by Robert M. Traxler
If you are a Republican voter, are you a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic mouth breather who shops at Wal-Mart and married your sibling? No, you are not; to judge millions of Americans by the group is not fair, it is unjust and wrong.
The good folks on the far left will use those terms freely and without reservation or proof against folks they do not know. Former Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved the practice of prejudging 25 percent of all-American voters as “a basket of deplorables” to the politically correct mainstream in her failed attempt to become president.
We were told by the major media outlets that she is the smartest woman in the world and that no one was better qualified to lead our nation. To refer to folks like most of the voters in Dorr, Moline, Hopkins, Martin and Wayland as deplorable was probably not a smart move. An old adage is that people like people who like them; insulting 25 percent of registered voters (twice) may not, in hindsight, have been a good move for Mrs. Clinton.
I like to watch MSNBC, CNBC, PBS and CNN to see what the left thinks and get a counterpoint to Fox News. Hardly a day passes without the mantra of vicious disgusting names being given to anyone with the audacity to disagree with the extreme left. The term racist in bygone days was given to truly horrible people who were hate-filled and violent; today a racist is anyone who does not favor open borders or liberal concepts, a major degradation of the term.
According to CNBC.com, 95 percent of Americans have shopped at a Wal-Mart. Are 95% of Americans bad people because of where they shop? Prejudging folks, judging folks by the group, is just plain old-fashioned wrong, but the left-of-center folks will never see their prejudices because in their own minds they are not capable of being prejudiced.
A large percentage of the good folks in the area this newspaper serves are in the basket of deplorables the left constantly refers to by vile names. Come on now, really? I cannot be convinced that 20 to 60% of you are homophobic, sexist, racist, Islamophobic, ignorant, closed-minded hayseeds.
The numbers of Americans who support open borders is between 15 and 48%. It depends on who asks the question and how they ask it — even 50 percent of Democrats want border security. We are told to believe that 51 to 85 percent of Americans are racists? Perhaps, just perhaps, the term is grossly over-used?
The far American/socialist leftists have no problem in judging over one hundred million Americans as (add your own vile names here), while calling themselves inclusive and open minded. Really? The term prejudice was used in the past for a person who judged people by the group; today the term is obsolete in a society that uses wildly overheated rhetoric. We go straight to racists.
The most peculiar form of prejudice has always been the belief of many that your zip code is a clear indication of your intelligence. Americans who reside on the coasts are superior to those of us who call the middle of America home. Interesting how the liberals in our area hear the left-wing leaders and pundits say that all of us who live in Michigan are the basic issue of vile names, but feel they are not referring to them, just all the other people who live in middle America.
Will we stop the use of wildly overheated, vile rhetoric? Not a chance in hell because it works, and the Democratic primary voters truly believe it is true.
Army Bob
Another excellent article. It may be difficult to debate this one…..
Anxious to see the replies from those on the left.
Mr. Smit,
Harry,
Thank you for the comment. We will see what is said.
Using logic, reason and wisdom to make a point these days is a great way to have a label hung on you by leftists. Usually along the lines of racist, fascist or “literally Hitler”.
Honestly it takes all the fun out of destroying liberal arguments when they just get all lazy and go straight to name calling. It really seems like that’s all the shrill left can do these days.
I’m gonna go now before someone claims I am an example of “projection”. 😉
Just a couple of points, AB.
I think you’re right that we used to use the word “prejudiced” to describe racism. But that was in the day when the worst -ism we had to deal with was the one of black v. white. Now we live in a world where we’re dealing with sexism, ageism, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ+ ism, ad nauseum, so it is necessary to differentiate where race is concerned. The word “prejudiced” is now a generic term for bias against someone else for whatever irrelevant reason.
You may be onto something, though, where the word is applied for its volatility. However, and this is my opinion, racism is not really something you can apply by its degree. Just like you can’t be a little bit pregnant, you can’t be just a little bit racist. (And I still maintain that all of us are, regardless of our background.) Those who are the most obvious, vitriolic, and proud of their racism are most abhorrent. But there is racism that exists in much subtler versions and incarnations, and they need to be called out just as often as the more blatant versions.
I also take issue with the idea that all people who live on the coasts of the country think we’re a bunch of rubes in the center, in fly-over country. That just isn’t true. It’s another stereotype being put forth.
My dad used to use an expression with us girls when we accused each other of childish transgressions. Regardless of who was correct in her accusations, Pop would say, “if the shoe fits, wear it.” I know you understand what that means. If the accusation is true, own up to it and act accordingly. If it isn’t true, ignore it. One need not wear the identity someone else foists upon them. So if an east or west coast liberal refers to middle America in unfair and inaccurate terms, let it go. If Hillary talks about a basket of deplorables, let it run off your back. She wasn’t talking about you.
The easy answer to your final question is that people, as a general rule, will never give up their loaded language as long as it gets a rise. Those of us here who are read regularly can only set an example for others by using careful language ourselves. We won’t always be successful. But we can try to remain civil, as you are in this piece.
Ms. Mandaville
I must disagree that we are more plagued with “-isms ” than in the day when the worst -ism we had to deal with was the one of black v. white” we as a nation are much more accepting of the “isms” than we were in years gone by. Looking back to the 1960s we have seen many folks and groups accepted as mainstream, thinking nothing of it. It just would not have happened in our youth.
Thank you for the comment.