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Maybe we felt bad about Trump supporters and Trump voters being ridiculed by the leading-lights of the major culture, esp for thinking they are the major culture. Now we don’t feel bad about them but about their existence. They have taken from us the marvelous claim, rare among world governments, that we always have a peaceful transfer of power.
Now we have to face the prospect, seen right now in Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe? – of elections not only being contested but also violent. So, to repeat myself, shithole countries are us.
I really feel bad. I am not feeling merciful or understanding despite being an old time bleeding-heart liberal. Some of those who assaulted the Capitol may have gone along just to protest, but once they saw the crowd was actually invading it and attacking police officers, they could have turned on their heels and disappeared. Instead, the gloriously took selfies. Many also left a brave track record of threats which can be used to prove intent to commit mayhem and murder as well as kidnapping. Can you imagine what that crowd would have to AOC?
Which leads me to the use of torture for vengeance, not usually my thing. But any Congressperson – staffer or other official, including law officers – who collaborated with these thugs needs to pass through some very difficult times, starting with long sentences in Guantanamo.
The idea of reeducation camps spooks me. Howsomever, those on the left apply their time-honored remedy to stupidity and cluelessness: education. Expose these pitiful creatures to learning and knowledge and they will cease their prating about the lizard people. There are practical obstacles e.g. funding, constitutionality, finding teachers for them; but a bigger obstacle may be their mentality. 

Trump is a non-entity so let’s set our sights (ok – bad choice of a figurative idiom ) on his followers. Tim Snyder said of Trump that his vision never went further than a mirror.  His accusations are hollow, as hollow as he is: No fraud is necessary; only allegations that there are allegations of fraud. Truth is to be replaced by spectacle, facts by faith. – Tim Snyder

My neighbor and I had a good long talk day before yesterday. I hadn’t talked with him in a very long time; he’s in poor health. He still thinks Trump is the best. Democrats just do and talk b.s. And, we should all get along! So threading that with a man with no high school education is challenging and, for that, fun. The overall tenor of this thinking leads to one thing: we get deep into the details here and somebody should just do something about these problems. It is nothing but vagueness. Pinning him down is hopeless. I got to ask him my two big questions: if Trump tells it like it is, what is “it”? and if everyone woke up tomorrow and realized the conservatives had been right all along, how would his and my life change? He simply could not specify anything other than to say we’d cut out the b.s. Pelosi is terrible, Maddow is terrible, Obama is terrible, McCain was terrible, on and on, but never a specific no matter how hard I press him. In fact, one gets the suspicion that he is bright enough to avoid specifics. He has none. 

Now, there are two possiblities here: either he just doesn’t have anything more than his dissatisfactions to go on or he does not want to say what is making him unhappy. My guess is the former. But I look forward to further discussions. He asked me if I had written my questions down and I said yes, not telling him I have three pages of “Questions for Conservatives.” What is it that these Trumpers are sacrificing the nation to? Some very smart and experienced people say it’s racism. Others say it’s economic stagnation. Others say it’s cultural left-behindness. And others cite religious fanaticism. And then there are those who declare it a combination and the basis for a devilish coalition. 

Me? Wilkerson’s Caste is having an effect on me. I always tilted toward racism but was willing to consider other factors. However, many people are hit by this bifurcated economy and many have had their culture ignored and don’t forget most Blacks are Evangelicals without being racists or Trumpers. That leaves race but subsumed under the broader term caste, which is found in all places and all times if you look closely at the definition of caste. The reason I don’t like racism – the reasons I don’t like “racism” – are that the word has broadened so much in its application it is way too elastic, bordering on meaninglessness. Plus, coming out of this first objection, is that most people do not understand what scientific racism was…….. or is, I should say, since Charles Murray and others have tried to use modern genetics and testing to justify dividing people into groups of unequal abilities. They are almost like the people who used to compare animal husbandry and breeding to humans. Then there is the implicit recognition of something that does not exist: race. That further solidifies in people’s minds this spurious notion of meaningful biological distinctions among grouped people. Finally, though I am sure there are more reasons to discard the word race in these discussions, the word has definitely taken on the nature of an epithet. As has often been said, once the word racist is thrown out there, the discussion ends.

But in the end I return to Fukuyama’s insistence on accountability. I like Desmond Tutu’s truth. Others have insisted on justice. All those before we can consider reconciliation. Which brings to my Trumper neighbor who wants us all to just get along. Until everyone comes clean, we will be groping at each other in the dark.

8 Comments

  1. 伟思礼 says:

    Do you really think someone dogmatically convinced of “reptilian overlords” can be educated? Or those claiming to be Trump supporters who nevertheless promise to NOT support his “last words” that violence is not acceptable?

    1. Pat Barrett says:

      I’d have to read up on deprograming of cultists. Figliuzzi, an retired FBI official, said you have to expose them to the truth over a long period. Maybe forcing them to watch regular news outlets like CNN or CBS? But then those on the left would argue those are just as cultic.

  2. 伟思礼 says:

    Patient: “Definitely dead.”
    Psych: “Do dead people bleed.”
    Patient: “No, of course not.”
    Psych pricks patient’s finger.
    Patient: “Well, I’ll be! Dead people DO bleed.”

    1. Pat Barrett says:

      Never heard that one. Hits the mark.

  3. 伟思礼 says:

    Ninth January, there was a long post promising a bunch of things that didn’t happen, including “there will be a smooth transition of power to his new cabinet, staff and Vice President, General Flynn.” Someone I know reposted it the following day.

  4. Pat Barrett says:

    I still do not understand how someone sees something or hears something and automatically thinks it is true. How does that work? Or is it just things they want to be true that they pay attention to. My mom said “they” wouldn’t “let” “them” put it in the newspaper if it weren’t true. Her mom also thoughts Gorgeous George was a real wrestler.

    1. Pat Barrett says:

      First of all, sorry for responding to a 2019 post but it’s easier for me than looking for a current address.
      What I want to admit to is that as I was scanning the titles of my blog posts, I noticed on the right numbers. I looked at the top and it said hits. OK. I know a hit doesn’t mean they stayed (a visit) but it means somebody went to it.
      Here’s what floored me: some had 200 and 300 hits. Even if only 10% of them read the post, why do I get no responses, arguments, protestations, encomia, the Medal of Freedom — something?
      Do that many people really look at this thing? I’ve noticed a few on “stats” but it seemed half of those were me going to it myself.
      Just curious what you make of this phantom popularity (notoriety) of mine.
      Again, thanks for the blog. Were you going to severe all ties in March?
      Pat Barrett

  5. sandra verbeke says:

    I NEVER
    …. EVER
    …. Will NEVER in all my Lives
    feel badly for tRump supporters
    NEVER

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