FlyingTiger Loc: Tortola, BVI

A great opinion piece from Bill McGurn at the WSJ. Pretty much nails the feelings and some of the motives of Dems and Liberals. They h**e middle America.

The Dems will h**e this. They h**e facts. Libs could serve themselves well by taking his and other's advice, but they won't, they never learn.

From the Wall Street Journal, yesterday.

Why Elites H**e
The liberal contempt for middle America is baked into the idea of identity politics.

By William McGurn
June 5, 2017 6:33 p.m. ET

Nine years after Barack Obama accused small-towners of clinging to guns or religion, nearly three years after Jonathan Gruber was shown to have attributed ObamaCare’s passage to the stupidity of the American v**er, and eight months after Hillary Clinton pronounced half of Donald Trump’s v**ers “irredeemable,” Democrats are now getting some sophisticated advice: You don’t win v**es by showing contempt for v**ers.

In the last week or so a flurry of articles have appeared arguing for toning down the looking-down. In the New Republic Michael Tomasky writes under the heading “Elitism Is Liberalism’s Biggest Problem.” Over at the New York Times , Joan C. Williams weighs in with “The Dumb Politics of Elite Condescension.” Slate goes with a Q&A on “advice on how to talk to the white working class without insulting them.” Stanley Greenberg at the American Prospect writes on “The Democrats’ ‘Working-Class Problem,’ ” and Kevin Drum at Mother Jones asks for “Less Liberal Contempt, Please.”

None of these pieces are directed at Trump Nation. To the contrary, they are pitched to progressives still having a hard time coming to grips with The Donald’s victory last November. Much of what these authors write is sensible. But it can also be hilarious, particularly when the effort to explain ordinary Americans to progressive elites reads like a Margaret Mead entry on the exotic habits of the Samoans.

Mr. Tomasky, for example, informs progressives that middle Americans—wait for it—“go to church.” They have friends (“and sometimes even spouses”) “who are Republicans.” “They don’t feel self-conscious saluting the f**g.” Who knew?

Most of these writers allow that there is at least some fraction of Trump v**ers who are not deplorable. What they do not appreciate is how condescending they can be while advising their fellow Democrats to be less condescending. Exhibit A: Mr. Drum’s recommendation that Democrats can “broaden [their] appeal” because these are “persuadable, low information folks.”

Still, Mr. Drum comes across as Gandhi when set against the writer at Slate who interviews Ms. Williams. The following question conveys the tone: “What attitude should we be taking toward people who v**ed for a r****t buffoon who is s**mming them?”

Ms. Williams, a University of California law professor who has written a new book on the white working class, generously avoids telling her interviewer he is a perfect instance of the problem. But the larger progressive dilemma here is that contempt is baked into the identity politics that defines today’s Democratic Party.

When Mrs. Clinton labeled Trump v**ers deplorable (“r****t, sexist, h********c, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it”) she was simply following identity politics to its logical conclusion. Because identity politics t***sforms those on the other side of the argument—i.e., Americans who are pro-life, who respect the military, who may work in the coal industry—from political opponents into oppressors.

Which is precisely how they are treated: as bigots whose retrograde views mean they have no rights. So when the Supreme Court unilaterally imposes gay marriage on the entire nation, a baker who doesn’t want to cater a gay reception must be financially ruined. Ditto for two Portland women who ran a burrito stand that they shut down after accusations of cultural appropriation regarding their recipes.

No small part of the attraction of identity politics is its usefulness in silencing those who do not hew to progressive orthodoxy. This dynamic is most visible on campuses, where identity politics is also most virulent. It’s no accident, in other words, that the mob at Middlebury resorted to violence to try to keep Charles Murray ; after all, he’s been called a “white nationalist.” In much the same way identity politics has led Democrats to regard themselves as the “resistance” rather than the loyal opposition.

The great irony here is that this has left Democrats increasingly choosing undemocratic means to get what they want. From President Obama’s boast that he would use his pen and phone to bypass Congress to the progressive use of the Supreme Court as its preferred legislature to the Iran and climate deals that made end runs around the Constitution, it all underscores one thing: The modern American progressive has no faith in the democratic process because he has no trust in the American people.

Here it helps to remember the tail end of Mr. Obama’s snipe about guns and religion: it was a crack about v**ers clinging to “antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.” Sounds like a pretty accurate indictment of contemporary American liberalism, judging by all these articles begging progressives to be a little more broad-minded.

So good luck with the idea that the Democratic Party can restore its relationship with Middle America without addressing the identity politics that fuels it. Especially when it starts from the premise that the Americans they are condescending to will remain too stupid to figure it out.

Write to mcgurn@wsj.com.

Appeared in the June 6, 2017, print edition.

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

Well, if this is true, why did Trump Lose the popular v**e by three million?

SBW

The way our system works you clueless r****d, T***p W*N the e******n in a landslide. I am well aware that you would rather our system be more like C*******t China. But it is not and never will be. So too bad for you, you clueless dullard. Nice that I ALLOW you and other r****ds like you to post on my threads. You do not offer the same courtesy to me you nut less prick because you are a coward and are afraid of the t***h. Run along now, I believe it is about time for your daily injections.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Let's see if I have this right: When you agree with the WSJ it is an authority, when you don't it isn't. While you are free to choose which of their positions you choose to agree with, either they are an authority or they aren't.

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

Landslide????

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Great argument, if he were claiming that Trump wasn't the duly elected president. Oh wait, he didn't make that claim did he. Also, you offered no evidence whatsoever to support your claims as to what he wants. As to blocking those who don't agree with you, you could do that, but then your threads would be extremely short.

ken hubert Loc: Missouri

As short as you?

ken hubert Loc: Missouri

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

relevance?

ken hubert Loc: Missouri

You figure it out, if you're able.

chrisscholbe Loc: Kansas City, MO

While there is some t***h in this article, I find it interesting that the author is guilty of the very thing he is accusing Liberals of...identity politics.

Conservatives, IMHO, say that they, and only they, know what is good and right for America.

Liberals do the same.

I think it's called .........politics.

SBW

Yep, stupid. Let me explain it to you, defined as an e*******l landslide. Which it was and it is THE way our country elects its President. What about that are you too stupid to understand? Go get your shots chump.

SBW

See, you lost all credibility with your opening phrase. Why? Because you NEVER get anything right. Go back to your cubicle.

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

You talk real tough, but didn't explain as you promosed.

T***p w*n by 77,000 v**es in three states, but Lost The Popular V**e By Three Million V**es!

Explain that, smart mouth.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

And, I suppose you believe that he got more e*******l v**es than a Republican ever has and that the crowd at his inauguration was the biggest there has ever been and he only lost the popular v**e because thousands of illegal v**ers were bused in.