Another day, another attempt to appear conservative while unwittingly playing into the narratives set by the Left, repeated often enough and long enough that people don't realize they are narratives anymore. That is, everything is awesome, the long term trends you see are in your head, American is a nation of immigrants, diversity is our strength, and all we need to do next November is make a decision between two rational, moderate candidates.
Don't get me wrong: NRO still runs many great articles and does fairly well at attacking the Left. But NRO also has a very strict line that its brand of conservatism won't cross. In the case of articles like today's from Jim Geraghty, we see exactly where that line is and why NRO can't be the rallying point it thinks it is.
Before reading the author's words, keep in mind, as I point out below, that the real reason this article was written is because places like NRO are pissed off at Trump's success. They are worried this is their big chance to get in the White House and that Trump will disrupt their neat little corporate-sponsored, modern version of conservatism and they'll lose the election.
National Review's newest article, entitled, "Sold Out and Dismayed: How a Once Well-Respected Conservative News Outlet Contends With a Threat to Its World View"
[Jim Geraghty's words in italics, mine in bold.]
The American Right is divided between those who think our country has serious problems and those who think it is teetering on the edge of collapse. Donald Trump’s rise has been fueled by the latter group, which sees itself as Cassandra, accurately surveying and desperately trying to revive a “crippled America,” as Trump titled his book.
As with the Republican establishment in Washington, there's always a profound disconnect between how traditional, conservative white America thinks and how people like Jim Geraghty think they think. And then these people sit around with one hand on their dicks and the other hand scratching their heads when they lose elections. Of course, they will also take credit for whatever Congressional seats they gain on the backs of grassroots conservative movements.
It's not that Donald Trump supporter's believe we're about to collapse, Jim. It's that they believe we are severely trending in the wrong direction and every other Republican candidate lacks the spine to do anything about it. Why is this so hard to figure out?
[Geraghty continues, now picking on a recent column by Diana West of Breitbart.com.]
West’s first point on the path to extinction is a “demographic transformation.” The United States is 77 percent white, 13 percent African American, about 17 percent Latino, and 5 percent Asian. Those numbers will change in a generation; staid demographers and rhetorical firebrands alike refer to it as the “browning of America.” West and others assert that a majority-minority United States will be a lesser country — less free, less prosperous, less safe. At heart, they believe that what gives America its unique strengths is a population that is predominantly European in heritage.
Mr. Geraghty summarizes Ms. West's column well enough. Of course, he's just setting it up to tear it down, never considering that every country in HISTORY with a majority-minority situation like ours devolved into racial tensions, ideological disunity, and civic instability.
But if you think a strong national defense, strong family values, free-market economics, and respect for the rule of law only benefit white America, and can only be preserved by them, you’re out of your mind. Try telling the 233,000 African-American members of the military that they’re incapable of keeping Americans safe. Tell the 42 percent of Asian-Americans who profess faith in Christ that their lives don’t preserve and promote Judeo-Christian values. Tell the 55,000 Hispanic police officers that they’re culturally incapable of upholding the rule of law. Tell the immigrants starting 520 new businesses per month that they can’t strengthen American capitalism. According to apocalyptic conservatism, Clarence Thomas, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Thomas Sowell are part of the problem, not the solution.
Straw man argument on full blast here. Who is saying American society doesn't benefit non-whites? No one is saying that because that's precisely why they come here! Who said African-Americans are incapable of keeping America safe? Trump hasn't. Who said anything about blacks at all? They've been American longer than many white families. And who said Hispanics can't uphold the law? It's not a question of ability but a question of how well immigrants, as a whole, can assimilate to our culture (on average, not very well). Why would that be a concern? Because we can look at any nation run by the same people we're trying to import and those nations suck ass.
Why does Geraghty think these statistics he quotes even matter? Anecdotal evidence is not enough to make an argument about a majority. (Why do I even have to write that?) Geraghty is not doing anything other than intentionally distorting Trump's message to make his points. It's pathetic. These stats and the way they are framed are there solely for playing to his crowd. Something people can look at and say, "Yeah! That's right! You tell 'em, Jim!" But really he's just tossing bones to a pack of loyal dogs.
The fact that SOME of the immigrant population over the last few decades has assimilated to American values is not sufficient evidence for importing even more of them. It also has nothing to do with the claim that American values/traditions/institutions were created and spread by a white, Christian population. Do we really want to go down the road where I start quoting all the statistics showing immigrant populations are VASTLY different than the traditional American white ethnicity? Not just in lifestyle nor educational attainment but in beliefs and traditions as well? Because you won't like those statistics, Jimmy. In fact, that conversation fits the definition of a discussion we're afraid of having -- a concept you will later belittle.
Ol' Jim Geraghty sees in black and white only. No color, am I right, Jim? No differences between the races. No reason to ever argue that people, in general, should stay in their own goddamn countries. Because the rest of the world disagrees with you, Jim. Even in America we disagree (at least implicitly) as we segregate ourselves into different cities, neighborhoods, schools, and social circles.
The Doomsday Conservatives contend we’re living in a genuine dark age of oppression of speech, at a time when Alex Jones is on 160 stations, Glenn Beck has his own television network, and Mark Levin’s books repeatedly top the New York Times bestseller lists. West concludes that the crisis she sees took hold when the American People “lost our nerve to even talk about immigration or Islam.” Look around you. Do you see a country that is afraid to discuss immigration or Islam?
Yes, Jim, that's exactly what I see. I see a government that covers up and misconstrues immigrant crime and welfare usage. I see news networks that won't mention how all our employment gains since 2008 were in non-native workers. I see leadership in Washington that targets white on black crime while ignoring black on white crime. I see TSA agents screening toddlers and old women. I see Islamic extremists killing Americans because their neighbors were too damn scared of being called racist to alert the police. I see statistics showing how many American Muslims support sharia law.
What an insulated life you must lead to not see any of these things yourself! Perhaps the reason Alex Jones, Glenn Beck, and Mark Levin all have a reach far more broad than yours is because they notice things that you do not?
It’s a bit like when Leftists insist “it’s time for a real national dialogue on race” or “it’s time for a serious national conversation on guns,” when in reality these dialogues have been ongoing for decades, in the halls of Congress and on cable-news shows and at dinner tables across the country. Trump-aligned anti-immigration zealots insist the conversation is nonexistent or suppressed so as to avoid the truth: They aren’t winning the argument.
Here's a couple of differences, Jimmy: The Leftists have been getting their asses kicked statistically, electorally, and morally on the gun debate for decades but constantly reframe the debate to hide this. Americans have begged the government for immigration reform for decades but have gotten nothing except more of the same. Or did you think Paul Ryan quadrupling the number of foreign-worker visas was the result a healthy national debate? We're tired of this and so we look to an outsider who may finally change things.
The country is evenly split on whether to allow Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. But only 27 percent of registered voters support banning Muslims from entering the country; 66 percent oppose the idea. A slim majority supports the status quo on “birthright citizenship” — giving American citizenship to anyone born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ legal status. Support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants consistently sits between 50 and 60 percent.
Those who feel that stopping illegal immigration should be the nation’s top priority rarely have any idea of how few of their countrymen agree with them. Gallup recently asked voters what they see as the most important problem facing the country today. Just 5 percent said “immigration/illegal aliens.” 16 percent said “terrorism” and 9 percent said the “economy in general.”
Geraghty here employs the "proof by majority" method. The fact that few people think it's a problem is proof that it's not a problem. Wait, I'm confused. Is that how truth is determined?
Finally we get to his real message. It's not so much that the doomsayers are wrong, it's that no one gives a shit what they think. Geraghty hasn't given us reason enough to say Trump supporters are irrational hysterics but because statistics show their concerns aren't shared, they are unimportant.
Geraghty shows his true colors here. He's not concerned about the future of the country. He's concerned that his team won't win. He sees Trump as rocking the good ship Republican right when it has a chance to unseat the Democratic hold on the White House. Democrats have not been this far out of public favor for some time and Jimmy will be damned if Trump is going to spoil their chance at a victory parade.
[The article continues with a few more stats. I won't bother to quote our pal Jim but the stats ring about as hollow as the rest of the article.]
Don't worry guys, the government is totally working super hard at securing the border. Believe us this time. I know we've been quoting stats like this for decades with no results to show for our efforts, but this time it's different.
I'm not sure where Geraghty has been living all these years that he believes these statistics are evidence of a secure border but I bet that place is white, upper middle-class, and Christian.
Despite its gloom, their narrative preserves their self-image: A nation of sheep tunes out the severity of its problems, obliviously careening toward the precipice while an impassioned, brave band of outsiders recognizes the menace arriving from abroad. While even seemingly conservative lawmakers such as Ted Cruz are mesmerized by, as West puts it, a “rosier vision of Islam and immigration screening,” the faithful unite around a billionaire who’s willing to speak the truths that political correctness has so thoroughly silenced. Anyone who doesn’t see it the way they do is a loser, a low-energy clown, or something more sinister.
So rather than respond with evidence showing these claims are false, JG ridicules this faction of conservatives instead. He patronizingly admits what I wrote above -- that we won't be convinced by simply an appeal to the majority. But that's exactly what he did in his article -- appeal to the majority as evidence. So his message is now this: "Trump supporters are off their rockers because everyone knows this stuff isn't a problem. The fact that I point this out to them and still can't persuade them is more evidence of how crazy they are."
The best part of this narrative is that if Trump fails to win the nomination or the presidency, the outsiders have a ready-made explanation: the party and/or the country chose to be ostriches, heads buried in the sand as the country fell apart. It just couldn’t be that Trump and his supporters tainted legitimate concerns about border security and assimilation of immigrants with a whiff of lunatic white-nationalism.
Interesting that an article which "takes down" Trump supports offers no evidence to counter Trump supporters' claims. In fact, it boils down to the same name-calling, mischaracterizations, and appeals to groupthink used by every single anti-Trump article.
Congrats, Jim and congrats, NRO. You are a beacon of American values in these tumultuous times.
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