I don't know who Mr Schaeffer knows but the Democrats I know are working people themselves, living on a shoestring, trying to get their kids through school, hanging onto the house if there is one and treasuring the most stability they can muster. We try to help each other out and lift up those in need. Nobody is arrogant or patronizing nor are we elitist. You are way off. We are fixin' to be terribly hurt in the coming four years and are looking for authenticity in our leaders. You are misplacing the blame.
I completely agree with you Ursi, and what Frank leaves out is the grotesque amount of misogyny, bigotry, and hatred in this country, which has been fueled by Trump. It is not all about the so-called “elites“ looking down on other people; it’s about a class of people who have little or no respect for people of color, women, and others who don’t fit into their view of the world. People have literally been brainwashed by mostly white privileged men that people of color, LGBTQ people and others are somehow going to destroy their way of life. People have been misled by total nonsense. As a democrat who treats everyone with respect, I am mighty tired of people blaming these mysterious “elitists” for bringing us to this point. We are here because too many white Americans simply could not bring themselves to vote for a woman of color, who would’ve been a far better president by any stretch of the imagination.
It’s a mistake to leave out the horrible effects of the right wing propaganda machine over the last 50 years. As you have said, you and your father were a part of spreading lies and demonizing anyone who didn’t believe the same as you. This train wreck is not the fault of liberal, educated people. It is the result of an insidious onslaught of propaganda and hatred perpetrated by the Republican Party and Christian Nationalists for decades. Go ahead and try to shift the blame. History will show what really happened.
Well, if it's any solace, the Trumpers DID win the hard fought culture war against elitist libtards to "say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn." Let's be clear, I hear this accusation of "eltistism" and neglecting the (white) worKKKing class on the part of the Democrats (and by association, liberals in general) but for more than a decade of All Trump All The Time, I haev NEVER heard him or his proxies suggest ANY tangible policies or programs. It's been entirely blames, grievances, and jingoistic platitudes, demonizing anyone and everyone who'd DARE to suggest EVERYONE be granted to live their lives free from fear. In the eyes of Trump and MAGA cult, it's mind-boggling that somehow they've wrapped their heads around the prospect that a group of oligarchs with more money that God could possibly give a SHIT about the working class! So please, don't patronize us with a wave of a hand proclaiming, "liberals and elites DON'T get it!" And yet... that's pretty much what you wrote. What a shame.
So tired of statements like . And now, after years of prioritizing culture war battles over working-class struggles, liberals are faced with the consequences: define culture war battles do they include equity for lgbtq? Race? Etc Let me assure you the real elite- the wealthy class are not the ones benefiting from equity for so called “cultural” concerns for example Peter Thiel and his partner will become without lgbtq protections- not so the bulk of us including many working class folk. Dont buy into this view that keeps us fighting each other while the money flows up. Follow the money
While diversity, equity, and inclusion are wonderful things to build upon in fostering a kinder world, too often people on "the left" resort to shame, and it backfires. Shame leads to resentment, not inclusion. I know one liberal voter who actually voted for Trump on account of it. I know others who didn't vote for Harris on account of Biden's policy on Israel. Unfortunately, there will always be something to criticize about the party that is not the fascist one. My focus now is on stopping the bleeding.
Please also check out the most recent posting on the John Ganz Unpopular Front substack site titled Groyperfication - it could also be titled how these right-wings trolls enshittify everything.
John is the author of the book When the Clock Broke.
Frank, I appreciate what you're trying to do. You're trying to bring reconciliation by speaking hard words to both sides. But I think this country's problems go deeper. In a sense we are actually unlucky to have won World War II, because that made it harder for us to face our own demons. The Germans and Japanese faced their demons and worked to create saner societies. We were so lucky for so long that we got the idea we were special. France has had 5 constitutions in the time we've had one. After they experienced some failure they realized they needed a new start.
One problem with our Constitution is that the way Congress is set up creates a fight to the death to win by both parties. It's pretty much impossible for any third party to get a Congress member elected. And the parties don't really stand for much. It's hard to define what their real policies are. If we had a parliamentary system like Canada's, the parties would stand for something and they'd have to make coalitions to create governments.
I agree with you, Frank, but I kept waiting for you to address the class-based aspect of the Trump moment that you began your commentary with. The Democrat Party (and Republican Party, for that matter, with all their embracing rhetoric of championing the dignity and values of "back row" America) has abandoned the working and middle class for 50 years, which, in my view, is as important as their dismissiveness of traditional values for understanding what went wrong and has produced the anger that has fueled "The Trump Moment." A class war intertwined with the culture war in America needs to be addressed. My hope is that Trump and his naked oligarchic policies and actions will make things so bad economically that the bankruptcy of neo-liberal governance and unregulated capitalism will be exposed to all and help us see the need to unite despite our differences on cultural issues, and once again embrace the social democratic path we started down with the New Deal in response to the mess of the Great Depression that laissez-faire capitalism of the Gilded Age had created. The big question in my mind is "Was the New Deal the 'great exception' in American politics (as Jefferson Cowie argues in his book by that name), or can we make government stand once again on the side of ordinary people against monopolistic capitalist power and the elites it serves, and rebuild the middle class? Political thinkers have long noted that there is no democracy without a large and strong middle class. Unfortunately, very few politicians in America are doing anything about that.
The blame is in the seat of power currently, and all those who promote republicans and their agenda. I agree with the others commenting here that their fascist theocracy has been pushed by the so called moral majority for the last 50 years. Democrats have always been for the working class, and my educated friends are the working class. Republicans are to blame, they have now given in to the bullshit that has been their mantra for ever.
The back lash is not just as dangerous - it is muchly worse by many degrees.
Trumpty Dumpty or the Orange Godzilla has trashed and continues to do so all of the normative conventions upon which a civilized society depends upon for its relatively stable functioned.
Once those conventions have been trashed it will be impossible for all the kings horses and all the kings men to put them back together again.
Remember too that the Tangerine Tyrant comes out of the there-is-a-sucker-born-every-minute Showbiz tradition of P T Barmum. Barnum was of course muchly wrong. There are thousands of suckers born every minute. The Orange Monstrosity is an expert at manipulating and exploiting these suckers.
It gets muchly worse too. J D Vance the vice-president or the apologist and promoter of all the way down the line vice and toxic lies is closely associated with Opus Dei. That having been said please check out these two books on the in plain sight behind the scenes machinations of Opus Dei.
It seems Frank has eaten the soup, an expression from the misnamed Irish Famine when a Catholic would give up their religion in order to be fed by the Protestant church. He believes that the annoying elite somehow caused decent people to support Trump. Uh uh. The people who support Trump ARE ignorant, they hate anybody who studied, who actually accomplished something, who are different races from them, etc. Sure the elitists are annoying, sure the crazy extremes on the left are irksome, but most of the Dems I know are just working people. To blame defeat on arrogance is nuts. Trump supporters are not good people. At root, they are haters. I’m sure in his darkest heart, so is your Trump loving neighbor. I hope you don’t find that out the way neighbors did in Germany in the 30s when the true faces were shown.
I think you are absolutely right. In my opinion, our current Massachusetts government proves your point. People want control over their communities and schools, safety, a common sense right to shelter law, and fiscal restraint. Basics. What we get are government edicts, social engineering, virtue signaling, and debt. It is important to note that the 60% of Americans without college degrees are practical and deal with tangible things in the physical world. There are many kinds of intelligence, and highly educated people are not experts in how to live-so they should stop lecturing people.
Agree completely Frank. You nailed it. I'm gay and I'm sick of pronouns, biological men in women's spaces, DEI, and the whole crap of LGBTQIABCD yada, yada yada.
I don't know who Mr Schaeffer knows but the Democrats I know are working people themselves, living on a shoestring, trying to get their kids through school, hanging onto the house if there is one and treasuring the most stability they can muster. We try to help each other out and lift up those in need. Nobody is arrogant or patronizing nor are we elitist. You are way off. We are fixin' to be terribly hurt in the coming four years and are looking for authenticity in our leaders. You are misplacing the blame.
I completely agree with you Ursi, and what Frank leaves out is the grotesque amount of misogyny, bigotry, and hatred in this country, which has been fueled by Trump. It is not all about the so-called “elites“ looking down on other people; it’s about a class of people who have little or no respect for people of color, women, and others who don’t fit into their view of the world. People have literally been brainwashed by mostly white privileged men that people of color, LGBTQ people and others are somehow going to destroy their way of life. People have been misled by total nonsense. As a democrat who treats everyone with respect, I am mighty tired of people blaming these mysterious “elitists” for bringing us to this point. We are here because too many white Americans simply could not bring themselves to vote for a woman of color, who would’ve been a far better president by any stretch of the imagination.
It’s a mistake to leave out the horrible effects of the right wing propaganda machine over the last 50 years. As you have said, you and your father were a part of spreading lies and demonizing anyone who didn’t believe the same as you. This train wreck is not the fault of liberal, educated people. It is the result of an insidious onslaught of propaganda and hatred perpetrated by the Republican Party and Christian Nationalists for decades. Go ahead and try to shift the blame. History will show what really happened.
Well, if it's any solace, the Trumpers DID win the hard fought culture war against elitist libtards to "say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn." Let's be clear, I hear this accusation of "eltistism" and neglecting the (white) worKKKing class on the part of the Democrats (and by association, liberals in general) but for more than a decade of All Trump All The Time, I haev NEVER heard him or his proxies suggest ANY tangible policies or programs. It's been entirely blames, grievances, and jingoistic platitudes, demonizing anyone and everyone who'd DARE to suggest EVERYONE be granted to live their lives free from fear. In the eyes of Trump and MAGA cult, it's mind-boggling that somehow they've wrapped their heads around the prospect that a group of oligarchs with more money that God could possibly give a SHIT about the working class! So please, don't patronize us with a wave of a hand proclaiming, "liberals and elites DON'T get it!" And yet... that's pretty much what you wrote. What a shame.
It’s the rigged neoliberal economy. The orange clown is just a symptom of 40 years of the system
So tired of statements like . And now, after years of prioritizing culture war battles over working-class struggles, liberals are faced with the consequences: define culture war battles do they include equity for lgbtq? Race? Etc Let me assure you the real elite- the wealthy class are not the ones benefiting from equity for so called “cultural” concerns for example Peter Thiel and his partner will become without lgbtq protections- not so the bulk of us including many working class folk. Dont buy into this view that keeps us fighting each other while the money flows up. Follow the money
Tired of statements like WHAT?
While diversity, equity, and inclusion are wonderful things to build upon in fostering a kinder world, too often people on "the left" resort to shame, and it backfires. Shame leads to resentment, not inclusion. I know one liberal voter who actually voted for Trump on account of it. I know others who didn't vote for Harris on account of Biden's policy on Israel. Unfortunately, there will always be something to criticize about the party that is not the fascist one. My focus now is on stopping the bleeding.
Please also check out the most recent posting on the John Ganz Unpopular Front substack site titled Groyperfication - it could also be titled how these right-wings trolls enshittify everything.
John is the author of the book When the Clock Broke.
Frank, I appreciate what you're trying to do. You're trying to bring reconciliation by speaking hard words to both sides. But I think this country's problems go deeper. In a sense we are actually unlucky to have won World War II, because that made it harder for us to face our own demons. The Germans and Japanese faced their demons and worked to create saner societies. We were so lucky for so long that we got the idea we were special. France has had 5 constitutions in the time we've had one. After they experienced some failure they realized they needed a new start.
One problem with our Constitution is that the way Congress is set up creates a fight to the death to win by both parties. It's pretty much impossible for any third party to get a Congress member elected. And the parties don't really stand for much. It's hard to define what their real policies are. If we had a parliamentary system like Canada's, the parties would stand for something and they'd have to make coalitions to create governments.
I agree with you, Frank, but I kept waiting for you to address the class-based aspect of the Trump moment that you began your commentary with. The Democrat Party (and Republican Party, for that matter, with all their embracing rhetoric of championing the dignity and values of "back row" America) has abandoned the working and middle class for 50 years, which, in my view, is as important as their dismissiveness of traditional values for understanding what went wrong and has produced the anger that has fueled "The Trump Moment." A class war intertwined with the culture war in America needs to be addressed. My hope is that Trump and his naked oligarchic policies and actions will make things so bad economically that the bankruptcy of neo-liberal governance and unregulated capitalism will be exposed to all and help us see the need to unite despite our differences on cultural issues, and once again embrace the social democratic path we started down with the New Deal in response to the mess of the Great Depression that laissez-faire capitalism of the Gilded Age had created. The big question in my mind is "Was the New Deal the 'great exception' in American politics (as Jefferson Cowie argues in his book by that name), or can we make government stand once again on the side of ordinary people against monopolistic capitalist power and the elites it serves, and rebuild the middle class? Political thinkers have long noted that there is no democracy without a large and strong middle class. Unfortunately, very few politicians in America are doing anything about that.
The blame is in the seat of power currently, and all those who promote republicans and their agenda. I agree with the others commenting here that their fascist theocracy has been pushed by the so called moral majority for the last 50 years. Democrats have always been for the working class, and my educated friends are the working class. Republicans are to blame, they have now given in to the bullshit that has been their mantra for ever.
why is it that the right can be so crass but the left is expected to make sure not to offend? And the right wins elections?
The back lash is not just as dangerous - it is muchly worse by many degrees.
Trumpty Dumpty or the Orange Godzilla has trashed and continues to do so all of the normative conventions upon which a civilized society depends upon for its relatively stable functioned.
Once those conventions have been trashed it will be impossible for all the kings horses and all the kings men to put them back together again.
Remember too that the Tangerine Tyrant comes out of the there-is-a-sucker-born-every-minute Showbiz tradition of P T Barmum. Barnum was of course muchly wrong. There are thousands of suckers born every minute. The Orange Monstrosity is an expert at manipulating and exploiting these suckers.
It gets muchly worse too. J D Vance the vice-president or the apologist and promoter of all the way down the line vice and toxic lies is closely associated with Opus Dei. That having been said please check out these two books on the in plain sight behind the scenes machinations of Opus Dei.
Stench by David Brock and his other books too
Opus by Gareth Gore
It seems Frank has eaten the soup, an expression from the misnamed Irish Famine when a Catholic would give up their religion in order to be fed by the Protestant church. He believes that the annoying elite somehow caused decent people to support Trump. Uh uh. The people who support Trump ARE ignorant, they hate anybody who studied, who actually accomplished something, who are different races from them, etc. Sure the elitists are annoying, sure the crazy extremes on the left are irksome, but most of the Dems I know are just working people. To blame defeat on arrogance is nuts. Trump supporters are not good people. At root, they are haters. I’m sure in his darkest heart, so is your Trump loving neighbor. I hope you don’t find that out the way neighbors did in Germany in the 30s when the true faces were shown.
I think you are absolutely right. In my opinion, our current Massachusetts government proves your point. People want control over their communities and schools, safety, a common sense right to shelter law, and fiscal restraint. Basics. What we get are government edicts, social engineering, virtue signaling, and debt. It is important to note that the 60% of Americans without college degrees are practical and deal with tangible things in the physical world. There are many kinds of intelligence, and highly educated people are not experts in how to live-so they should stop lecturing people.
Agree completely Frank. You nailed it. I'm gay and I'm sick of pronouns, biological men in women's spaces, DEI, and the whole crap of LGBTQIABCD yada, yada yada.