{"id":7170,"date":"2017-08-16T12:44:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T18:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=7170"},"modified":"2017-08-16T12:44:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T18:44:05","slug":"winning-move-not-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/08\/winning-move-not-play.html","title":{"rendered":"The only winning move is not to play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"from<\/p>\n

What does that quote from Wargames<\/a> have to do with Trump, and his loony press conference, and its aftermath? \u00a0Is there any point to it besides revealing my age?<\/p>\n

In the movie, a supercomputer controls the American nuclear missile system, and a teen boy hacks into its system, thinking he\u2019s playing a computer game but unknowningly triggering that computer believing that a real attack from the Soviet Union is occurring (or maybe that a political scenario has occurred which its wargaming programming tells it requires a nuclear attack, I forget which). \u00a0In the climax, the computer, \u201cJoshua,\u201d \u201clearns\u201d that a nuclear war is unwinnable, and says, \u201cA strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?\u201d \u2014 at which point, with seconds to spare, it releases its control over the missiles rather than launch them.<\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m not suggesting that we\u2019re headed into nuclear war. \u00a0But I\u2019ve very uncomfortable with how the Charlottesville aftermath is playing out, as we\u2019re headed toward a confrontation between Trump and, well, a long list of opponents, and further battles between the ragtag groups of rightwing extremists vs. the antifa, who seem to be growing in their confidence. \u00a0Each side is emboldened, and it worries me. \u00a0And, yes, what follows is somewhat rambling but here goes:<\/p>\n

To back up: \u00a0if you haven\u2019t heard, Trump gave a press conference yesterday. \u00a0It was not his finest moment. \u00a0Among other things, as the Tribune reports<\/a>, of the protesters, he said,<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, okay?\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

which he\u2019s getting (rightly) criticized for. \u00a0 To whatever degree there may be supporters of the \u201ckeep the monuments\u201d movement who truly believe that they are defending historical preservation, they weren\u2019t the ones at that march, and any well-meaning but misinformed \u201cgood people\u201d should have been scared off with the news reports of the prior night\u2019s \u201cJews will not replace us\u201d rally, so this is wishful thinking on Trump\u2019s part, and demonstrates his willingness to give these people a desperate \u201cbenefit of the doubt\u201d but did not hesitate to characterize Mexicans as primarily criminals.<\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going on in his head. \u00a0Perhaps it\u2019s simply a matter of saving face, having said, or strongly implied, that both sides bore the blame in equal measure on Saturday. \u00a0Perhaps he is as evil as the worst-case interpretation of his actions says, that he thinks that having white nationalists supporting him is to his benefit. \u00a0Perhaps he just doesn\u2019t want to believe that \u201cnice white kids\u201d would be this bad.<\/p>\n

But look at the headlines.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Tribune: \u00a0\u201cTrump again blames \u2018both sides\u2019 for Charlottesville violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN: \u00a0\u201cTrump is who we feared he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Trump<\/p>\n

This is a screen capture from last night, as shared by @EsotericCD<\/a>, who captions it, \u201cWe feared he was ratings gold,\u201d and reminds his readers that CNN\u2019s actions did a great deal to elevate Trump in the primary campaign.<\/p>\n

Now look at the right hand side. \u00a0See that headline, \u201cFar right planning 9 rallies this weekend\u201d? \u00a0Here\u2019s the link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the report:<\/p>\n

Major cities across the country are bracing for an unusual wave of far-right rallies in the coming days.<\/p>\n

The largest scheduled rally is the \u201cMarch on Google,\u201d which will take place in nine major US cities Saturday. The aim is to protest the firing of Google employee James Damore over a controversial memo he wrote about the company\u2019s diversity policies. Damore has said he doesn\u2019t support the \u201calt-right,\u201d and will \u201clikely not\u201d participate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But what is the \u201cMarch on Google\u201d? \u00a0On the organizers\u2019 site<\/a>, they say (as of August 14th)<\/p>\n

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