Althouse: "So when people look at Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, with their heavy accents and awkward hairstyles..."

March 14, 2016

"So when people look at Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders, with their heavy accents and awkward hairstyles..."

"... they see themselves (sure Donald Trump was born wealthy, but he has a distinct nouveau riche affect; he can hardly be described as patrician). And when people mock them for their hair or their straightforward manner of speech, it channels every cultural slight these voters have faced in the past decade. Sadly, this is unlikely to get better before it gets worse; this growing cultural divide shows no signs of abating."

From "The Perils and Promise of Authenticity," by Sean Trende in Cato Unbound.

38 comments:

Dan Hossley said...: I think it better to mock them for their lunatic ideas.; 3/14/16, 4:52 PM
n.n said...: I follow the religious/moral and rational maxim: judge individuals by the content of their character and not their incidental features. To that end, since reality is the preeminent representative of imperfect, it is therefore necessary to maximize correlation of principles and fitness.; 3/14/16, 5:04 PM
cubanbob said...: The author admits he doesn't know any of these people personally, really can't relate to them (as he admits his job can't be outsourced), he realizes they are in fact the numerical majority of the population and he knows his is the superior moral position but can understand them in an albeit condescending way. Mighty white of him.; 3/14/16, 5:08 PM
Rob said...: Trump can festoon his Manhattan apartment with as much gold as he likes, he's still an Outer Boroughs kid. Fordham student who transferred into Penn. Noveau riche. Arriviste. Poseur.; 3/14/16, 5:20 PM
Sebastian said...: "this growing cultural divide shows no signs of abating" A little late to the Putnam-Murray party. But Sanders attracts a younger, hipper pro-socialist true-believer crowd--believers in the kind of socialism that takes for granted the existence of successful capitalism. Like all politics of resentment, the Trumpian kind will come to naught, except insofar as it stirs more resentment.; 3/14/16, 5:21 PM
jg said...: "he has a distinct nouveau riche affect; he can hardly be described as patrician." Does he? Can't he? I don't trust people who claim to be sensitive to such distinctions. I see some loser shut-in jocking the *classy* old money. It's hardly Duck Dynasty vs. Rockefellers. Lots of intellectual fakers out there. Hollow bombast. What an embarrassment of a sentence and a thought.; 3/14/16, 5:24 PM
jg said...: Who is this Trump? Do you know him? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjAb2OPot6Q; 3/14/16, 5:26 PM
jg said...: Trump? What Trump? [nailed it, cubanbob]; 3/14/16, 5:27 PM
cubanbob said...: Jonathan Graehl said...
Trump? What Trump? [nailed it, cubanbob]

Noblesse oblige my man, noblesse oblige or to put in a more common man's vernacular Mr Trende (gotta love that name-its almost theatrical for the piece) is espousing on The White Man's Burden and the Need For Understanding Of The Little People By Their Betters.; 3/14/16, 5:44 PM
Paco Wové said...: Proles in the Mist, by Sean Trende

An exploration of deepest, whitest Flyover Country: a multi-part serial; 3/14/16, 6:04 PM
Susan said...: Hope Mr. Trende gets his shots before he ventures out into wildest middle 'Merica. Those yokels could be harboring any number of horrid diseases

Have you SEEN the Walmart shopper photos? Those people could have ANYTHING.; 3/14/16, 6:45 PM
mccullough said...: The news and entertainment industry in the U.S. is tilted to the views of the coastal elites. So is our college and university system.

But reality TV programs are geared much more to the average American viewer.

I'm surprised but not shocked at how educated progressives have whipped themselves into a frenzy and panic over Trump. They are really out of touch people.; 3/14/16, 6:57 PM
gadfly said...: Garry Trudeau proves that not everyone likes Donald.; 3/14/16, 7:34 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: Fascinated by the whole "politics of resentment" assumption, like Trump supporters are all just Rusr Belt schlubs with a remote in one hand and a PBR in the other. From what I'm seeing that's not even close to reality. You might just as well call it "the politics of repulsion at the incompetence and lawlessness that's routinely foisted upon us" or the politics of being tired of goose-stepping motherfuckers telling us what to say and do". I don't think the polls begin to show the depth and breadth of Trump's support but, hey, every hopeful partisan thinks that.; 3/14/16, 7:56 PM
traditionalguy said...: Class. Finding class is a David Brooks wet dream.

It comes from the Land Owners class ruling England where everyone was one of 500 of the Lord, Duke , or Baron Class, or all the rest who were peasants, with a sprinking of urban gentry and Lords who bought Clerical Titles from the Pope in London and a few commercial/Cathedral towns.

So until you are one of the upper 5% that graduated from Kings College Cambridge at Oxford, Englang, just give it up and be an American Scots Irish. That has it's own rules of Leadership class. Captain Harry Truman will do us just fine. He was as Jacksonian as Trump and Old Hickory put together.; 3/14/16, 8:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Breitbart has become an arm of the Trump Campaign, said Ben Shapiro on the Megyn Kelly show. Four resignations. No violence associated with the Trump campaign, eh?

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/breitbart-reporter-involved-donald-trump-incident-resigns-37633748

"The Breitbart News reporter allegedly roughed up last week at a Donald Trump press conference has resigned from the conservative website, saying that she can't work for an organization that doesn't support her, and three other news employees followed her out the door.

Michelle Fields, who said that she was grabbed by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as she attempted to question the candidate last Tuesday in Florida, was joined in her resignation by Breitbart editors Ben Shapiro and Jarrett Stepman, along with national security correspondent Jordan Schachtel.

Breitbart chief public relations representative, Kurt Bardella, dropped the company as a client on Friday."; 3/14/16, 8:43 PM
walter said...: Oh..just knew trad guy would surface with a Scots reference.
But..how many generations does the "riche" have to be before it's not "nouveaux"?; 3/14/16, 8:51 PM
grimson said...: Trump never seems to dress particularly well, and I have always wondered if that was intentional for some reason. Maybe that is part people's identification with him as well.; 3/14/16, 9:03 PM
traditionalguy said...: Why not mention American Culture. The post is about ideal looks becoming common look hairstyles.

Do you prefer the Robert Redford look? It's the cool WASP look. Or how about the Clint Eastwood look? It's the common WASP look.; 3/14/16, 9:07 PM
walter said...: Oh..I wonder what Fields'question regarding affirmative action was...; 3/14/16, 9:07 PM
walter said...: trad guy: WTF?; 3/14/16, 9:08 PM
walter said...: Dunno Amanda..does she have a pattern or something

Sandy Schneider
Michelle Fields had accused Allen West of Groping her a few years ago, then walked it back.
Like · Reply · 45 · Mar 13, 2016 11:28am · Edited
Maxine Abbott · Kennebunkport, Maine
She also accused NYPD of assaulting her during Occupy Wall Street. From what I saw on the video, the officer was helping her up!!; 3/14/16, 9:14 PM
walter said...: TG: When you speak of "American Culture" I think of my father..who when I asked who we were ..said like his father said: "American".; 3/14/16, 9:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Of course, blame the victim. Do you wonder why Rrepublicans will lose even more of the female vote this November? Between Trump and his misogyny and of those who carry his water and those who make excuses for the violence, Democrats will win in a landslide. Who knows maybe West did grope her and she wanted to save her career in the conservative media and let it drop.

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/how-trump-rubio-cruz-would-fare-against-clinton-november-n534191

"Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would handily defeat Donald Trump in a general election match-up, while a clash between Clinton and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would be a toss-up, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The poll shows that Trump, who frequently boasts in interviews and campaign appearances that he would beat Clinton in November, would lose a one-on-one contest against her by double digits. In a head-to-head fight, Clinton gets the support of 51 percent of registered voters compared to 38 percent for the real estate mogul.

For Sanders, the margin of victory would be even greater, the poll shows.

The Vermont senator gets 55 percent support in a hypothetical two-person race against Trump, while the GOP front-runner would get just 37 percent."; 3/14/16, 9:36 PM
Drago said...: Amanda: "Between Trump and his misogyny...."

Amanda takes a little timeout from her islamo-fascism apology tour to lecture us all on misogyny.

Unexpectedly.; 3/14/16, 9:55 PM
walter said...: "Who knows maybe West did grope her "
If that's what you bring..; 3/14/16, 9:56 PM
walter said...: Hey Amanda..Bernie is only a bit less stupid/tone deaf (but pmore wrong)on this:
UNDER HER PLAN, ELECTRICITY RATES WILL NECESSARILY SKYROCKET. Hillary: ‘We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.’ As you can see in the video at link, as one Twitter user notes, “The worst part is how she smiles about it.”
In January of 2008, Barack Obama’s ideology, a toxic blend of environmental correctness, punitive leftism and crony socialism caused his mouth to infamously form the words, “If somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them…Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”
He said that while speaking to the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle. Because the editors at the Chronicle were either (a) in the tank for Obama, (b) agreed with the idea, or (c) too stupid to realize what a front-page scoop they’ve been handed or (d) likely all of the above, Obama’s statement was hiding in plain sight within an hour-long video of his interview that the newspaper uploaded to their page at the Brightcove video distribution platform until an enterprising blogger found it and cut a brief clip highlighting his promise, and it went viral in the late days of the 2008 campaign, too late to influence the election. But it certainly made for a double-whammy when combined with future “Energy” Secretary Steven Chu’s Kinsley-esque gaffe when speaking to the Wall Street Journal in September of 2008 that the administration was also seeking “to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” which also flew under the radar as the financial meltdown* dominated headlines that month.
But voters have no excuse this time — Hillary is openly stating, early in the election cycle, that she plans to destroy industries and put people on the unemployment line. (Which is an updated and targeted version of her promise in 2004 that “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”) If you vote for her and your electrical bill increases, or you’re in an industry’s she’s targeting for destruction and out of work, well — she warned you herself what was coming.
* Itself a late-arriving hangover from the Bill Clinton era.
16
Posted at 6:50 am by Ed Driscoll

DoctorOfLove
She thinks her fellow americans in flyover country are stupid, and she's daring them to prove her wrong. "I'm going to take away your jobs, and you are so stupid, you will still vote for me."

Unfortunately, about half of them will prove her right.
14 hours ago Reply Like (5) Link To Comment • Report Abuse
WhizdBiz2
You have to give her one thing, she's got balls. However, I doubt she would go over to Eastern Ohio and say that. Staying in the urban areas is safer, for all the city dwellers who think electricity comes from the outlet, with no thought how it got there.
14 hours ago Reply Like (3) Link To Comment • Report Abuse
tempo150101
Hillary's speech was in Ohio.

Between her thinking that yelling into a microphone makes for a rousing speech and her numerous tone deaf faux pas, this woman has no business running for President.

I though this IDIOT was from Pennsylvania and Illinois!!! Doesn't she know that Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia are COAL MINE COUNTRY? This woman is beyond stupid.; 3/14/16, 10:03 PM
walter said...: The practical implications of bone-headed green/warmer policies have a way of shutting them down.
The arguments for unicorns just don't garner the necessary warriors...; 3/14/16, 11:00 PM
Brando said...: I like the theory that Trump is a poor man's conception of what they would be like if they were rich. Putting their name on everything, covering everything in gold trim, constantly talking about their money, having the sort of hairstyle you could only get away with if you're too rich to care. Usually people born into a lot of wealth and connections (with private schools and all) tend to be more understated about their wealth, but Trump sort of acts like a late-stage lotto winner.

Sanders seems like a guy running a deli.; 3/15/16, 5:22 AM
Jaq said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/15/16, 5:32 AM
Jaq said...: I'm not sure that Sanders could run a deli.; 3/15/16, 5:33 AM
Jaq said...: those who make excuses for the violence

Are you talking about the people who overlooked the thousand rapes and sexual assaults that happened in a single evening in the Cologne train station on New Year's Eve, largely committed by "migrants" of Syrian origins? Is that the kind of excuse for violence you are talking about?

Or is it more Sanders' version of Trump supporters had it coming?

I am just trying to keep straight what excuses you were discussing.; 3/15/16, 5:36 AM
Jaq said...: I like the "Lead Essay"

Democratic politics requires not only compromise, but some degree of incoherence. Politicians naturally strive to create winning coalitions, but sometimes that can mean promising the impossible or simply just the mutually incompatible. We may hate this fact, and yet it is not so clear how to do anything about it.

Well we have to lie to get elected! How else will we get the power to do what we want?!? This is why I refuse to call the Democrat Party "democratic."; 3/15/16, 6:15 AM
Brando said...: "I'm not sure that Sanders could run a deli."

I never said it was a successful deli.; 3/15/16, 6:19 AM
John Henry said...: Amanda,

In another thread you asked Michael K to stop commenting on your posts. I don't speak for Michael but I do speak for myself when I say Fuck You!

This is an open commenting blog, we all have the right to comment on any note we want subject only to Ann's occasional moderation.

I don't comment much on your notes since I find them unbelievably sophomoric. As in 10th grade, not college. You have some strong competition here for being sophmoric but you seem to be leading the pack.

For example, your notes here and other threads about Trump. You and your fellow progressives must be scared shitless that Trump is going to pound Hilary like a rented mule once he turns his guns on her. And there is nothing, not a single damn thing, she can do about it.

Hence you need to stop Trump now with an all out effort including attempts at physical violence as we saw Friday is Dayton(?)

Have there been any polls so far that have been right about Trump? Since June all we've seen is "He's peaked. All the polls show it. He can't go any further. This thing with (fill in the blank) is going to turn people against him"

And yet he just getss stronger.

I know you are a loyal Repo. I know that if Kasich, or some other "reasonable" Repo were the candidate you would vote for him, right? (Are you old enough to vote?)

You really think Hilary has a chance against Trump once he gets going? People been throwing everthing against Trump and nothing sticks. Nobody has thrown anything at Hilary yet.

This assumes that she is even the candidate. I suspect she is but would not bet large sums in favor of her getting the nomination.

Suck it, Amanda.

John Henry; 3/15/16, 7:24 AM
John Henry said...: I hope nobody reads the above note as complaining about Amanda posting here. I am all in favor of her being allowed to.

John Henry; 3/15/16, 7:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Well fuck you right back John Henry. As an open commenting blog, I will respond to rudeness with rudeness regarding Michael K or you, or anyone. So, go fuck yourself once again. I'm a loyal "Repo"? Huh? If you mean Republican, hell no. I'm a Democrat who would vote for Kasich against Hillary if he was the R nominee. If Sanders is the Democratic nominee he gets my vote, I've said this a few times now, get it straight. As for being sophomoric, your "fuck yous" and "suck it" most certainly makes you appear the epitome of maturity.

I need to "stop Trump with violence"? Are you drinking this early in the morning?? I've never been anywhere near Trump, lol.

I'm all in favor of allowing John Henry to continue to comment despite his incoherent comment above.
---------------
LOL, that was a stranger encounter.; 3/15/16, 9:39 AM
Jaq said...: The wifey and I have decided, we are voting for Kasich today.; 3/15/16, 11:42 AM