Early Morning Thoughts on the Day After
14th November 2016
John Scalzi lays out the ‘progressive’ party line.
It will be no surprise to anyone I’m unhappy with the result of this election. Donald Trump was manifestly the worst presidential candidate in living memory, an ignorant, sex-assaulting vindictive bigot, enamored of strongmen and contemptuous of the law, consorting with white nationalists and hucksters — and now he’s president-elect, which is appalling and very sad for the nation. I don’t see much good coming out of this, either in the immediate or long-term, not in the least because if he does any of the things he promises to do, his impact will be ruinous to the nation. Add to the fact that he’s the GOP candidate, and the GOP now will have the White House, Congress and will appoint the next Supreme Court justice, and, well. There aren’t any grownups in the GOP anymore, and we’re going to find out what that means for all of us.
Now, anybody who thinks that Donald Trump is a worse Presidential candidate than Hillary Clinton has obviously some major blind spots. And anyone who thinks that ‘there aren’t any grownups in the GOP anymore’ needs to take a good hard look at the Democrats (who seem to have a lock on the You Can’t Make This Shit Up category) when it comes to lack of grownups.
John’s problem is the same problem that pretty much everybody in the Crust has right now — an inability to see that this result is entirely a self-inflicted wound. The Democrats have spent the last forty-plus years balkanizing the American electorate into ever-smaller and more precisely delineated Victim Groups whose votes they can then buy with government benefits in order to cling to power. Their fetish for ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ has turned around and bitten them in the ass when it comes to the biggest victim group of them all: white people, males, heterosexuals, and people who were born here and speak understandable English.
When a white person is told, as you can see from all over the ‘news’ media, that merely being white makes him a racist, what incentive does he (or she) have not to be a racist? There is no way to escape being tagged as a racist, so there is no downside from actually being a racist, and there may be an upside. The ancient proverb ‘might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb’ applies — if you’re going to do the time, why not commit the crime? The same thing applies to sexism, ‘homophobia’, xenophobia, or whatever the bigot-of-the-day term is — if that is the only road that is left for people to go down, then that’s the road that they’re going to go down, and the results will get very ugly very quickly.
When Bill Clinton gets elected President, the message is that being a congenital liar and a sexual predator is no disqualification from being President. When Barack Obama is elected President, the message is that being a racist and inexperienced is no disqualification from being President. When Hillary Clinton gets the Democrat nomination and is praised from hither to yon as being The Most Qualified Women Ever, then the message is that being a crook and incompetent is no disqualification from being President.
The reason Trump is President is because the Democrat Party of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton have lowered the bar so much that even a three-legged goat like Donald Trump can get over it. And they have nowhere to point the finger except back at themselves.
November 14th, 2016 at 12:42
Best graphic explanation for the 2016 Election: imgur.com/gallery/xjmvo
November 14th, 2016 at 13:31
“When a white person is told, as you can see from all over the ‘news’ media, that merely being white makes him a racist, what incentive does he (or she) have not to be a racist?” Absolutely none. But then they didn’t have any incentive before they were called that, either, so the question is moot. Why not call a duck a duck if it swims, quacks, has feathers, and flies? For a population that decries and deplores “political correctness”, racist sure are touchy about being called what they are.
November 14th, 2016 at 15:22
http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/ENGL1311/fallacies.htm
Name-Calling: A variety of the “Ad Hominem” argument. The dangerous fallacy that, simply because of who one is, any and all arguments, disagreements or objections against one’s standpoint or actions are automatically racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, bigoted, discriminatory or hateful. E.g., “My stand on abortion is the only correct one. To disagree with me, argue with me or question my judgment in any way would only show what a pig you really are.” Also applies to refuting an argument by simply calling it a “fallacy,” or declaring it invalid without proving why it is invalid, or summarily dismissing arguments or opponents by labeling them “racist,” “communist,” “fascist,” or some other negative name without further explanation .
November 15th, 2016 at 07:19
Maybe it’s because they aren’t, except in the fantasy world of Political Correctness.
November 15th, 2016 at 12:08
@Roy Heath: Perhaps you should forward that link to the other conservatives who read here, though I doubt they would pay attention. And there is a difference between “name-calling” and pointing out an inconvenient truth.
@Tim: You are constantly drumming the refrain that no one can tell a Bad Muslim from a Good Muslim, so all must be considered suspect. For the sake of consistency you should apply the same criterion here, since it is impossible to tell the Racist Trump Supporters from the Non-Racist Trump Supporters. One thing is certain: It wasn’t the non-racist, inclusive, newcomer-welcoming segment of the population that elected him.
November 15th, 2016 at 18:03
Of course it’s possible to tell racist Trump supporters from non-racist Trump supporters; the non-racist Trump supporters are the ones not being racists. Unfortunately, Democrats can’t tell the difference because they live in a fantasy world where all Trump supporters are ipso facto racists. Not very inclusive, are they? Funny thing how we don’t see Trump supporters pulling people from their cars and beating the snot out of them, as the anti-Trump people seem unable to keep from doing.