What Do They Have to Lose? And Other Scenes from the Trump Debacle

There is always a lot of “they” and “them” with Trump. With his graceless and insincere patronizing of African-Americans the past few weeks, The Donald has managed to turn a general campaign pivot into a poster for political ineptitude and opportunism. That, and still more either personal bigotry, or just the consistent embrace of it. In the “what do they have to lose,” Trump has managed to characterize an entire racial group in America as largely poor and pathetic. Hillary Clinton went through the checklist yesterday, including the birtherism, the embrace of white nationalists, the wall, the Muslim ban, the running battle with the Khans and Judge Curiel.

With all this in play, Reuters ran a curious photo yesterday of citizens in Austin waiting to enter a Trump rally. The photo shows two African-Americans in Trump hats in front of a long line of (mostly, maybe all) white supporters. If the demographics are editorial enough though, there is more being dangled here. With Trump all about amplifying stereotypes, Reuters has surfaced an image that primes the palette. In that regard, what’s outstanding here is not just the black-white ratio. It’s two black men, as dark as can be, sandwiched between what the pejorative flip side would tag as “good ‘ole boys,” one an angry or, alt-right white dude, as coded by the t-shirt, and the other fitting the bill simply by height, gut and the event at hand.

Welcome to Trump’s America. Is it over yet?

This is another image we admired from Damon Winter of the New York Times. More graphic in his approach, it’s another representation of Trump as a media show.

Below are images of the Trump travesty we’ve posted the last week or so to social media. Most fascinating are the photos of Trump supporters photographing reporters. Holly Bailey of Yahoo has posted several on Instagram. Trump being that offensive, these photos couldn’t be more defensive. By the way, the bible quote from the five minute Play-doh distribution in Louisiana is from 2 Corinthians 9:7. The tweet below that contrasts Obama’s empathic style with Trump’s next gesture toward flood victims after the toy give away, autographing hats with his name on it.

Characteristic of the mistrust and even paranoia of Trump followers, Instagram has pic after pic of them photographing photographers. Like it’s retaliatory. #Repost @hollybdc ・・・ Trump supporter photographs me (West Bend WI) #trump #paranoia #politics #waiting #bw

A photo posted by Reading The Pictures (@readingthepictures) on Aug 19, 2016 at 1:12pm PDT

More me, me, me. #Repost @ericthayer ・・・ Kissimmee, FL #trump #masks #politics #sarcasm #election2016 #campaign #campaign2016

A photo posted by Reading The Pictures (@readingthepictures) on Aug 12, 2016 at 8:32am PDT

Give what you’ve decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver pic.twitter.com/SgIkAds8Tk

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) August 20, 2016

Photo op or not, you either feel it or you don’t. #Trump/#LouisianaFlood #Obama/#Sandy #Election2016 pic.twitter.com/rd42LWQGjB

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) August 20, 2016

Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters. caption: Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump line up for a campaign rally in Austin, Texas. Photo 2: Damon Winter/The New York Times. Caption: A television cameraman filmed a mobile voter register booth outside a Donald J. Trump event in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday.