August 27, 2023

"Stroppy."

"Etymology: From obstropulous, obsolete slang form of obstreperous, +‎ -y.... Adjective: (UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Ornery, fractious, belligerent, or obstreperous, and hence difficult to deal with.... Quotation: 2010, Gillian Bloxham, W. Doyle Gentry, Anger Management For Dummies‎, UK edition: Even today, women who show signs of anger and who express themselves in some assertive way may be labelled stroppy for doing so" (Wiktionary).

I encountered the word "stroppy" this morning, reading Maureen Dowd's new column, "Catch the Smug Mug on That Thug!" (NYT).
[Trump] no doubt workshopped his stroppy mug-shot look in front of the mirror, trying to convey “Never surrender!” as he was literally surrendering. And in another master stroke of projection, he accused the prosecutors pursuing him for election interference of “election interference.”

Using UK/Australia/New England slang is a sign of elitism. 

“It’s violent,” Trump said of the jail where, as he let his fans know in his fund-raising email, he was given booking number 2313827. “The building is falling apart. Inmates have dug their fingers into the crumbling walls and ripped out chunks to fashion over 1,000 shanks. Just this year alone, 7 inmates have died in that jail.”

Yep, he’s getting scared.

I wouldn't interpret it that way. He's got his Secret Service protection, and these cases will drag out for years, perhaps for the rest of his natural lifespan. He's 77 already. He's not going to be assassinated by a cellmate wielding a shank. What I see in that quote is a genius communicator reaching out to the underclass of people who feel oppressed by the criminal justice system. He's empathizing with everyone who has felt intimidated by the ill-controlled institution that is the Fulton County Jail. I remember when liberals felt they needed to care about the experience of the incarcerated and saw it as a constitutional violation to augment a lawful prison sentence with the mental torture of fear and the exposure to violence from other inmates. Dowd is laughing at this additional punishment. It's painfully garish.

Here's one example of the kind of response to the mugshot I'm seeing on TikTok: 

@loco_popo2

♬ original sound - loco_popo2
I maintain healthy skepticism about the real source of videos like that. Maybe it's old white men. But scrolling through TikTok recently I saw many videos of young black men reacting positively to the Trump mugshot (and it certainly wasn't because they perceived fear in that glowering face):

@shaneyyricchh Americans break down how Trump’s mugshot will stop him from winning the election. #fyp #wow #mugger #atlanta #interview #trump #biden #shaneyyricch ♬ original sound - shaneyyricch
AND: Here are some young white men reacting on TikTok. It's comparatively lightweight, but it's not anti-Trump, just laughing at everything:
@shesgonecountry14 #trump2024 #fyp #eyeswideopen #maga #trumptrain #stopthemadness ♬ original sound - Cindy

@trevordubois

Mean muggin

♬ original sound - Trevor Dubois

86 comments:

I Use Computers to Write Words said...

Pretty stroppy of her

rehajm said...

Healthy skepticism, yah. Everyone could use a little more of it. When an Obama strategist gets the exclusive to post about a singer nobody has heard of before Try That In A Small Town (not even Google Trends) and that taped-up-bible toting singer that couldn’t have been made up better by a whole suburban office building full of strategists north of Richmond gets the dig in on the Washington Generals/GOPetc. for using his song nobody heard of…

yes, more healthy skepticism, please…

Kate said...

For some reason all the mugshots there are shot with harsh overhead lighting and from a high angle, so that the subject must look up. I wouldn't blame Trump for that picture. When you squint into a light, you tend to glower.

Kevin said...

“In an unjust society the only place for a just man is prison.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Dave Begley said...

My previous opinion was that Trump couldn’t win because white women hate him. But if Black men in large numbers vote for Trump, then Trump has a chance.

Things have changed.

Rocco said...

"[Trump's] empathizing with everyone who has felt intimidated by the ill-controlled institution that is the Fulton County Jail."

People who have ideas about the government should do 'more' have words that sound pretty. Places like the Fulton County Jail are what government actually does.

"I remember when liberals felt they needed to care about the experience of the incarcerated..."

Pecksniffs (since we're talking about words not in common usage).

Rusty said...

That second one was great. Yeah. All they did was awaken another group of citizens who know full well what the power of thew state looks like. They are going to vote for Trump. Looking at how this country is being run now. What do you have to lose?

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...

No doubt Dowd's use of "stroppy" is elitist pretension, but I suspect it's used throughout the Anglosphere except for the States. Certainly when living in Canada I heard (and used) it, along with "grotty" [from 'grotesque'], the latter especially in regard to weather [cold, humid, windy, spitting rain or ice pellets] or toddler behaviour [particularly defiant or complain-y]. Or 'tucker' for food, whereas in the States it's 'grub'. Or to 'shag' someone, rather than to 'bang' or to 'schtoop' etc.

Here in the States I grew up around words like that, via my nearby grandfather whose own father grew up as a playmate of Edward VII, but also because I have cousins in New Zealand and Canada. America is the odd-one-out, even to pronunciation of words like 'ewe', which everywhere else is a YOH, not a YOU; or PROH-cess, PROH-gress, etc, rather than PRAH-cess, and so on.

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim maguire said...

in another master stroke of projection, he accused the prosecutors pursuing him for election interference of “election interference.”

Read that sentence casually and see if it says what the Times wants it to say. Idiots.

Tom Delay flipped the mugshot script from an opposition tool to a fundraising tool. If the Democrats had any brains, they would have tried to keep them suppressed until after the election. Idiots.

BUMBLE BEE said...

I loved the caravan through "The Poor Side Of Town". Genius!
Johnny Rivers served up proud!

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Who knew that imprisoning your political opponents could be so fun!

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that MoDo is just now realizing that her party’s LawFare attacks on Trump may be, very well might be, backfiring. Saw my first Don’t Surrender mug shot T shirt last night. There is/was a MAGA revival this weekend here in Las Vegas. The crowd was giddy downstairs. No doubt most everyone there knows more about the stealing of the 2020 election than MoDo will ever admit to herself, or her leftist readers. And they were giddy with anticipation.

Trump came into the heart of the election fraud, in a 20 or so vehicle Presidential cavalcade, with police escort, all black Suburbans and the like, speeding, with flashing lights, with even an ambulance and a fire truck, right down a street with poor Blacks yelling and cheering him on. He went into the lion’s den, and bearded the lion, with the mug shot she so detests as his trophy. This was where, a bit under three years ago, Republican poll watchers were evicted for a nonexistent water break, and then the ballot counters hauled in stacks and carts of ballots from outside, and were photographed running the same stacks through the counting machines multiple times. Where hundreds of Dem operatives were deputized to file registrations, and then verify signatures and accept ballots. Etc. The fraud was massive there, because it had to be to win. And the DA is essentially charging Trump and his inner circle with daring to point it out. He dared to make it a photo op, and succeeded.

I think with this stunt, Trump has effectively flipped GA. We shall see. AZ is still reeling from an even more blatant election steal in 2022, by the architect of the 2020 election theft, certifying her own fraudulent election to be governor.she is detested in AZ. I see it flipping back. That leaves flipping MI, PA, and WI for a decent chance at winning. All won in 2020 through very visible and obvious election theft, in heavily Black counties, with Blacks very visible in the fraudulent counting of ballots. Along with Atlanta, these crooked counties share the same problems of Black poverty, drugs, crime, and violence - except that it is now significantly worse after 2 1/2 years of FJB in the WH. And that is where the battleground is probably going to be - with the Black community, for many years one the most solid constituencies for the Dems. The Blacks yelling and applauding along Trump’s cavalcade route to the court house, the Black rappers supporting him, etc, are signs that the Dems may be in trouble with that demographic. Trump’s comments about the jail he was booked into were pure political genius, aimed straight at the heart of that strategic Dem constituency. Contrast that to FJB taking a break from his Tahoe vacation at about the same time to pop over to HI for a day, to fake empathize with the survivors of the wildfires there, with a story about a fire that almost took his sacred Corvette. Which one truly understands the plight of Blacks in this country? The one who described being booked into the horrible jail, in which so many Blacks have been booked and incarcerated, or the one more worried about his Corvette, and the thousands of houses destroyed, and many hundreds of lives lost?

It should be an interesting election.

FleetUSA said...

The election is 14 months away. A lot can change.

dbp said...

"“Never surrender!” as he was literally surrendering."

Trump was literally surrendering, but only in the most trivial meaning of the word. He turned himself in as the law required, he showed no sign that he is ready to stop fighting as is the right of any accused person.

So many lefty pundits are all too willing to pretend stupidity as a way of manufacturing some kind of fault in Trump. It's patently obvious that if the arrest had its desired effect--making Trump look defeated, they would certainly have crowed about that. There is no action or demeanor which will satisfy these people.

Breezy said...

Pretty sure Ms Dowd would practice her mugshot expression if she were in his shoes. It was destined to be an iconic moment in history. Why chastise him for playing the cards he was dealt? Why do these opinionators deride common sense?

Anyway, I like the word stroppy. It reminds me of scrappy.

Temujin said...

I've seen outrage on X that some White people have commented that Black people can relate to Trump more because he's been booked. I may have even seen comments or a post about it here previously. It does sound pretty outrageous. But I have to say, over the last few days I've seen multiple videos of Black men and women liking Trump, praising Trump for coming in and looking angry, not scared about it. Being very Trump about it.

I don't know what's going to ultimately happen in this election. This is nuts on a new level. But I will say one thing for certain:
The Democrats have no idea what they're unleashing with the complete corrupt show they've put on over the past few years, and in particular, under Merrick Garland's DoJ. People in the media- the Maureen Dowd's of our world- are utterly clueless at this point. They have zero connection with the people of America. Zero, nada, nothing. They might as well be reading tea leaves to predict the weather next December 21 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. For them to play as if they have their fingers on the pulse of America is the height of haughtiness.

Bruce Hayden said...

“My previous opinion was that Trump couldn’t win because white women hate him. But if Black men in large numbers vote for Trump, then Trump has a chance.”

“Things have changed.”

It’s mostly single women who don’t like, or even hate, Trump (hello, MoDo). Married women prefer him to Biden. It’s just that the highest proportion of single women are in the Black community.

And I think the married women liking Trump works with Black women too. I have a number of Trump hats, because that is where we live right now (in Las Vegas). A surprising number of Blacks stay here, and Black women, in particular, are the most likely to complement me on my hats. What’s funny though is that in this very safe environment (with very good security) my partner just seems to naturally bond with so many Black women here. Rarely does a day go by, that I don’t find her outside talking to a black woman or two that she just met, or striking up a conversation in the elevator. The ones she bonds to are strongly religious, and fiercely protective of their families, characteristics she shares.

Mary Beth said...

She makes me want to use a slang word that the Brits seem very comfortable with but is one of the most taboo here.

rehajm said...

Dave Begley said...
My previous opinion was that Trump couldn’t win because white women hate him. But if Black men in large numbers vote for Trump, then Trump has a chance.

Things have changed.


I’ve thought this, too. Lefties are so obsessed with keeping blacks in their column they’ve flipped the justice system in favor of crime but I suspect inner city blacks must easily recognize when the justice system is railroading a guy. I mean isn’t that why the left gave up on ‘latinos’ from central and south america? Because they can all smell the bananas in a banana republic.

mezzrow said...

Dowd's a stroppy wench, so she should know. Right?

Dogma and Pony Show said...

The optics of Trump's being booked, and his mug shot taken, are obviously really bad for the totalitarians, yet vapid has-beens like Dowd tell themselves that it's really not bad because "no doubt" Trump practiced his facial expression in a mirror. Seriously, that's all you got?

And as for the business about "never surrender," let's just say mocking the powerlessness of someone under arrest is not a good look. Crowing about Trump's having to surrender and have his mug shot taken literally reminded me of when the Romans mocked Jesus as a "king" by making him wear a crown of thorns.

Owen said...

Dowd had to reach for that epithet. Not convincing or effortless. Amateur? Or just caught up in her own contempt for her subject and therefore careless?

BTW in our house my Welsh father made regular and effective use of “bloodyminded,” which overlaps somewhat with “stroppy,” although IMHO the former term describes one who is deliberately difficult, while the latter is more about inherent bitchiness.

Sally327 said...

Donald Trump, being a real estate guy, he sees this derelict building and he's thinking, let's tear this down and put up something, great something beautiful, and I can put my name on it. Trump County Jail!

It is funny, he's so cosseted (is that an elitist term?), he just has no idea! Of course the county jail is crumbling, how much money does he think the local taxpayer wants to be plowing into its incarceration facilities? That's not exactly a winning campaign strategy, vote for me, I'll build a much nicer jail. LOL

Big Mike said...

“Never surrender!” as he was literally surrendering.

@Althouse, I think you’re starting to get it, Dowdy Maureen Dowd not so much.

Bruce Hayden said...

“The election is 14 months away. A lot can change.”

No doubt it will. The Republican side is firming up, probably too early. I think that Trump may have almost sown up the Republican nomination by skipping the Republican debates, and instead going on with Tucker Carlson. It was the king and all the dwarves, with Trump and Carlson critiquing them.

I think that It’s the Democrats who have the big choices right now. FJB (or, probably, more likely, the puppeteers behind him) don’t want to give up power, and esp with the Republicans scenting blood, esp with the ever rising tide of information about the bribes he took. Are we mired down in Ukraine as a result? Is that why we let China get away with COVID-19? Etc. They might be able to push him to the side - except that his VP is Harris, who would expect to step up into his shoes. I think that they fear losing the election if they push her to the side too, to slide maybe a pretty white male face in there, like Gavin Newsome. She, as a running mate, was the cost of the nomination for Biden, but her as their nominee rightfully scare a lot of top Dems. Maybe going back into the Senate, taking Feinstein’s seat, might work. Newsome could be rewarded for appointing her to that seat with the nomination. Slick. But realistically, it’s a step down. An affront to the Black community, and esp Black women. FJB isn’t seriously setting up a campaign right now for reelection. A handful of staff in DE is all. Are they planning a Katy Hobbs election campaign, where they don’t bother campaigning, and just focus on stealing votes? It worked for her. But she was in a position to certify her own election, and did. It’s going to be very interesting watching this unfold.

Narayanan said...

stroppy vs uppity?

gilbar said...

if You are running for President, and the current Administration ARRESTS you because of that..
How, EXACTLY, is That NOT "election interference" ?? Isn't That THE DEFINITION of it?

Rich said...

It’s the face you make when you tell people you weigh 215 lbs and they all laugh because their eyes work and they’re not stupid.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Yep, he’s getting scared.

Yet Maureen is the one doing her damnedest to buck up her side. Funny that.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Lynching is a favored pastime of democrats. Doesn't matter who they lynch. They just gotta lynch.

Wince said...

It’s going to be a long 14 months for Dowd & Co. propping their guy Biden up.

(And “propping” ain’t one of those Australian contractions.)

Hopefully followed by another 48 months, or a nickel as they call it in the “stir.”

(The latter probably originated as English slang.)

Stoutcat said...

Owen said...
"BTW in our house my Welsh father made regular and effective use of “bloodyminded,” which overlaps somewhat with “stroppy,” although IMHO the former term describes one who is deliberately difficult, while the latter is more about inherent bitchiness."

Thank you for pointing out the difference between the two. I always assumed they were synonyms. But I like the idea of deliberate vs. inherent in the definitions.

Old and slow said...

I searched on X for the words "black" "trump" "mugshot" and the results were very interesting. It was an endless stream of videos of black people supporting Trump, often in very crude terms. I don't have any idea how representative of black support overall this is, but it is not nothing. If black support puts him back in the White House that would be some poetic justice. I am tired of being this entertained, but as Elon Musk says "the most entertaining outcome is the most likely one".

Bear in mind that I did not search for black support, just trump, black, and mugshot.

Old and slow said...

Come on Chuck, quit with the "Rich" shtick. It's the smug tone of your writing that gives you away. It's your defining characteristic.

Valentine Smith said...

This is what you get when you cater to the army of deranged Trump haters. The Dems knew that the army would love to see a Trump mug shot. The idea tickled them. That there is the Dems in a nutshell. They love ideas. They love theory. They love Unlimited potentiality. What they forget is the other side of the coin, that is limited actuality. All of their grand programs are wonderful in theory. The problem is and always will be reality. It’s a motherfucker. What do you expect from the party of the professional classes, most of whom were born on third base and think they hit a home run.

Iman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Narr said...

Using slang--more accurately, inventing slang--is a form of elitism, a setting apart, being first.

Grotty ('groaty') was one of my late FIL's favorite terms. I don't know if he picked it up in the UK during the war or not, but my wife's family use it extensively.

Stroppy is new to me.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Like I said before. The JC overtones are off the charts.

Getting crucified and going down to the underworld because that’s the only way to resurrection.

Alexisa said...

Ann Althouse demonstrates how accurate one's analysis can be when not infected by TDS

mikee said...

Australian idiomatic elitism? Really, mate, don't be such a _____.
How can the word filling that blank in every single reader's mind be elitist?

rehajm said...

Joe Biden is guy if they can still prop him up. There is no reason to change. They are unencumbered with the political burdens of an election and they know it. The focus will be on keeping things within the range of their contingencies…

Mason G said...

"no doubt workshopped his stroppy mug-shot look in front of the mirror..."

People like Maureen have practically been wetting their pants waiting for Trump's arrest and now that she's got what she wanted, she gets snarky about it? Ever hear the saying "Be careful what you wish for"? I guess not.

... trying to convey “Never surrender!” as he was literally surrendering.

Confusing the battle with the war, I see.

Mason G said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Skeptical Voter said...

Forget it Ann. It's MoDo---drive on.

JK Brown said...

bad-tempered and argumentative: Patricia was getting stroppy.

Let's see a man accused of not just cowering and giving up is photographed with a look of not cowering or giving up while surrendering to the bureaucracy of the state for judgement.

Indictments, perp walks, mug shots are suppose to intimidate those who the state has zeroed in on for their attention. But what if the state is the enemy, should you cower or should you maliciously comply with an argumentative look.

rehajm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

Are they planning a Katy Hobbs election campaign, where they don’t bother campaigning, and just focus on stealing votes? It worked for her. But she was in a position to certify her own election, and did. It’s going to be very interesting watching this unfold.

Sounds about right to me. That mug shot may mean a million black men voting for Trump. Black women are angrier and probably safe for Democrats. Dowd badly needs a man in her life but she would probably not survive it.

Dude1394 said...

"BUMBLE BEE said...
Lynching is a favored pastime of democrats. Doesn't matter who they lynch. They just gotta lynch.

8/27/23, 8:51 AM"

As it has ever been, democrats lynching people. Especially black people.

Yancey Ward said...

I just want to highlight this one comment because it perfectly reflects the exact same attitude Dowd displays in the essay itself:

"It’s the face you make when you tell people you weigh 215 lbs and they all laugh because their eyes work and they’re not stupid."

Dowd and Rich both know that the mug shot backfired immensely on the Left but can't just come out and admit that it did so. These sorts of essays and comments are what you are left with when your plans and hopes go up in flames, but you don't have the self-respect to admit that you fucked up. This won't be the last indictment of Trump- there will be others as we get closer to the first primary- the Left seemingly can't help itself.

I will add one other thing, though- I think Althouse is wrong- the next step will be to incarcerate Trump on a pre-trial motion for revocation of bond, and I also think one of these trials will be hurried along to convict Trump before next Spring so that he can be sentenced and jailed on a conviction. The plan is to remove him from the ballot in all the blue states so that Republican turnout is depressed enough to retake the House and retain the Senate.

Wince said...

That identification in the black community introduces an additional, pre-election wildcard in the Democrats' strategic lawfare plan: potential jury pools.

Amadeus 48 said...

Here is a link to today’s political cartoon in the Times of London. Carrying on the Trump as Jesus meme.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morten-morland-sunday-times-cartoon-august-27-2023-2w60dgbzr

Joe Smith said...

“Never surrender!”

By Grabthar's Hammer...

William50 said...

"grotty"...George Harrison, A Hard Days Night

tcrosse said...

Dowd uses "stroppy"? How twee.

Rich said...

@Yancy Ward:

Inmate No. PO1135809 is Inmate No. PO1135809

Trump is a carnival barker.

He's already hawking his mug shot on t-shirts with the words "never surrender."

Ah, you have a mug shot BECAUSE you surrendered.

Pathetic.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

Wince makes a very good point:

>> That identification in the black community introduces an additional, pre-election wildcard in the Democrats' strategic lawfare plan: potential jury pools. <<

In a trial, some jurors might now see Trump as George Floyd rather than Derek Chauvin.

phantommut said...

@Rich:

You say "Carnival Barker" like it's a bad thing.

The freaks in the tent need to be seen, whether they want to be or not.

Earnest Prole said...

Using UK/Australia/New England slang is a sign of elitism.

Thanks, professor.

rehajm said...

Imagine a scenario where the votes are counted and despite the fraud Trump is the winner. They’ve made the choice to burn every Hillaryesque-weasel contingency to get Trump…and so they go quietly?

No, they know they aren’t going to lose, plus standing laches moot…

Tina Trent said...

Sally 327: you missed the point.

I don't know if Trump intentionally went the Whitehall/"Metropolitan" route to the county jail or if it was more direct than clogging up the freeways. I suspect the latter, but it's still genius optics the way it's being spun.

I spent a lot of time on that road (notorious for murdered prostitutes) doing really stupid things -- not prostitution, but impotent social work, which is sort of like the doppelganger of pimping.

It never gets better on Whitehall and Metropolitan, not even after they changed the name to pretend it was getting better. It's where the bodies turn up in testament to decades of failed Democrat social policies, and where women don't need to run too far to find out that the flashing lights are for their son who was gunned down this time.

If Trump is able to inspire admiration for noticing the pockmarked walls of the Fulton County lock-up -- rather for being disgusted and just saying so -- he still has in him the strange incongruous genius to unite so many "diverse" people that people saw in 2016, a genius possessed by nobody writing for the New York Times or running for office, ever, anywhere.

It's powerful, righteous disgust. Decades of Atlanta and DC politicians have tried to cover up all this rot, and profit off it, and deny it, and exploit it. Trump just sees it. Nobody but Trump could do this with a mugshot.

Yancey Ward said...

Rich,

You can spin all you want, dude- the mugshot was a mistake made by Trump's enemies- just fucking admit the obvious just fucking one time in your sorry existence.

Even worse, it was an unforced error- it could easily have been skipped and even been spun as Trump getting favorable treatment. However, his enemies couldn't resist doing it- they were even bragging about how Trump would have to get a mugshot in Fulton County (If I look back over your comments the last week, would I find you bragging about it? I would say the odds are 50/50). Trump is very lucky in one regard- his enemies are a bunch of imbeciles like you who can't think even one move ahead.

wildswan said...

If they did put Trump in jail, we'd get prison reform plus he'd learn how to rap. Picture his inaugural rap from the cell block with his prisoner buddies cheering. Then he'd pardon them and they'd all get on Air Force One and fly off to the White House for a great meal. Meanwhile the prison would be undergoing reconstruction, the work being done by the Warden and State Prison bureaucrats. Community service for corruption. (There's corruption in the services for the jails - laundry, meals, clothes, bedding etc., and it's not hidden, it's just that the prisoners are powerless. Not so Trump. Mean Tweets from the Mean Streets.)

Michael K said...


Inmate No. PO1135809 is Inmate No. PO1135809

Trump is a carnival barker.

He's already hawking his mug shot on t-shirts with the words "never surrender."

Ah, you have a mug shot BECAUSE you surrendered.

Pathetic.


"Rich/Chuck" You are be commended for trying to make lemonade from the lemon that idiot DA in Atlanta created.

At some point it gets too obvious to manufacture all those fraudulent ballots. If Trump gets 20% of the black vote now because of that mug shot you and your allies will have some explaining to do.

Bonkti said...


Donny don't change your number 1135809

Jim at said...

It’s the face you make when you tell people you weigh 215 lbs and they all laugh because their eyes work and they’re not stupid.

Why are you leftists so obsessed with his weight? I mean, even before the mug shot you guys were obsessing about it. Who cares what the fuck he weighs?

Prof. M. Drout said...

Why this has the potential to be revolutionary is that a new group of white Americans is realizing what a many (maybe most) black Americans have known for years: the "justice" system, isn't.
Now I know that almost all white people play lip service to the idea that the "justice" system is skewed against black people (black men in particular), and maybe they even believe it. But that's all on behalf of other people, so there's a lack of urgency. And more importantly, there's the sense that "well, it works for the majority of the people the majority of the time, so best not to mess with it too much. We can trust those professionals. They know what they're doing."

NOW, with this Trump thing, a very large group of white people, who in the past would reflexively support law enforcement, are coming to believe what a lot of black Americans believe: that it's a lie that "if you just obey the law, you'll be fine." Instead it's: "there but for the grace of God go I."

One bit of bad luck, one instance in which you were doing something technically wrong but something everybody does all the time--driving over the speed limit, being rowdy at a sporting event, getting into an argument over something trivial--and the full weight of the system can come down on you and you will NEVER be free of it. Nice middle-class people who have never (yet!) dealt with the criminal "justice" system have no idea how stupid, greedy, dishonest, humiliating, and intrusive it is. It's not just that there's bias. Bias is the least of the problems. It's that the system cares absolutely nothing about the truth, or equality, or fairness, or consistency. It cares about what is easiest and has the biggest payoff for the people inside and running the system. Period.

I think this is resonating with black Americans (and it is, if my relatives are any guide, though they are Caribbean, and that can sometimes make a difference) because what they are seeing with Trump is what anyone who has interacted with the "justice" system has seen: what system and the people in it most love is a good old-fashioned pile-on (the favorite tactic of cowards everywhere). That's what happening to Trump, and people who have been or are related to or live around people who have been victims of the system recognize that it's a version of the constantly escalating charges that come from someone "resisting" when they're being shoved around. Piling on, and piling on still more, and then standing back with a self-satisfied look that says "Look what you made me do."

If all of this means that white Americans can find some urgency about starting the necessary task of creating a new system that respects peoples' dignity, protects peoples lives, and forces every single person wielding power to be accountable 100% of the time, then that will be a glorious revolution. And if it just gets a whole bunch of white Americans to understand how their black neighbors feel, and that they have good reasons for feeling that way, well, that will be a good thing, also.

Wince said...

Ahem, who was the one repeatedly saying over the last several years Althouse needs a "Trump is like Jesus" tag?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Rich we get it. You’re clueless. No need to keep restating your cluelessness over and over. It was apparent the first time you posted. You have never said anything other than “I’m clueless” although you do try to be creative in your plaints. But really it’s just the same self-revealing ignorance that shines through your spittle flecked takes. Who are you trying to convince, us or yourself?

Gahrie said...

At some point it gets too obvious to manufacture all those fraudulent ballots. If Trump gets 20% of the black vote now because of that mug shot you and your allies will have some explaining to do.

What if Cornell West pulls another 10% to 15%?

Mikey NTH said...

I prefer truculent to obstreperous as a description of Trump's mugshot.

Gahrie said...

Ah, you have a mug shot BECAUSE you surrendered.

Reporting lawfully to the justice system because of a summons is now surrender?

Mikey NTH said...

Or Stubborn as a Mule, for a descriptive phrase.

Joe Smith said...

As long as he doesn't want to shower with teenaged girls (let alone his own daughter) I can work around carnival barkers...

Rich said...

Here's my process for fact-checking Trump: If he's speaking, he's lying. Period. Trump's base will never believe the truth even if he is convicted on any of the 90+ charges at the State &/or Federal level.

Think about that: that's 90+ criminal charges for a former president & his base still thinks he is being wrongly persecuted.

Waiting for someone to offer up the movie: ‘2000 Mules’ as definitive proof of election fraud….

Mikey NTH said...

Obsessing over Trump's weight is like the former obsessing over how GWB said "nucular". It's a triviality, and a triviality that says more about the obsessive than the target.

Get a grip on something more substantial, your obsession is like the guy with papers pinned the wall with yarn connecting all together.

MadTownGuy said...

Saw a link to this post on Instapundit!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

You have a choice between freak show or creep show. Which will you choose? Any other vote, even for boring show, will get you and us either freak show or creep show. Which will you choose? Sad as it may seem you can only vote to avoid one. Which will you choose?

Mason G said...

"Reporting lawfully to the justice system because of a summons is now surrender?"

The left would have preferred that he barricaded himself in Mar-a-Lago and died in a shootout while resisting arrest.

They want him dead.

Leora said...

I don't think forcing Trump off the ballot would work. Everyone knows how to spell his name for a write in.

Michael K said...

NOW, with this Trump thing, a very large group of white people, who in the past would reflexively support law enforcement, are coming to believe what a lot of black Americans believe: that it's a lie that "if you just obey the law, you'll be fine." Instead it's: "there but for the grace of God go I."

No, the numbers show that black men commit more crime and the numbers incarcerated should reflect that. The problem is that black men are also subject to more suspicion even if they have not committed a crime. One of the grave injustices is shown in this case. A person can be grossly overcharged to try to induce a guilty plea and avoid a trial. This is what we are seeing in the Trump case and we know it's wrong. This soulless prosecutor, Smith, has already seen a political conviction overturned by the Supreme Court 9-0. His partner in crime, Weissmann, had the same experience in an Enron case. Did that experience cause these two to reconsider their sense of justice ? Of course not ! Smith is already overcharging in an attempt to get a witness "flipped."

We have already heard speculation that the charges would be dropped if Trump would agree to quit his candidacy.

Yancey Ward said...

Rich,

No other person would ever have been indicted on the exact same facts, and I suspect you know it but hate Trump so much that you just don't care- the ends justifying the means. That says a lot more about you than it does Trump or any of his supporters.

Craig Mc said...

"Using UK/Australia/New England slang is a sign of elitism."

Us bogans have finally made it into the elite! We love yous all!

Tina Trent said...

M. Drout: wrong.

The vast, vast majority of black citizens are not criminals. They do not want their children to become criminals or to be victimized by criminals. They flee the inner city to escape crime just as much as whites do. Sadly, crime concentrates among those left behind. A similar thing afflicts the white underclass in both rural and urban places.

The criminal justice system is flagrantly lenient to criminals, but especially to criminals in places where crime has taken over, especially cities. It has been this way for more than half a century. It's satisfying to blame the Sacklers, and may they rot in hell, but every criminal is a mini-Sackler, taking away other people's ability to live free. It takes multiple, serious crimes to even end up in prison for any amount of time, unless you jump straight to murder.

Maybe you need to live in a place like Atlanta to understand it, and you haven't lived it, but try not to play the preening white savior, whatever your race. We have half a century of black leadership in government, the courts, and police chiefs -- much of it unredeemably corrupt, with shining exceptions, none of whom are mayors -- all propped up by rich white liberals who wander through life profiting off the conditions they have helped create in poorer communities.

Getting their rocks off.

The victimization isn't racial but spatial. Achievers flee the high crime areas. The unfortunate, damaged, and predatory are left behind. Enormous resources are spent on the worst people while the most innocent are ignored and suffer.

Trump is ham-fisted when faced with this, but at least he calls it like he sees it. Unlike the white leftist saviors, however, he looks at the pockmarked walls and asks all the rich black and white city leaders: how the hell could you let this beautiful city decay this way?

He isn't rooting for criminals, though he is poaching a certain part of the electorate that does, and that is what is enraging to liberals, black and white.

He's also doing it the way they did it in New York City, not Atlanta. He's a walking object lesson in broken windows policing. That is enough to ask if one person. And it's true: wherever he land, he will still be Trump.

Rusty said...

Doc said,
"Rich/Chuck" You are be commended for trying to make lemonade from the lemon that idiot DA in Atlanta created."
Which should be all you need to prove it isn't a lawyer. Just another lefty grifter trying to insert mediocrity into an otherwise intelligent conversation.

David Mitchell said...

its quite a heavey blog but gives us plenty to think about, i do blogging too