The cruelty is the point.
The Atlantic's Adam Serwer had the insight.
Isn't Trump's gratuitous cruelty a mistake, a "bug" in his overall presentation? No. It is a feature.
His supporters like a winner and the casual cruelty toward the people he dominates. He is picking on someone they dislike, and they are doing it together. Casual cruelty mixes a feeling of superiority with a feeling of belonging to a group--a big group with power. It feels good to be on the winning team.
The left has its version of bullies. It is a fringe group. As party policy it was rejected when Democrats chose Biden. Biden's "soul of America" talk was about unity. The famous "woke mob" of social media scolds has toeholds of power in academic circles and advocacy groups, but it largely reflects those micro-climates, not the Democratic Party institutionally or its base of voters. The bullying left condemns words and ideas it considers disrespectful to marginalized people.The right's bullying consists of joyful disrespect to the marginalized.
Here is a brief clip from Fox News. Host Jesse Watters is talking with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They are celebrating. Those "illegals" just got dumped on Martha's Vineyard. The asylum-seekers are collateral damage, not the target. Watters says "This is where the Obamas have a home, Oprah, Beyonce, even James Taylor." Three now-wealthy Blacks and a folk singer. They are the target.
Watch:
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They are snickering. The trick's on those uppity people in their rich-person island. My point here is not that the treatment of the migrants was so terribly cruel--it isn't--nor that the effect on the residents of Martha's Vineyard was so terrible--they handled it easily. It is, instead, the snickering and one-upmanship itself, directed at those uppity achievers. Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce were top of mind.
I have shared in this blog disturbing photos of the crowds at lynchings. It was a community celebration. Look what we did! Families posed for the camera.
Serwer wrote about Trump in his Atlantic article:
It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united.
Watters and Pompeo are in on the joke. They are in the club. Not every Republican likes Trump and his bullying, nor do all Republicans join in the snickering or celebrate the cruelty. Some reject it and wish Trump would go away. More go along, including most candidates, who see what their voters enjoy. They stand in the crowd and cheer quietly. Or don't cheer, but stand in the crowd.
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11 comments:
The comparison between Republican governors sardonically transporting migrants to desired Blue state destinations (as opposed to Biden--nobly?--to Red states), and families getting morbid, voyeuristic kicks at public executions is no better than overheated, sanctimonious comparisons to Holocaust trains.
The sudden Democratic emotion and principle over the safety and dignity of migrants from our Southern border IS analogous to what the same Democrats often rightly perceive when pro-lifers intone indignantly on the "murder" of "babies", then lose humanitarian concern almost immediately upon birth.
Here, it's the inverse. Leftist outrage over safe migrant transport being used for GOP political purposes springs fully-formed from foreheads notably unfurrowed at untold thousands dying of thirst, drowning, or being shot, including children, at mass rape and human trafficking, under cartel terrorizing which includes family remaining behind, all because Biden and Democrats have heedlessly encouraged and abetted the constant danger from unchecked criminal bullies before arrival--if they're lucky--in the U.S.
It isn’t just a matter of “casual cruelty.” Right-wing extremists are responsible for 75% of the politically motivated murders in this country, compared to 20% by Islamic extremists and 4% by left-wing extremists. Trump is the catalyst and white nationalism is the fetid swamp breeding the anger and hatred that sustain him.
Yes, immigration has become a problem. That might have something to do with the fact that Congress hasn’t passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill since 1986.
For the record, those named folks (like the Obamas) have homes on Nantucket, which is nearby Martha's Vineyard but a different island. Nantucket, in fact, has a long tradition of Black (and wealthy) residents. But those commentators were so close, like "Get Smart."
Normalizing mistreatment of a specific group occurred in Nazi Germany. Marginalizing the mistreatment of Jewish people allowed a group of individuals the SS and the Brown Shirts to behave brutally. Society, in general, went along or at least kept quiet. Such evil, perpetrated by ranking members of the GOP is a flashing red alarm that our nation is in peril from the Right wing reactionary GOP.
Yeah, there are bullies on the left. There is a difference. They mostly punch up.
The few successful artists and other public figures who espouse Progressive values know they will be targets and can absorb the snark. Our Regressive friends are smart enough to see what is happening, know it's despicable and only are capable of whiny whataboutism to defend it.
There are wealthy suburbs in Florida, too. It's a much shorter bus ride.
It’s exactly the same thing as Hillary‘s “deplorables“ remark, or Obama’s remark about “bitter clingers.“ both sides do it. It’s human nature.
In this case, the Republicans used human props who were moderately inconvenienced by a detour to Martha’s Vineyard. No lasting harm was done to them.
"Inconveniencing some of the world's most desperate people to score political points with white supremacists is indeed mighty deplorable. Hopefully, lasting harm will be done to the careers of the perps.
I wonder how any of us would feel if we were in need, were given brochures offering cash and job placement in some city and then abandoned somewhere else entirely. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Republicans seem pretty smug about not being burdened by it. Too bad. The U.S. would be a better place if they were.
It is easy to confuse Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The Obamas have a house in Edgartown, which is one of six towns on Martha's Vineyard.
African-Americans have been vacationing on the Vineyard for a long time.
Google for more information.
Anyone interested in learning more about the island can visit the Martha's Vineyard Museum website or Facebook page
Mvmuseum.org
Mike seems to be starting in again with his passive-aggressive attacks by quoting from my posts and associating my words with “white supremacists.” If Peter doesn’t feel like controlling this nasty behavior of Mike’s, I am going to call it out and denounce it every time.
Mike would benefit this blog a lot more if he would choose to express his own thoughts instead of “subtly” (he thinks) casting shade on the remarks of other people.
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