David Akins at Political Animal recently posted a far more eloquent version of an argument I have been making for the past several years.
As I said two weeks ago, base Republican voters are not choosing a president. They’re choosing an rebel leader who will lead an insurgent war against what they view as an increasingly dominant liberal consensus aided and abetted by establishment Republicans.
Now, that seems like crazy talk to progressives who are pulling their hair out over government inaction in the face of existential crises like record wealth inequality, climate change and the reality of technological unemployment. But to the Republican base, the world seems to be spinning ever more off kilter: a black man was elected and re-elected to the Oval Office, a hated woman seems likely to follow him, gays can marry in the Deep South even as Confederate flags are coming down, the Middle East continues to be a problem no matter how many bombs we drop on it, the urbanization and secularization of America continues apace, and the country is only getting browner and more liberal with each and every passing day. And just like progressives, conservative blue-collar voters are keenly aware of the shrinking of the middle class—they just choose to scapegoat immigrants and “regulations,” rather than question their just-world-fallacy value system by actually looking at where all the money went.
For Republicans, this is an existential identity crisis and threat to their entire way of life. And they’re reacting in kind, by supporting the loudest, angriest, most belligerent voice in the room. Right now, that’s Donald Trump.
The Republican base isn’t looking for specific policy fixes. They’re looking for a cultural warrior and savior who will put the last 60 years of progress back in a bottle and give them their country back.
Exactly.
They want their country back from the rest of us–pushy women, uppity black and brown folks, out-of-closet gays, and smart-ass kids who don’t know our proper place. They want their country back from a bewildering and unfamiliar 21st Century.
Locally; our last bastion of Republican humanitarian leadership was Mayor William H. Hudnut, III. I was there beginning in 1972 under Mayor Richard Lugar, a better Senatorial representative of Indiana than he was Mayor of Indianapolis. Nepotism, cronyism, sexism, racism, political patronage, required loyalty oath to support and work for the Republican party was the way of life in the City-County Building and the State House.
I watched from my low-level position as support staff as Mayor Hudnut began the modernization of local government and begin hiring those best qualified to meet job requirements at all levels. Blacks, Hispanics, a few available Asians, Women, Gays and Democrats were hired. The required campaign work and enforced 2% donations every payday (in cash) were gone; those who supported Mayor Hudnut willingly and happily worked and donated to keep him in office for 16 years. Doesn’t that tell anyone in this city something about the basis of the Republican platform and the meaning of being an American?
I was also in the City-County Building when Goldsmith took the helm and began his destruction and selling/leasing off/giving away of all that Mayor Hudnut had accomplished to move Indianapolis forward. Working in local government beginning in 1992 was a frightening, insecure, paranoid, confusing situation. At that time the private sector still backed away from hiring former local government employees due to the, all too often true, earned reputation of being unreliable due to the known nepotism, cronyism, sexism, racism and political patronage that had been the norm until Mayor Hudnut transitioned that reputation. This was true regarding hundreds fired by Goldsmith and those still working for the City who were desperately seeking much needed employment to take care of families and maintain a decent living standard. The private sector was unaware of the internal changes in qualifications of those who worked in the Hudnut administration.
At the federal level; Democratic President Clinton brought the country up to a better living standard and left a surplus to be proud of. George W. Bush moved the country downward and into wars we are still fighting and still in debt for, frittered away the Clinton surplus and indebted America and all Americans which still plague all of us…except the 1%. Current Republicans (a questionable title at best) would move us back into the last century with no understanding that the working class was, is and always will be, the primary support of this country. They continue to undermine the foundation of America via their private ownership of most of Congress.
The election of President Obama brought most of this country to it’s collective feet; believing we were seeing salvation and making history never expected to be seen for decades – if ever in our lifetime. We must not lose sight of the racism that plagues current GOP leadership in all levels of government regarding his election. He has fought unbelievable odds to accomplish much that is overlooked or pushed aside as if it never happened. His primary mistake, and it was a doozy, was NOT allowing the lower income tax rate on the wealthy return to it’s previous level on the date set by Bush. President Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” bombed out on that issue and the effects are still keeping that 1% with it’s collective foot on all our necks.
The showmanship of “The Donald” has raised him to first place in the ever-increasing list of Republican presidential candidate wannabes. He has denigrated too many entire groups of Americans to list here and sworn to start his own third political party if Republicans “aren’t nice to him”. How has this country sunk to this level when a three-time divorced, often bankrupted racist and bigot could buy the presidency with his questionable level and source of assets? And he isn’t an old man but he is definitely one pissed off middle-aged fool who seems to be supported by those angry old men still in control.
What a well written and insightful
Commentary
Born June 14, 1946, Mr. Trump will turn 70 before the general election (as a point of reference President Ronald Reagan turned 70 after he took the oath of office).
In response to point of G. Moore: In the case of The Donald, 70 is the new 3, complete with name-calling, tantrum-throwing, and where all discussions are about “me-me-me”.
Our dilema is HOW do we solve our very real problems in this crazy envirnment? Can we raise the cap on Social Security in time to avoid a crisis? Can we do something about climate issues? Energy issues? Social Issues? Or are we just going to keep fighting with the crazy people?
“They want their country back from the rest of us–pushy women, ”
So don’t be pushy. Act like a lady. Men don’t get to be pushy. If a man acted like women get to act, he’d get beaten up. Women enjoy a double standard. When women are treated like men, they cry and are given different treatment.
Just be nice, sweet, pleasant women.
“uppity black and brown folks,”
More racism and anti-Christian hate from “Dr.” Kennedy.
You’re nuts. You don’t put any work into these hate pieces, and you just spew your uninformed screed. Republicans have many black leaders, and the favorite guest host of Rush’s show is a brilliant black economist. Governor Jindal isn’t exactly Swedish. If Ben Carson becomes the party’s nominee, every Republican will vote for him.
“out-of-closet gays, and ”
Well, being openly homosexual isn’t good for the country, society or the homosexual. Many Republicans pray the homosexuals get the help they need to live normal lives. Republicans really resent when the liberals try to equate race and homosexuality. There’s no gene that forces you to talk or dress that way.
“smart-ass kids who don’t know our proper place. ”
You’re a “kid?” The complaint about Millennials is that they are dumb, uneducated, filled with all sorts of liberal nonsense, won’t work, expect constant rewards, don’t know how to do anything except sit at a desk and play with Facebook. The deep faults in the Millennials are the result of decades of liberal education majors destroying the schools. School choice lets parents get their children out from under these destructive forces and let our kids be strong again.
“They want their country back from a bewildering and unfamiliar 21st Century.”
The 21st Century is very familiar across almost all of the world, except for a very few small liberal enclaves in large urban centers. The total land mass of all the hard-liberal places probably doesn’t exceed the size of Connecticut. I go all over Indiana. I never see a “Pence Must Go” sign outside of a few blocks in Indianapolis.
Why was this entitled Angry Old White Guys? Nothing is said about those guys in the quote provided. As an AOWG (angry old white guy) I resent being slandered in this way. Headline writing is an art form, even on blogs.
Whoa!!! You can always tell when Sheila hits a home run. The right wingers see themselves and start crying wolf! “The angry old white men doth protest too much, methinks.”
I’ve posted before what I believe to be the source of all of this cultural upheaval. Most of us, and the older the more likely, are educationally ill equipped for these times.
Collectively we know several times more stuff than when I was born. Nobody has kept up.
Oh certainly some have in narrow fields but we are all profoundly ignorant compared to all of us. I posted a while ago that pundits believe that we are within sight of knowledge doubling twice each day.
We need a true education revolution and we can’t even imagine how to do it.
So we thrash around mostly on the opinions of others offered to us in exchange for our souls and wallets.
No cure in sight. We either find one or live in the slavery of ignorance.
Dear, simple, Goper Pyle–just proved everything Sheila said. And as far as pushy men getting theirs? You’re still running your mouth, so obviously that doesn’t work.
Girl Cous …
No; Men don’t get to be pushy, they get to be “Arrogantly Pushy”
They strut around like a certain part of their anatomy is 18″ long.
When in reality, we all viewed the front page of time magazine
and were able to calculate a certain politicians exact magnitude.
I’m an angry old white anglo saxon protestant, my anger is in
relation to the half-wits that call themselves responsible republicans.
In conclusion …
I’ll belong dead before this nation changes its attitude its citizens.
The likes of Trump will forge ahead and the intellectually challenged
will continue to vote them into public office, since they know no better.
Gopper, if women hadn’t been pushy, we’d still be in the kitchen, barefoot, pregnant and unable to vote. Men have always been pushy; have you been living in a cave? As for calling Dr. Kennedy “nuts” and spewing “uninformed screed,” I’d be willing to bet she has more education in her little finger than you have in your whole body. I don’t know why I bother to argue with you. You’re exactly what she’s talking about–an angry old white guy who’s scared to death of losing your power and “your” country.
I’ve found that angry old men and angry old women alike, including present company, simply are searching for the lost audience where they can play a few old interactional games including, “Ain’t It Awful” and “Now I’ve Got You, You Son of a Bitch”.
Our growing old is not a choice, but we don’t have to be angry.
Gopper wants us to know that he’s right because he needs to be. In fact is entitled to be.
Based on his research paying close attention to Fox News and conservative blogs and websites there are only a few of us who have evidence of his fallacious delusions.
Perhaps someday he will be able to offer some evidence to support what he wishes to be true. Or at least an example where those who practice what he’s been taught have achieved something by it.
In the meantime we have nothing but his word of his superiority.
I wish, so badly, that god existed. Some people genuinely deserve to be judged for their effects on the world. Yeah, I’m talking to you, Gopper. Pathetic.
(In the meantime we have nothing but his word of his superiority.)
Very nice, I like the above quote.
or as we English would say …
One should always “Establish, the Bona Fides of one’s own Credentials”
Gopper finally ‘got my goat’ with so many outrageous statements. Since when is “being openly homosexual” not “good for the country, society or the homosexual”?
“Many Republicans pray the homosexuals get the help they need to live normal lives.” I have a number of homosexual friends and acquaintances who are at least as spiritual, church-going, upwardly mobile, charitable, and well-dressed “normal” as Gopper could want. Two of these friends are outspoken Republicans. Does that mean they aren’t “normal”?
“Republicans really resent when the liberals try to equate race and homosexuality. There’s no gene that forces you to talk or dress that way.” Thankfully many Republicans harbor no such resentment. However, if Gopper doesn’t think we were born as homosexuals or heterosexuals (or bi-sexuals), just when did Gopper decide to become a heterosexual (or male, or brown or blue eyed)? By the way, I know any number of heterosexuals whose “talk and dress” (behavior too) would be upgraded considerably if they talked and dressed (and acted) as well as any number of my homosexual acquaintances.
We are all God’s creations – brothers and sisters in the human race. God’s commandment is to love God and love each other. I hope heterosexuals will come to a time when they can love our homosexual brothers and sisters as much as our heterosexual human family, as God commanded us.
“Gopper, if women hadn’t been pushy, we’d still be in the kitchen, barefoot, pregnant and unable to vote.”
So? Really, so what? Women were happier, families were stronger, the work force was smarter, better and less emotional, unemployment was lower, and the country was better off.
Women only were shoved into the workforce so the bankers who own the New York branch of the Federal Reserve could get interest payments from both genders.
Do you people know how banking works? Do you know what the Treasury uses to pay the interest on the money it borrows from the Federal Reserve? Income taxes.
The Women’s Lib movement was a scam that has hurt women horribly. Since both genders have entered the workforce, rents and housing have skyrocketed, taxes have increased, and the standard of living has plummeted. Two people now work harder for less than one person used to make.
Gopper (Sigh)
OMG. “Women were happier.” How the hell do you know? So all our modern problems can be laid at the doorstep of women going to work. You have lost all credibility. I’m done. I wish you were.
Gopper; it appears you have finally gone over the edge but have failed at trying to drag us with you. I am an angry old white woman who finds you pathetic, at times offensive but always, always unbelievably uninformed. In 1974, my black father-in-law bestowed on me the title of “honorary nigger”; I still wear it proudly. Because I am friends with lesbians in my neighborhood, many believe I am an “old fag”; another title I wear proudly. Both proclaim my acceptance of people for who they are as individuals rather than grouping them into tight little spaces and daring them to try to come out. Today’s GOP, comprised by those angry old white men Sheila referred to are trying desperately to move us back to those “thrilling days of yesteryear” when “white was right” and women stayed in the kitchen barefoot, pregnant and unable to vote as Joy stated, but we ain’t goin’.
For many years I had to do my own home maintenance and repairs, all yard work, paint inside and outside of my home while raising five children due to a lazy, uninterested husband. It didn’t take away from my femininity but sure made him less of a man. I lasted 17 years till I realized I din’t have to remain in the state of being chattel. Being single and self-supporting is not “feminism” it is often a necessary reality today and has been for a number of years across this country. We are not trying to emasculate men by working and expecting the same salary for the same job; we are merely trying to survive and provide for families in today’s precarious economic situation. Much of the problems today were created and perpetuated by angry old white men.
So rant on, Gopper, insult us all you want; you often provide many of us the biggest laugh of our day. Laughter is needed today, more than ever so your idiotic comments often fill a need that would otherwise go unmet.
“So all our modern problems can be laid at the doorstep of women going to work.”
Suffrage was also a blow. We now have women choosing candidates based on appearance and emotion, and we have denigrated the Office of the Presidency to such a low state that Presidents appear on the “Ellen” show and dance with a lesbian.
The Age of the Ugly Woman also gave us the temperance movement which erupted in the mafia and gangland warfare.
The Age of the Shrill Woman has given us weak, confused, emasculated kids.
““Women were happier.” How the hell do you know?”
Maybe not you, then. I doubt you can be. Lots of purposeless women look for a stack of bibles to scream from in absence of having something joyful in their lives. Oops, I dated myself. We’re not in 1922, anymore. I suppose you’d make do with “Our Bodies, Ourselves” or “Silent Spring.”
JoAnn, a tip. I really try to read what you have to say, but you inevitably abandon the venom of your topic sentence, leave it unsupported, and ramble off into some anecdote about your life. As I don’t find your life interesting or relevant to any argument, I tune out.
There’s an art to writing and a more difficult art to an argument. if you want to tell me I’m off base, talking about how your zucchini patch came in during the “Partridge Family” days isn’t a compelling argument.
Gopper just wants to party like its 1799. Deep down he probably has no problem with slavery, either. Please tell us about those founders times, and how everyone got along much better then, won’t you?
I’m sorry, Gopper, for whatever happened to you to make you see the world as you do.
Gopper is the Most Valid Reason Ever – to justify post birth abortion!
No need to speak regarding the meaning of the word, “liberal.” It is a wonderful word and those of you who read Kennedy’s post know that. However, conservatives are not prone to hear the clearly good stuff. They simply think or say, “liberal,” and walk away into oblivion. What often goes with liberal in the English language is “intellectual.” If you are a liberal intellectual you are not going to find approval in the lounge at the Big corp.! These two mighty words go together and conservatives can’t stand them. Why not? Because conservative help guide conservatives into the real of being shamed and foolishized. No wander they don’t want to listen to liberal intellectuals.
As to the Gopper …
A pink eyed, Girl Scout lesbian, that grew up, had an abortion and then became a women’s libber …
Probably stole his bike when he was a kid
I am throwing the BS flag on everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that Reppog (“Gopper” backward because he is!) had to say today and all those other days.
C’mon, if we’re expecting to increase civic engagement, it’s unlikely that bickering between angry old men and angry old women will make much headway with the younger generation being drawn to the civic conversation. Honey always draws more flies than vinegar.
Sheila, it’s time to gather your antagonists together so we can hear them arguing live. I would love to hear Pete and Gopper debate. I’d like to know who they are and what makes them tick.
@OMG, seriously, a debate between Pete and Gopper would amount to about as much relevance as a person passing wind during a hurricane. I suspect both Pete and Gopper enjoy speaking simply to hear their individual head’s rattle.
@BSH could I be that mistaken? Pete and Gopper, in my view, would make interesting debaters. Your analysis of gopperfarting is pretty accurate but I read Pete’s non-polluting entries with great interest.