Minor correction: he took credit for the actions of the first responders whose jobs he made immeasurably more difficult with his decision to place the emergency operations center in 7 World Trade Center. In a more just world he would be a pariah for his management.   

Your argument is that thinking about whether ideas hold up is irrelevant and revisionist. I don’t see how you can be serious about that.

Do you think that it’s possible that examining whether the ideas we accepted at one time hold up today might be part of the “learn from it” you’re suggesting?

I certainly never argued that “things would otherwise be okay without Trump.” Trump is a symptom and a cause, as most effective demagogues are. He’s incredibly skilled at reflecting back and amplifying what I think are the worst aspects of America. That innate skill combined with his utter lack of ideology is…

For the nth time, you’re confusing/conflating the issue of police shooting, with the issue of police force. At this point, I honestly don’t know if you’re doing it because you lack the honesty to stop or the cognitive ability to understand why that is misleading, so there’s not much more I can offer you.

What study? You linked to two news articles.

I honestly think that’s dangerous thinking that what we’re seeing in this country (and the potential it has for our future) is just more of the same. My point certainly isn’t that this is the first bad President we’ve had who has disregarded the rule of law or enacted harmful policy. It’s beyond that, and you touch on…

The “norms” I’m referring to go beyond campaign rhetoric. We simply haven’t had a President like this before who cares so little for the institutional norms and functionality of our system of government.

To claim that shooting is the “only one I can find measurable data on” is so remarkably disingenuous given the links to the 2016 study I provided above I’m not even sure where to start.

Listen, if the Democrats can keep HRC front and center for just a little bit longer, the country will realize the mistake it made and ask for a do-over. If there’s one thing America loves, it’s a loser who can’t stop telling everyone why it’s everyone else’s fault she lost.

You’re not wrong, Randa, you’re just an asshole.

I’d love nothing more than to have my pessimism proven wrong about this, but I think Democrats are whistling past the graveyard on this. A bunch of moral victories and close calls while Republicans maintain legislative majorities counts for jack and shit at the end of the day.

A difference of degree becomes a difference of kind at some point.

Ah, so now you’re conceding that there is, in fact, a racial disparity in the use of force by police.

I don’t think it is wholly new, but I don’t think one can really deny that we are in uncharted territory here with the President. As you recognize, he’s a cartoonishly exaggerated manifestation of a long-standing problem, but having a cartoonishly exaggerated manifestation of a problem AS PRESIDENT is a new thing.

The use of force doesn’t happen to enough of the population? Huh?

You’re skipping a step. Force is not synonymous with shooting. For example, Eric Garner was not shot, but he damn well died as a result of the use of force.

Ok, we’re getting somewhere. You agree that institutional racism results in black folks getting searched, pulled over, and/or arrested disproportionately. Now, why would that same institutional racism that we agree exists suddenly disappear when it comes to the application of force by police?

Ok, we agree that some form of institutional racism exists in the criminal justice system in the United States. Now, what form do you think that takes?

It really appears you continue to miss the most basic point I am making, so let’s make sure we understand the premises both of us are working from.