Leftist business-as-usual: crying RACIST!
DeSantis is a racist and Vivek is a white supremicist, according to the leftist MSM.
No surprise for any of this. Any Republican contender will be painted with that brush for a simple reason: the propaganda works with a lot of people who are already convinced that all people on the right are racist, no matter what their color and no matter what their history and no matter how tenuous and ridiculous the so-called evidence. It becomes a case of confirmation bias, and it’s very very powerful.
These accusations have become one of the sole tactics of the left in its political campaigns. A lot of people will put up with an awful lot – crime and mismanagement and even mental and emotional abuse of their own children – in order to not ally themselves with supposed racists. The left knows this and plays on it. They don’t have too much else to offer except a free lunch, which is of great appeal to some. But those who are relatively (or very) well off are looking to virtue-signal by making sure they never, never ever, vote for someone the MSM has labeled a racist.
And it is so extreme that it actually doesn’t matter whether the candidate is white or not. Vivek is an honorary white person – but conservative black candidates such as Larry Elder are also honorary white people, and white supremacists at that, when they dare to run for office.
“Racism” isn’t the only attack the left mounts, of course. Not caring – Bush and Katrina, for example – is another. Being just plain mean is another that’s related; remember the attacks on mild-mannered Romney for putting his dog in a crate on top of his car many years ago, or teasing someone in high school?
I accepted long ago that all Republican candidates will be demonized in this way. Some people feel that Trump is the only person strong enough to take these insults and deflect them. But what I’ve seen is that because of Trump’s abrasive and brash personality, people are very inclined to believe these things of him. He fights, but so has DeSantis over the course of some very vicious attacks even before he announced his candidacy.
Who can better deflect such things, and for which man are they more believable to a greater number of voters? I can’t say I know, because I don’t. But I know the election may hinge on such things – that is, if fraud (or lawfare against Trump) doesn’t win the day for the left anyway.
See an example of how effectively Ron DeSantis refutes the left blaming climate change for hurricane Idalia at this post on Powerlineblog. The left desperately wants to run against Trump. They are cooking the polls because they hope it helps Trump. My anecdote is that my conservative friends all switched from Trump to DeSantis. Here’s the powerline post.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/09/desantis-tells-it-like-it-is.php
They are playing the Cultural Marxist Theory
I’m pretty sure POTUS Trump only listens to his own counsel…part of my growing displeasure with him…BUT IF there was someone who could broker a peace accords between Trump and DeSantis…there could be a real hope emerging.
I know… unicorns and rainbows…
He fights, but so has DeSantis over the course of some very vicious attacks even before he announced his candidacy.
________
I agree, but
1. That didn’t help Scott Walker, who went into 2016 with an excellent record against ferocious attacks, and
2. While I’d seen him do so before getting in the race, I haven’t seen him school the press since he did. Of course, maybe he has and I just haven’t seen it, but I doubt that.
The latter is a big deal. The best I’ve seen was Gingrich. There was a Canadian who handled it well, repeatedly demanding some lefty presstitute to name the “experts” she was citing. Trump isn’t actually that good at this, but he never backs down, which makes him seem so.
Eeyore:
Yes, but Scott Walker never got nominated because he didn’t appeal to Republicans in the primaries. That doesn’t tell us how he would have done in the general, because he never got very far. My own impression at the time was that he came across in the debates and in his campaign as personally bland and meek, which is not how DeSantis comes across and obviously not how Trump has ever come across.
The other thing, however, is that the attacks on Walker – if I’m recalling correctly – were not the vicious personal ones like “he’s a racist” or “he hates gay people” or stuff about his wife. They were primarily about policy and that he was too far to the right. He fought for policies, but he didn’t have to deflect the sorts of very personal things that Trump and DeSantis have had to deal with. He fought off a recall, but again, my recollection is that was more about policy.
They were primarily about policy and that he was too far to the right. He fought for policies,
His battles were strongly against the teachers’ unions, and they hated him as much as any gang of lefties hates a Governor. Every union for miles around sent busloads of rioters to screech at him.
Eeyore:
DeSantis has continued to be combative with the press. For example, during the debate, there was this response when all the candidates were asked to raise their hands if they believed in human-cause global warming (see also this).
Democrat voters don’t want to know the truth. They welcome the lies because facing up to their having long swallowed them would too badly damage their self-esteem, which is too weak to take the blow. At base, they are all snowflakes, whose only bravery is to be found within the mob.
Insufficiently Sensitive:
That’s my point. It was specific to a policy and a group that was mad at him. It didn’t take the form of attacks in the MSM saying he was some sort of bigoted crazed Hitler who hated gay people. He was certainly attacked, but in a very different way from Trump or DeSantis. That’s my recollection, anyway.
My own impression at the time was that he came across in the debates and in his campaign as personally bland and meek…
–neo
I was hopeful for Scott Walker, but that seemed to be the case. He just didn’t have the forcefulness required to play at the presidential level.
That’s not a terrible personal shortcoming, but it is what it is.
“A lot of people will put up with an awful lot – crime and mismanagement and even mental and emotional abuse of their own children – in order to not ally themselves with supposed racists. The left knows this and plays on it.”
Yes. Absolutely. This fact cannot be stated enough or read enough.
A long while ago, the left managed to convince most everyone in mainstream thought that ‘racism’ was the most vile of all evils, the worst of the worst, utterly despicable, beyond reproach. Back then, ‘racism’ still was defined by most outside the left as the belief that one race (usually one’s own) is superior to all others. Most decent folk could get behind the notion that ‘racism’ as defined above was morally repugnant and accepted the left’s conclusions.
I would say this became the consensus in the late 80s. It certainly was established by 1991 when David Duke (certainly a racist by the above definition) made his attempt at the Louisiana governorship, and was condemned by pretty much all mainstream opinion.
Ah, but then came the left’s bait and switch; executed slowly and largely streaming from (no surprise) the academy. Continually changing the definition of ‘racism’ to suit the left’s agenda.
And so, where we are today. While not quite openly stated, ‘racism’ is increasingly being defined in mainstream circles as ‘anything or anyone who dares opposed the left in any way’ because ‘racism’ has been accepted as the ultimate evil in much of mainstream discourse for 30 years, many otherwise sensible people (from moderate liberals to centrists, to mainstream conservatives) quietly suffer a lot of leftist BS, just to avoid that horrific moniker.
And so, where we are today. While not quite openly stated, ‘racism’ is increasingly being defined in mainstream circles as ‘anything or anyone who dares opposed the left in any way’…
Ackler:
Agreed.
However, I wish to interject, as an ex-leftist, that the left is not a group of masterminds calculating their next move as in chess.
The left is a complex set of subgroups working in affinity but not top-down. They throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.
In 1999 the Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization were the big deal. Old leftist strategy: rich vs poor.
In 2011 Occupy Wall St. continued the rich vs. poor, but though expectations were sky-high the whole project collapsed. It didn’t capture mainstream popularity and the tent city squalor (looking forward to today) was considered a horror even by liberals.
However, what sold like wildfire was Obama’s blatant sowing of racial division. So that’s where we are today.
The left does what works, at least in terms of maintaining and extending its power.
Related?
‘ The Obama Factor Revealed;
‘Insight on “the disaster we are living in now” ‘—
H/T Instapundit
In which several articulate blind men grope, caress, touch and feel what seems like a very fraudulent elephant and then try to explain what it isn’t…
Speaking of “classics”…
“Chicago Teachers’ Union President, Hater Of Private Schools And School Choice, Reportedly Sends Child To Private School”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chicago-teachers-union-president-hater-private-schools-and-school-choice-reportedly-sends
(Might remind one of all those earnest “defund-the-police” types who hire private security….)
File under: The Good Life is for me but not for
THEEYOU SUCKAS!!“…the left is not a group of masterminds calculating their next move as in chess…”
But Bolsheviks might just be another kettle of fish, n’est-ce pas?
And ramping up the hatred, as we speak!
“A Manufactured Hate”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/manufactured-hate
Key graf:
‘ “…[R]acism in the US is now a “manufactured” problem, and this tawdry invention allows the Democrats and the Left to increase their power by addressing a problem that they themselves have stirred up. [Emphasis mine; Barry M.] Although Klingenstein does not deny that isolated cases of discrimination against blacks may occur, he regards these situations as sporadic but also gleefully played up by Democratic politicians and their media handservants….’
…As Mr. Truth and Honesty (Inc.) believes it imperative that he lovingly contribute his own decrepit nonsense! That he MUST be heard!!
“Orange Man Disqualified? Adam Schiff Talks 14th Amendment”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/orange-man-disqualified-adam-schiff-talks-14th-amendment
+ Bonus:
‘ Biden Built ‘Predictable’ Loophole That Resulted In Flood Of Illegal “Family Units” Into US ‘—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-built-predictable-loophole-resulted-flood-illegal-family-units-us
Can’t keep a good (and squalid) liar down, I guess
Barry M, is this the Obama article you meant?
https://amgreatness.com/2023/09/04/the-obama-factor-revealed/
Oopsie…
Thanks much Kate…
(Indeed, I forgot ye olde linke(!)…)
A side effect of the left’s “racism” play is that it deadens the country to actual, David Duke-style racism.
When the Democratic party, the administrative branches of the government and 2/3rds of the press consistently smear everyone to the right of Dick Durban as a racist, a white supremicist, or worse, our “cultural antibodies” against actual racism are destroyed.
I don’t believe Trump is an actual pre-2008 racist, but he is, at a minimum, a patsy who allows himself to be used by folks who are, like Nick Fuentes. The Trump era on the right has also been marked by a proliferation of actual pre-2008 racists infiltrating, degrading, and discrediting the whole movement, especially among the younger generation. Blame the left for their cynical race-baiting, and they undoubtedly bear the lion’s share of the blame, but Trump is not leading the right away from this drek. If anything, his “never ever give an inch” MO gives cover to racist people and ideas. Too many on the right, especially younger people seem to think that the way to “own the libs” and “savor leftist tears” is to talk like David Duke. These fools are “owning the libs” all the way to permanent leftist hegemony.
The challenge for the right is to live in an environment where we are all going to be smeared as “white supremicists” while keeping actual pre-2008 white supremicists out of the movement.
Difficult? You bet. But it illustrates why the left plays this cynical game. It works.
Watching the DeSantis administration respond to the hurricane in Florida makes it pretty clear that DeSantis is more skilled as a public servant than as a campaigner.
He’s not a showman. But the GOP is going to go with the showman and then either lose the general (most likely) or suffer through another clown show of an administration for four years, after which the left will come back into power with a vengence.
Elon Musk, yesterday: “To clear our platform’s name on the matter of anti-Semitism, it looks like we have no choice but to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League … oh the irony!”
Here is how Forbes describes the ADL: “the Jewish non-governmental organization that seeks to fight antisemitism and extremism around the world.”
I unsubscribed from Forbes years ago because it had gotten so useless as well as politicized, but resubscribed to the online-only version because I occasionally need something there. May have to unsubscribe again and just use the local library if I really need something.
David Foster, somebody needs to take down what the ADL has unfortunately become, and Musk might be just the guy to do it. Somebody needs to take down the SPLC, as well.
under greenblatt, it has become fully prog,
now that we know that fani willis’s father was angela davis;s lover, it all makes sense now,
“…what the ADL has unfortunately become…”
Not just the ADL, alas.
The new “syllogism” informing the “Forward” crowd:
A. Criticizing Soros (and his criminal posse of pro-crime DAs) is “anti-semitic” because Soros happens to be a Jew.
B. Soros, by funding and supporting his criminal posse of pro-crime DAs, is actively involved in helping “Biden” to destroy the country.
C. Therefore, criticizing those who are actively helping “Biden” to destroy the country is “anti-semitic”.
D. Therefore, supporting those who are helping “Biden” to destroy the country is “philo-semitic”.
(Hmmm…. Somebody might want to step back a bit and think this through…)
angela davis of course endorsed biden who has a long history of racist remarks going back to the 70s,
the earlier reference,
https://twitter.com/Gundisalvus/status/1698809308509593627
Thanks for that NY Post link.
(As usual, on top of—all those oh-so-sordid—things…which so charmingly characterize the “Biden” administration…)
Heh, the NYT can’t hold a candle to the nation’s new newspaper of record.**
Ladies and Gentlemen (and, um, others), we present the New York Post!!!
** A distinction it honorably shares with the Babylon Bee….
“The media is finally waking up to the sham stats behind Biden’s economy boasts”—
https://nypost.com/2023/09/04/the-media-is-finally-waking-up-to-the-sham-stats-behind-bidens-economy-boasts/
Opening rhetorical question:
‘How could Washington’s “best and brightest” be so clueless for so long?…’
(Hmmm. Hey! Let’s run a contest!! Free subscription to the NYP online edition for the best “rhetorical” answer…?)
https://www.frontpagemag.com/racist-mayor-los-angeles-karen-bass/
A long while ago…‘racism’ still was defined by most outside the left as the belief that one race (usually one’s own) is superior to all others.
Today’s definition of racism: Not believing that
1. Non-whites are superior to whites.
2. Non-whites should have favored status over whites.
3. Any negative characteristics of non-whites should be excused.
4. Whites are morally deficient, undeserving, and contemptible, because of systemic racism.
Oh the irony, the ADL accusing Musk of “antisemitism” is consorting with Al Sharpton …
https://worldisraelnews.com/adl-urges-supporters-to-join-sharpton-rally-in-dc-ignoring-anniversary-of-crown-heights-pogrom/
I have a fantasy where someone who is accused of being a racist just responds by calling the accuser a racist. Of course this is a childish response, but the Left is using the cry of racism in a childish way. It’s a great tactic for the Left since anyone, except Trump, would be seen as childish. What Conservative politician wants that? Conservatives see themselves as the adults in the room. But if enough people respond this way it might push the Left back a little. Hopefully it might lead to people seeing that to the Left racism means whatever they want it to mean. Anyway, that’s my little fantasy.
well in ‘resist we much’s case its true, in venceremos brigadista bass, it is as well,
Jordan,
You are correct. But even that definition is transitory. What will be the final definition of racism, if the left ever achieves complete hegemony?
“Whatever ‘we’ say it is”.
“We” being the “experts”. The scores of DEI apparatchiks. If they say drinking milk is racist on Tuesday, it’s racist. If they say not drinking milk is racist on Wednesday, it’s racist. Submission to their diktats. That’s the end goal.
2+2=5
Remember when McCain, and them Romney became Nazis? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
don’t get me started on mccain, 15 years later, the depth of his betrayal of the country, becomes clearer,
they really were at war with biological women, and patriots and publically devout Christians,
The left may not be a collection of masterminds running on the same playbook.
They may be something else, or a collection of somethings else.
But an apt observation comes to mind, “Pavlov’s dogs didn’t conspire to salivate.”