How the P.C. Police Propelled Donald Trump

[frizzled]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/04/how-the-p-c-police-propelled-donald-trump.html

The American left created Donald Trump. When I say “the left,” I do not mean the Democratic Party—or, solely the Democratic Party. Rather, the pestilence that is the Trump campaign is the result of a conglomeration of political, academic, media, and cultural elites who for decades have tried to act as the arbiters of acceptable public debate and shut down any political expression from Americans with whom they disagree. They, more than anyone else, created Donald Trump’s candidacy and the increasingly hideous movement he now leads.


...

To understand Trump’s seemingly effortless seizure of the public spotlight, forget about programs, and instead zero in on the one complaint that seems to unite all of the disparate angry factions gravitating to him: political correctness. This, more than anything, is how the left created Trump.

I am not referring here to the daily political correctness that became normal after the 1970s... Today, however, we have a new, more virulent political correctness that terrorizes both liberals and conservatives, old-line Democrats and Republicans, alike. This form of political correctness is distinctly illiberal; indeed, it is not liberalism at all but Maoism circa the Cultural Revolution.

The extremist adherents of this new political correctness have essentially taken a flamethrower to the public space and annihilated its center. Topics in American life that once were the legitimate subjects of debate between liberals and conservative are now off-limits and lead to immediate attack by the cultural establishment if raised at all. Any incorrect position, any expression of the Constitutional right to a different opinion, or even just a slip of the tongue can lead to public ostracism and the loss of a job. (Just ask Brendan Eich.) There is a huge vacuum left by this leftist attack on speech, and it Trump is filling it.

[JHB]

1. Now that's some champion axe-grinding and finger pointing. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

2. You want some cheese with that whine? nt

[Renew Deal]

3. Racists can't be racists and homophobes can't be homophobes.

There is some truth to the PC argument when it comes to "safe spaces". But it should be unacceptable to be a homophobe, etc.

[BeyondGeography]

4. What a pile

Last edited Mon Jan 4, 2016, 09:33 AM - Edit history (1)

...But I understand the fear of being silenced that’s prompting otherwise decent people to make common cause with racists and modern Know-Nothings, and I blame the American left for creating that fear.

Excuses, excuses. They're not "otherwise decent people." They're the same small-minded crowd of white people the Right has been egging on since Nixon. Back then, it was the media and the "know-it-all elitists" who "created" them.

[tblue37]

5. FYI, that article is by a conservative who is very much against the prospect of a

Democratic president. Here is what he says later in the article:

For the record, I despise Donald Trump and I will vote for almost any Republican (well, okay, not Ben Carson) rather than Trump. I’m a conservative independent and a former Republican. I quit the party in 2012 because of exactly the kind of coarse ignorance that Trump represents.

Why would you post on *Democratic* Underground the anti-liberal, anti-Democratic claims of an avowed consevative who says the *only* Republican he would not vote for is Trump?

[frizzled]

8. Since when did "understand your enemy" become a bad thing?

If we can discuss why radical Islamic terrorists hate us, we can discuss what's driving conservative hate of "political correctness" and support for Trump.

Why would I post this? Because he's absolutely right, conservative or not. Trump is being supported out of pure spite towards what's seen as the elitist PC bullshit of the left. This article reflects what I've seen expressed thousands and thousands of times online.

These brutish leftist tactics radicalized otherwise more centrist people towards Trump not because they care so much about gay marriage or guns or refugees any other issue, but because they’re terrified that they’re losing the basic right to express themselves. Many of these people are not nearly as conservative or extreme as the white supremacists, nativists, and other assorted fringe nuts who are riding along on Trump’s ego trip. But they are cheering on Trump because they feel they have nowhere else to go. And for that, liberals—especially those who have politely looked away as such methods were employed in the public square—must directly shoulder the blame.

By the way Trump is an ideological moderate.

https://www.crowdpac.com/elections/2016-presidential-election

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/upshot/donald-trump-moderate-republican.html?_r=0

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/12/16/donald-trump-is-a-textbook-example-of-an-ideological-moderate/

[Sanity Claws]

6. "any expression of the Constitutional right to a different opinion"

This is fucking bullshit.

The rightwing nuts following trump and his ilk are the ones who cannot stand anyone representing anyone expressing a constitutional right to a different opinion. I'm thinking about freedom of religion and the 2nd Amendment alleged rights in particular.

[GummyBearz]

7. Eh...

The wording may be off, but I think the sentiment is correct. I have a few family members who have said similar things as what is said in this article. Its something to think about and understand, and then correct the root cause.

[Sanity Claws]

13. No. There is no root cause except

for the wing nuts' sense of non-ending victim hood.

They infringe on others' constitutional rights to freedom of religion and then claim they are the victims when they can't impose their religion on others.

[GummyBearz]

14. Ah, classic case of not trying to study a problem then fix it

Just rant on instead. Got it, not worth the time. Speaking of trying to be a victim, you sure built a nice setup there. Did someone religiously oppress you lately? Please tell us about it

[Sanity Claws]

16. Not study a problem?

This entire thread is about an opinion piece by a known Conservative that he pulled out of his ass. He is not advocating a study.
He is nothing but another part of the media like Fox News that has fostered a sense of victimhood among this group. There are plenty of studies out there that show that people who listen to Fox News are the least informed group.

[Brickbat]

9. Reactionaries gonna react.

[gratuitous]

10. Remember, in this context

In the context of this article, keep in mind that "politically correct" doesn't mean having respect for other people or recognizing the circumstances of their lives, but is code for "anyone different from me, the standard for all of humanity - white, male, and conservative to the extent that society is rigged in my favor."

[MohRokTah]

11. What a stinking load of crap. eom

[sufrommich]

12. What utter bullshit.Xenophobia and racism,

encouraged for decades by the GOP southern strategy made Trump. Not surprised that the GOP is trying to lay the blame elsewhere,but Trump is their monster,they made him.

[uriel1972]

15. Victim blaming is always ugly....

Blaming the victims of institutional discrimination for wanting a share of the sunlight is in a word, unforgivable.


edit for spelling

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

17. Kicking for the recently departed. nt