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Eugene Robinson:Trump's America not the only "real" America
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-america-is-not-the-only-real-america/2017/01/02/a15239aa-ced0-11e6-a747-d03044780a02_story.html?Humility is a virtue, but fake humility is a sin, or ought to be. So let me begin the new year with full-throated praise of some people and institutions that supposedly got their comeuppance in November: the mainstream media, coastal elites, share-the-wealth liberals, pointy-headed intellectuals and others said to be hopelessly out of touch with the real America. In what too quickly became the consensus view, all of the above were put in their place by Donald Trumps narrow electoral victory. We unreal Americans were demonstrated to be clueless, the conventional wisdom has ruled, and now are obliged to slink away and repent. All of this is pure rubbish. Its time to stop all the self-flagellation and raise our voices to insist that things such as knowledge, experience, qualifications and respect for objective facts still matter now, perhaps, more than ever.
. . .
To read Trumps win as some kind of sweeping victory for conservatism would be absurd. Progressive voices, loud ones, will be needed to hold him accountable. One thing we learned during the campaign is that Trumps voters unlike many congressional Republicans do not necessarily see big government as oppressive. They rely on its help.
. . .
Remember that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. I point that out not to delegitimize Trumps election but to refute the notion that Trumps America is somehow more real than mine or yours or anyone elses. The America that supports progressive policies, rejects racism and sexism in all their forms, and believes that what critics call political correctness is actually just common courtesy that America is real, too, and needs to make itself heard.
Lets begin the new year with the realization that an election was lost, but not the country and not our rights as full participants in the American experiment. Donald Trump is our newly hired employee. Lets not hesitate to tell him what to do.
. . .
To read Trumps win as some kind of sweeping victory for conservatism would be absurd. Progressive voices, loud ones, will be needed to hold him accountable. One thing we learned during the campaign is that Trumps voters unlike many congressional Republicans do not necessarily see big government as oppressive. They rely on its help.
. . .
Remember that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. I point that out not to delegitimize Trumps election but to refute the notion that Trumps America is somehow more real than mine or yours or anyone elses. The America that supports progressive policies, rejects racism and sexism in all their forms, and believes that what critics call political correctness is actually just common courtesy that America is real, too, and needs to make itself heard.
Lets begin the new year with the realization that an election was lost, but not the country and not our rights as full participants in the American experiment. Donald Trump is our newly hired employee. Lets not hesitate to tell him what to do.
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Eugene Robinson:Trump's America not the only "real" America (Original Post)
MBS
Jan 2017
OP
eppur_se_muova
(36,317 posts)1. But what we NEED to tell him is "You're fired!" ... nt
MBS
(9,688 posts)2. That too. n/t