What Defines & Motivates America’s Right Is Intolerance

By JIM SMITH

In the past, I have joined other analysts in characterizing Trumpers and those Republicans who have fallen under his spell as driven by racism.

While racism is clearly a dominant theme, the larger theme motivating Trump Republicans, as I see it, is intolerance. (Note: Not all Republicans are alike in their opinions, just as not all Democrats are alike. Consider the following as reasoned generalizations.)

Republicans are intolerant of immigration, often railing against “white replacement” by people of color and the culture of diversity. Democrats see America as the “melting pot” and see immigrants as the people who built America from the beginning. Most of us are children of immigrants. My observation from studying first generation immigrants such as Jacob Riis, Nikola Tesla, Andrew Carnegie, Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger and others, is that they are more driven to succeed and live the American dream and more appreciative of our freedoms and our free enterprise system than those of us who are, happily, in the position to take America’s freedom for granted.

Republicans are intolerant of government and taxation, whereas Democrats recognize the need for government and for taxes to fund government services. That doesn’t mean that Democrats accept corruption, malfeasance and waste in government, although Republicans often portray them that way. Democrats would like to minimize taxation, but not at the expense of important social services.

Republicans are intolerant of progressive taxation and “income redistribution,” whereas Democrats support higher tax rates for the wealthy and consider addressing poverty a matter of “social justice.” Republicans opposed Social Security until it was too popular.  They opposed Medicare and Medicaid until they were too popular. They opposed the Affordable Care Act, but that, too, is fading now that “Obamacare” is gaining in popularity. Democrats would move faster toward such things as universal healthcare, higher minimum wages, and other social justice issues, but Republicans still get political mileage (for now) by labeling such efforts “a radical socialist agenda.” If voters understood and appreciated how such policies would benefit them and have made the Scandinavian countries the happiest populations on earth because of their socialist policies (and high taxes to support them), then that Republican strategy would not be as successful as it is, but Americans who would benefit from such programs are, sadly, underinformed and easily manipulated by politicians who appeal to their other intolerances such as of people of color.

My biggest fear is that social media and right-wing “news” networks such as Fox have allowed 30-40% of Americans to be protected from real news and voices that don’t play to their insecurities and intolerances.

I think it was in the book How Fascism Works, by Jason Stanley, himself the son of immigrants from Nazi Germany, that the author noted that democracy, because of its freedom of speech, contains within it the seeds of its own destruction, and we are definitely seeing that play out, thanks to Trumpism. (Please read that book!)

Other intolerances exhibited by Republicans include universal voter registration and easy ballot access. Our diversifying population is terrifying to white males, who see easy ballot access as a death sentence for white supremacy. Democrats don’t fear a universal franchise, they welcome it.

Republicans are intolerant of non-Christian religions and voters, while ignoring Jesus’ teachings about serving the poor and needy. They are intolerant of diverse sexual orientations and preferences and of a woman’s right to choose. The list goes on. As I said, the dominant theme is intolerance.

I’m not a psychologist, but I’m of the belief that intolerance is built on insecurity. Republicans are made insecure by the growing presence of diverse races and religions in our “melting pot.” Insecurity is a close cousin of fear. Republicans build their intolerant base by playing to their fears, whether economic, social, or other. My fear is that they’ll succeed.

My thanks to the readers who support this column through my GoFundMe campaign at www.FundTalkingTurkey.com.

 

There’s Only One Woman for the Job

It has been widely reported that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wants to pick a woman — preferably a woman of color — as his running mate. And it has been widely reported that Michelle Obama has no interest in being on the ticket — but I hope she succumbs to a draft.

Michelle is probably the only person, man or woman, who will give “Sleepy Joe’s” campaign the energy it sorely lacks right now.

The documentary about her book tour for “Be-coming” was released last week on Hulu. It reminded Rita and me of two things — Michelle’s deep commitment to the values and policies of her husband; and how much the American people love this woman. Her book has sold 20 million copies and is still on the best seller lists. Rita and I loved it. She filled entire stadiums during her book tour. It is because she’s so authentic and real, unlike the current president. She would so energize the campaign.

Yes, Michelle has said she does not want to be a politician. She hates campaigning. But she is appalled, like us, at what the Trump administration has accomplished. She needn’t do much campaigning. All she needs to do is be interviewed a lot.

If Biden is to win, he must choose her for VP. If he waits until the August convention to name her, she will only have to campaign for a couple months.  I want to believe that her love of country will overcome her dread of politics, recognizing that without her on the ticket, it's less likely Biden will defeat Donald Trump. 

I'm drawn to post regularly about politics

I am recasting this blog as my personal blog, now that all my real estate postings are at www.GoldenREblog.com.  If you're not interested in what I have to say politically, you may want to unsubscribe!

The reason I feel the need to write about politics (and journalism) is that I don't feel that the Democrats and the media are doing a good job of providing perspective on what is happening, both within and about the Trump administration as well as other matters.

To give just one example, remember when Ford said they were going to stop making cars (except the Mustang) in America and concentrate on trucks and SUVs?  The media parroted that narrative, which might more accurately have been that "Ford is moving its car production to Mexico and elsewhere, except for the Mustang."  After all, I can't imagine that they won't manufacture such best sellers as the Taurus, Focus and Fiesta somewhere. The official narrative was probably designed to avoid criticism from Trump about moving manufacturing out of the country, and the media bought into it. The Democrats didn't pick up on it at all!

Regarding the Russia story, I have some background I can bring to bear, having studied Russian during the Cold War (in prep school), and having traveled to the Soviet Union four times - once in 1978 as a tourist with fellow MIT alumni, twice in the late 1980s as a "citizen diplomat" with the Center for Soviet-American Dialogue, and one more time as a businessman negotiating a joint venture with a Soviet ministry.  I have a perspective on the KGB's methodologies that many journalists lack.  I will be writing about disinformation then and now and even about sex as an espionage tool, similar to what was used against Trump during the Miss Universe event in Moscow.

So stay tuned.  I may be posting rather often, commenting on what's in the news -- and there's a lot in the news every day!