Dear America,
"Honi soit qui mal y pense" means effectively, "evil on him who does not believe." That is, and since Ronald Reagan has been, the creed of the conservatives in the Republican Party. And now, since the ascendancy of Donald Trump, it is the creed of the party as a whole. They have arrogated the flag and patriotism to themselves as symbolized by the large flags flown on the backs of pick-up trucks all over America, and it now extends to religion-based fundamentalism in all things. If you are a liberal, it extends to you. If you believe in the notion that "all men are created equal," despite the presence of the phrase in our Declaration of Independence, you are condemned by it too. And if you believe the sequelae of the phrase, that you have the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" even if you are LGBTQ+ or tolerant of such outlying groups, not only does it apply to you, but you are going to hell, because they have indisputable authority as to what God wants. Donald Trump told them so...and he is their pope, and J.D. Vance is one of Trump's prelates ever since he rescinded his condemnation of Trump and became a Trump lickspittle.
But the fact that his semi-autobiography "Hillbilly Elegy" has been deigned to be an anthem for ordinary Americans is dishonest in every way. The fact that it was a best-seller doesn't make it popular among people other than the type of American it depicts, nor does it make them the majority of Americans. And the condign assertion that they are the majority and that hence, the majority is Trumpist is also a self-serving leap to a dubious conclusion for anyone who subscribes to that notion. For that reason, the fact that Vance has been the subject of interview pieces in the New York Times opinion section two Sundays in a row seems misguided at best. Add to that the fact that Vance's ideas as spouted in the first of them, his interview with opinion columnist Ross Douthat, were soritically inept making it clear that he is plagued by confused thinking and illogic. Let me explain.
He espoused the idea that tariffs on foreign goods would bring back to America jobs that the major American corporations exported out of management and shareholder greed. And he propounded the idea that when those jobs come back, Americans who are no longer looking for work will take them. But then those major corporations should then further automate their processes so as to obviate those jobs, thus allowing those very same workers to move up the economic ladder. But what he fails to mention is that there are already millions of excess jobs in this country, and that the unemployment rate is at record lows around or below 4%. These workers whom Vance wants to help get jobs already have opportunities if they want them, so why will they choose the jobs coming back from China over what they have rejected already. And as to inflation, none of what he says makes sense. Biden's bills to subsidize the lives of working people during the Covid pandemic saved millions from the loss of hearth and home, and now his "chips" bill will bring manufacturing of specialized electronics back from overseas. The $3 trillion cost isn't inflation inducing debt, it is government doing what it is supposed to do: serve the people. On the other hand, the Trump tax cuts caused an influx of not just $3 trillion like Biden's social relief, but $8 trillion in plutocrat enrichment as predicted by the Congressional Budget Office, which makes it two and two thirds the inflation inspiration that Biden's progressive bills were by helping those who have already helped themselves at all out expense, yet Vance blames Biden for causing inflation.
Vance's memes all sound so...Republican. And the fact that he spouts them in service of his political aspiration to become vice-president makes them all the more cynical, if not Trumpy diabolical. I don't understand why those who support Trump, and by extension political climbers like Vance, don't see through them.
I have said for years now that Trump's support is ill-gotten. He is speaking a sub rosa trope that his supporters wouldn't dare opine in public, and sometimes now he doesn't even bother to hide it with his talk about immigrants "tainting our blood" and being murderers and rapists. He leaves out the fact that if you get murdered or raped, it is much more likely to be by an all-American than it is by an immigrant, legal or illegal. The polls all show the race for president to be a dead heat, but if I recall correctly, the same polls did the same thing in 2016 and 2020. By my calculus, the outcome will be the same in 2024 as it was in those elections, and when they are over, Trump will still have won nothing but the electoral college, and that was only once.
Your friend,
Mike
"Honi soit qui mal y pense" means effectively, "evil on him who does not believe." That is, and since Ronald Reagan has been, the creed of the conservatives in the Republican Party. And now, since the ascendancy of Donald Trump, it is the creed of the party as a whole. They have arrogated the flag and patriotism to themselves as symbolized by the large flags flown on the backs of pick-up trucks all over America, and it now extends to religion-based fundamentalism in all things. If you are a liberal, it extends to you. If you believe in the notion that "all men are created equal," despite the presence of the phrase in our Declaration of Independence, you are condemned by it too. And if you believe the sequelae of the phrase, that you have the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" even if you are LGBTQ+ or tolerant of such outlying groups, not only does it apply to you, but you are going to hell, because they have indisputable authority as to what God wants. Donald Trump told them so...and he is their pope, and J.D. Vance is one of Trump's prelates ever since he rescinded his condemnation of Trump and became a Trump lickspittle.
But the fact that his semi-autobiography "Hillbilly Elegy" has been deigned to be an anthem for ordinary Americans is dishonest in every way. The fact that it was a best-seller doesn't make it popular among people other than the type of American it depicts, nor does it make them the majority of Americans. And the condign assertion that they are the majority and that hence, the majority is Trumpist is also a self-serving leap to a dubious conclusion for anyone who subscribes to that notion. For that reason, the fact that Vance has been the subject of interview pieces in the New York Times opinion section two Sundays in a row seems misguided at best. Add to that the fact that Vance's ideas as spouted in the first of them, his interview with opinion columnist Ross Douthat, were soritically inept making it clear that he is plagued by confused thinking and illogic. Let me explain.
He espoused the idea that tariffs on foreign goods would bring back to America jobs that the major American corporations exported out of management and shareholder greed. And he propounded the idea that when those jobs come back, Americans who are no longer looking for work will take them. But then those major corporations should then further automate their processes so as to obviate those jobs, thus allowing those very same workers to move up the economic ladder. But what he fails to mention is that there are already millions of excess jobs in this country, and that the unemployment rate is at record lows around or below 4%. These workers whom Vance wants to help get jobs already have opportunities if they want them, so why will they choose the jobs coming back from China over what they have rejected already. And as to inflation, none of what he says makes sense. Biden's bills to subsidize the lives of working people during the Covid pandemic saved millions from the loss of hearth and home, and now his "chips" bill will bring manufacturing of specialized electronics back from overseas. The $3 trillion cost isn't inflation inducing debt, it is government doing what it is supposed to do: serve the people. On the other hand, the Trump tax cuts caused an influx of not just $3 trillion like Biden's social relief, but $8 trillion in plutocrat enrichment as predicted by the Congressional Budget Office, which makes it two and two thirds the inflation inspiration that Biden's progressive bills were by helping those who have already helped themselves at all out expense, yet Vance blames Biden for causing inflation.
Vance's memes all sound so...Republican. And the fact that he spouts them in service of his political aspiration to become vice-president makes them all the more cynical, if not Trumpy diabolical. I don't understand why those who support Trump, and by extension political climbers like Vance, don't see through them.
I have said for years now that Trump's support is ill-gotten. He is speaking a sub rosa trope that his supporters wouldn't dare opine in public, and sometimes now he doesn't even bother to hide it with his talk about immigrants "tainting our blood" and being murderers and rapists. He leaves out the fact that if you get murdered or raped, it is much more likely to be by an all-American than it is by an immigrant, legal or illegal. The polls all show the race for president to be a dead heat, but if I recall correctly, the same polls did the same thing in 2016 and 2020. By my calculus, the outcome will be the same in 2024 as it was in those elections, and when they are over, Trump will still have won nothing but the electoral college, and that was only once.
Your friend,
Mike
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