Yup, it’s racism

Hunter of Daily Kos discussed a new study by Larry Bartels of Vanderbilt University. The study sorted through whether ethnic antagonism, economic conservatism, cultural conservatism, or other factors was a better predictor of anti-democratic beliefs. Ethnic antagonism – racism – correlated well, the other factors didn’t. Hunter wrote the study…

suggests that there's a theme to the escalating conservative willingness to upend democracy in America, discrediting election results and advocating for lawbreaking—and even violence, if necessary. It's about whiteness. Specifically, it's about racist conservative fear of nonwhites, and their determination to block nonwhite Americans from upending their "traditional" way of life.

You know: fascism. ... It's not surprising to hear that anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-anybody-who-isn't-white sentiment is the defining force behind conservative premises that our laws and elections may no longer be sufficient, and may have to be restructured by force.
…
Trump knows his appeal is based on racism. Trump's campaign is operating under the assumption that his appeal is based on his racism. Republican lawmakers supporting Trump are standing behind his adventures in racism, and adding their own versions. And we've now got yet another study showing that racism, violent racism, is the impetus behind Republican anti-democratic beliefs.
...
In past years, those anti-democratic and authoritarian sentiments manifested themselves through racial gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts. Trump's Republican allies have cut straight to the point, however, with suggestions that a November election that does not return Trump to power might not have legitimacy at all. The suggestions are being opportunistically amplified by foreign anti-democratic groups; they are almost certain, now, to cause post-election violence and terrorism.

You know, from racists. Trump's most devoted—and dangerous—base.

In some people the need to feel superior leads them to be violent and to kill. It is a strong force in some humans.



Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Yale University, wrote the 2018 book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. He was interviewed by Christianna Silva on NPR. Instead of a full transcript of the ten minute audio NPR provided a few written highlights of the discussion.

First, Stanley’s definition of fascism:

[It’s] a cult of the leader who promises national restoration in the face of humiliation brought on by supposed communists, Marxists and minorities and immigrants who are supposedly posing a threat to the character and the history of a nation.

I’m not so sure of the communists and Marxists, but the rest of it fits.

Stanley talked about conspiracy theories:

Conspiracy theories destroy an information space. The goal — fascism is based on a friend-enemy distinction, so you're either with them or against them. The enemy is the enemy of civilization. What it does is it destroys the information space. It makes you think that even if your guys are corrupt and lying, it is because [the leader is] facing a mysterious cabal that is controlling things that are trying to foment a race war. This is the basis of the Ku Klux Klan ideology.

And even when they seem respectable they're really being controlled by the Marxists and the minorities. And so that makes you think that your opposition is not legitimate and there's no debating them because they're really in a conspiracy to hide a pedophilic sex ring and advance the interests of Marxism. And so what we find is not just a conspiracy theory but a conspiracy theory that echoes the worst aspects of European history and American history.

Yet, Stanley sees hope. America has a strong history of fighting fascism, starting with WWII and continuing through nonviolent protests that have confronted our own racial history.



Hunter reported that the nasty guy campaign has spent $60 million on lawyers. This seems to be going for settling the nasty guy’s personal vendettas against those who annoy him, such as news outlets who publish harsh critiques. This money isn’t coming from the campaign’s small donors, but from the big ones. Wrote Hunter:

Then again, the lesson of 21st-century America is that the nation’s fabulously rich have, literally, All The Money. There doesn't seem to be any upper limit on how much money fascist-friendly but tax-averse Trump allies are willing to send his way.

Kos of Kos reported that the nasty guy campaign is broke. It has pulled TV advertising from key battleground states with an election less than 60 days away (though this year the opinions are so stable it is doubtful advertising will make a difference).

Kos lists several of the unusual expenses, such as keeping the sons happy, taking the family on trips, various grifting opportunities of the campaign staff, and an amazing $350 million for fund-raising operations. Plus the boss treating the money as a personal piggy bank.

One wonders why those rich people who own All The Money aren’t making sure the nasty guy’s campaign remains flush with cash. Maybe because the amount squandered is $800 million.



Jillian York tweeted:

What if we—hear me out on this—tell Trump he won the 2020 election and then lock him inside a replica of the White House with his family. ...in Siberia.

Various replies wanted clarification on how this would work. Could we get Twitter and Facebook to run fake streams to keep him convinced? We’d need a fake golf course in front of a fake Air Force One. Could we stash the rest of his crooked administration in there with him? Even so, I’m all for it.



Joan McCarter of Kos told us to beware of Republicans bearing gifts. She’s not warning against GOP elected officials, but GOP money outfits that are trying to make sure the nasty guy is not reelected. They are trying to weasel their way into influence among Democrats. And they want to be accepted back into polite society.

But they are desperately trying to hide that they have been big donors to the GOP for a long time and had no problems with Bush II and his unnecessary war and its torture, they supported Sarah Palin and her extremism, they funded the Tea Party, they funded the efforts to block as much of Obama’s agenda as possible, they created the Federalist Society which is helping Moscow Mitch drive federal courts to the right.

They want to continue all the supremacy that the GOP has stood for during the past 30 years, just without the nasty guy at the head of the party. And they are paying to get access to the Biden White House.

McCarter wrote:

And because they are Republicans, they think they can buy their way in without acknowledging or atoning for their complicity with Trump. They built that monster, and they've decided that the way to save their own skins is to pick up torches and pitchforks now and turn against him. ...

What needs to happen is that this iteration of the Republican Party—including all those never-Trumpers who were happy to throw fuel on the fires of racism, of fascism for the past 40 years—this GOP needs to be destroyed. It needs to be defeated at the ballot box and ground into dust. Burned. The ground over it salted.

I hadn’t known that Doonsbury by Garry Trudeau has continued to go strong. It has been years since it’s been in the Detroit paper – the last time I blogged about the strip was 2013. I found out its still going because someone linked to last Sunday’s strip. Here it is.




Leah McElrath tweeted:

If you’re gaining belly fat, it’s not necessarily because you’re eating too much.

It could be due to excess cortisol production because of living in a state of fight-or-flight for months on end due to everything that’s going on.

Be gentle with yourself.

Robin J. Schwartz responded:

Leah’s right. On a primal level, our bodies perceive excruciating, ongoing stress as the equivalent of famine, and try to “save” us by holding onto belly fat.

Insomnia is also a result of horrific stress (she types at 3am)...

Georgia Logothetis, in her pundit roundup for Kos quoted David Frum of The Atlantic about scandal of the nasty guy calling soldiers “losers” and the condemnation that has drawn from military people.

Amid the clamor, it’s easy to overlook those who are not yelling, those who are keeping silent. Where are the senior officers of the United States armed forces, serving and retired—the men and women who worked most closely on military affairs with President Trump? Has any one of them stepped forward to say, “That’s not the man I know”?

How many wounded warriors have stepped forward to attest to Trump’s care and concern for them? How many Gold Star families have stepped forward on Trump’s behalf? How many service families?

I listen to podcasts of Radiolab, which has an unusual way of looking at things, though I’m six months behind. At the start of the pandemic lockdown they did a series of shorter episodes. The second of these, under 40 minutes, took a look at handwashing. It was Ignaz Semmelweis, back in the middle of the 19th century, who figured out the importance of doctors having clean hands. Alas, since the idea of viruses and bacteria wasn’t known yet many other doctors were resistant to his calls. In the present age we know that a virus is held together with oils and that soap breaks up those oils, which kills the virus. So honor Dr. Semmelweis and wash your hands.