So begins
a Harper's essay by Thomas Frank (whose book "Listen, Liberal" I read and admired). He continues:
[I]magine his disastrous rule reaffirmed by an enthusiastic public, giving him four more years to insult and offend and enact even more poisonous measures. Reader, it could happen.... Imagine him, Reagan-like, lifted up on a wave of public adulation. The economy is firing on all cylinders; the ships of many nations are parading through New York Harbor; the fireworks are going off overhead and Trump is announcing that America is back, standing tall....
Skipping to the ending:
Before you close this magazine, chuckle cynically, and take a sip of gin, think for a second about the cultural and political delusions a roaring economy and rising wages would surely generate... Perhaps Donald Trump, elevated to the presidency in 2016 as an act of protest by what he called the “forgotten men and women of our country,” will actually appear to come through for them. Like Bill Clinton with his laserlike economic focus, Trump will seem to have delivered on what he promised: an economy that finally looks good for his supporters. For once, they will conclude, politics worked.
Cue the victory flotilla in New York Harbor. Cue the hundred-year night.
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Oh, how I love it when they fretfully lose their minds.
Something usually beats nothing.
The Dems have to produce and nominate an actual person who can beat Trump.
Who's that gonna be?
It's the false consciousness generated by all that money falling into unworthy hands.
Well, maybe. Or maybe Trump has the better medium-term solution to the problem posed by free mobility of labor and capital in a world characterized by vast continental disparities in income and wealth? Not that I see he has a good handle on the problem, since he tends to lump Europe and Asia together. But sometimes a half truth is better than no truth at all.
A hundred year night? That doesn't sound like making America great again! Better make that gin cocktail a double.
I cannot conceive of an Earth that contains enough bivalves producing enough pearls for the Franks of the world to clutch.
Deplorables allowed to partake. Oh the indignity.
The Democrats could help. They could nominate Creepy Joe Biden. Or better yet, Hillary once again!
I didn’t bother to read the article. What exactly was supposed to be disastrous about Trump in Frank’s economic success hypothetical, other than the fact that he’s boorish and just not Frank’s sort?
”Before you close this magazine, chuckle cynically, and take a sip of gin, think for a second about the cultural and political delusions a roaring economy and rising wages would surely generate... Perhaps Donald Trump, elevated to the presidency in 2016 as an act of protest by what he called the “forgotten men and women of our country,” will actually appear to come through for them. Like Bill Clinton with his laserlike economic focus, Trump will seem to have delivered on what he promised: an economy that finally looks good for his supporters. For once, they will conclude, politics worked.”
Thomas Frank still cluelessly wondering what’s the matter with America.
Kansas Thomas Frank still on the yellow brick road to looney tunes-ville.
I suspect Thomas Frank had at least the tip of his tongue in his cheek.
"Cue the victory flotilla in New York Harbor. Cue the hundred-year night."
Memo to Franks, "You're gonna need a bigger boat"
Little too early for sober Leftwing "horserace" pieces. Trump has a lotta work to do on the policy front, including repairing some of the damage from the "Omnibus" spending clusterfuck.
Man; I hate the use and misuse of the phrase "laserlike"!
Trump makes an easy target because he can be obnoxious.
However, we heard the same end-of-the-world lamenting when Reagan and Bush were in the WH.
The Resistance is a cute way of framing it in modern terms for hipster socialists, but it's been going on for a long time.
The ruling class of media "experts", the education establishment and government bureaucracy do not like to be challenged. They fight dirty and they fight hard.
Frank believes in the coincidental man, selectively. Perhaps everyone does. Something about correlation, science, or its image.
Do I think that Trump can get re-elected? Absolutely.
I see absolutely no evidence that our "ruling classes" see their communal imbecility & incompetence as being an important reason that Trump won in the first place. They just want to triple down on stupid, & Trump just seems to bring out their worst for public display.
Until these guys look in the mirror & ask themselves "What did we do wrong?" & answer that question with something other than "The electorate just couldn't see my intrinsic wonderfulness", then there's a very good chance we'll get more Trump or someone exactly like him.
Professora, is this Frank calling for listening liberals to person all stations?
Thinking the Unthinkable, 2018 edition
I wonder what upsets Mr Frank about "the economy booming and America standing tall?"
"Cue the victory flotilla in New York Harbor. Cue the hundred-year night."
I bet that phrase would mean something to me if I were all liberal-arsty edumacated about Star Wars.
"cultural and political delusions"
res ipsa loquitur.
The author was frank about wanting to see Trump and average Americans fail. I’m surprised he gets away with it. Dems also make no secret that they favor and prioritize non-citizens. It’s the California model of single-party rule.
I read it -
The guy is, among other things, crediting Trump with noticing a bunch of things, such as wage stagnation, except that he apparently noticed them in some ignorant, uneducated way, not in a well articulated, credentialed way.
The thing reeks of snobbery.
@Ron: The oyster bay is his world.
You have to wonder what on earth Frank has to be so snobbish about.
He is from Kansas after all, and went to U Kansas.
Blogger buwaya said...
He is from Kansas after all, and went to U Kansas.
So, salt of the earth then, you coastal elitist scum.
Frank is a semi-reasonable lib but he, like everyone in politics today save Trump, is essentially a coward. The monster of PC left has been released and will not go down until someone (Trump?) slays it.
"He is from Kansas after all, and went to U Kansas."
The outsider from the heartland needs to put twice as much effort into demonstrating he's not one of those deplorable people. Starting at Lawrence (or Austin, Boulder, Missoula, etc.)
Or they could just kill him, which this kind of thinking invites
"[I]magine his disastrous rule reaffirmed by an enthusiastic public, giving him four more years to insult and offend and enact even more poisonous measures" So "disastrous rule" and "poisonous measures" bring on a booming economy? Let's have some more of that disastrous poison.
Anyway: apart from his deplorably clownish manner of governing, what exactly is so disastrous about his rule? What exactly are his "poisonous measures"? Sure, he has done a few thing libs don't like--signed a tax cut, appointed Gorsuch, cut some regulations here and there. That's disaster? Where's the poison? There's plenty of anti-conservative poison in the Omnibus monstrosity, yes--but I take it that's not what Frank dislikes.
Of course, Frank is just mobilizing his side. Not that progs will listen. Which is Trump's main, perhaps only, advantage.
I’m starting to believe that guys like Frank are writing about Trump just to please their wives.
Trump will be removed from office for collusion with the Russians. So the Lefties have nothing to worry about.
The hundred year night! I bet the Germans have a word for that, something like "eine hundertjährige Nacht", or maybe "einehundertjährigenacht."
That Thomas Frank writes some really good BS. It is that University of Chicago training that lets him wrangle words and ideas until they submit to his will.
In Whats The Matter With Kansas. Frank complained that the Deplorables were voting against their economic self interest. Now the problem seemingly is that they vote for their economic self interest. You can't win with some people.
.... yeah, what tcrosse just said. Oh, no, jobs, peace, prosperity. How terrible!
I’m starting to believe that guys like Frank are writing about Trump just to please their wives.
To clarify, I mean it must be hard for them to write anything favorable about Trump and then have to go home to their wives and face “how dare you defend that man?” screwtiny. Every reasonable discussion is frying panned into oblivion.
The worst snob, virtue-signaler and self-hater is a liberal guy like Faulkner from Mississippi. Like Frank from Kansas.
tcrosse--You look exactly like Victor Mature. Don't let Inga see you in that Coast Guard cap. I think she has a thing for uniforms.
And so it is that Inga cheers every downturn in the DOW. SOSICK ARE THESE PEOPLE C
Speaking of Trump:
In May 2011, Daniels agreed to tell her story to a sister publication of In Touch magazine for $15,000 dollars. Two former employees of the magazine told us the story never ran because after the magazine called Mr. Trump seeking comment, his attorney Michael Cohen threatened to sue. Daniels says she was never paid, and says a few weeks later, she was threatened by a man who approached her in Las Vegas.
Stormy Daniels: I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T-- taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin' all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story." And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom." And then he was gone.
Don't let Inga see you in that Coast Guard cap. I think she has a thing for uniforms.
It's from my days working for Cracker Jack.
Stormy should have kept up her "fitness class". She has gone to fat.
I read (I think) the whole thing and was waiting for Frank to address political correctness. I don't think he mentioned it, and I don't think the essay treats it as a factor in what happened. But I do. I think it was a big motivating factor behind what Frank concedes was a big middle finger from the electorate. Amazed that Frank and others don't suggest that the Democrats back off all of the social justice bullshit. Maybe he confronts it in his book or other essays. If not, then what an amazing hole in this essay and a blind spot for him.
Jesus, what color is the sky on his planet? "Cue the hundred-year night"? Gimme a break! The poor bastard is going to have his readers thinking they're about to be marched off to death camps or have the world end in nuclear fire. Meanwhile, back in the real world, things are improving as much as they can since the misrule of Obama, given the backstabbing, leaking swamp monsters in Washington. And those poor panicked liberals will be sharing in the economic boom.
I like Thomas Frank just fine. He cares about poor people. Hillary Clinton does not. When you make comments about how you earned the votes of the people who make 2/3 the GDP of the country, you don't care.
Is Frank right about how to help poor people? Maybe, maybe not. The idea that NAFTA, free trade, and globalization are the way to go has taken a lot of hits. It's worth looking at alternatives.
And the only person with an alternative is.... Trump. So.
For about the first 4-5 months after election, a lot of talking heads seemed to realize that political correctness was a problem and potentially played a big role. But I don't see anyone on the left discussing this more, and unless I am missing something the dems seem to be doubling down on the shove PC down your throat strategy (and now trying to demonize gun owners; what idiots). In late 2017 a Cato study showed that "71% of Americans Say Political Correctness Has Silenced Discussions Society Needs to Have, 58% Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share." Those are amazing stats. And a big chunk of dems agreed with both statements.
What if the Cato study can be taken for a progress report for success in PC?
[I]magine his disastrous rule reaffirmed by an enthusiastic public,
They really don't get democacy, do they?
Imagine a "roaring economy," America strong, people happy.
What a horrifying thought!
Happiness? Bah!
Health and wealth? Humbug!
Thank god liberals know better what's really important.
Evenfor Frank's causes, Trump has had some amazing success. Without Trump's leadership on this issue I don't think ordinary Americans would be aware of the sinister designs Russia has on our democracy. Democrats especially are finally aware that a little red-baiting is both necessary and salubrious. Perhaps now they'll soften their position on Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs. Als, I think these first tentative moves towards the reform of Holywood's exploitative sex practices can also be attributed to Trump's steady hand. Were it not for Trump I'm certain that Weinstein would still be a prince of Hollywood and Kevin Spacey would still be landing choice parts.
I found it to be an interesting read. Frank uses a writing style (at least in this essay) in which he makes statements which are meant to be taken seriously, but not literally.
That sounds familiar.
But, in this attempt he only addresses the economic portion of the conservative populist revolt. There's much more to it, as I'm sure he knows. It's not just the economy, stupid.
think for a second about the cultural and political delusions a roaring economy and rising wages would surely generate...
Funny. I thought Franks was a Marxist.
Frank is tired of (our) winning. Sad!
I voted for Trump with some misgivings, but his first year was successful. The economy and stock market (at least until market close tomorrow) have done well. The Middle East appears to be a bit more settled. There were some sudden personnel changes and some unfortunate tweets, but, all in all, it was a good year........ What's unsettling is not Trump's presidency but Frank's reaction to it. If Trump can generate this much vitriol and hate when he's successful, think about what they'll say when his term hits a few potholes (as it surely will). The pothole will become the abyss........They're looking for some reason to hang Trump from the yardarm. During Bush's term, they tried to make water boarding a war crime and convict him of it. Trump is far more in your face than Bush. Perhaps they'll find something and make it stick. They succeeded with Nixon.
It seems Frank's argument is that good results for Americans are not the desired goals of liberals. They would prefer to win and advance liberal policy even if it does not help Americans as much as the alternatives. I understand and agree with his argument, and also agree it could lead to Trump's reelection unless the fools come out and vote. There are certainly enough of them to ruin a good thing. The left ruins everything it touches, and they are never satiated with the level of ruin.
Military coups? I laughed my way through half of this one.
@William, they’re firing any and everything at Trump to see if it will stick. What they least expect is for something to bounce back at them and stick.
Frank thinks the Democratic party has deserted the working man and woman ( That's the theme of Listen, Liberal) and he's disappointed that Trump is actually trying to do something for that segment of society and they might signal their approval by re-electing him. The Dems certainly haven't changed their approach so what, really, is Frank's complaint?
I skimmed through the article and the impression I got was that Frank thought Trump's presidency may see actual wage growth, renegotiation of unfavorable trade agreements, successful infrastructure projects and much more (Frank ,of course, leaves out reviving the military). Did I miss something? Apparently Frank doesn't like Trump's style.
Reminds me of the tale of various important people complaining to Lincoln about Grant drinking -how uncouth, etc.. Lincoln responded by asking what Grant drank so he could buy some for his other generals.
ARM,
I am curious. Are you being paid to hijack the thread by talking about Stormy Daniels?
I suspect that you are more of a whore than she is.
BTW, Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaderick, assaulted Kathleen Willey, and paid Paula Jones $800K for trying to force her (using government employees) to give him a blowjob.
Oh. Is that off topic?
"I admit that at the moment it is difficult to conceive how Donald Trump might turn that corner. Every day the circling investigators come a little closer." Heh.
Don't worry Mr. Frank. Just keep telling those hideous proles how stupid and vicious they are. Keep telling them how superior you are. Superior morally, intellectually,and physically. Superior in every way there is to be superior.
Keep telling them over and over. Repeat it over and over. It's the only way to get past the thick dimness of their feeble brains. Keep it up. You're doing a great job.
It's hard to read his "disasterous rule" and "poisonous measures" as referring to anything other than how it has hurt Democrats by Trump getting credit for success that the Dems wanted, but couldn't point to under their policies. In other words, we don't agree with what you are doing, and the fact that it's working is really disasterous and poisonous to us Dems. Again, I agree with him.
Don't worry Mr. Frank. Just keep telling those hideous proles how stupid and vicious they are. Keep telling them how superior you are. Superior morally, intellectually,and physically. Superior in every way there is to be superior.
Keep telling them over and over. Repeat it over and over. It's the only way to get past the thick dimness of their feeble brains. Keep it up. You're doing a great job.
For those of you who haven't followed Mr. Frank's career, he is a perennial finalist in the contest for the Linda Lovelace Award, given to the biggest State-fellator of the year. (Toothless is always jealous.) Frank's most famous work is a book-length tantrum because the people of Kansas, the victims of false consciousness, don't realize the wonderfulness of the "liberal" Hive and won't surrender ALL their liberty to it.
It's interesting Franks felt it necessary to spend 4 pages of a 6 page article spouting Trump derangement before any constructive criticism of the Democratic Party, Obama and Clinton could be offered.
Until these guys look in the mirror & ask themselves "What did we do wrong?" & answer that question with something other than "The electorate just couldn't see my intrinsic wonderfulness", then there's a very good chance we'll get more Trump or someone exactly like him.
It's interesting. Just after 9/11 Bernard Lewis wrote on what was wrong with the Islamic World. Essentially he said, you could look around, see the awful position you were in and have one of two responses. The useful response is "What happened?" The unhelpful response is "Who did this to us?"
He could have been writing about today's Democrats.
As I recall Frank came to some sort of national prominence with his book, "What's The Matter With Kansas". Essentially he argued that the deplorables did not know what was good for them.
At least, what was "good for them" as perceived by Frank. I can't say that he's gotten any smarter since that book. Essentially he's just not worth reading. But it's nice to know that he's all wee wee'd up about Trump.
There are two ways that Trump could lose in 2020. He could fall flat on his face by doing something especially stupid. There's a good chance that can happen between now and 2020.
Or the Democrats could put up a compelling candidate in 2020. The chances for that are slim and none, and slim just left town. But see the other possibility above.
Geez, Inga isn't even commenting in this thread and y'all are still saying catty things about her?!? Get a life!
And how is ARM's ONE comment highjacking a thread?
Geez, Inga isn't even commenting in this thread and y'all are still saying catty things about her?!? Get a life!
And how is ARM's ONE comment highjacking a thread?
Lingering stink from the other threads. Once the putrescine and cadaverine molecules coat the inside of your nostrils, it is hard not to think they're around and overactive.
The Democrat party abandoned middle and working class voters in favor of identity politics. They did this thinking that demographics made this a perpetually winning strategy. The GOP establishment could have picked those voters up but they are stupid and in thrall to a donor class that favors "free trade" and the importation of cheap labor. Then Trump came upon the scene. He noticed what everyone with an IQ above their body temperature knew. That the middle and working class were getting screwed over because of "free trade" and illegal immigration. So, he ran on it and won. The establishment is now trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, but a political realignment is going on.
Still not tired.
Trump's message: "You people are getting screwed over, elect me and I will fix that."
Hillary's message: "Losing losers are losers who should die and make way for us winning winners."
And then of course there is the disdain based on moral conceit. The losing losers deserve what is happening to them because they aren't as "smart" as we are. Intelligence is a virtue you see. And smart people are just better. We know this because they hold all the right opinions as taught to them via public education and popular culture. That also makes them "edgy." Espousing the same opinions as all of your peers and those in authority makes you cutting edge. You're building utopia!
Missing the TDS tag.
I wish people like Frank would take the trouble to explain what exactly is so "disastrous" about Trump's administration - in concrete terms, relative to other administrations, and things as they are on earth, not the Kingdom of Heaven.
I suspect doing that, instead of expressing their dismay in the form of apocalyptic gobbledygook, would require them to soberly think through certain assumptions of their world-view that they don't particularly want to think through.
Not that that necessarily matters re winning elections. It's not difficult to imagine things happening in the near future (economically, in global politics) where progressive policies could get "reaffirmed by an enthusiastic public, giving [progs] four more years to insult and offend and enact even more poisonous measures." (I know it's a cliché now, but man these guys project a lot.)
" a roaring economy and rising wages..."
Yeah, doesn't get much worse than that.
If a roaring economy and rising wages area fact in 2020, who is being delusional, Mr. Frank?
Geez, Inga isn't even commenting in this thread and y'all are still saying catty things about her?!? Get a life!
There should be an unwritten rule that commenters shouldn't be mentioned unless he/she comments.
Well isn't he dramatic: cue the 100 year night my ass. And "appear" to come through for them? Really? Obama couldn't create prosperity if money fell from heaven because he and the dems were so determined to shut down oil, coal, electricity, nuclear, industry, everything. You can't regulate your way to prosperity. duh.
So let's see what are the current hot ideas from the dems: repeal second amendment, open borders, repeal the tax cuts, warfare against men and whites, trans people in the locker rooms at schools. Did I get them all? A winning combo. In politics it isn't just "compared to perfection" it is also "compared to what the other idiot politicians are offering".
Poor things.
They have no idea.
Just wait, boys and girls, until Donald's eight years are followed by eight more of Ivanka's.
Michael K.,
I wonder what upsets Mr Frank about 'the economy booming and America standing tall?'
"That's just not who we are."
chikelet,
Almost you make me feel sorry for Frank--imaging having a wife that would be pleased at her spouse having written that dreck!
Jim,
We could even write that rule down, and give it a clever title. I suggest we call it the History Begins Anew Every Morning rule.
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