Shocked shocked
Aaron Blake at the Post appears to be shocked by what he calls the “tribalism” of what he calls “liberals” – that is, by the fact that people who dislike Trump dislike him a lot.
Liberals don’t just hate President Trump; lots of them don’t even like the idea of being in the company of his supporters.
That’s the big takeaway from a new Pew Research Center survey, which is just the latest indicator of our remarkably tribal and partisan politics. And when it comes to Trump, it’s difficult to overstate just how tribal the left is and how much distaste he engenders. Indeed, that distaste apparently extends even to people who decided they would like to vote for Trump.
There’s so much wrong with that.
It’s not just “liberals” who hate Trump. Has Aaron Blake not noticed Bill Kristol, Richard Painter, George Will? A great many Republicans detest him.
We have pretty good reasons for not wanting to be in the company of people who support him, which are not so much political as moral. Supporting him is supporting bullying, cruelty, corruption, treason…it’s supporting a whole slew of strikingly horrible personal qualities. It’s not all that eccentric to feel unmotivated to be around people who endorse the package.
For the same reasons, it’s not “our remarkably tribal and partisan politics.” It’s not exclusively politics at all. It’s way deeper than that. He’s a conspicuously dreadful human being and he’s disgracing us all. I would say that if he were a Democrat. And it’s not “the left” – profound disgust at Trump’s personal qualities is far from exclusive to the left. Aaron Blake is being weirdly insulting to the right in implying it is.
The poll shows almost half of liberal Democrats — 47 percent — say that if a friend supported Trump, it would actually put a strain on their friendship.
Why the italics? Why is that so horrifying? Of course it would put a strain on a friendship – why wouldn’t it? How could it help it? Trump is a bad man. I don’t know how it’s possible to support him without endorsing his bad qualities and his complete lack of good qualities. Why is it shocking that that matters to people?
And while partisanship and tribalism are pretty bipartisan things in American politics today, Democrats are actually substantially less able to countenance friends who supported the wrong candidate: Just 13 percent of Republicans say a friend’s support of Hillary Clinton would strain their relationship.
But, again, that’s not purely a matter of “partisanship and tribalism.” Hillary Clinton is not a horrible human being in the way Trump is.
The prevalent belief on the left that Trump isn’t just a bad president or person, but is also racist, xenophobic and misogynistic is undoubtedly at play here too.
Oh come on – it’s not just a “prevalent belief” – it’s an obvious documented fact. Trump helpfully documents it himself on Twitter nearly every day.
[I]t’s noteworthy just how many people think supporting the nominee of a major American political party reflects poorly upon the people they know. Fully 46 percent of Americans who voted for president chose Trump, and that isn’t really an acceptable position for a friend to take for half of liberal Democrats.
Yes, we think supporting the nominee of a major American political party reflects badly on people when that nominee is Trump, for reasons that are so many and detailed and far-reaching that it would take me days just to write up a passable account of them. It’s not shocking that that’s the case, it’s shocking that the repudiation is not universal.
Whoever is gatekeeping the op-eds at the Post seriously needs to be fired… This is worse even than the usual Ed Rogers/Nowhere Ohio newspaper editor dishonesty…
So, the very few people I have met in New Zealand who are prepared to openly say they approve of Trump (as opposed to online behind a pseudonym) exhibit the following behaviours:
– They are openly racist (use offensive language to refer to other races and make sweeping derogatory statements about entire races).
– They are openly sexist, if not downright misogynist (calling women ‘front bums’ or cunts, or other such demeaning and derogatory language of ‘jokes’).
– They deny the existence of gender pay gaps, inequality in healthcare or education opportunity and outcome or in policing and prosecution outcome; despite clear evidence and analysis from multiple sources including Government.
– They are openly homophobic (offensive language and ‘jokes’ openly discriminatory in hiring practices).
– They denigrate solo parents (if they are women).
– They go on and on about Men’s Rights and how rape isn’t a thing unless a women is beaten and brutalised by a stranger (in which case she shouldn’t have been out/there/drinking/wearing that).
There are of course people in New Zealand who behave that way, but for whom Trump is a step too far. guess what, I don’t actually want to socialise and hang with them either. Why the fuck would you socialise with people whose every sentence exudes hatred and contempt for everything you believe and a sizeable number of the people you love and admire?
Because Hillary voters aren’t out there trying to take away the rights of Trump voters? Talking trash about every group that looks different than them? Because one of the “worst” things Hillary voters do is expect some common courtesy and political correctness from their companions? Spare me.
I have to work around Trump voters, why should I want to socialize with them, too? I mean, I also avoid Jordan Peterson fans. Does that make me partisan? No, it just means I am unwilling to socialize with people who hate me.
Hear hear! We should all be as tolerant and forgiving of Trump as Republicans were of Obama.
Tribalism means loyalty to one’s own group. It applies to all of those people that cleave to Trump even while cringing at what he says and does, simply becuase he is a member of their group.
As usual, conservatives project their own guilt on to other people.