[TheWeek] For years, my friend Jenny Boylan and I have had a recurring conversation about the purpose and value of our work. Jenny, an LGBT activist, has always been a buoyant believer in the power of language to overcome ignorance, misconception, and prejudice. She says: "It is impossible to hate anyone whose story you know." She engages with the public through public speaking, TV, and social media. I, a polemical cartoonist, would laugh in her face at her sweet naiveté. The public is a swarm of hostile morons, I told her. You don't need to make them understand you; you just need to defeat them, or wait for them die.
The 2016 election gave us both occasion to second-guess our positions.
Since that election, our debate has gone national. A lot of chastened liberals are telling each other that we need to really listen to the plaints of Trump voters, to try to understand them — exactly the sort of earnest effort at empathy that conservatives love to mock. Others wonder whether it isn't a misguided strategy to extend the benefit of the doubt and give fair hearing to people who have never once done the same for us. The time for civil discourse and debate is over, they say; the only course left now is resistance. A few of us are talking, after a couple drinks, about buying guns; if it comes to a fascist state or civil war, we figure, we don't want the red states to be the only ones armed.
Like a lot of people, I'm still trying to figure out what policy to adopt, and what marginal role I can play, in the incoming dystopia. My official policy toward a Trump administration is straightforward enough (even if implementing it won't be): Defy, paralyze, and undermine it in any way I can. What's going to be more complicated is formulating some coherent attitude toward the 62 million of my fellow Americans who elected that administration. How to reconcile my convictions with the actual human beings — family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors — who voted for this man? What I see is that this guy and his ilk will go from attacking conservatives and Trump supporters, to attacking Trump himself. Tactically that is a bad move. Trump will survive their slings and arrows intact, but the rest won't be as understanding. They still have to deal with the supporters and conservatives.
A vote cast for Trump is kind of like a murder; there may be context to consider — a disadvantaged background, extenuating circumstances, understandable motives — but the choice itself is binary and final, irrevocable. There's a case to be made that it's indefensible; that his supporters have forfeited any right to be respected or taken seriously. The conservatives of the heartland have lashed back against the coastal elites' condescending, classist prejudices by defiantly confirming them: that they're pathetically dumb and gullible, uncritical consumers of any disinformation that confirms their biases, easy dupes for any demagogue who promises to bring back the factories and keep the brown people down. Trump wasn't even my fourth choice, but I went for him because he was all there was left. My prejudices include a preference for a small government that takes less from people and which does not allow itself to be used to attack its own citizens. That may not be remedied under Trump, but a hostile government that takes more that it should would have been encased in stone.
Ignorance and bigotry are actually the best possible motives for having voted for Trump — they are at least honest, if not honorable. But I don't believe all Trump voters are ignorant, or bigoted; most of them are just evil — evil being defined not as anything so glamorous as beheading journalists or gunning down grade schoolers, but simply as not much caring about other people's suffering. They're willing to consign someone else — someone Mexican, or Muslim, or trans, not anyone they know — to exile, arrest, or second-class status, in exchange for... what? A tax break? To send a message to Washington, or the mainstream media? Just out of spiteful, petulant rage? Nothing stops Mexicans from applying for emigration to the US the right, legal way, As for tax breaks, I would prefer a general reduction of revenue and spending for government, The reason is that a small government will not have the resources to use its power against its citizens.
#2
I still have not seen one shred of evidence that Trump is a 'racist'. And no, enforcing federal law by building a fence is not 'racist'. And keeping out follows of an religion who either kills innocent people for terrorism or does nothing about it out is not racist either. Religion is a choice - not a race.
#3
most of them are just evil — evil being defined not as anything so glamorous as beheading journalists or gunning down grade schoolers, but simply as not much caring about other people's suffering.
Virtue signalling. These people are unbelievably shallow.
#4
A few of us are talking, after a couple drinks, about buying guns; if it comes to a fascist state or civil war, we figure, we don't want the red states to be the only ones armed.
#6
A house divided against itself can not stand. All they want is power and anything that stands in the way must be thrown down. There can be only one.
#7
Defy, paralyze, and undermine it in any way I can
I never did that to the soon-to-be former President - I hoped for the best and feared for the worst. I let Obama earn his legacy. Why can't you losers just stand aside?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/10/2017 7:44 Comments ||
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#8
Sarte: "Hell is other people"
Liberals: "People who aren't in lockstep with my views are icky, but I sooooo love 'the idea of America' (as defined by me) Because LGBT and stuff..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/10/2017 8:10 Comments ||
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#9
So clueless he doesn't even know he's clueless!
#10
The reason is that a small government will not have the resources to use its power against its citizens
Badanov, another reason is that a small government removes motivation for rent seeking. Apply the Willie Sutton Rule logic and make lobbying the government a high cost low return activity.
#12
"What's going to be more complicated is formulating some coherent attitude toward the 62 million of my fellow Americans who elected that administration. How to reconcile my convictions with the actual human beings — family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors — who voted for this man?"
The most productive thing you could do toward formulating a "coherent attitude" toward your fellow Americans would be to seriously consider the possibility that everything you think you know-- and I do mean EVERYTHING-- is pure, utter bullshit and that your "convictions" are nothing more than intellectual and moral sewage poured into your head by a Progressive media/education establishment determined to convert you into an unthinking jackass.
You are a moral cretin.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/10/2017 10:47 Comments ||
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#13
We couldn't have survived that idiot Clinton.
End of story.
#15
— evil being defined not as anything so glamorous as beheading journalists or gunning down grade schoolers, but simply as not much caring about other people's suffering.
On the contrary, he thinks those things are perfectly OK.
The People's Cube
Announcing Volume 1 Number 1 of "MAN'S" TRUMPIAN HORRORS, the new, hip, retro-pulp fiction magazine for Cis Males, Cis Men, Cisgender Males, Cisgender Men, Trans Males, Transgender Men, Transsexual Males, Transsexual Men ...and Androgynes ...who are feeling a little bit on the butch side today.
Each month (or whenever we get around to it -- publishing schedules are racist), TRUMPIAN HORRORS will bring you gripping fictionalized accounts (but NOT FAKE NEWS!) of the latest, sickening atrocities inflicted upon the the U.S., the world, the universe, and beyond by The Evil TrumpHitler.
Headline story (and Trigger Warning!) in our premier issue: I WAS FORCED TO SING AT TRUMPS INAUGURATION, the true story (NOT FAKE NEWS!) of a poor, but talented, single-mother, 1/16th Native American, trans-questioning, Chicago civil servant whom The TrumpHitler implacably forced to compromise her sterling liberal values to croon for The TrumpHitler's drooling delight while suffering the humiliation of the leering eyes of TrumpHitler's Deplorables Squads (with assistance by Russian hackers).
[Free Beacon] Gross domestic product could double in the next two years due to President-elect Donald Trump’s economic agenda, CNBC reported.
According to a Deutsche Bank forecast, Trump’s policies could "trigger a new age in U.S. economic growth that could serve as a global template."
Trump’s policies are projected to increase GDP to 2.4 percent in 2017 and to 3.6 percent in 2018, which is more than double than the average growth of 1.6 percent seen during Obama Administration.
"Gross domestic product growth would be double its current level under an agenda that cuts regulations across a broad swath of critical sectors, enacts tax reform that slashes personal and corporate taxes and calls for at least $1 trillion in improvements for bridges, roads and other public projects," the article said.
Trump’s effect on U.S. economic growth could impact the global economy as Deutsche increased its GDP forecast from 3 to 3.4 percent worldwide.
[PJMedia] [The essay first appeared in Asia Times on Dec. 17, 2016. I argue that America needs to re-establish unchallenged technological superiority as a precondition for convincing Russia and China to behave responsibly. We should speak softly and carry a big stick. The problem is the stick. America's edge has eroded alarmingly during the past twenty years. The temptation is to shout shrilly and wave a small stick. That will get us nowhere].
Russia, China and America never will be friends; at best they will be peaceful competitors rather than warlike adversaries. To maintain the former rather than the latter circumstance is the proper goal of American policy.
It would be dangerous for America to pursue the Wilsonian (and neo-conservative) vision of internal transformation of Russia and China, with the goal of turning them into American-style democracies.
The second-most dangerous thing America could do would be to abandon the world stage. World stability depends on a strong America, that is, an America that is economically vibrant and technologically superior.
It is whimsical to speak of a Russian-Chinese-American "alliance" in the sense of the European "Holy Alliance" after the Napoleonic Wars. America, Russia and China never will be allies. China and Russia can be "equal partners" with America, provided that America is more equal than China and Russia. By this I mean that China and Russia are powers that have legitimate interests that deserve consideration, so long as America retains a decisive edge in military technology ‐ something that cannot now be taken for granted.
Relatively speaking, America’s big stick has shrunk noticeably, and there is a temptation to speak loudly by way of compensation.
[The Hill] Police and law enforcement officials are backing Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Justice.
Law enforcement groups view Sessions as someone who will bring a "police-first" mentality to Justice that they say was absent during President Obama's eight years in office.
In Sessions, they see a traditional law-and-order style enforcer who they believe will repair the relationship between the feds and local police that has grown frosty in the Obama administration.
Sessions is backed by key figures from within several prominent police groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation’s largest police union; the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; the National Association of Police Organizations; and the National Sheriffs Association.
"We have about a 20-year relationship with Jeff Sessions from his time in the Senate on the Judiciary Committee and our members in Alabama who worked with him, both as state attorney general and a U.S. attorney, and the best way to sum it up is that we don’t have anything bad to say about Jeff Sessions," FOP executive director Jim Pasco told The Hill.
[IN MILITARY] Public discussion of Donald Trump’s foreign policy has focused on the fight against terrorism and the U.S. relationship with Russia, and since the election the president-elect has nominated no one with Asia expertise to a senior position in his administration. That’s fueled concern among U.S. Pacific allies about where the region will stand among White House priorities during the next four years.
Behind the scenes, however, the Trump transition is preparing its own pivot to Asia. As the team that will implement that policy takes shape, what’s emerging is an approach that harkens back to past Republican administrations -- but also seeks to actualize the Obama administration’s ambition of enhancing the U.S. presence in the region. Transition officials say the Trump administration will take a hawkish view of China, focus on bolstering regional alliances, have a renewed interest in Taiwan, be skeptical of engagement with North Korea and bolster the U.S. Navy’s fleet presence in the Pacific.
There are signs that Asia will in fact be a top focus of key officials. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, has been raising his concerns about China in meetings with senators in recent days. Attendees told me he is particularly clear about what he sees as the need to counter Chinese militarization and expansion in the South China Sea.
Transition sources also said Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, is keenly interested in Asia strategy.
A former Naval officer in the Pacific Fleet, Bannon and other top Trump officials believe that President Obama’s Asia pivot largely failed due to what they see as insufficient defense spending during his administration, which undermined its promise to increase U.S. military power in the region.
[DailyWire] The week after this election, senior editor of Think Progress Ned Resnikoff penned a screed online about his unfortunate experiences with his neighborhood plumber. Here’s the harrowing story, as quoted by roving journalist Michael Tracey: An incredible TDS reaction to a plumber visit.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
01/10/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And these are the people talking themselves towards civil war? /rhet question
#2
Sometimes a plumber is just a plumber trying to make a living. For crying-out-loud, the so-called intelligentsia tries to impart some sinister motive to everything and everyone--a bunch of paranoids.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
