This dog. She is splendid.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Daily Dose of Cute
This dog. She is splendid.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
In case you didn't watch the Democratic debate last night, but want to see the very excellent moment in which Hillary Clinton mocked Donald Trump's incessant argle-bargling about how he's going to build a giant wall along the US-Mexico border, here it is:
He's talking about a very tall wall— [audience laughter] Right? A beautiful, tall wall— [laughter] Ah, the most beautiful, tall wall, better than the Great Wall of China [laughter] that would run the entire border, that he would somehow magically get the Mexican government to pay for [laughter] and, you know, it's just fantasy![Content Note: Climate change] "The US and Canada declared they would help lead the transition to a low-carbon global economy on Thursday, in a dramatic role reversal for two countries once derided as climate change villains. The shared vision unveiled by Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau ahead of a meeting at the White House commits the two countries to a range of actions to shore up the historic climate agreement reached in Paris last December. The two leaders committed to rally G20 countries behind the accord, promote North American carbon markets, cap emissions from hundreds of thousands of existing oil and gas wells, and protect indigenous communities in a region which is warming beyond the point of no return, according to a statement from the White House. The initiative announced on Thursday brings the US a big step closer to meeting its own Paris target by committing for the first time to cut emissions of methane—a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for about a quarter of warming—from existing oil and gas wells." Obama + Trudeau = WIN.
Speaking of President Obama: "President Barack Obama earned a 50% job approval rating for the week ending March 6, his highest weekly average since May 2013." Huh! It turns out that Democrats being progressive gets them higher approval ratings! I'm sure looking at Obama in comparison to the nightmare contingent of Republican candidates doesn't hurt, either.
[CN: Class warfare] Rage seethe boil: "On Wednesday, lawmakers in the West Virginia House overwhelmingly passed a bill that will drug test some of the poor who apply for state welfare benefits. ...The state Senate already approved the legislation, but will have to hold a vote of concurrence on the amendments added to it in the House. After that, it will head to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) for a signature. Once the bill arrives at the governor's desk, a spokeswoman for his office told ThinkProgress he will review it with his policy and legal teams and then make a decision about whether to sign it or veto." My thoughts on this garbage previously.
[CN: Assault; misogyny] Another reporter has been assaulted at a Trump rally: "The Breitbart News reporter who was allegedly assaulted by Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at a campaign news conference Tuesday night is speaking out about the incident for the first time in a new op-ed posted to the news outlet's website overnight. Michelle Fields, who covers politics for Breitbart, says she was 'jolted backwards' after she posed a question to the Republican front-runner. 'Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken,' Fields writes in the post. Fields did not see who pulled her but said The Washington Post's Ben Terris allegedly identified the aggressor as Lewandowski. 'I quickly turned around and saw Lewandowski and Trump exiting the building together. No apology. No explanation for why he did this,' Fields says." Breitbart News is a deeply conservative outlet, so it's unlikely the motivation was ideological. Trump routinely blasts the press at his events.
[CN: Assault; racism] Another black protester was also assaulted at a Trump rally: "The now-common violent outbreaks at Donald Trump rallies escalated further at an event in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Wednesday. Footage that surfaced Thursday morning showed a black man getting punched in the face by a white rally attendee and then wrestled to the ground by police officers. The protesters were being led out of the rally by men who were wearing sheriff's uniforms when Rakeem Jones flipped his middle fingers to the crowd. In the video, he's punched in the face by a white man in a cowboy hat. The crowd cheers, and Jones is pushed to the ground by the officers and handcuffed." Fucking hell.
Also some dudes apparently ate some nachos at a Trump rally.
[CN: Sexual assault; Christian Supremacy; video may autoplay at link] Josh Duggar has left his "rehabilitation program," which was some untherapeutic religious bullshit promoted by a serial sexual abuser, and is now home with his family. I desperately hope that his children and the women around him will be safe, and fear that they won't be.
[CN: Video may autoplay at second link] Wow: "A NASA Mars spacecraft celebrates a major milestone today—a decade circling the Red Planet. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrived at the Red Planet on March 10, 2006 and has done yeoman's work in the decade since. To mark the occasion, NASA created this video celebrating the MRO's 10 years at Mars."
And finally! "Puppies or Food?" LOL!!! We'd better just NOM NOM NOM all of them to be safe.
Mass Shooting Near Pittsburgh
[Content Note: Guns; death; racism.]
Last night, there was a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg, PA, in which five people were killed:
Five people are dead and three people are hurt after a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg Wednesday night, Allegheny County Police said.My sincerest condolences to the family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of the victims. One of the women who was killed was the mother of five children.
...Authorities said four women and one man were killed. Three of the women and the man were pronounced dead at the scene. The fourth woman was pronounced dead at UPMC Mercy hospital.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office identified the victims as 35-year-old Jerry Shelton, 37-year-old Tina Shelton, 27-year-old Brittany Powell, 25-year-old Chanetta Powell, and 26-year-old Shada Mahone.
Jerry Shelton, Brittany Powell, and Chanetta Powell were siblings.
...According to authorities, the shooting happened during a backyard party/cookout at 1304 Franklin Avenue.
Police said the ballistic evidence on the scene leads investigators to believe that two different weapons were discharged from two different people. Shots were fired from an alley to the rear of the home.
Police said partygoers appeared to attempt to run into the home, at which point a person on the side or backyard adjacent to the house fired at the back porch.
Lt. Andrew Schurman of the Allegheny County Homicide Unit said all four people who died at the scene passed away on the back porch.
Schurman said at least two gunmen were involved, but no one was in custody. A motive wasn't immediately known.
I don't know if media attention is actually a good thing for the surviving victims and loved ones of those killed following one of these incidents. But if the fact that there is shockingly little attention being paid to this mass shooting is troubling to the survivors, then I extend them my sympathy for any pain that indifference may be causing them, too.
This morning, Eric Boehlert noted that CNN had mentioned the shooting "once in 10 hrs. during same time CNN has mentioned 'Trump' 109 times."
Part of the reason for the apathy is that we are just becoming horrifyingly inured to mass shootings in the United States. Another part of the reason is almost certainly because some or all of the victims were black.
It isn't clear yet why the shooting happened, but there is a distinct possibility, given that so many of the victims were related, that this is yet another mass shooting that was related to domestic violence.
I don't know what else to say. I am grieving over this act of heinous violence. And I am grieving for a nation in which such an act has become routine enough to ignore.
Democratic Debate + Blog Note
I've got a doctor's appointment this morning, so I'll be away for a bit.
In the meantime: There was another Democratic debate last night. I did a very little bit of tweeting about it, and I've Storified those tweets. Mostly, I spent the entire debate marveling at how garbage the questions were, and how poorly moderated it was.
Immediately after the debate, I was reading tweets about how Hillary Clinton went over to one of the audience questioners, the woman who immigrated to the US with her five children and whose husband has been separated from them for three years after being deported, and spent time talking with her and her family.
And at the same time, I heard Anderson Cooper talking about how Clinton's self-deprecating moment, in which she said she isn't a natural politician, "humanized her" to her supporters. Like we're the ones who have a problem recognizing her humanity.
At the very moment Clinton was engaging with a woman who pleaded from help from both Democratic candidates, the media was questioning, again, whether maybe she's a monster.
If that doesn't sum it right the fuck up, I don't know what does.
Question of the Day
What was your favorite playground feature as a kid? The monkey bars? Tornado slide? Foursquare court? Tetherball? Seesaw?
"I hated the playground" is, of course, a totally fine answer, too!
[Got a suggestion for a Question of the Day? Drop it here!]
Shaker Gourmet
Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?
Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.
Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by wagons.
Recommended Reading:
Fannie: [Content Note: Disablism; misogyny] Republicans Attack Duckworth
Adrienne: [CN: Appropriation; racism] Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh.
Juliana: [CN: Racism; misogyny; violence] Migrant Mother Petitions Obama for Temporary Protected Status
Caitlyn: [CN: Stalking; harassment] Dealing with Online Stalking, as a Lawyer and a Victim
Sasha: [CN: Transphobia; gender policing; harassment] Tennessee Now Considering Bill Attacking Trans Youth
Shay: [CN: White supremacy] Revisiting the Silo of Whiteness
Keith: [CN: Homophobia] Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler Photo Shoot Reveals Frailty of Black Masculinity
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
From the You Can't Make This $hit Up Files
[Content Note: Illness.]
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooops!
Lawmakers in West Virginia are excited about new legislation that lifted a ban on raw milk. They're so excited that they recently celebrated by drinking some raw milk. Now, many of those lawmakers are sick.Which is why legislation banning raw milk consumption was passed! But that sort of nanny-state bullshit won't stand if champions of freedom like Rep. McGeehan have anything to
Representative Pat McGeehan (seen in agony in [a photo at the link]) says that he doesn't think he or his colleagues' illnesses are from the raw milk.
"I'm not feeling that great," McGeehan told local news station WSAZ. "I think it's probably just some sort of bad stomach virus." But McGeenhan admits that it's not just him who's sick: "There's definitely some other colleagues that have similar symptoms that I've been experiencing."
McGeenhan says he drank just a small amount of the celebratory milk given to him by Scott Cadle, a sponsor of the raw milk bill. He still insists that the timing of his illness is "coincidental."
Raw milk hasn't gone through a process of pasteurization that kills potentially harmful bacteria. Drinking raw milk can lead to illness and, historically, has even killed people. For instance, in 1911, 48 people died and roughly 2,000 people got severely sick in Boston after drinking raw milk.
"There definitely shouldn't be a law against allowing people to do what they want within the framework of the rule of law," McGeehan said. "Just be careful."Yes, just be careful. If you see any bacteria in your raw milk with your naked eye, don't drink it!
[H/T to Eastsidekate.]
Daily Dose of Cute
How am I even supposed to deal with this level of cuteness? Where I am supposed to sit is another matter for me to deal with altogether.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War posturing] Following North Korea's threat to use nuclear weapons to "annihilate" the United States and South Korea, whose annual joint military exercise began on Monday with increased maneuvers following North Korea's fourth nuclear test and rocket launch earlier this year, "Russia has warned North Korea that threats to deliver 'preventive nuclear strikes' could create a legal basis for the use of military force against the country, suggesting that even Pyongyang's few remaining friends are growing concerned about its increasingly confrontational stance. ...'We consider it to be absolutely impermissible to make public statements containing threats to deliver some 'preventive nuclear strikes' against opponents,' the Russian foreign ministry said in response to North Korea's threats. 'Pyongyang should be aware of the fact that in this way the DPRK will become fully opposed to the international community and will create international legal grounds for using military force against itself in accordance with the right of a state to self-defense enshrined in the United Nations Charter,' continued the statement, translated by Itar Tass news agency. ...But while the statement said Moscow was opposed to the tone of North Korea's response, it also said the scale of the American-South Korean joint exercise put 'unprecedented … military and political pressure on Pyongyang.' 'Naturally, as a state, which is directly named as an object of this kind of military activities, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) cannot but feel reasonably concerned for its security,' the statement said."
[CN: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy] Well, fuck: "The Missouri Senate has passed SJR 39 21-11 after a record-breaking 39.5 hour filibuster that Democrats had hoped would block the legislation. The bill amends the state's constitution to 'protect' religious organizations and individuals who oppose same-sex marriage because of their religious beliefs, providing same-sex marriage opponents a 'license to discriminate' against LGBT Missourians. ...'After a 39-hour filibuster by Missouri Democrats, Republicans turned to a rarely-used procedural maneuver to cut off debate and force a vote.'" Of course. Good effort, Missouri Democrats. And it ain't quite over yet: "After debate was cut off, the legislation was granted initial approval on a 23-9 vote. It still must be approved by the Senate one more time before going to the Missouri House."
[CN: Police brutality; disablism; racism; fat hatred] "Researchers have uncovered a commonly missing factor in police brutality stories: A victim's disability. According to an in-depth study published this week by the Ruderman Family Foundation, a disabled advocacy group, up to half of all people killed by law enforcement are living with a disability. This is the case for the majority of the high-profile incidents in the last few years, many of which have become the face of the Black Lives Matter movement, the study finds."
[CN: Transphobia; harassment] The second sibling of the filmmakers known as The Wachowskis has disclosed to the public that she is transgender. To say that she has "come out" is not quite right, because she's been "out" to her family, friends, and colleagues for quite some time. She is now disclosing her transition to the public, and doing so under duress because the Daily Mail threatened to expose her. Fucking assholes.
"Bernie Sanders's campaign has filed a lawsuit against Ohio's secretary of state to allow 17-year olds to vote in the Democratic primary on March 15, according to a CNN report. Sanders's campaign manager told reporters in Michigan on Tuesday that Republican Jon Husted, who is Ohio's secretary of State, has changed the rules to make it so that those who are currently 17, but will be 18 by the time of the November general election, cannot vote in the state's primaries." I know that Sanders' interest in this is largely because younger voters support him, but who cares. I totally support his pushback on this encroachment of voting rights.
This is just incredible: "All the lies Donald Trump told in his election night infomercial."
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] In case you were waiting to find out who Carly Fiorina would endorse before making your final decision, your wait is over! She has endorsed Ted Cruz.
RIP Sir George Martin, the "Fifth Beatle." My condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and fans.
"In Case You Missed It: Stunning Photos of Rare Solar Eclipse." Neat!
And finally! This is a story about 7-year-old Luke Nuttall and his certified diabetic alert dog Jedi, who helps Luke navigate his healthcare and saves his life. Blub.
Tonight's Debate: A Donation Game
[Content Note: War on agency.]
Tonight, the Democratic candidates are meeting for another debate. And I am very keen for them to talk about the erosion of abortion access across the US:
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please talk about the erosion of abortion access at tonight's debate?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please talk about the legislative assaults on abortion providers? https://t.co/Nz41680EXE
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please talk about anti-choice terrorism? https://t.co/XaouUZbspi
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please talk about abortion access as a key economic issue for women? For all ppl who can get pregnant?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please talk about how abortion is healthcare at tonight's debate?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please say that abortion should be accessible and as widely available as it is needed and wanted?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you call for the end of the Hyde Amendment AND the Helms Amendment at tonight's debate?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
.@HillaryClinton @SenSanders Will you please stress the importance of ending abortion stigma at tonight's debate?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
And instead of playing a drinking game, I am proposing a donating game:
Instead of a drinking game, I'll propose a donating game: $10 per favorable mention of repro rights; $20 for actually saying "abortion."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
I will actually make these donations to either candidate. Who's with me?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 9, 2016
I realize not everyone has the financial resources to play a donating game (although whether there will actually be cause to donate remains to be seen), so "supportive tweets" (or whatever variation) could definitely be substituted!
Fingers crossed.
Women Are the Worst, Amirite?
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
So, actor John Goodman was on the Howard Stern Show earlier this week and told a story about meeting actor (and Ghostbuster!) Kristen Wiig and how she is the worst! And everyone who hears the story definitely agrees that she is the worst!
Here is a typical example [CN: moving GIF at link] of how the story is being reported:
At a social gathering, Goodman, an admittedly huge fan of Wiig's work, approached the "Bridesmaids" star mid-conversation and it didn't go so well.So, let's recap: Goodman is a fan of Wiig. He saw her talking to someone else and interrupted her, which he would hate for somebody to do to him, but did it anyway. And instead of immediately dropping her conversation with someone else, which they might have considered pretty rude, she told him she would talk to him in a minute.
"She was talking to somebody else, and I was just—I think she's so great, and the social barriers broke down and I interrupted the conversation," he explained to Stern. "And I would just hate for somebody to do that to me. And she goes, 'Yeah, I'll talk to you in a minute.' [makes sound of bomb dropping] It was like the Atom. I shrunk down to Atom size. ...I really like her, and it was embarrassing, so I'll never speak to her again."
We're sorry, but when John freaking Goodman is fangirling over you, the least you can do is take a moment to tell him your favorite "Roseanne" episode.
That actually doesn't sound very terrible to me!
And I suspect if that had been the whole story, it wouldn't have sounded very terrible to anyone else, either.
But Goodman went on to explain that her failure to immediately stop her conversation and give him her full and undiluted attention on his schedule made him feel small and insignificant.
Now that is a thing that a woman is not allowed to do to a man! HOW DARE SHE.
Never mind that telling someone who interrupts you, no matter how important they actually are or perceive themselves to be, that you'll be with them in a moment is not actually a belittling thing to do.
We can't always control how we feel when someone draws a reasonable boundary. So I get why Goodman might have felt that way in that moment. And it doesn't feel good to feel small and insignificant, even if it's your own responsibility for feeling that way.
But you know what I bet feels even worse? Having a person go on a national broadcast and tell a story about how you're a rude bitch that they'll never speak to again, all because you refused to prioritize them on demand.
And if Goodman didn't know that Wiig would get the "what a bitch!" treatment, that virtually every retelling of this story would be accompanied by an admonishment to Wiig that she should have behaved differently, then that is a luxury of his male privilege.
Though I strongly suspect he knew exactly how it would go. Because anyone who's been alive for more than five minutes could have told you exactly how that would go.
The entire point of this story is vengeance against a woman who "embarrassed" him by not treating him like the most important thing on the planet the moment he arrived in her vicinity. And I'm not going to pretend for a moment that it was ever intended to be anything else.
"So I'll never speak to her again." I'm sure she's crushed, John Goodman.
Primarily Speaking
[Content Note: Racism; regionalism.]
Yesterday, the Republicans held primary contests in Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, and Mississippi, and the Democrats held primary contests in Michigan and Mississippi. Here's how everything shook out:
Donald Trump won Hawaii, Michigan, and Mississippi. Ted Cruz won Idaho. Bernie Sanders won Michigan. Hillary Clinton won Mississippi.
The Republican nominee needs 1,237 delegates. Trump now has 458. Cruz is second, with 359.
The Democratic nominee needs 2,383 delegates. Clinton now has 1,221 including superdelegates (who are free to change their votes). Sanders now has 571 including superdelegates. Without the superdelegates, Clinton has a lead of 200+ pledged delegates: 759 to 546.
So, basically, the Republican primary continues to be a shitshow.
Meanwhile, the media's fascination with Trump shows no signs of waning. Last night, Trump and Clinton gave their addresses at the same time, and not a single major network or cable news outlet gave Clinton any airtime: "All of the major networks and cable news outlets stayed glued to Donald Trump as he gave a rambling victory speech—which also featured pitches for Trump brand steaks and wine—even after the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, took the stage to address her supporters in Cleveland."
On the Democratic side, Clinton came away with the most pledged delegates from Michigan and Mississippi, because they are proportionally allocated and she won big in Mississippi and came a close second in Michigan. Overall, she won the night with 86 delegates. Sanders won 69 total.
The narrative, however, is that Sanders may have lost the delegate count, but got the "psychological victory" by winning a big state like Michigan.
Michigan has a larger black population than the other states Sanders has won, but it's still 80% white. (Mississippi, by comparison, is only 60% white.) And last night, on CNN, Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver, outlined their strategy for winning moving forward (which, of course, is the same thing we've heard before): "After the 15th, the calendar changes radically in our direction. The second half is tipped heavily in our favor. ...All the southern states were front-loaded. After the 15th, there are no more southern states."
Naturally, Weaver was not indelicate enough to straight-up say that their strategy relies on white voters, but that's the long and the short of it.
Once again, I'll just note that even if a modern Democratic presidential candidate could win exclusively with northern white votes, I'm quite hostile to the idea that anyone would want to.
As following every huge Clinton win in a state with a large black population, there was an enormous amount of "low-information voter" bullshit being used to explain (and delegitimize) her victory.
Which, apart from being rank racist shit, underlines the profound misunderstanding a lot of northern white liberals have of the importance of the Democratic Party to lots of voters in southern and/or red states.
I had a few things to say about that last night, and I have Storified those tweets.
The long and the short of it is this: If you really imagine that people for whom the Democratic Party is often the only thing standing between Republican Party state majorities and the annihilation of their basic rights are voting for Clinton because they're "low-information," instead of because they depend on the Democratic Party and recognize that Clinton has been a Democratic Party champion for decades, then I regret to inform you that the "low-information voter" is you.
[CN: Racist violence; murder] Meanwhile, Sanders supporters started a #MississippiBerning hashtag on Twitter yesterday. Yes, for real. If you don't know the context: "Mississippi Burning" refers to a trial in which three civil rights workers, one black man and two white men, were murdered after investigating a black church burning and mass beating done by the KKK. The appropriation is staggeringly insensitive.
In summation, I'll say again: I don't begrudge Bernie Sanders fighting for the nomination. But I have serious concerns about the way he's doing it. And I don't still don't see any evidence that his most fervent supporters are prepared to lead, or even participate in, a progressive revolution.
Question of the Day
Are you a good sleeper, or a restless sleeper? Do you fall asleep easily, or struggle to fall asleep?
I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Much to Iain's amazement, I once grabbed a quick nap at a Flaming Lips show, when the second act didn't interest me, and I wanted to be wide awake for the main event.
This was not always the case: For years, I had terrible insomnia. I could go days at a time without sleeping. I got a lot done, but everything was a struggle because I was constantly tired.
Being able to rest is a significant improvement.
Now, anytime I want to sleep, I just get comfy and start counting backwards from 99. I rarely make it to the 80s before I'm out like a light.
I wish I could say, for those who aren't good sleepers and would love to be, what I did that worked. But the truth is, my insomnia came on very suddenly and went away again the same way, seemingly without explanation.
[Got a suggestion for a Question of the Day? Drop it here!]
I Love This
Little bird uses a linguistic rule thought to be unique to humans: "A study published in Nature Communications suggests that a small bird known the Japanese great tit uses grammatical rules in its calls. Until now, only humans seemed to use syntax this way."
Birds are such fascinating communicators. This is why I can easily waste an afternoon sitting outside just watching the birds.
The Why of Trump Supporters
[Content Note: Racism; violence; disablist language at link.]
The media's latest totally trenchant ponderance is why so many people are supporting Donald Trump. Naturally, their having turned 98% of their 24-news cycle into a Real Dirtbags of Gold-Plated Toilet Penthouses reality show is never part of the answer.
They have noticed, however, that he tends to appeal to white people who are racist. Funny how that happens when a candidate engages in racist rhetoric, allows black protesters to be attacked and forcibly removed from his rallies, hedges as disavowing support from white supremacists, and invites loyalty pledges that involve his supporters raising their right hands into the air.
Thomas Frank explores this explanation for his support in the Guardian, and concludes it's not so much that Trump's supporters are racist; it's that they're fearful, economically insecure, and appreciative of his position on free trade.
Last week, I decided to watch several hours of Trump speeches for myself. I saw the man ramble and boast and threaten and even seem to gloat when protesters were ejected from the arenas in which he spoke. I was disgusted by these things, as I have been disgusted by Trump for 20 years. But I also noticed something surprising. In each of the speeches I watched, Trump spent a good part of his time talking about an entirely legitimate issue, one that could even be called left-wing.There is much more at the link, and I recommend reading the whole thing. But this excerpt represents the central thesis: That Trump's primary appeal isn't racism, but his focus on the bad trade deals that have accelerated the decimation of US manufacturing.
Yes, Donald Trump talked about trade. In fact, to judge by how much time he spent talking about it, trade may be his single biggest concern – not white supremacy. Not even his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border, the issue that first won him political fame. He did it again during the debate on 3 March: asked about his political excommunication by Mitt Romney, he chose to pivot and talk about ... trade.
It seems to obsess him: the destructive free-trade deals our leaders have made, the many companies that have moved their production facilities to other lands, the phone calls he will make to those companies' CEOs in order to threaten them with steep tariffs unless they move back to the US.
...Thus did he hint at his curious selling proposition: because he is personally so wealthy, a fact about which he loves to boast, Trump himself is unaffected by business lobbyists and donations. And because he is free from the corrupting power of modern campaign finance, famous deal-maker Trump can make deals on our behalf that are "good" instead of "bad." The chance that he will actually do so, of course, is small. He appears to be a hypocrite on this issue as well as so many other things. But at least Trump is saying this stuff.
All this surprised me because, for all the articles about Trump I had read in recent months, I didn't recall trade coming up very often. Trump is supposed to be on a one-note crusade for whiteness. Could it be that all this trade stuff is a key to understanding the Trump phenomenon?
...Ill-considered trade deals and generous bank bailouts and guaranteed profits for insurance companies but no recovery for average people, ever – these policies have taken their toll. As Trump says, "we have rebuilt China and yet our country is falling apart. Our infrastructure is falling apart. ... Our airports are, like, Third World."
I'm sure this is indeed part of Trump's appeal to many of his supporters. But if racism doesn't significantly figure in their support for Trump, then why is it Trump they're supporting and not Bernie Sanders, who also articulates impassioned critiques on the same subject?
Certainly part of it is that Trump gets more ink than Sanders does. But it's also because of the respective language they use. Sanders doesn't spit out the words "Mexico" and "China" like they are filth in his mouth. He doesn't rant about how we'll wreak vengeance on Mexico by forcing them to pay for a wall along our border, nor yell about China screwing us by pegging the Yuan.
Trump's language on trade and language of racism are not distinct things. They are intimately and inextricably linked.
It's not a question of whether his supporters are responding to his message on trade or his message of white supremacy. Those messages are one and the same.
Every savvy candidate wants to create a movement to which voters want to belong. Sanders wants you to join his revolution. Hillary Clinton wants you to help her make history. John Kasich wants you to take a nap with him on a pile of grey suits.
Trump wants you to be part of his crowd. As I've observed previously, Trump doesn't even give speeches. He just gets up in front of a crowd and holds forth, having a conversation with them that's two-parts defending himself with a series of bullshit justifications and straight-up lies and one-part talking to them about how he knows their lives suck and spinning yarns about how he's going to make everything better.
All of it is peppered with constant references to how popular, how successful, how wealthy, how well-liked, how connected, how influential he is. He is the cool kid. (The cool bully, no less—even more irresistible to the chronically fearful.) Don't you want to be part of his crowd?
It's a coy strategy, when his base is comprised of insecure, alienated people who aren't sure where they belong in their own country anymore.
And that, too, is an appeal to racism—to racist fears about waning white privilege.
Many people have noted that "Make America Great Again" is a thinly veiled dogwhistle for "Make America White Again." This is true. "Make America Great Again" is also an invitation—an extended hand from Donald Trump to join his clique; an implicit promise that joining his team will make you great again, too.
Or at least better than those people.
