This diary is based on a series of comments I’ve made in DKos conversations over the past few days; I’m thankful for this community, and for those who have posted forceful, compelling diaries about their experiences, and the emotional fallout, since the election, and for the compelling discussions that have continued since then.
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To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.
George Orwell
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My father used an expression, sort of like ‘20-20 hindsight’— he would look over his bifocals and say how easy it is to be a ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ (as a side note, he hated football). A Monday Morning Quarterback is certain they— and really any fool— could have seen what the actual quarterback did wrong, and of course ANYONE could have done better.
I don’t believe Bernie Sanders would have won this election. I think he would have faced withering, baseless attacks, labeled a communist— and given the virulent anti-Semitism that has been unleashed by the Trump clan, which embraces Breitbart, the klan, neo-Nazis and the alt-right-- his Jewish heritage would have been used against him. And none of this would have hurt Trump, who noted accurately that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose a vote (given his base of support, it might have gained him votes).
The criticism of Secretary Clinton’s campaign strategy— her GOTV efforts, her decision not to spend more time in Wisconsin and Michigan— fall under the category of Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Are the good people of Wisconsin and Michigan not able to read? Too busy to pay attention? Had they not heard this was a presidential election, and who was running?
Here in Pennsylvania, Secretary Clinton made campaign stops, but she didn’t personally knock on my door. Who are these special snowflakes that need an engraved invitation to pay attention to what the hell was going on?
In response to a DKos member J Side Kick, who expressed feeling a degree of responsibility for the outcome of election, I said this:
You’re not responsible— no one who voted for Hillary, or worked for her, is.
Those that voted for Trump, those that worked with him, and those who failed to vote at all— 45% of eligible voters— bear all of the responsibility.
Unfortunately, we will all suffer the consequences, but never, ever forget to tell them who is to blame— we tried to stop this, we tried to save them from themselves (as we have for the entire history of this country).
Be proud of what you’ve worked for, and never take responsibility for someone else’s ignorant, bigoted irresponsibility.
I’ve read diaries and comments by the dozen that posit the theory Trump voters include ‘decent people’, with ‘legitimate concerns’ that were ignored by Secretary Clinton and the Democratic establishment. In a comment to Greg Dworkin, I said this:
Here’s the thing— those that aren’t hopeless racists nevertheless were willing to be surrounded by a multitude of obvious racists— actual klansmen and neo-Nazis. This was obvious for many months. Even Paul Ryan characterized Trump’s remarks about Judge Curiel as ‘textbook racism’. But that didn’t matter to the ‘not racist’ Trump voters. That was fine by them.
In other words, they concluded ‘sure, there’s naked racism (and horrid misogyny, and religious bigotry, and homophobia), all present in a manifestly unqualified and dangerously erratic candidate. But that’s still fine by them.
So, from me at least, no free pass on the ‘but I’m not really a racist’, because they just facilitated the greatest step backward in our country since secession.
How about this instead— rather than progressives trying to understand their side of things, the circumstances that have made them see the world the way they do, how about Trump voters, both the hopeless racists and those that merely tolerate their presence, start making an effort to get a clue why we, rightly, think they have acted in truly horrifying ways, and expressed morally indefensible views.
I think it’s precisely backwards to put the burden of responsibility on ourselves.
Having said that, I’m not even buying the ‘we didn’t listen enough’ or ‘try to understand them’ narrative— it’s utter nonsense, and disrespectful of the legacy of the progressive achievements of the Democratic party over the past fifty years. Progressive policies at the state and federal level have always been targeted to address the very economic concerns of the working class and poor— that’s what makes us progressives! Those policies have been blocked, undermined, and lied about systematically by the GOP and conservatives at every turn. Democrats— including Secretary Clinton— have been working to address the ‘bread and butter’ issues of this cohort. To suggest otherwise, that the Democratic party hasn’t been trying to redress the abuses suffered at the hands of corporations and self-serving GOP officials, is to simply parrot a right-wing radio talking point. If anyone— especially in this community— asks why the Democratic party hasn’t been speaking to the concerns of ‘decent Trump supporters’, the only rational answer is: WE HAVE. They simply haven’t been listening.
But even this misses the more important— crucial in fact— dynamic of this campaign: naked bigotry in all its forms. It is this ugly reality, which is becoming more terrifyingly real with each passing day, that I was alluding to with the Orwell quotation. I addressed this in a conversation with DKos member pdx:
I know, if they cared about justice then they should now, but when you live in communities devoid of people different from you it is completely understandable how those issues could fall down a notch on your priority list, particularly when everyone you grew up with is angry and suffering.
I see this in terms of moral priorities.
Even if I accept the proposition that their economic concerns, and sense of cultural abandonment, are so profound that they become less sensitive to the concerns of others, that still represents a moral failing.
African-Americans and Latinos, women and LGBT individuals face the same economic hardships (or worse), and are confronted with discrimination, demeaning treatment, political and social shunning or invisibility, and often outright violence. Yet they can see that justice and equality for any of the other groups is not just a way to gain equality of justice for themselves, but a moral imperative, precisely because of what they themselves face and have been subjected to.
Somehow, all of these folks are able to translate their experiences into empathy, but the white supporters of Trump don’t. I’ll say again, it is a moral failing, and I’m not prepared to excuse them because of their ‘hardships’, real or imagined.
But to be clear, I’m skeptical of the characterization that there are a substantial number of Trump supporters who meet any reasonable standard of ‘decent people’. In response to DKos member wasatch, I said this:
we have a group of people claiming that a) they’re not bigoted, and b) their immediate concerns take precedence over the horrendous effects a Trump presidency will have because of his bigotry and that of his supporters, while telling us not to hold them morally responsible for their vote and all that happens as a consequence, because of a) and b).
That’s some pretty tortured moral reasoning, and I ain’t buying it. Frankly, I’m not buying the ‘I’m not a bigot’ pleading.
The grotesque bigotry exposed by this election represents the singular social, economic, cultural and political issue to be addressed. Why? Because there are no political and economic issues that don’t include elements of discrimination— systemic, institutional, pervasive discrimination— that impacts all matters of equal justice, equal protection under the law, equal opportunity for education and economic advancement, protection of the environment, constraining corporate abuses.
If you are a progressive, and you say your focus is on any of these issues, than you must recognize that the fight against racism, misogyny, religious intolerance and homophobia takes precedence.
This fight takes precedence in purely pragmatic terms, but it also takes manifest precedence in purely moral terms.
If you are not prepared to bear personal economic sacrifice so that others may enjoy full and equal status as Americans, not prepared to set aside your immediate self-interest in the service of moral imperatives, then you aren’t a progressive. And, ironically, you are in fact working against your economic, environmental or social justice goals.
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I truly don’t understand how so many progressives fail to grasp this— indulging and excusing racism, misogyny, homophobia and religious intolerance doesn’t ‘bring the bigots into the conversation’, it let’s them off the hook.
We now have had an election that makes the worst of humanity the reference standard for the country. I said this in a discussion with DKos member Kenevan, who was encountering situations with friends many of us have experienced:
I’ve tried for too many years to ‘meet them where they’re at’, tried to understand their concerns, tried to find common ground, tried to appeal to shared goals, and to reason, persuade, argue on the merits… with family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and in on-line discussions.
Those efforts have not been returned in kind.
Rather, I have encountered derision, dismissiveness (I’m just another naive liberal, it turns out), denial, or shallow, patronizing pseudo-agreements (‘Ok, I’m not saying racism is ok, but…’).
And in the end— in the absence of some individual epiphany, or life altering event (for example, I’m thinking of homophobic parents who learn a child is LGBT, only to realize it’s ‘ok to be who you are’)— the bigotry remains entrenched, and rationalized.
It’s not like what you’ve been suggesting [try to listen to them] hasn’t been tried in this country for two centuries. We never stopped trying. The evidence that the bigots have open ears, open hearts, that our efforts will be rewarded, is meager.
Instead, I think all the years of coddling the sensitivities and pretenses of the bigots has only served to insulate them (‘Don’t call me racist!), and coddle them. Now they are horrifyingly emboldened.
Here in Philadelphia, we had a storefront spray-painted with ‘Sieg Heil’, a Swastika, and ‘Trump 2016’- on the anniversary of Krystallnacht.
In a diary I wrote the day of the election, I said this:
There are no ‘opposing views’ on crucial issues; only racism, misogyny, religious bigotry, homophobia, and cynical exploitation, masquerading as ‘traditional values’.
I’m really not feeling compassion for Trump supporters...
Not a one can say they ‘voted for him for other reasons’, or ‘don’t paint me with that brush’, or ‘I didn’t really know all that’, or ‘I don’t think he’s really that way”.
Finally, in response to Navy Vet Terp I said this:
There are lessons to be learned from this election, but as your quotation points out, lessons that we need to re-learn, no matter how many times we are taught them.
The one that keeps spinning in my head— this has never been a unified country. The splits were present at the writing of the Constitution, and we have never been able to get even 60% of the nation to agree about who we are, and what we should be.
We’ve heard for a long time about the people of the heartland, those folks in Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan who voted for Trump— but also, of course, all the states of the old Confederacy— feel looked down on by us liberal elites. Indeed, Mencken was not trying to contain his sneering contempt. But he was right in his estimate of these people, wasn’t he? This group did not sign on to ‘The Great Society’ willingly.
The Reconstruction Amendments— the 13th, 14th and 15th— were imposed by force, and opposed by force and fraud and pure disregard of federal authority, up to the present day. The conservative wing of SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act just this year.
There is no shared understanding that we are a pluralistic society, one in which the instruments of justice, political institutions, and the benefits and opportunities of civil society are available to all on an equal basis. The people of the heartland and the old Confederacy do not believe that all have equal claim to call themselves ‘American’.
I have no patience for all the wise and righteous progressives lecturing us about ‘trying to understand where the anger of Trump voters comes from, and what their real concerns are’. Their anger and perceived grievances against ‘the Washington establishment and liberal elites’ can never be an excuse for voting for a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, religious bigot. Let’s dispense with any notion that this election was about anything else than white Christian identity politics and privilege:
What appears to have made the biggest difference on the night was the turnout for Trump of white voters across the board – of both sexes, almost all ages and education levels, and from mid- and higher income levels.
- Among college-educated whites, 45% voted for Clinton – 39% of men and 51% of women (the only white demographic represented in the poll where the former secretary of state came out on top). But 54% of male college graduates voted for Trump, as did 45% of female college graduates.
Broken down by income bracket, 52% of voters earning less than $50,000 a year – who make up 36% of the electorate – voted for Clinton, and 41% for Trump.
But among the 64% of American voters who earn more than $50,000 a year, 49% chose Trump, and 47% Clinton. (emphasis added)
Let’s be clear— the concerns of any working class whites who voted for Trump are no different than the less well-off anywhere, and they face none of the hardships of those who weren’t lucky enough to be white, heterosexual and Christian. (But apparently, when you are white, heterosexual and Christian, your grievances are a national crisis.)
Every generation, progressives congratulate ourselves about progressive social, cultural and political achievements. These achievements have been hard won, and are absolute moral imperatives.
But the election has reminded us that a large proportion of the country has never agreed to joining a modern, pluralistic society. They’ve been resisting in more or less open fashion since the Civil War. We just stopped realizing this was true, even when they hang President Obama in effigy at college football games, and spray swastikas on shop windows on the anniversary of Krystallnacht, the night of Trump’s election.
I believe we have coddled the sensibilities and sensitivities of this group too much, for too long, with offers of mutual understanding and shared benefits, and we have been rewarded with absolutely nothing in return. We are no longer even arguing about what to do, we are arguing about factual reality.
If we are not prepared to face the reality of what is ‘right in front of our nose’-- what the message of this election is, and what it says about those prepared to vote for Trump, then at that point, we as progressives have failed to address the most urgent issues in the nation, the issues we have never been able to resolve— racism, misogyny, religious intolerance and homophobia.
We are in a fight for whether America is to be an inclusive, pluralistic society, nothing less.