I am going to shamelessly reprint a few paragraphs from Dr. Krugman's column in today's New York Times for no other reason than this: when you live out in the cornfields of Left blogistan, sometimes validation from high places makes it a little easier to face the keyboard and the blank page:
...I’m not saying that all leading Republicans are racists; most of them probably aren’t, although Mr. Trump probably is. It is that in pursuit of their economic — actually, class-interest — goals they were willing to act as enablers, to make their party a safe space for prejudice. And the result is a party base that is strikingly racist, in which a plurality of voters believe that Mr. Obama is a Muslim, and more — a base just waiting for a candidate willing to blurt out what the establishment conveyed by innuendo.But there’s one more crucial element here: We wouldn’t have gotten to this point if so many people outside the G.O.P. — in particular, journalists and self-proclaimed centrists — hadn’t refused to acknowledge what was happening.Political analysts who tried to talk about the G.O.P.’s transformation, like Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, were effectively ostracized for years. Instead, the respectable, “balanced” thing was to pretend that the parties were symmetric, to turn a blind eye to the cynicism of the modern Republican project.Which brings me back to Mr. Ryan, the de facto leader of his party until the Trumpocalypse. How did he reach that position? Not by inspiring deep loyalty in the base, but rather by getting incredibly favorable treatment from journalists and centrists eager to show their bipartisanship by finding a serious, honest Republican to praise — or at least someone able to do a passable job of playing that character on TV. And as the latest from Fix the Debt shows, the charade is still going on.The point is that this kind of false balance does real harm...
As with racism or gun fetishism or climate change it is not the people who point out that false balance is real and harmful who are the problem.
5 comments:
I've read quite a few comments on blogs (and possibly in articles) that say that conservatives, in general, simply don't see themselves as racist, and that when non-conservatives point out their blatant, unbridled racism to them, they "don't get it." And it "makes them mad" and then they won't "listen to you anymore." And this is, allegedly, where the anti-political correctness crap comes into play. And somehow those of us who truly aren't racist are supposed to find some way to dance around all these hurted fee-fees of the delicate flower racists, who don't wanna see what shitheaded asshole racists they really are.
I'm at a point of saying: f*ck 'em. They need to hear it long, loud and often that what they're doing and saying is racist, and that it's frickin WRONG, and the majority of citizens are frickin sick and tired of, so STFU if you can't say something rational and reasonable. But then I'm spanked for not being "nicer" about it or something. Sheesh.
Anyway, yesterday Digby's blog had a brief clip from some moran in Utah (I think), last name of Unruh. Never heard of this woman before, but Unruh was ranting and whining about how the ONLY reason why Trump won the primary was - wait for it! - because the dastardly horrid terrible no-good dirty hippies had - yeah you guessed it! - "crossed party lines" and voted for Trump in order to f*ck the GOP. Well she didn't use that last wording, but that's what she meant. No shit.
These "party of personal responsibility" morans absolutely refuse to look in the mirror and take any responsibility for their frickin actions, words, thoughts, deeds, etc. It's all, and only, the total 100% "fault" of the dastardly D party. No doubt Unruh believes to the bottom of her shriveled black heart that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim, too, but of course, she's not racist at all.
So. Sick. of. It.
I'm sure those at the top of the heap know fully well just what they are doing and revel in the consequences... and the money!! The grift is ever so sweet.
But a lot of moranic base has been so brainwashed by the 24/7/365 nightmare of the propaganda wurlitzer that they refuse to look squarely in that mirror and realize that what really horrifies them is themselves. GOP, projection be thy name.
On the other hand, I get some slight cold comfort in watching these racist bigoted xenophobic homophobic anti-semitic sexist misoygnist Never Trumpers reacting in horror to Trump and all that he respresents... and attempting to separate themselves from his fetid nasty base. You can just see them with thought bubbles over their empty heads thinking "I'm certainly NOT like THAT low-life!!1!" Why yes, Ms. Unruh, yes you are. You are just exactly like all of those nasty bigoted low-life trailor trash scum... and more. You built this, you own it, you deal with it.
Rim Shot!
Lee Atwater explains how Republicans can win the vote of racists without sounding racist themselves:
"You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”"
https://www.thenation.com/article/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/
Trump has got to learn to use his inside voice that's all.
I see no other way of repairing our country than to elect a shitload of democrats at all levels of our government.
Chances are the "Freedon Caucus" teabaggers will be around for awhile. We must outnumber them so we can outvote them.
Sounds simple, I know.... anyone with a better idea?
Speaking of which, Herr Drumpf's main backers sound like they're in serious trouble:
https://inversesquare.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/donald-trumps-bank-is-tottering/
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