Politics of Hate category archive
The Bully’s Pulpit 0
David unpacks the fuss over Roseanne.
In a related piece, Melissa Burkley explains why referring to black people as apes is racist, in case you don’t get it already.
Suffer the Children 0
That’s not scripture.
That’s Republican policy.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Afterthought:
The great American bigot seems to have interpreted the Trump presidency to say, “You, just do you.”
In Their Own Words 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., lets Trump supporters have their say.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
At the Bangor Daily News, Stefano Tijerina pens a lengthy analysis of what he believes has gone wrong with news coverage. He suggests that the primary issue is not “fake news,” but a much broader one of “useless news,” arguing that accuracy and well-reasoned analysis have been sacrificed to entertainment value and ratings.
As with a piece I posted a couple of days ago, I quibble that he uses the term “media” when the context of the piece shows clearly that his primary focus is broadcast media, particularly television. Nevertheless, the piece is well worth a read. Here’s an excerpt (emphasis added):
Today global media and its professionals are motivated by market value systems that have replaced the integrity of the profession. Media relies less and less on research and more on speculation camouflaged by invited guests and “experts” that magically predict and loosely interpret the basic facts and rumors of the day. For example, instead of thoroughly explaining to the public the degree of interdependence that exists between the North American Free Trade (NAFTA) agreement partnership and the complexity of dismantling the trade agreement that has resulted in an energy, pipeline, telecommunications, infrastructure and industrial trilateral integration, media opts to water down the information in order to simplistically argue that either the Trump administration policies on NAFTA are good or bad.
Twits on Twitter, Politics of Hate Dept. 0
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports on a recent study that shows a correllation between Donald Trump’s tweets and surges in hate crimes against Latinos and Muslims. A nugget:
Follow the link for the transcript of an interview with the researchers.
The Republican Reality Sham 0
Eugene Robinson calls out the hypocrisy of Republicans’ claims to represent “real Amurricans,” implying that others are somehow ersatz Americans. A nugget:
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
Trumpled on the way to the convenience store:
Dusty Leo, 27, and Maurice Diggins, 34, have been charged criminally with aggravated assault. They also could face up to a year in prison and fines of $2,000 on the civil complaint if they are convicted of committing what prosecutors say was a racially motivated attack on the African-American as he walked toward a convenience store near his home in Biddeford on April 15.
More at the link.
A Lethal Combination 0
Robert Reich considers what led to the Trumpling and concludes that there were two main ingredients in a toxic stew. Neither alone is a sufficient explanation, but which together boiled reacted like baking soda and vinegar. A snippet:
One explanation focuses on economic hardship. The working class fell for Trump’s economic populism.
A competing explanation — which got a boost this month from a study published by the National Academy of Sciences — dismisses economic hardship and blames it on whites’ fear of losing status to blacks and immigrants. They were attracted to Trump’s form of identity politics: bigotry.
(snip)
Yet the truth isn’t found in one explanation or the other. It’s in the interplay between the two.
Follow the link for the rest.
