It's All About the 1950s

In the end, when it comes to the religious right's support of Trump, it is all about the insane desire to return to the 1950s, an era when white males ruled supreme and unchallenged, and where women and minorities--especially women--knew their "place."  It was a time of greed by white males to hoard resources at the expense of everybody else.

This is what the opposition to abortion is all about, to return to the 1950s.  To denigrate half the human race to glamorize the fetus is par for the course.  Motherhood and marriage were all that defined women during the fifties and long before and still defines them in the eyes of the religious right.  They are simply things for men, the real humans,  to use.

The 1950s, despite the great cars, the great music, the classic television programs, the classic movies, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Little Richard, and Elvis, was not all that for most people.  It was an era of racial segregation still being entrenched despite USSC decisions ordering desegregation, it was an era where women were fired following WW II from male-dominated jobs and forced into the house whether they wanted to or not.  It was an era where an insane amount of children per family were born and when "homemaking" was made into a "career" for women; however, it was absolutely not an option for men, which tells a person everything they need to know about the lionization of women in the home.  Tax laws favoring married people came into the fore, and it goes on and on.  Yes, it was prosperous economically, but it was at the expense of millions of people cut out of the American Dream.

NEVER underestimate the hold this era has and continues to have on the American public.

This severe constriction of life paths back then led directly to the upheaval of the 1960s.  This was the biggest fallout from the era.

The irony is supporting the far right or "libertarianism" supports the further destruction of the standard of living in the United States.  Trump has done nothing to reverse the trend.  Maybe the pandemic will show the folly of believing in neoliberalism/Friedmanism, but I doubt it.  The politicians in both parties have been in love with the discredited and debunked nonsense for years.

It Ain't Male "Fragility"

NOT "fragility." It is freaking ENTITLEMENT. These white dudes, which also include the likes of the equally sexist Berniebros, think that because they are white males, they are entitled to high-paid, "family wage" jobs without ever having to make an effort to work for it or get the education. Anybody who was alive when affirmative action first was instituted knows how angry the white dudes were because they thought they got their jobs through "merit," while women and minorities were getting in who were less "qualified" and had to be part of a "quota." Never mind the fact there is NO such thing as "merit," and men, especially white men, are not entitled to jobs because of their physical characteristics. Now thanks to neoliberal economic policies that have all but destroyed the living-wage base, in large part because of these white male dude idiots keeping voting for those politicians who screw them over, more and more of the white dudes can't cut it with the jobs remaining. You have no right as a white dude to jobs any more than I do as an older female, let alone those jobs that pay a living wage. The world has changed. Deal with it, dudes and quit throwing hissy fits because you are no longer at the top of the economic heap.

Sexism is even more the case with the alt.right than racism.

You Can't Fix Stupid

The blue-collar dudes and their wives who voted for this union-busting shitbag and his union-hating party deserve everything they get. Unfortunately, these morons drag the rest of us down with them.

They are racist, sexist assholes who are thirty-five years too late to the party.

They have been brainwashed for decades, ever since Nixon exploited the "hard hats" by using racist code. These morons constantly bitch about the blacks or the "illegals" or the women "stealing" "their" jobs away from them, all the while they vote for the very people who put through ruinous trade agreements and vote for the destruction of living standards in the country.

I am supposed to have "compassion" for these idiots? Years and years ago I did, but now, nearly two decades into the 21st century, it is long past due to not give a shit about them anymore.

A common theme that’s being tossed around is that Trump’s election was the white working class’ chance way to say “F**k you!” to the political elites who forgot about them, sucked up their factory jobs and left them out to dry. I take issue with this for a number of reasons.

The first and most obvious reason is this: How do you buck a system ruled by elites by electing a billionaire who was born rich, employed the Mexicans he blamed for taking jobs away and could never possibly understand someone else’s struggle? Next, I don’t fully understand the term “hard-working whites.” I come from the blackest community in one of the blackest cities, and I don’t know how not to have 10 jobs. Everybody I know has 10 jobs, even the infants. Black people, Asians and Mexicans alike work their asses off, so why is the “hard-working white” class even a voting bloc?

These jackasses keep voting the wrong way. Fuck them all. Cut them loose. Racism and sexism have no place in the 21st century. They never did but certainly not now.

Cry Me a Goddamned River

Lots and lots of ignorant people keep voting against their economic interests. Trump and the GOP are going to do anything to help them? How stupid can they get? These white dudes are a bunch of sexist, racist jerks who think they deserve the best jobs just because they are white males. They can't be reached, so Dems need to just not bother with them. These guys keep voting the wrong way decade after decade. Let 'em wither and die. I stopped feeling sorry for them years ago because these morons or their fathers or grandfathers voted for Reagan, whose policies began the wholesale destruction of living standards.

If they are that dumb after thirty-five years not to understand what happened to this country, that it isn't the fault of immigrants (legal and illegal), women, and minorities their living standards have plummeted, then they are beyond hope. They are willfully stupid.

The only way these white dudes will ever come around is if we have another Great Depression. It has to be that bad for any sense at all to be knocked into their stupid heads.

More Democratic Party blaming them for not "communicating" with idiots who will NOT listen is here.

Friday Reads About Last Night's Tragedy in Dallas

There are limits to "free speech." One limit is making veiled threats to the president of the United States by using inflammatory rhetoric.
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The tragedies in Dallas are no excuse for engaging in racist rhetoric:

One of the first sinister responses Thursday night, which appeared as news about the shootings was still arriving, came from former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh. This dolt, who has become known for inflammatory comments, let loose a series of tweets, including one (later deleted) that stated, "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out Black Lives Matter punks. Real America is coming after you." By the morning, things had gotten worse, and the vitriolic response had gone more mainstream. The Drudge Report, a highly-trafficked sewer of right-wing racism and hate, led its site with the despicable headline "Black Lives Kill." The New York Post, normally a slightly less unseemly sewer of the same, decided to go with "Civil War" in its headline. As well as offering a clue as to what side the Murdoch empire would have taken in the actual Civil War, this form of gross, borderline incitement is legitimately scary and depressing.

It is responses like these that now shape how people respond to tragedy. There was so much hatred and xenophobia circling the internet and the news media after Omar Mateen's murder of 49 people in Orlando that the focus shifted nearly instantly from grieving the dead (and confronting the urgent question of how to stop men like Mateen) to Donald Trump and other preachers of hate. Indeed, Trump is, predictably, a huge part of the problem. All the jokes on social media about what bit of stupidity will trickle out from his mouth after every awful event merely underline the fact that one of our two major presidential candidates is very likely to respond to a tragedy with, at best, self-congratulations, at worst, bigotry and hatred.

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Not about the Dallas murders, but this is about the latest publicized killing by police officers.
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The New York Post has gotten a lot of flak for this cover:

More Info About the McKinney Pool Party

I don't doubt this happened:

Posts Are Forever in Cyberspace

Too bad, so sad, Dinesh:

Wow, @DineshDSouza deleted his Trayvon/Obama tweets. The Internet doesn't forget. http://t.co/J2gxK5G6za

— AdamSerwer (@AdamSerwer) November 26, 2013

That has to go down as one of the most offensive tweets in the history of the social network.

Obituaries and Etc.

Obituary: Character actor Charles Durning, 89, one of those actors whose face you'd always see but never know his name, of natural causes:

"I was born a character actor," Durning told USA TODAY in 1990, when he starred as Big Daddy in a Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. "I was born looking older — and I've been aging since I was a teenager."

"The actor's actor," as Durning was eulogized by Henry Winkler on Twitter after his death, he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen. But he may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically corrupt governor in 1982's The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

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Singer Ray Collins, 76, has died following an induced coma. He sang with the Mothers of Invention rock group.
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For those who would like to read of a roundup of this year's obituaries of prominent people, here is one link of many.

There were many prominent people who passed away this year.
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Unreal this kind of nonsense is going on in the 21st century.
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Obituaries

Goodbye and good riddance to an infamous racist: J. Philippe Rushton, a professor and author of an article claiming there was a correlation between "race" and brain size, died Tuesday of Addison's disease.

The British-born Rushton published more than 200 academic papers and five books during his career but was best known for Race, Evolution and Behavior: A Life History Perspective (see a review here).

The uproar caused by his 1989 paper that led to the book provoked then-Ontario premier David Peterson to say he should be fired. Rushton and environmentalist and geneticist David Suzuki argued the theories in a highly publicized debate in 1989.

Rushton presented his notorious findings to the American Association for Advance of Science convention in January 1989, and was “hit with a hailstorm of hostile questions,” the Star reported at the time.

He contended that three races ranked in 1-2-3 order, with Asians first in brain size, intelligence, family stability, sexual restraint and mental stability, followed by whites and then blacks.

Good grief. Good riddance.

More about this despicable individual:

Brian Timney, dean of social science, which includes the psychology department where Rushton actually worked, said Rushton’s legacy “was not a great one.” “His research was not highly thought of,” Timney said. “I work in neuroscience and I expect some academic vigor. He was not vigorous.”

The dean said while the university refused to fire Rushton, he was removed from the classroom for at least a semester during the height of the uproar in 1989. ”There were so many protesters gathered outside his door, he couldn’t get in or out,” Timney said. Rushton delivered his lectures via videotape.

While Rushton may still be a big name in race science circles, at Western University “he sort of disappeared off the radar a long time ago,” the dean said.

Campaign Worries

Although the most distinctive thing about Obama's message and policies is the lack of either one, the GOP is worried sick McCain is lacking a message himself.
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How much will race affect the race?

My concern is not the national polls but the electoral map. I am still not convinced of an Obama win, let alone a big one.
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Campaign Insanity

If you say one word against Obama or even talk about his connections, you are a racist.

However, the connections one should really worry about, those from the Chicago School, the right or the many of the PUMAs seldom bring up because they really aren't against Friedmanism.

When Obama Loses,

it'll be because of all of the racists, i.e., Clinton supporters, who jettisoned the Democratic Party this election.

Along those same lines, or maybe not, Ohio is becoming increasingly out of range for Obama. McCain is now six points ahead there.

Campaign Racism

Obama could never have gotten away with the shit he's gotten away with, including the lack of scrutiny, if he were white.

The Nutroots Chronicles

Add Heather Parton to the ever-growing list of dumbbells on the A-list blogs.

Shit, I didn't know presumptuous, like niggardly, was a racist term.

You know, if you are going to write something stupid like Parton's post, you should instead keep your keyboard shut.
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Miscellaneous News.

The French answer to David Duke, Brigitte Bardot, has been convicted of provoking racial and discrimination against Muslims by claiming they are destroying France.

What a hell of a legacy. No more will she be remembered simply as the sex kitten of 1950s; instead, she will be remembered as the pinup queen for racism.
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Campaign Notes.

It may be true some people will not vote for Barack Obama because of his racial background, I believe what will sink him has to do with his complete lack of experience and his stands on the issues, where they can be ascertained.
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Bill Clinton will be campaigning in southern Oregon today, with stops in Klamath Falls, Roseburg, and Grants Pass.
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Maybe

if race does become the issue in the Democratic primaries, Obama and Clinton will knock each other out of the race and a real change candidate, John Edwards, will become president over corporate America's dead body.

The Friday Night Fights.

Bill Clinton further explained his "fairy tale" remarks to Al Sharpton.

Clinton was being nice. Obama is a ringer.
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I hate to say this to some in the African American community, but just because a candidate is black, that doesn't mean he has their best interests at heart.

The mindless support of an unelectable idiot by too many in their community reflects poorly on their judgment.

There is absolutely, positively NO way Obama can win the presidency. No way whatsoever. The Republicans won't have to rig any voting machines.
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Maybe the "shuck and jive" crap will knock both "frontrunners" out of contention.
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Or maybe the sexism of Jesse Jackson, Jr. will do the trick. I know everybody has seen the video, but I'll post it anyhow on this site:



Jesus, this guy almost as offensive as Chris Matthews, which is saying a hell of a lot.

As Jackie Wilson once sang: "The tears will tell it all in the end."
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More on Hardin

from the article "Theories on East Asian Superiority" by Barry Sautman from The Bell Curve Debate:

"Apart from academics, the [Pioneer] fund aids political organizations and activists. The most favored ($1 million as of 1993) is the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which advocates sharply reducing immigration into the United States. Its board has included prominent politicians and was recently consulted on immigration policy by [then] California Governor Pete Wilson. Its leader in the 1980s and current board member, Dr. Joe Tanton, has made clear that his concern is with 'third world' immigration, as has board member Garrett Hardin, a University of California at Santa Barbara human ecologist.

"Hardin fears an immigration invasion of the United States and praises Japan's efforts to avoid multiculturalism. He received $29,000 from the fund to write a recent book that associates immigration with decay and violence and explicitly endorses ethnocentrism. The book was also funded by the Laurel Foundation, distributor of Jean Raspail's Camp of the Saints, a novel lauded by Hardin that fantasizes about the destruction of the 'white race' in France through an immigrant invasion. Hardin's own book has been glowingly reviewed by Paul Fromm, a Canadian neo-Nazi with connections to [J. Phillippe] Rushton. FAIR in turn praises those financed by the fund as 'responsible, distinguished scientists associated with America's major universities..." (p. 208-209)

The link to FAIR is here. Obviously it isn't to be confused with the media watchdog organization of the same acronym. I do agree with its stance on HB-1 visas, however, but that's in spite of what FAIR says, not because of it. It doesn't change the fact it's been bankrolled in part by a racist foundation.

(I don't recall if Hardin has since died* after all of these revelations, but it really doesn't matter in the end. What reputation he had is down the toilet. Edit: A quick search didn't turn up any obituary, so I am assuming he's still with us in body as well as in spirit.)

Here is a speech Hardin gave which served as the basis of his Filters Against Folly (1985). The website belongs to the infamous racist Canadian psychologist and professor J. Phillippe Rushton.

And the thing is the ideas expressed by these fringe outfits and fringe and not-so-fringe academics are becoming mainstream within the ranks of the Republican Party.

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*--Garrett Hardin died in September of 2003. Somehow I didn't note it on this blog, or, if I did, it didn't show up on a search of the site.