The world is shifting to the right—or what’s called the right
Since this is from Vox, take it with a grain of salt and ignore the message about the “xenophobia” of the right. It nevertheless says something I’ve noticed, which is that candidates of the so-called “right” or even so-called “far right” are gaining support all over Europe. The rise of Donald Trump (who I happen to think is more on the left than the right, except for his anti-illegal-immigrant position) is part of this movement—just as there was a movement to a very different and actual conservatism in the 80s with Reagan and Thatcher in charge, or for that matter to fascism during the 1930s.
Movements that transcend a single nation usually occur because the same or at least similar forces are working on all the countries involved. In this case we don’t have to look at all far for the answer: the dreadful record of so many Western and especially Western European countries in recognizing the cultural and demographic threat that too much immigration (illegal or even at times legal) can pose, and the unwillingness of recent leaders to defend or even listen to those who are alarmed by it.
Instead, those people crying out against illegal immigration and for the defense of their own borders and cultural traditions have been demonized. So they have become angry both at the authorities’ policies and at the nature of the criticism those authorities and the MSM have directed their way.
Here’s what Vox says about the situation in Europe:
Far-right parties like AfD are growing throughout Europe.
Der Spiegel has a nice map on this, showing the countries where far-right parties have a presence in parliament (yellow dots) or are actually part of the government (red dots). It turns out the xenophobic far right has surged in countries as diverse as Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, and Hungary:
These parties have, in most cases, ridden the European refugee and migrant crisis to power. While Europeans have for some time been skeptical of migration, the huge surge in migrants last year has dramatically inflamed these sentiments ”” leading to a rise in the far right’s poll numbers. Italy’s Northern League, for example, is polling at four times what it was in 2013.
I predict that if those in charge remain largely unresponsive, this movement will grow and become more angry and more willing and even eager to use violence and/or tyranny to get its way.
[NOTE: I’m not for Trump at all, but that’s not because I disagree with most of his immigration stance. In fact, I agree with most of it and I have from the start (and long before Trump), and I think the candidate I prefer (Cruz) agrees with the gist of it too.]
It’s like all Europe (I couldn’t even cross it if I tried mein Herr) is doing an impression of Weimar Germany. What was it Bette Davis said on a different matter — hold on… its going to be a bumpy ride.
For obvious reasons, post-World War II Germany has had something of a taboo on far-right extremist parties. ??????
But the Nazis were socialists which are considered left wing. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Mao were all socialists, not far right extremists. The blood bath of the past century was all caused by socialists.
and I think the candidate I prefer (Cruz) agrees with the gist of it too…
which is why he wanted to increase the h1b visa program by over 500%… cause bringing more people into the country is the way to solve the problem of bringing in more people to the country… he only changed this position as he saw that trump would trump him
[and trump is not racist or xenophobic, he fought to stop palm beach from preventing jews and blacks from staying at the resorts there… they HATE him for that… ]
Ted Cruz’s ‘Flat Out Lie’ on Immigration
The Texas senator insists he’s never favored a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, but many of his old colleagues say that’s not true
“I’ve never supported legalization, I do not intend to support it.” – Cruz answering Rubio at December debate
“It’s just a flat out lie. Period,” said Robert De Posada. “There’s just no truth behind it.” “My criticism is that Cruz can say, ‘Things have changed and I’ve changed my position.’ But don’t sit here and flat out lie that you have never been for legalization when the facts are very clear.”
in Cruz’s past work for Bush and later as a board member of the Washington-based Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute, Cruz helped craft policies to allow undocumented immigrants to stay in the country and pursue legal status
When Charles Foster, a prominent Houston immigration lawyer, was tapped to draft Bush’s plan, he said he was told the campaign had a team of bright young lawyers to work with him. “One of them, named Ted Cruz, had in his bailiwick of issues immigration and he would be my contact with the campaign,” Foster said.
While Cruz was a member of the board and its policy committee HAPI strongly advocated for a path to legalization, including President Bush’s principles for immigration reform, as well as the 2006 McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.
“It’s just bullshit,” said a former member of the HAPI when asked about Cruz’s contention that he never supported legalization. “That’s what pisses us all off. Don’t throw us under the bus for legalization and not take on the nativists and the crazies when you wrote the language. Stand for something.”
The Dewhurst campaign accused Cruz of “leading two organizations that support amnesty,” a position that neither HAPI nor the other group ever supported. But members of HAPI’s board insist that legalization for undocumented immigrants was always unequivocally a part of its platform
The cynical and self-seeking masses voted for “social democracy” and compassion (for themselves of course) over the neutral rule of law and the protection of economic liberty and property for all.
These masses – represented by the Democrats now invading the Republican Party in order to vote for Trump – just never expected that once they handed the elites power sufficient to enable the state to make them up a cushy social democracy bed irrespective of their personal deserts , that these same elites would then turn them out of it once they perceived that they could use the same powers granted them in order to import a replacement population even more in keeping with their classes’ ultimate aims and sensibilities.
“We thought you were sincere” they whine. “We trusted you. It felt so good and righteous to vote for Obama. You are not grateful! You took our country from us. You are calling me a buggy whip? Wahhhh.”
No. They gave their country away, and didn’t wake up until there had been a generation of economic stagnation, a quarter of prime working age men were out of the workforce, and their demise was being openly celebrated on the internet by those who claimed the inheritance. As in: “Thank you for nothing formerly privileged one. Please drop dead, but be sure to leave the keys to the front door on your way out.”
Leftists and their crybaby enablers.
You can’t shake either of these groups of sons-of-bitches. They cling like tar babies to whatever and whomever they manage to touch.
Before he was a candidate for public office, Ted Cruz strongly supported policies to reform our immigration system, which included support for a path to citizenship for immigrants that were in the country illegally.
Every Latino leader who worked closely with the Bush Administration in crafting a policy to promote comprehensive immigration reform will recall that Mr. Cruz was a prominent member of the Board of Advisors of the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute (HAPI). Mr. Cruz and HAPI were very supportive of the President’s proposal. And we all knew that Cruz was instrumental in helping the HAPI craft its policy and strategy on immigration reform.
President Bush’s proposal, strongly supported by the Washington GOP establishment, would include a path to legality or earned legalization for illegal immigrants, and included fines, waiting periods, proof of English language proficiency, criminal background checks and other criteria. This in essence was a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Artfldgr:
That was a long time ago. When Cruz ran for office in Texas, he stated his views unequivocally, and has worked hard to stop illegal immigration ever since.
I have fully documented these things on this blog many times, and don’t want to waste time doing it again.
Nor do I have time to go over the “poison pill” controversy, which has been well-aired in the blogosphere and the debates. Take a look. I don’t expect to convince you, but the information is all out there.
See this and this, this. And this is his position on H-1B visas.
The senator from Texas and Republican presidential candidate, who rose to national prominence because of his hard-line stands on everything from Obamacare to immigration, is under fire for his past support of the controversial H-1B visa program.
Cruz has backed quintupling the number of visas in the program, which encourages legal immigration for highly skilled foreign workers. But it’s a position that’s causing headaches for him as the campaign develops.
“You’ve got Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and even Ted Cruz, to my disappointment, who want to do everything from double to triple to quintuple — in Ted Cruz’s case — the number of H-1B visas that are available to these largely offshore outsourcing companies from India,”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The U.S. currently allows only 65,000 workers who specialize in science or technology to immigrate legally each year. (An additional 20,000 are allowed under an exemption for those holding advanced degrees earned in the United States.)
this is not quite true..
as there are categories where the numbers are not counted and there are no limits. like where i work where they wanted to get h1b visas personell in and pay them more than what the people here make. some of us not having a raise or cost of living increase for over a decade.
The fix is in: Proof that H-1B visa abuse is rampant
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3004501/h1b/proof-that-h-1b-visa-abuse-is-rampant-in-tech.html
[edited for length by n-n]
Artfldgr:
That was a long time ago. When Cruz ran for office in Texas, he stated his views unequivocally, and has worked hard to stop illegal immigration ever since.
then why did you bring up vera coking for trump which was even FARTHER back in time to 1993? not to mention a bunch of other things that are also double standards in expiration of time.
given this stuff, my family has been exterminated as we wanted a baby, and due to this no raises, no promotions, and no chance of a home, retirement or family
after 35 years i make less than i did 15 years ago
might as well just slit my throat and die as there is no chance at any common thing in life for me or my wife thanks to below.
Cap Exempt H1B Visa Program – No Quota, all year round Filing
Cap-exempt H1Bs are unlimited in number and can be applied for all year round. This is a way that Thousands of people continue to find H1B Jobs and can apply for, obtain their H1B visa and start work in the USA at any time of year.
Un-like the Regular and ADE H1B visa quotas:
» cap-exempt has No annual numerical limit
» cap-exempt has No set filing dates
» cap-exempt has No set employment start dates
http://www.h1base.com/visa/work/july%202008%20cap%20exempt%20h1b%20visas%20jobs%20and%20sponsorship/ref/1195/
Artfldgr:
Cruz has stated his present stance on H-1B visas and why he previously supported them and why he changed his mind. I gave the link in my previous comment to you. One of the reasons he gave for his lack of support now is the fact that the program has been abused.
Trump, on the other hand, seems to support them now, by the way—at least, by his statements during a debate. I wrote about it before here.
artfldgr apparently does not differentiate between legal and illegal immigration. Many people have advocated, or in some cases, like Trump, taken advantage of the system for various reasons. As long as immigration is within the laws, it can be controlled when necessary to serve the national interest. Two separate issues and subjects for discussion.
Interesting, but probably not surprising, that Europeans who simply wish to protect their very culture from being overwhelmed by an alien, and hostile, horde are painted as right wing.
Harvard Economist: Immigration Costs US Workers $500 Billion A Year
Immigration effectively redistributes half a trillion dollars from U.S. workers to the businesses that hire immigrants each year, Harvard economist and immigration and wages expert George Borjas testified before Congress Wednesday.
Based on a supply and demand model, Borjas found an increased supply of immigrants competing in the U.S. job market does produce a net gain for current U.S. workers of about $50 billion a year. But that small gain in the context of an $18 trillion economy is far outweighed by a transfer of wealth from U.S. workers to the businesses that hire those immigrants that amounts to $500 billion dollars.
“What immigration really does is not so much increase the pie, as redistribute the wealth,” Borjas testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest. “So what I’ve learned from all this is that immigration happens to come out to be just another government redistribution program.”
The growing membership of Europe’s “far right” parties has much more to do with Sweden’s rape gangs, Rotherdam and the sexual assaults that on New Years Eve took place, not only in Cologne but in every major European city… than as a result of the European leadership’s demonization of anyone willing to speak the truth. The demonization merely adds fuel to the fire.
Europe’s governments and media’s suppression of the truth cannot fully prevent Europeans from sensing that there is a predator lose. Even when sheep cannot smell the wolf, they know when it is feeding among them.
The U.S. admits about one million new legal permanent residents every year who are eligible to compete for any job in the U.S. economy, as well as about 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers, 700,000 guest workers and students often eligible to compete for jobs during and in the years after their schooling.
if i became a janitor, i could have made 60,000 more and be retired now.. but all this stuff, and gender stuff, and race stuff has exterminated my family and has me contemplating suicide
there is nothing i can do after the abuse and other things, and if i dont die, there wont be enough for my wife. i have tried to work with my job, but they admit they made a mistake, and i should have gotten my raises, and i should ahve gotten the cola (cost of living adjustment) and so on, but cant imagine how i missed it, and now after 10 years at a level that restarted my career from consultant expert to entry level, death looks good.
and i am not the only one.
we have had two such this year
headlines
Suicide rates are highest for men in their 50s
Men Over 50: An Endangered Species
White, MidSuicides almost double among 50-somethingsdle-Age Suicide In America Skyrockets
i will never retire, and will be homeless soon
i will never have children with my wife
i will never own a home
right now, my wife and i spend most of our time either working (me in IT and this crap) or her cleaning toilets on her knees cause she is from indonesia…
when we dont work, we just sit on the couch waiting to die as we cant do anything. we just emptied our savings trying to do something to change our circumstances but we cant, this dilution is killing
and i dont trust someone who wanted a 500% increase and says “i dont intend” as their statement of not doing it.
i wish some jerk slashes my throat on the way home
then maybe my wife may have a decent life
as of now, this has cost me my family, my friends, my future, and my wife is going with arguments
you have no idea how many people like me are not willing to put up with a harvard grad who changes his position to get a place and then can change it back
do me a favor people
pray that someone ends this for me as i cant do that to myself, i would greatly appreciate such prayers
and to all those that dont like my posts
pray harder for that. then you can be happy
im done…
I can’t take seriously any analysis that includes the UKIP as “far right”.
The thing about Cruz and the H-1B visa program, though, is that it’s pretty obvious that he changed his tune only when it became politically expedient to do so. As recently as last July in an interview on the Laura Ingraham Show, he was a full-throated supporter of the program :
It was only in November, after getting into a tussle over immigration with Rubio in a debate, that he proposed a 180-day moratorium on the program.
The European Right is probably quite hard to analyse from the US, since you’re always going to be doing it through a rather left wing media which dislikes it all. UKIP and AfD are fairly harmless (if occasionally a bit populist). The Front Nationale less so. Orban is fairly sinister, though not always wrong. Then you have the batshit crazies like Golden Dawn in Greece…
IMO, what we are seeing is the rise of nationalism at the expense of internationalism. Nationalism, meaning love of country, is normal and desirable. Internationalism means for one thing, communism, or at least provisions for the structures into which communism can easily fit. It means an attempt to govern globally
There comes a point where the size of a state is an impediment to being able to govern well. This has certainly happened with the EU and it is a danger in the U.S. But the U.S. is different. Our federal system makes it very difficult to consolidate power. We can thank the genius of the founders for this.
The U.S. is not united. It is fractured. We need to unite. As a people our greatest strength is when we are united. This is where I believe Trump intends to take us. First comes the unity. Then comes the specific policies. I believe Trump understands it is the people who are meant to lead this nation. Our political leaders can provide us with the direction but only when we are united.
The thing that makes us different from other nations is that we, the people, are sovereign. This is nowhere said better than in the preamble to the Constitution:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Many consider us a post-constitutional republic. Not a good thing. However, the founders left us with an amazing document. It will take unity and leadership to get back to it. I hope we are taking the first steps of a turnaround.
I’ll leave you with one question. Who loves their country more? DJT or HRC?
Ann, I don’t know why we are even discussing Cruz’s stance on the H-1B. Who do we compare his stance to? Trump, who has gamed the immigration system, if not violate the law, to import cheap labor for his projects? Hillary?
As I said, there are two separate issues. Legal vs illegal immigration. Although aspects of each are worthy of review; one is much more serious than the other. In either case, the best a President can do is enforce the laws; and I for one do not want any President creating his own laws. The fact that existing laws have not been enforced is the basis for the problems that Trump is trying to exploit. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that Cruz will not enforce the law. On the other hand, Trump repeatedly suggests that he will govern above the laws that he doesn’t like; if only we knew all of those that he doesn’t like.
It is strange how people who support Trump–and I am not identifying anyone here–persist in ignoring his own statements. It is as if everyone believes, like Ben Carson, that there is a hidden Trump, and the public one is inconsequential. Like a cardboard cutout.
Oldflyer, my take is that Trump had to be his present public persona in order to mobilize and develop support. The private Donald may be quite different. I rather doubt he is going to surround himself with slop-bucket advisors. That he offered Carson an advisory role of some sort in exchange for support is a bit of a clue.
Ann at 5:09 pm,
There’s another issue besides neo’s valid response.
That quote doesn’t make sense, it directly contradicts itself.
First; “every year US colleges and universities educate tens of thousands of foreign students who are getting masters and PhDs in engineering and math and computer science, and we’re sending them back to their countries. … they’re starting businesses there. They’re creating jobs there, and their companies are competing with us and taking jobs away from us.”
Then that quote has Cruz suggesting that increasing in the number of HB-1 visas will result in less(!) jobs leaving… ???
“the data shows for every H-1B visa holder that comes in, he or she creates 1.7 jobs for Americans here”
Cruz is far too cagey to make such an egregious error.
Correction: I wrongly attributed to neo, Oldflyer’s response.
Geoffrey Britain:
The audio for that Laura Ingraham show is here. Start listening around the 10:00 point, and you’ll see that’s what Cruz said.
Right now, I think the increased support for the AfD in Germany is a direct result of the flood of refugees. The party itsef started with ideas about more economic power and more automy for Germany. Some of these people have left the party because of the right populist road it has been taking, including some neo-Nazi sympathants. Now I’m reading that some of the AfD youth groups are advocating greater cooperation with Russia and turning away from the US.
To me, the party does seem to feed now on the refugee issue, but when the splits become obvious, I think support will diminish.
There you go Frog; just as I postulated. You don’t think the Trump on very public display for the past several months is the real Trump. So, which Trump would you vote for; the one who goes out and demands your vote, while making ridiculous, and sometimes dishonest statements, in between insulting anyone who opposes or disagrees with him? Or are you voting for some other shadow Trump who you hope is buried within the public Trump’s persona?
I am sorry, but the disconnect is simply enormous. But it comes in all forms. A woman acquaintance said she, and several friends, voted for Trump in Florida because Mitt had spoken ill of him. I used to think she was an intelligent woman.She sure told Mitt a thing or two. It is shaping up like 2008 and 2012 all over again; people do not value their vote, and the country suffers.
Ann,
Now that Rubio’s ship has run aground the rocky shore, you seem to have jumped to the anyone but Cruz bandwagon. What I can not understand is why a Rubio supporter wants to fling feces at Cruz who has more in common with Rubio than Trump. Have you gone to the dark side Ann and become a trumpian? Spite? Sour grapes?
Had the situation been different, and Rubio remained in the race, and Cruz departed, I would now be supporting Rubio as the best remaining choice. But, hey, that is just me.
parker:
I find it very weird that you cannot bear to hear anything even slightly negative about Cruz; not some made-up “feces”, but the truth.
And no way I’d ever vote for Trump.
Oldflyer,
If Trump on public display for 30+ years does not smell like BS, the donald on display for 8 or 9 months must smell like the finest perfume to the trumpians. There is no there there. Logic and proportion flew out their windows. And never forget, its YUGE!!!
Ann,
I can hear all about Cruz, the positive and the negative. I have looked at Cruz from all sides once I decided Fiorina could not gain traction. Apparently, you can not do the same when it comes to Rubio. Again, were our situations reversed, I would be supporting Rubio, not flinging feces at him and humping ammo for the trumpians/msm. Yes, Cruz has not walked the conservative tightrope (as I would define it) 100%. But 90% is good enough for me.
This is a tangent suggested within your title:
The left has always been good at subverting language to its own ends, primarily to disguise their agenda. In this instance, anything associated with the narrative of hatred must be attached to the right, while anything representing benevolence must be attached to the left. In reality, left and right are the opposite ends of a scale with the extreme left end of the scale representing total government control, and the extreme right end representing no government, or anarchy. Even though hatred or benevolence can exist anywhere on that spectrum, progressives having the desire to progress all the way to the left end of the scale into absolute control, must denounce anyone who aspires to limited government, and freedom of the individual, as evil. The sweet spot is much closer to the right, than the left, at the point where there is just enough government to maintain civil society and protect the rights of the citizens.
Oh, Ann,
Rubio walked the conservative tightrope (by my definition) 70% which would also make him legions higher than Trump at -50. Yet you still trash Cruz. You feed the Trumpian hordes and garner votes for hrc. That may not be your intention, but intentions have unintended consequences.
Bob, your take on the right-left paradigm is the one I argue, though I have observed on international forums, there appears to be such an inherent assumption of statism that they see it as collectivist/international statism (left) vs. nationalistic or religious statism (right).
It sheds some light on the Euro mindset and also explains the persistent idea that Hitler was right-wing.
That meme comes STRAIGHT from Moscow — the First Directorate of the KGB.
This is the same crowd that couldn’t even declare the Nazis as National Socialists — and morphed them into Fascists — a term of propaganda that no other propaganda organ ever used.
True Fascism is el Duce’s movement. No-one other ever adopted the term.
NO-ONE ever referred to the Nazis as Right-Wing until AFTER the war.
You just can’t find it in print.
&&&&&
Time and time, again, the KGB has crafted the political dimensions of the Western political matrix — and we’ve swallowed it WHOLE.
I was having a little trouble getting through yesterday, but this thought occurred to me. Everyone hates Obama for drawing a red line in the sand and then failing to follow up. Trump is a master at throwing out red lines, be they Mexico and the wall, Muslim immigrants, or intervention in Syria. I hope the Trumpsters realize that if Trump wins, we will have to add a special budget item for erasers to handle all of Trump’s walk backs. And our enemies will see every one as a sign of our weakness. See OBL, Saddam, etc. Trump thinks everyone in the world is motivated primarily by money. He is a moron.
blert,
I suspect that Russia is also feeding the AfD movement in East Germany, and I’ve read that the youth group in Baden Wéœrttemburg is also pro-Putin. I can’t believe there isn’t some money flowing.
In the recent Slovak elections, not one but two different nationalist parties were able to get into parliament, tho my own supported too-moderate Christian Democrats failed (4.94% < 5% min). The older Slovak Nationalists, previously haters of the large minority Hungarians (~10%?) and also Roma/ Gypsies (~5%; many Roma identify as Hungarian, tho), the SNS are now part of a new gov't coalition.
The People's Party (LS) is more openly fascist and more strongly anti-Roma and anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant; but also anti-EU and anti-corruption. Plus anti-PC, anti-LGBT gender ideology, and even anti-abortion.
So many things to be against, many of them having good reasons to be against them. Not even the SNS want to be in coalition with LS right now.
The anti-LGBT & anti-abortion anger are almost censured, but lots of normal folk are angry at elitist moralizers ruling from on high, in a fairly undemocratic process, requiring teaching 6 year olds about the acceptable normalness of two woman or two man couples raising children, and how normal homo-sex is.
Art…
Parse this spew.
“The Dewhurst campaign accused Cruz of “leading two organizations that support amnesty,” a position that neither HAPI nor the other group ever supported. But members of HAPI’s board insist that legalization for undocumented immigrants was always unequivocally a part of its platform.”
For it is gibberish, as written.
Xenophoby is perfectly normal and universal human condition, and no ideological indoctrination (as shown by the example of failed Christian universalism after centuries of indoctrination) will ever change this fact. Everybody feels more safe and comfortable among his own tribesmen than among strangers. That is why all utopian projects like EU, League of Nation or UN are doomed, just as their paradigm – Tower of Babel.
It is very enlightening that people who don’t want to be raped, shot, or blown up, or who want their country to be ruled by their own elected government are considered far-right in Europe. But we are getting to the same point here in the US, where Justice Scalia is considered far-right by the elite because he believed that the people should make legislation, not “nine unelected lawyers in black robes.”
Back to the Trump situation — over and over at the beginning of the campaign, I quoted Bill Buckley , “Pick the most conservative ELECTABLE candidate.” Over and over again I pointed out “Winning isn’t everything, winning is the ONLY thing.” Over and over again I told people about what happened in 1964 when we tried to elect a “True Conservative.”
But, my words, Cassandra-like, fell on deaf ears, and so we end up with Trump, a complete asshole, and Cruz, who is another Goldwater.
Well, as Dick Cheney said, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you would like to have.”
As it stands now, the election will come down to a choice between someone who will occasionally do the right thing, even if only for his own ego’s sake or by accident, and who is pro-American, vs. someone who will, by conscious design, never do the right thing, and who is profoundly dedicated to destroying the United States as we know it.
If Jack Kennedy, Scoop Jackson, Sam Nunn, or Joe Lieberman were running against Trump, I would seriously consider voting for them. But Hillary Clinton (and a stay-home or third party vote is a vote for Hillary)? Never, never, never!
Richard Saunders:
Most anti-Trump people believe that Trump is neither “electable” NOR conservative.
In supporting Cruz they are going by the Buckley rule in terms of their evaluation of both Trump’s political positions and his chances of winning.
Richard Saunders:
You seem to have skipped Ronald Regan when discussing elections and conservatives. Why so?
OM:
Maybe cuz Ronnie was bad for the tax lawyering biz as well as many other non-productive government created schemes that churn the hard earned dollars in the accounts of those who are productive.
Shifting right? Mainly because a) the left is lying to us, and b) the left refuses to discuss what the populace is concerned about, and c) the left calls them names for wanting to discuss what they are concerned about. Trifecta!
Diana West on the language of violence as used by the Trump haters against the object of their affections, the so-called Trumpsters:
The Post-Constitutiomal Election, Pt. 13: The Language of Violence
Marten Gantelius first caught my attention with the following comment posted at Gates of Vienna during the early days of the merican Betrayal wars:
[Screen Shot]
Such an assessment sounds shocking; but, I will add, it is one I have heard in hardly dissimilar terms and separately from experienced intelligence professionals, who, having studied the “disinformation campaign” against American Betrayal, have explained it to me as an effort to destroy my work and “kill” me — my reputation as a reputable author — for the future.
Marten Gantelius would later apply his tools to offer a “linguistic perspective” on a subsequent three-part series about American Betrayal, which he published here at J.R. Nyquist. (If you read it, be sure and click on the links so that you can see his underlined worksheets, illustrating his technique.)
But this post is not about all of that — except insofar as the “language of violence” and its use in the destruction of a person or persons is relevant to understanding the unceasing public campaign not usually against the policies of Donald Trump (just as the attacks on American Betrayal were not against its actual contents), but rather mainly against his person and his supporters.
Almost as a lark, I began some weeks ago to collect the jaw-dropping and dehumanizing abuse heaped on Trump and Trump voters from the right side of the political spectrum. I am talking about the writings and utterances of GOP political professionals — consultants, speechwriters, commentators — and journalists, who write for or edit conservative publications, or who are hired to express a conservative or right-leaning point of view.
It is hard to describe what this dictionary or lexicon has since become — but if the Nile were a sewer the metaphor would not be far off. The list of slurs and ugly talk is alphabetical now, but I probably should redesign it by category: the language of Hitler and facsism category (Glenn Beck is a leader here); the language of Trump-as-disease category (cancer, virus, chlamydia, STD); the language of deviant sexuality category (Kevin Williamson, Rick Wilson and Erick Erickson excel here); the Trump supporter abuse category; the Trump supporter as traitor/collaborator category (including talk of blacklists, summary executions); the language of bitterness/contempt category. The language of scatology. All this from the very same people who cluck about Trump’s “tone.”
I could go on and on, subdividing this language of violence. There is even, recklessly, dangerously, the language of literal violence: put a bullet in him … stabbing … slit throats … machine gun … the invocation of assassination from Ross Douthat at the New York Times.
I asked Marten Gantelius what he thought of my lexicon. Of course, I didn’t need his expert opinion to know this rancid body of rhetoric is the language of violence. But I wondered if there was something more he would see. He didn’t disappoint.
He wrote:
“Hello again Diana,
Your Trump Lexicon is a good example of the Language of Violence.
When the LoV is used, violence is both the means and the ends. It can be disguised by a variety of “good” pretexts.
Almost always, the LoV is the source of a following physical violence. And it is important to understand that it is deliberate with the modern roots in the massive Soviet dezinformatsiya industry.
Conclusion: Stop classifying people as leftists, conservatives, environmentalists etc. Classify them according to the language they use! I have done it for years – I know it works.
All the best
Marten”
Neo – on Trump’s “conservatism” we agree. On Trump’s electability we shall have to agree to disagree, based on the increase in Republican votes because of Trump, the size and enthusiasm of his crowds, and the widespread hunger among the populace for a strongman.
OM – because Reagan had a likeability factor which was off the charts. Even the MSM media fell under his spell. No one is running now who even comes close. Cruz is actually negative in that respect.
Jedi — actually, no. I billed a lot of time explaining to people who had never paid taxes before when the rates were 90, 70, and 50%, why they had to pay taxes now that the rate was 28%. (I despair of politicians or the media ever learning that taxes paid are the product of the rate TIMES the taxable income.) Also, there were tons of tax shelters floating around which I had to review and explain to my clients why they didn’t work. Not for long, though, within about six months, Congress started hanging things back on the Internal Revenue Code until it looked like the old Christmas tree, and it was back to business as usual.
BTW, if you think I don’t know I am part of the parasitic class, just a cog in the great wheel of paper (soon to be replaced by electrons) circulating from the public to the intercessors like me to the government and around again, endlessly, you are quite mistaken.
It’s C.M. Kornbluth’s “The Marching Morons,” except it wasn’t the lower classes who overbred, it was the middle classes, and the problem wasn’t solved by creating factories which built things to be shipped to factories where the things were demolished, it was solved be creating the great wheel of paper.
On the H-1B issue, I had lunch today with an immigration lawyer and learned quite a bit about it. She told me that there are only 65,000 slots per year available, but there are 300,000 applicants. (I may have the numbers slightly wrong, but the ratio is right.) I specifically asked her whether there weren’t Americans able to fill those jobs, and she replied, “Why would American companies be willing to pay me a lot of money to prepare applications for which there is only a 1 in 5 chance of being granted if there were Americans available to do these jobs?”
Richard Saunders:
Some of the increase in Republican primary votes is due to people voting for Trump to sabotage the GOP by nominating him. Some of the increase in Republican primary votes is due to Republicans and conservatives voting against him. None of it has any relevance to what will happen in the general, because we have no way to interpret that increase, and the majority of people in the GOP primaries are voting for someone else anyway.
And size and enthusiasm of crowds is not meaningful in terms of the general, either. I wrote about that in 2012.