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Author Jon Meacham: Trump took advantage of "climate of fear"
CBS News ^ | May 20, 2018 | Emily Tillett

Posted on 05/20/2018 1:28:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Jon Meacham, presidential scholar and author of "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels," says that President Trump is in office because "we have a climate of fear in the country" which he "took advantage of" over the course of the 2016 campaign.

"Politicians are far more often mirrors of who we are than they are molders. That's why the molders are so extraordinary. Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan -- those are different kinds of figures," Meacham said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "I think that President Trump in many ways is president because we have a climate of fear in the country. He certainly took advantage of it. He exacerbated it. And fear is an unreasoning."

Meacham noted, however, that "we've also always grown stronger the wider we've opened our arms. So whether the issue is immigration or the free flow of ideas or just open dissent, those are the moments when we are most broad-minded, that we actually grow stronger."(continued)

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Conspiracy; History; Politics
KEYWORDS: fakescience; franklinroosevelt; hillaryp; homosexualagenda; jonmeacham; mediawingofthednc; partisanmediashills; presstitutes; reagan; ronaldreagan; roosevelt; smearmachine; thesoulofamerica; trump
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The only thing I feared was Hillary Clinton grabbing the reins of power and finishing Mr. Obama's work of destroying this country.
1 posted on 05/20/2018 1:28:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Guess what Jon Meacham, there WAS a climate of fear you imbecile. Why don’t you analyze WHY there was a climate of fear. Trust me if you will, it was for good reason.


2 posted on 05/20/2018 1:33:26 PM PDT by ExpatCanuck
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

NO HE DID NOT! We gave him what we wanted and he said YES, I WILL DO IT!

The democrats are the enemy.


3 posted on 05/20/2018 1:36:06 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (0bama's agenda�Divide and conquer seems to be working.?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Absolutely right. We are all afraid of the marxists and communists finishing off the US of A. We repulsed the enemy within by the skin of our teeth in 2016. But the enemy is still beavering away within the government and we are still fearful we may not be able to restore the rule of law.


4 posted on 05/20/2018 1:36:08 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
..."we've also always grown stronger the wider we've opened our arms".

Ten bucks says that Jon lives in a town like Greenwich or New Canaan where the only time people open their arms wider is when you've got a net worth of $10 million plus.

5 posted on 05/20/2018 1:37:09 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (You Say "White Privilege"...I Say "Protestant Work Ethic")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

yes indeed.
we feared more of Obama’s Islamic terrorist “immigration”...
very dangerous!!!!
we feared more MS-13 Mexican gangs, too.
we feared HilLIARy’s dangerous sellouts of American defense secrets and our security
We feared more destruction of our liberties (including our First, Second, Fourth amendment rights)
we feared more racism as promoted 24/7/365 by the D party


6 posted on 05/20/2018 1:37:25 PM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicans aren't born, they're excreted." -Marcus Tillius Cicero (3 BCE))
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To: ExpatCanuck
Guess what Jon Meacham, there WAS a climate of fear you imbecile. Why don’t you analyze WHY there was a climate of fear. Trust me if you will, it was for good reason.

The first thought that came to my head was why was there a "climate of fear"?

I thought that everything was going to be unicorns and rainbows after Obama was elected in 2008.

This is just typical leftwing media crap. It sounds good to the left but there is no thought behind it. It's just babble.
7 posted on 05/20/2018 1:42:06 PM PDT by Ticonderoga34
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To: ExpatCanuck

You mean as in BHO’s threatening to send his brown, er, purple shirts after those individuals that opposed his totalitarian wants and tactics?


8 posted on 05/20/2018 1:43:27 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No Jon, he represented the citizens who had been intentionally left unrepresented by both parties.

Both parties could not continue to be the party for illegal aliens and amnesty and the citizens left out completely.

Donald Trump broke through the Bush blockade at the RNC and won against both parties, the Ministry of Propaganda and the entire intelligence apparatus of the US government.

Divine Providence if you ask me.......


9 posted on 05/20/2018 1:48:29 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here of Citizen Parents__Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

More of a climate of awareness of corruption arousing us to take corrective action than a climate of fear.


10 posted on 05/20/2018 1:49:47 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: tired&retired

The reaction to the corrective action was the Dem’s climate of fear!


11 posted on 05/20/2018 1:51:17 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And liberals fear nothing? They fear CO2, white people, Christianity, the free market, and heterosexuality. Perhaps Republicans do fear losing our country to those who hate it. But is it a bad thing to choose survival over extinction?


12 posted on 05/20/2018 1:54:03 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

That's the global warm-monger's gig.

13 posted on 05/20/2018 2:08:46 PM PDT by Hugin (Conservatism without Nationalism is a fraud.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Trump took advantage of "climate of fear"

He's reversing the climate of fear of the prior administrations.

Confidence, right track/wrong track polls, better thanks to his presidency.

14 posted on 05/20/2018 2:15:03 PM PDT by MUDDOG
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Why do these know it all assholes always confuse anger with fear. Trump voters weren't afraid of anyone or anything. They were mad and disgusted with the lying sack of shit obama. They were sick and tired of obama and the democrats selling the country out to enrich themselves.
15 posted on 05/20/2018 2:26:57 PM PDT by Peeps47 (Democrats are as corrupt as they are incompetent)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Presidential scholar my arse. This guy is a low rent hack who appears on Morning Joke.

Did this fool even stop to think about his premise of a climate of fear? Why then after 8 years of the great Hopey Changey was there a climate of fear if things were so great?

16 posted on 05/20/2018 2:27:15 PM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Not fear, preparation. Climate change is real!


17 posted on 05/20/2018 2:31:55 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Hmmm.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sorry Meacham, but that screed is NOT scholarship, it is pure, unadulterated partisanship.

You could have written the same about Obama. But of course, you wouldn’t, he’s in your party.


18 posted on 05/20/2018 2:33:07 PM PDT by Alas Babylon! (MAGAMarchOnWashington.com)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"we have a climate of fear in the country"

Like the "fear" that if we don't enthusiastically support the homosexual agenda this small fraction of people will somehow be stomped out of existence?

Or the "fear" that racism is rampant in this Country and blacks swinging from lamp-posts and trees is right around the corner if we don't bend over backwards at the mere mention of racism?

Or the "fear" that man-made or man-worsened global warming will melt the ice caps and inundate coastal areas?

Or the "fear" that big insurance companies are taking advantage of us and we must be protected from such by the government by eliminating the free market therein?

Or the "fear" that a few flags and monuments to fallen US soldiers are somehow so wildly offensive they must be taken down?

Or the "fear" that fully justified suspicion of muslims due to muslim acts of terror will somehow lead to a "backlash" against them?


Who really has been pushing one "fear" after another on us? It is strangely reminiscent of Michael Chrichton's "State of Fear" book. Or maybe he was just more in tune with it and recognized it even 14+ years ago.

I reject these fears the MSM, liberals, and would-be fascist rulers try to instill in me. The only "fear" that motivated me on election day was a fear that Clinton would continue the destruction of our Country begun by liberals, accelerated by obama, and salivated over in anticipation by the likes of Clinton. That "fear" you cannot blame on candidate Trump. That "fear" was manifested purely by Clinton's own words, deeds, and policies. Truly, I thought candidate Trump would make an ok President, while candidate Clinton would be an unmitigated disaster. I admit I didn't so much vote for Trump as against Clinton and everything she represents. I was only afraid of putting a power-mad criminal in office.

19 posted on 05/20/2018 2:41:10 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Doing my part to help make America great again!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“The only thing I feared was Hillary Clinton grabbing the reins of power and finishing Mr. Obama’s work of destroying this country.”

Well said! I’ve come to believe that Trump’s presidency is nothing short of providential. Imagine if the HRC thing had actually won - it would have concealed every aspect of the corruption that continues to be revealed. It is breathtaking and far beyond anything our country has endured before.

Sadly, it seems the dumbing down of our educational system, and the success of pop culture in removing the ability for many to pay attention to anything important, have so far neutered the public’s responsibility to participate in government.

I’m hopeful that will change as more of the iceberg of corruption is revealed...and folks wonder why so many think the Second Amendment is important...


20 posted on 05/20/2018 2:58:56 PM PDT by PreciousLiberty (Make America Greater Than Ever!)
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