[Content Note: White supremacy.]
You might have heard that Trump "condemned" white supremacy. Yeah, that was garbage.
He's basically staffing an entire administration with people who have ties to white supremacy.
And guess what? His latest nominee, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, has a vile history of defending the Confederate flag.
This is a nightmare from which we cannot awaken.
Nic Dawes at the Columbia Journalism Review: "Maneuvering a New Reality for US Journalism."
Gabriel Sherman at New York Magazine: "Experts Urge Clinton Campaign to Challenge Election Results in 3 Swing States."
[Content Note: Descriptions of bigotry; violent imagery] e.c.c. at eccpoetry: "Revenge."
Also: I've got a few thoughts on the selection of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. Spoiler Alert: THUMBS DOWN.
[Content note: descriptions of white surpemacist violence and intimidation. Links may contain triggering material.]
Throughout the election season, on social media and in academic settings, I had the same argument with colleagues. Was it apropriate to compare Trump to Hitler? To Mussolini? Academics adhering to one or another of the many definitions of fascism, and those of us who saw alarming historical parallels were often shushed with the admonition that such comparisons were not to be made lightly, the correction that Trump didn’t quite match historical parallel X because of Y point, and the assertion that Trump wouldn’t win anyway.
Well. The time for academic debate about Trump is over.
James McDougall at the University of Oxford partly speaks for me in his piece about identifying Trumpism as fascism:
Discussion of fascism suffers from an excess of definition. That often, ironically, allows far-right groups and their apologists to disavow the label because of some tick-box characteristic which they can be said to lack. But just as we can usefully talk about socialism as a recognisable political tradition without assuming that all socialisms since the 1840s have been cut from one mould, so we can speak of a recognisably fascist style of politics in Europe, the US, Russia and elsewhere. It is united by its espousal of a set of core ideas.The theatrical machismo, the man or woman “of the people” image, and the deliberately provocative, demagogic sloganeering that impatiently sweeps aside rational, evidence-based argument and the rule-bound negotiation of different perspectives – the substance of democracy, in other words – is only the outward form that this style of politics takes.
More important are its characteristic memes. Fascism brings a masculinist, xenophobic nationalism that claims to “put the people first” while turning them against one another. That is complemented by anti-cosmopolitanism and anti-intellectualism. It denounces global capitalism, blaming ordinary people’s woes on an alien “plutocracy” in a language that is both implicitly anti-Semitic and explicitly anti-immigrant, while offering no real alternative economics. In the US, that was perfectly exemplified in Trump’s closing campaign ad.
I highly recommend the whole thing. (And, by the way, if you are wondering how to prepare for all this, I heartily recommend Milena Popova’s “ ‘Welcome to fascism’ reading list.”)
Encouragingly, major American media outlets are recognizing that Trump’s success takes place in a world of rising global white nationalism and new alliances amongst authoritarian regimes. And when the Holocaust Museum called out a recent “alt-right” conference for what it was—--Neo-Nazism--and reminded Americans that the Holocaust began with words before action, media outlets took notice. And Trump’s threatening meeting with major media outlets and attacks on Broadway theatre are being taken for what they are, too. They are a serious threat to basic rights of expression, rather than amusing buffoonery, as too many of Trump’s outrages were presented for most of the 2016 election.
Yet too many on the left still seem to be struggling to comprehend how fascism, this foreign export, could so quickly become mainstream in the United States. In the week after the election, the Southern Poverty Law center collected over 700 hate incidents, many more than the previous three months combined. Who are these people? Jen Broderman at the Daily Banter calls Trumpists who threatened Megyn Kelly’s life “brownshirts” at the Daily Banter, while Forbes writer Dan Simon recalls Oswald Moseley’s blackshirts while challenging Trumpism’s hate. Such comparisons, I think, are useful in driving home the reality of what we face.
Yet they also provide the comforting illusion that Trump’s movement is essentially foreign. The cutesy name-bullying tactic of calling him “Drumpf,” per his family’s original German surname, was of a piece with this. His followers are outside the American norm, his thought process essentially foreign to the United States. I agree in one important respect: Nazi salutes, swastikas, and the like are an insult to the generation of Americans who fought In the Second World War, particularly those like the Tuskeegee Airmen or the 442nd Infantry Regiment who tackled fascism despite being considered second class citizens in their own country. Such allegiance to Nazism is a rejection of the best of American values, the genuine progress in the United States since 1945, and the hard work of activists to bring us forward.
Yet, I am equally aware that violent white supremacy is not some foreign value imported to the United States. Instead of borrowing “Blackshirt” and “Brownshirt,” those European labels from the early 20th century, perhaps we should look closer to home. We’ve seen this play before, and it keeps producing more nauseating sequels. Once again, the Whitesheets are marching.
The KKK and similar groups have been more prominent in this election than in any in my memory, and with good reason. Trump appeals simultaneously to white supremacy, to anti-immigrant nativism, and to conservative Protestant Christianity. It's perfectly in line with over a century of homegrown hatred. Klan doctrines have expanded to give virulent antigay hate a more prominent place than in years past, and these groups have been violently anti-abortion since at least the 1990s. In this, the Klan is only mirroring the mainstream right wing, but also maintaining its old role as moral arbiter. The hate incidents at the SPLC have anti-LGBTQ violence as the third largest category. The Klan of the 1920s presented itself as the enforcer of moral doctrine, punishing adulterous wives and alcoholic husbands alongside waging its war on the lives, bodies, and civil rights of African-Americans and other minorities. Attacking "sinful" queers is of a piece with this.
And anti-blackness has also been a truly central part of the post-election violence, making up the second largest category of hate incidences. Trump’s insistence on the essentially depraved and depressed nature of black communities speaks to something very old within American white supremacist psyches, masking its viciousness in the language of paternalism. Like the Redeemer Democrats of the Reconstruction era, Trump insists on framing black progress as black failure, and for years has framed black political leadership (embodied by president Obama) as essentially invalid, via birther conspiracies. Those comparing this election’s results to Germany in 1933 aren’t necessarily wrong, but the U.S. election of 1876 is also very instructive.
The largest category of post-election violence listed at the SPLC? Anti-immigrant incidents. Today’s anti-immigrant incidences focus heavily on Hispanic and Muslim Americans, whether actually immigrants or not. In the 1920s, Catholic immigrants as well as Italians and Poles received a great deal of the Klan’s ire (without any lessening of its anti-black violence, of course.)
It’s tempting to focus on the contradictions amongst the various forms of white supremacy that Trumpism encompasses. The KKK and its attendant movements have long embraced states’ rights as a bulwark against federal power, when that federal power is used to promote civil rights or provide benefits for people of color as well as whites. Nazism, fascism, and attendant movements emphasize authoritarian national power, seemingly a contrast to the libertarian-streaked ideologies of traditional white supremacists. But there is less contradiction here than liberals may wish for. The KKK has a long history of seizing political power at the local, state, and regional level. With David Duke breathlessly praising Steve Bannon’s position in Trump’s White House, it’s pretty easy to see their comfort with assuming federal power, as long as that power is wielded in the service of white supremacy.
Trump has not yet fully harnessed the power of his Whitesheets, and plenty of them are not formally affiliated with a hate movement. They have been here for years, attacking Black Lives Matter movements, perpetuating Gamergate, setting themselves up with the ridiculous “alt.right” label, as if there is anything “alternative” about white supremacy, misogyny, queerphobia, nativism, Christian supremacy, and the like. We do not yet have the Trump Army, the Trump Scouts, or similar paramilitary organizations directly controlled by Trump, merging the forces of his NeoNazi, KKK, and other organized supporters. Nor has he openly admitted to having any control over them. The spontaneous post-election hate incidents, however, give an indication of how dangerous the Trumpists are, even without direction or central organization. And it emboldens every prosecutor who already treats nonwhite defendants as less than human, every forced-birth protester agitating at Planned Parenthood’s door, every law enforcement agent cheering on the water hoses at Standing Rock.
Yes, it is long past time that white liberals, particularly those with straight, cis, Christian privilege, admit that Trumpism functions much like fascism and Nazism. But it is also operates a lot like our familiar, home-grown white supremacy, empowered on a national scale to come out of the shadows and stop hiding behind coded language. Too many Americans have been living in a police state for years, because of the color of their skin, immigration status, religion, or other reasons. And that has been under Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton—relatively moderate men, at least compared to the dictator wannabe we have just elected. In order to prepare for him, we must be able to look both abroad and at home.
Whether hidden under a sheet or openly “heil”-ing the President Elect, the face of Trumpism is not some faded sepia picture from decades past. It is not even the face of its insufferable leader, who will doubtless continue to weakly distance himself from those carrying out hate in his name, even as he winks at their crimes. It is a face we have known for a long time, and see every day. It is the face of our neighbors, our fellow Americans, contorted in hate and anger. Only by recognizing that, can we hope to survive.
You may have heard about Trump's various meetings with reporters over the past couple of days. Over at Shareblue, my colleague Tommy Christopher, who covered the White House for over six years, gives some crucial insight into what went down.
However bad you imagine it was, it's even worse.
I've got a new piece at Shareblue about how Donald Trump is staffing his cabinet like he's picking sides for dodgeball:
Donald Trump tweeted that he is now considering retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.As ever, there is more at the link.
This announcement comes exactly one week after Carson's business manager and close friend Armstrong Williams told The Hill that he was not interested in serving as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, because "Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he's never run a federal agency."
The same article noted Carson's name was also being floated as a candidate for Secretary of Education. Williams said that no specific position had been offered to Carson, "but everything was open to him."
And evidently remains so, despite Carson's reported assertion that he is unqualified for these roles — roles which each require wildly disparate areas of expertise. The person who would be qualified to run the HHS, the Department of Education, and HUD would be a unique person indeed.
Carson is not the only person in Trump's circle who has been floated for multiple roles. Rudy Giuliani, for example, has been alternately said to be in the running for Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Director of National Intelligence.
Trump is signaling that relevant experience is totally irrelevant to him. The only qualification he values is fealty.
Suggested by Shaker Kathy_A: "What was your most useful class that gave you lifelong abilities?"
That's a really good question! I'm not sure of the answer, to be honest, but the first thing that comes to mind is geometry. Learning how to do proofs was really influential in teaching me how to think through problems. And that has hung with me in a big way.
I've got a new piece at Shareblue about how Donald Trump's comments about not pursuing further investigations of Hillary Clinton and/or the Clinton Foundation are very troubling:
Trump is asserting a power the United States president does not have, and, more importantly, should not have.There is, as always, more at the link.
Investigations by Congress, the Department of Justice, and federal law enforcement are not governed by the president's whim.
But in both his original threat, and now in his reversal, he indicates that he believes otherwise.
It is a dually cynical bid: To reinforce the narrative that Clinton has done something worth investigating (again), and to present himself as fair and just. Neither are accurate.
There is no magnanimity in backing off a threat that never should have been made in the first place.
And his evident belief that justice turns at the wave of the president's hand is chilling.
David A. Fahrenthold at the Washington Post: "Trump Foundation Admits to Violating Ban on 'Self-Dealing,' New Filing to IRS Shows."
Sydney Ember at the New York Times: "Trump, After Canceling, Attends New York Times Meeting."
Jodi Jacobson at Rewire: "Media Watch: Trump Is Trying to Control the Press, and We Must Not Let Him."
[Content Note: Rape culture] Tamerra Griffin at BuzzFeed: "Draft Washington Post Column Claimed Trump Said He Was 'Sexually Attracted' to His Teenage Daughter."
[CN: Police brutality; images of injury] Yessenia Funes at Colorlines: "21-Year-Old Water Protector Faces Arm Amputation After Dakota Access Pipeline Police Confrontation."
[CN: Transphobia] Michael Fitzgerald at Towleroad: "Transgender Americans Voice Safety Concerns Following GOP Election Victories."
And a few things from Shareblue...
Tommy Christopher: "Every indicator suggests Trump does not have a mandate, but Clinton does."
Alison R. Parker: "Democrats resolve to be 'the barrier' and bring the fight to Trump."
Matthew Chapman: "North Carolina Republicans refuse to admit they lost the governor's race."
Me: "Careless Trump crony exposes strategic planning papers to media."
It's one I've made plenty of times before, but, given the rounds and rounds of "Democrats are doomed from playing identity politics!" garbage going around, I am going to make it again.
Hillary Clinton did not "play identity politics" by treating people other than straight, white, cis, Christian, able-bodied men as human beings.
The person playing identity politics in this election was Donald Trump.
And the only reason that it's not viewed precisely so is because we regard privilege identities as the norm from which all others deviate.
[Content Note: Anti-Semitism.]
Last night, Donald Trump continued his hostility toward the press and circumvented them entirely by releasing a video online detailing his First 100 Days agenda.
And he described that agenda as "a list of executive actions we can take on day one," which is "based on a simple core principle—putting America first."
"America First" is a phrase with anti-Semitic roots, which the Anti-Defamation League has repeatedly urged him to stop using. Instead of removing it from his lexicon, he's now using it to define a "core principle" of his agenda.
Meanwhile, CNN convened a panel last night to discuss the views of a white supremacist who isn't sure "if Jews are people."
Here is the segment. That chryon. These times. pic.twitter.com/5vXn5GM7ll
— Colin Jones (@colinjones) November 21, 2016
Y'all realize all the media calls for "understanding" Trump supporters was laying the groundwork for running segments like that one, right?
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 22, 2016
See, now it's their duty to hold panels in which is discussed the views of someone who doesn't believe Jews are human.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 22, 2016
Cool trending topics. And by "cool," I mean horrifying. pic.twitter.com/yFqKhBKHRj
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 22, 2016
I dig CNN's diverse panel discussing white supremacy. pic.twitter.com/gKNGaK9p6S
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 22, 2016
Suggested by Shaker Odalis Aiza: "What has been your most life-changing paradigm shift (as in when a popular myth is convincingly debunked)?"
Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?
Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.
Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!
* * *
Y'all.
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]
Everything is going great!
Executives and anchors from the country's five biggest television networks are meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Monday afternoon.Cool. I'm sure they won't be discussing anything we'd want or need to know about. Transparency is for losers who don't reflexively trust people with power to always do the right thing!
The meeting was organized by Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who is now a senior adviser to Trump.
NBC's Chuck Todd and Lester Holt; CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett; CBS's Norah O'Donnell, Charlie Rose, John Dickerson, and Gayle King; and ABC's George Stephanopoulos were some of the anchors who were seen entering Trump Tower shortly before 1 p.m.
A source said ABC's David Muir and Martha Raddatz were expected to attend.
Sources said the meeting would involve Trump, Conway and representatives from ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox News. (NBC's cable news channel MSNBC is included in the NBC invitation, Conway noted.)
The substance of the meeting is intended to be off the record, meaning the participants will not divulge what is said.
[Content Note: White supremacy] Joseph Goldstein for the New York Times: "Alt-Right Exults in Donald Trump's Election with a Salute: 'Heil Victory'."
David Cole in the New York Review of Books: "What James Comey Did."
[CN: Misogynoir; white supremacy] Morgan Parker for the New York Times: "How to Stay Sane While Black."
[CN: Bigotry; references to Holocaust] Arizona Bell for The Establishment: "Expatriatism in the Time of Trump: Why I Refuse to Stay in America."
Matt Shuham for Talking Points Memo: "Sanders Urges Supporters: Ditch Identity Politics and Embrace the Working Class."
There was also a ton of good stuff at Shareblue over the weekend:
Ginger McKnight-Chavers: "Trump reverses course and settles three lawsuits against his university."
Katie Paris: "#NotWithHim: Lack of support for Trump breaks new records."
Me: "Republican state legislator to propose sweeping abortion ban in Indiana."
Dianne E. Anderson: "State legislatures already clamping down on dissent and religious minorities."
Matthew Chapman: "Trump's picks for key positions hold dangerously intolerant views."
Me: "Heed the warning: Hamilton is the spectacle to conceal the scandal."
Tommy Christopher: "Lewandowski Q&A; derails to audience jeers and laughter."
Dianna E. Anderson: "Romney reverses course from Trump critic to Trump crony."
Me: "Trump is really hoping you won't pay attention to this."
Matthew Chapman: "Trump is already poised to commit an impeachable offense on day one."
Me: "Priebus will not rule out Muslim registry; says aspects of Islam 'are problematic'" and "Pence refuses to rule out torture during Trump administration."
