White people’s beliefs have value

Before the election the nasty guy frequently said he knew nothing about Project 2025. Emily Singer of Daily Kos reported he has “nominated at least seven people who either directly contributed to the document or who promoted it” with more people on the short list for other positions. Howard Lutnick, the nasty guy’s co-chair of his transition, had said Project 2025 is too “radioactive” for any of its people to be nominated for the cabinet. Lutnick is now the nominee for the Department of Commerce. The nominees from Project 2025: + Russ Vought wrote the chapter on how the president can amass more power by purging federal employees who are insufficiently loyal. His also a Christian nationalist. He is nominated for the director of the Office of Management and Budget. + Brendan Carr, currently an FCC commissioner, wrote the chapter on the FCC. He is nominated to be the FCC chair. + Tom Homan is listed as a contributor to Project 2025. He was a part of the inhumane family separation policy in the nasty guy’s first term. He’s nominated to be the border czar. I don’t think that’s currently a job title. + John Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence in the first term. He is a Project 2025 contributor. He’s nominated to head the CIA. The nasty guy praised him for “telling the truth” about Hunter Biden’s laptop. + Pete Hoekstra is currently the chair of the Republican Party in Michigan. He took over after the previous chair, a MAGA person who made a mess of things. So he’s seen as the calm establishment guy. Yet, he is listed as a Project 2025 contributor. He’s nominated to be ambassador to Canada. + Karoline Leavitt was a campaign spokesperson and is nominated for White House press secretary. She appeared in a Project 2025 training video to discuss how a loyalist should navigate working for the federal government. + James Braid worked as deputy chief of staff for JD Vance’s Senate office. He starred in Project 2025 videos on how to get its agenda through Congress. He’ll be the liaison to Congress to get the agenda passed. Not counted in the nominees and new hires is Vance, who is only one step away from Project 2025. The head of the project wrote a book and Vance wrote the foreword. So what’s this about the nasty guy knowing nothing about Project 2025? A week ago an Associated Press article posted on Kos reported that the nasty guy named several nominees for financial, health, and national security positions. I’m interested in only one of them, the guy nominated for Treasury Secretary. He’s Scott Bessent. He’s of interest because he’s gay, with a husband and children. The AP article also says he is closely aligned with Wall Street. Because of that he’s seen as a “safe” pick. He is also an advocate for deficit reduction and he has said that means slashing government programs while in favor of extending tax cuts for the rich. This guy has made a big change. He had donated to Al Gore’s presidential run and worked for George Soros, a big supporter of Democrats. At some point he switched to supporting and advising the nasty guy. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin included a quote I found worth mentioning. It is by Mark Hertling of The Bulwark:

The inculcation of personal values, or the understanding of organizational values and values-based decision making, are not as prevalent as they may need to be. I’ve taught values-based leadership and decision-making to healthcare professionals and MBA students. When I begin teaching each class, I ask, “What are your personal values, and do they align with your organization’s stated values?” Every time, I’m met with mostly blank stares. The same seems to be true in government. A few years ago, I was discussing some issue or another with a member of Congress. I asked him why he held a particular position on the issue, and he responded, “Because I support American values.” When I asked which specific value that policy was connected to, he couldn’t name one.

In the comments exlrrp posted a meme:

Nasty guy: Elon you can’t sit there! Elon: It’s my presidency. I bought it!

Much further down is a Twonks cartoon with the caption “Freak out your new neighbors” and shows packing boxes labeled with such things as bowling balls, bagpipes, tap shoes, fireworks, crossbows, and crocodile food. Back in the middle of October Michael Harriot wrote a thread about “Race as an Economic Construct.” We’ve heard that race is a social construct and he wrote most social constructs are economic constructs. Most non-white school districts are underfunded. Some say it’s partly due to schools being funded by property taxes and a home in a black neighborhood is worth $48K less than the same home in a white neighborhood. So those schools there get less money. The big question: Why haven’t we fixed this? We as a society have agreed that black children are less valuable. It’s the only explanation. Through our history if there’s a problem we wanted to solve we did it. We’re not even trying to fix this one. Now think in terms of effort and return on effort. One would work a bit extra for a big boost in pay. But what if that increase went to your child and not you? What if it went to a child you didn’t know? Would you still work extra if the increase went to a black child? Harriot turned to belief economics. White people’s beliefs have value. The nasty guy made white people believe immigration was a big problem, when unauthorized immigration is down. Same with the economy, same with crime. White people think crime is getting worse when it is dropping. But white fixes to crime harm black people. Politicians and media focus on white people’s beliefs and not black people’s reality.