Wednesday, November 18, 2015

POLITICO RETRANSMITS TRUMP'S INFLAMMATORY MISINFORMATION

It's a free country, so Donald Trump can say anything he wants, but that doesn't oblige Politico to retransmit his spew in a way that effectively endorses it:
Trump: Obama sending refugees to Republican states

The Obama administration is deliberately sending Syrian refugees to states led by Republican governors, Donald Trump alleged Tuesday.

Trump, who was speaking to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, said of the refugees, “They send them to the Republicans, not to the Democrats, you know because they know the problem ... why would we want to bother the Democrats?”

... Ingraham said that she had spoken with Florida's Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, who told her his state is already hosting dozens of Syrian refugees because “everybody wants to come to Florida” due to its low taxes and ample job opportunities.

“In California, you have a Democrat as a governor; in Florida you have Rick Scott so they send them to the Republicans,” Trump told Ingraham. “Taking these people is absolutely insanity.”

According to the Associated Press, governors from both parties have accepted refugees, although the number is nearly double for GOP states. More than 1,000 Syrian refugees have been accepted into states with Republican governors since January 1, while just over 500 have moved to Democratic-led states. (The number of Republican governors outweighs Democrats, 31 to 18, however.)
Gee, thanks for that tiny asterisk at the end, Politico. It mitigates your validation of this talking point somewhat -- but not enough.

Here's what Trump says: " “They send them to the Republicans, not to the Democrats." But which states are "the Republicans"? According to Trump -- and Politico --"the Republicans" include the deep-blue state of Massachusetts, which has an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate and legislature, just because it now has a Republican governor.

It's true, according to AP's numbers, that states with Republican governors have taken the majority of the Syrian refugees. But that includes several states that voted for Obama twice, and are considered reliably blue in presidential elections. If Obama is trying to punish Republican states with refugees, why are the refugees ending up in states that backed Obama?

Here are the numbers:
* Syrian refugees in red states (GOP governor, twice rejected Obama): 629
(Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah)

* Syrian refugees in blue states (Democratic governor, twice voted for Obama): 508
(California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington)

* Syrian refugees in presidential blue/gubernatorial red states (GOP governor but twice voted Obama): 646
(Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Wisconsin)

* Syrian refugees in presidential purple/gubernatorial red states (GOP governor but voted Obama in 2008): 41
(Indiana, North Carolina)
So, yes, there are 1316 Syrian refugees in states with Republican governors and 508 in states with Democratic governors.

But there are 1154 Syrian refugees in states that voted Obama twice (plus 41 in states that voted for him once), and only 629 in states that never voted for him.

So what's red? What's blue? Well, Politico? Could you have made an effort to provide context?

5 comments:

Pragmatic Idealist said...

I'd like to see them sorted by climate. The fact that virtually all southern states have Republican governors may be the largest factor.

Victor said...

How can the GOP sell itself as the 'tough foreign-policy party' that's going to stare down Putin, China, and ISIL, when they're 'fraidy-scared of widows/widowers, and children/orphans, coming near them?

Even their comic hero, Daddy Warbucks, took on an orphan.
WAIT!
Did anyone vet her?

As for the current situation, let that crazy n*gger house them in the (former) White (people's) House, or Libturd states!


Conservatives might - and, "might" is the operative word here - be ok with that.
Maybe...
If them terrist's ain't 2 close, if'n ya know what I means!

GOP = NIMBY.
Better yet:
PTIMBY - 'Put Them In Mexico's Back Yard..."

Also, too - the GOP is the party of "Brave Sir Robin." ;-)

Feud Turgidson said...

I was wrong about Trump. He ain't planning on dropping out. He's turned from self-promoting populist shtick entertainment to full-blown right wing extremist demagoguery. He's in it now to win it.

I still think he didn't necessarily go into this contest with this current goal as his sole focus. I think instead that at most it, or something like it, was simply on the table, available to him depending on how things worked.

One thing I think he couldn't have foreseen was the rise of Carson, which is really giving Trump a huge boost in material. There was never any doubt, nor would Trump have overlooked, that some other contestant would attract the overwhelming support of the fundy religiotic set. To Trump's good fortune that didn't go to the top suspects - Perry, Santorum and Jindal, and to a much lesser extent Huckabee - or to Cruz (so far at least), but to someone whose weaknesses as a serious contestant are turning out to be buffoonishly slapstick in their epically comedic dimensions.

One thing Trump would know now - he couldn't possibly have missed it - is that once the religious right support has gone mad with ecstatic anticipation over its chosen contestant and then, as happens ALMOST inevitably, that burns out - the religiots turn back into the fold of anti-Democratism, the Base. The memory of them doing it is still fresh from them having done it when Santorum lost out to Romney. I think it's not at all insensible to expect that, with Carson sliding down, the religious right won't end up flocking with anything like the same enthusiasm to any other 'serious' contender. Cruz is obviously courting them, but he's courting everyone, including openly pandering to Trump for Trump supporters if and when Trump drops out; but how that comes across is just playing the field, and the fundy component of the Base is particularly prone to being turned off by non-exclusive relationships.

Dr. Ben Carson has his bogus Gifted Hands campaign may well turn out to be the single best thing for Trump in gaming the Republican nod. He STILL may not get it: there are all sorts of institutional restraints within the GOP process, as we saw played out in the two most previous presidential cycles. But he's in way better shape going into the primary season than I would have predicted.

Ten Bears said...

Did someone mention 31 Retard governors to 18 Democratic governors?

Marcus said...

Calm down get a glass of water…I think you’re losing it a bit
I predicted Trump on this sight before you and the press even started taking him seriously.
Rubio is a little pimp….he is dumb without a script…he will never outfight Trump when it comes to the OTHER…Clinton will win against Trump and that will be the end of it…so relax and enjoy the show and see how a real con like Trump will divide the money people in the republican party…remember the elders of GOP can’t stand Trump where are they going to go??