loud when I saw the “retard” story. Yeah, it’s an obnoxious, dumb, and offensive jibe. But it’s junior-high-level, and complaining publicly about it only made Walz look ridiculous.
I, too, am tired of the low tone of political discourse. It has gotten steadily worse in the last twenty years. It’s out of control, and I don’t see how it becomes more gentlemanly or mannerly. Bringing back the code duello might have an effect. But that’s not going to happen. More violence/assassinations might make people think twice about what they’re saying. But it’s an awful way to learn good manners.
IMO, Trump is giving the Democrats a taste of their own medicine. We Republicans haven’t been willing to do that so much in the past. As I recall Reaghan, G. H. W. Bush, and G. W. Bush mostly took it without getting down in the gutter with the Dems. The Democrats have had the MSM on their side and have been able to slur Republicans without much criticism. Trump is not afraid of the MSM. In fact, he has them off balance with his willingness to call them out.
So, the beat goes on. And some of us hate what we’re seeing.
Alan Colbo:
Oh, I have already grown quite a good brain, thank you very much.
And Donald Trump has already managed to clear pretty much every low-set manners bar emplaced by his opposition.
The Left keeps pulling that lever and nothing is happening!
Dueling used to settle things for centuries when disputes became too personal. Now we have dueling headlines by surrogates. It may be unsettling but at least Trump fights his own battles.
Cry me a river, Betsy. The invective that Trump hurls at his opponents is a fraction of what gets thrown at him. Not to mention the impeachments, lawfare, hoaxes, assassination attempts…
And let’s be reminded that while Trump can be harsh with his public opponents, he’s never once insulted the rank and file Democrat voterss. As opposed to Hillary with her “deplorables” remarks and Obummer’s “bitter clingers.”
Betsybounds
It is not difficult to find instances where Walz has compared Trump to Nazis etc. Walz’s objection to Trump insulting him when Walz previously insulted Trump reminds me of Truman’s quip about politics: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” If you insult Trump, you deserve to be insulted right back. Civility is a two-way street. For too long, Democrats have assumed that civility is for the Republicans, but not for them.
I was not initially a Trump supporter. I became a Trump supporter when I saw how, unlike “noble” Republicans like Bush, McCain, or Romney, Trump responded to insults by insulting others back. I, for one, am tired of Democrats accusing Republicans and their leaders of being bigots, racists, Nazis, what have you. If you need documentation, I will provide it. Trump fights back. I like that.
Recall the number of times that prominent Democrats, from Walz and Kamala Harris on up, referred to Republicans, Trump, Republican Presidents or Presidential candidates as Nazis, etc.
It began with Henry Wallace, the Democrat Vice Presidential candidate and future VP, in the 1940 Presidential campaign. From Benn Steil’s The World That Wasn’t: Henry Wallace and the Fate of the American Century:
(One irony here is that the CPUSA and its fellow travelers were vehement isolationists in 1940 . The CPUSA and its fellow travelers had a strong influence in the Progressive Party, under whose banner Wallace ran for President in 1948. Further irony: in reaction to the Korean War, Wallace wrote an apologia about his previous stance towards the USSR: “Why I Was Wrong.”)
OK.
Checked pants (skirts?) republicans are concerned.
Tim Walz grew up in Nebraska. He is a graduate of Chadron State; not Creighton University. He was a teacher at Alliance HS until he moved to MN in 1996.
He’s an embarrassment to both states, but he never could have been elected to public office in Nebraska.
Really good point Marisa, about Trump not insulting Democrat voters. Even though they richly deserve it.