“It feels very lonely out here,” said Jamie McDaniel, a 36-year-old home health care worker in Topeka, Kan., one of several people in the study who was interviewed for this article. “Everybody is so right or left, and you’re just kind of standing there in the middle saying, “What happened?’”By the way, the word editing in the NYT has really gotten bad — "one of several people in the study who was interviewed"!
I'm glad I already have a tag that works for this topic — "tired of politics." I know I'm tired of politics, but I kind of have been all my life. It's nice to have company.
But is this NYT article really about how people are exhausted or is it about how the Democratic Party needs to admit it has a problem? The end of the article sounds like a loud wake-up alarm for Democrats:
The study describes a Democratic base that looks far less like the progressive left and more like the American mainstream. Elizabeth Damon, 54, a veterinarian in Eagle Point, Ore., is a registered Democrat because “I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body.” But she also thinks the party has drifted too far left, and in 2016 she voted for Donald Trump. “More than anything, they just want to pick fights,” Dr. Damon said of Democrats. The Senate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh was one example, she said.
William Baltimore, 55, a mail clerk in a bank in Overland Park, Kan., who usually votes Democrat, said Mr. Trump repels him. But on immigration, Mr. Baltimore prefers Mr. Trump. The Democrats “are just willing to accept anything, anybody and anyone, and that doesn’t fly good with me,” he said.
Bruce Bell, 32, of Whitmore Lake, Mich., voted Democratic his whole life, including twice for Barack Obama, but has drifted from the party, tired of what he said was progressive contempt. “The progressives, they just shut you down,” said Mr. Bell, who works on electrical systems of semitrucks. “You are a complete idiot, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t have a college degree to even have an opinion on the matter.”
Posts
129 comments:
The goal is to have only Leftist activists engaged, so that they win by default.
The broad middle chooses to disengage at its own peril.
a registered Democrat because “I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body
It really seems like the Demos are the party of post menopausal pro-abortion women; or, at least Wants to be. My mom is 86 year old, and will ONLY consider Democrats, because of Abortion. Abortion has been legal for 3/4ths of my life; but it's THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS to women that don't menstruate
The modern Democrat party is controlled by the super rich and lying self-proclaimed communists. They have abandoned and demonized the working class and middle class. Unfortunately, the working class and middle class believe the Democrat Party is still the party of FDR, JKF and LBJ. It is not. RINO's like John Kasich and John McCain (thankfully dead, but way too late) have long been allied with the Democrats and don't understand the revolution that has occurred. They cannot bring themselves to embrace the workers and middle class and bourgeoisie that they, themselves, also despise. Trump is a symptom of the revolution. If the Republicans continue to reject him, the Republican Party will disappear like the Whigs. What comes after may be ugly. The Weimar is a warning. Workers, the middle class and the bourgeoisie will find a party to represent them. They will create it if necessary.
It does seem like that at times gilbar. If socialism takes hold you lose access to an abortion and a whole lot more. Nevertheless, she persisted.
they say they are "tired"
but they can't leave the show
Progressives have accepted "the personal is political"
there is nowhere else for them to go.
Conservatives see they are under assault.
No end to war.
It would help if you got off social media.
I'm curious what the top-rated comment says.
But not enough to give our friends at The Grey Lady a click.
The "personal is political" doctrine - and it is doctrinal to our leftists friends - has destroyed more relationships/friendships than anything else they espouse.
“I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body.”
It sounds like she's also starting to think nobody should be able to tell her what to do with her mind.
I’m exhausted by the Left’s pure insanity. From the scam that is global warming to the libeling of Brett Kavanaugh. Now they won’t concede elections they lost even though they always cheat.
Considering how often Democrats are oversampled, this is great news, I say.
"I'm tired of politics"
Too obvious, but: politics isn't tired of you. Prog politics.
And you aren't really tired of politics: when it comes to "women's rights," and "women's bodies" you aren't noways tired. Which isall Dems need to know.
Anyway, the next prog leader will demand that you shed your cynicism. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourself to be better. And that you engage. Xe will never allow you to go back to your life as usual, uninvolved, deplorably tired.
"is it about how the Democratic Party needs to admit it has a problem? The end of the article sounds like a loud wake-up alarm for Democrats"
It's about how Dems need to package their progressivism to make it palatable to the rubes.
Wilbur, I clicked so you wouldn't have to. They are not taking comments to this article, so far as I can tell.
"tired of the left" would be more accurate.
Sounds like the Times is noways tired of politics.
The writer is named Sabrina Tavernise. Is she the Times' Salena Zito?
Democrat party too far left. Hillary won't go away.
Both parties need better candidates.
“Tired of politics?” Ann, that is just another one of your obviously false conceits along with your claims of “cruel neutrality.” You are only fooling yourself.
Yes, the Dems as well as the GOP establishment have become the party of corporate welfare [hence Amazon HQ2] and elitist globalism. Trump has seen all along that our political leaders are selling out our country to a global economy. These global elitists form a cabal that seeks to eliminate nationalism as well as borders.
It's about how Dems need to package their progressivism to make it palatable to the rubes.
With lefties any failure is in the marketing of the message or in a feigned admission of lack of effort or in the other side not playing fair. It is never a question of the policies.
The only thing anyone advises you to "do with my own body" is to acknowledge human evolution from conception, and notably development of a coherent nervous system from around one month. Think of the babies. #HateLovesAbortion. Otherwise, go to town. Go transgender, homosexual, bisexual, transvestite, neo-sexual, or whatever (equal, not "=") between consent adults. Rights and responsibilities to promote individual and general Welfare. The "do with my own body", and political congruence (PC) generally, are straw clowns that no longer entertain, and are responsible for unprecedented and progressive collateral damage.
Thank you, Jim Gust.
Mockturtle, Trump is a big supporter of the Foxconn deal. Trump is the king of corporate welfare.
Hillary wants back in because the public tax payer funded high life is all she knows. She must be red queen, she must travel the globe in style, she must build that clinton library... she must force her way in and never leave.
It's exhausting.
Nice to see the NYT finally catch up to Salena Zito.
Camille Paglia:
"Politics cannot fill the gap. Society, with which Marxism is obsessed, is only a fragment of the totality of life. As I have written, Marxism has no metaphysics: it cannot even detect, much less comprehend, the enormity of the universe and the operations of nature. Those who invest all of their spiritual energies in politics will reap the whirlwind. The evidence is all around us—the paroxysms of inchoate, infantile rage suffered by those who have turned fallible politicians into saviors and devils, godlike avatars of Good versus Evil."
Ronald Reagan was able to defeat Soviet Communism. But not even he could stop the Democrat Party from going Communist.
The grand myth that the left will be denied their abortions.
At most, it will be restricted to logical early time and each state has their own policy/laws. At worst, tax payers will stop being forced to pay for it.
Why can't big hollywood money and Tom Steyer pool their mega bucks and fund the abortion facilities they so desire?
Per once written: Mockturtle, Trump is a big supporter of the Foxconn deal. Trump is the king of corporate welfare.
I agree that Foxconn was a bad deal.
a registered Democrat because “I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body
I agree. You should be able to do anything you want with your OWN body.
As a registered Republican, because as a sane person in California you have no other choice, I don't think that anybody should be able to tell me that I have to pay for or fund those things you want to do.
In fact, I don't think anybody should be able to dictate all of the circumstances of my life or how I should think about anything....which is EXACTLY what the Democrats are doing.
“Everybody is so right or left, and you’re just kind of standing there in the middle saying, “What happened?’”
Diversity.
With only about 15-ish good years left to life I just shine on politics. Life is too short. I study guitar, do my historical Federal Navy artwork, surf, sail, travel and chase my girlfriend around. Politics is not groovy when you're tokin' a doobie. That said, I do like all the Originalist judges being confirmed...
You are only fooling yourself.
Do you always have to be such a bitter asshole?
The grand myth that the left will be denied their abortions
Elective abortion of a baby (i.e. selective-child) is a natural right. As with other choices to take life for causes other than self-defense, it cannot be stopped, or prevented, but it can be mitigated through moral reform and proper positive and negative incentives. The damage caused by the wicked solution (and recycled-child) should not be obfuscated under a veil of privacy. This has been done before, repeatedly, with clear and progressive consequences.
Trump is a big supporter of the Foxconn deal
The Foxconn deal was about moving production from China to the U.S. So in no way whatsoever are this and the Amazon deal even comparable.
Care to attempt another straw man argument?
What happened?’” Diversity.
Americans, colors, and hyphens.
The NYT admit it has a problem? Democrats!?!?!
NEVER
The Foxconn deal was about moving production from China to the U.S.
Not the first time. It will be remove the profits reaped from environmental and labor arbitrage. As well as reduce managers and recipients from the public smoothing (e.g. welfare) rolls. And promote the individual and general Welfare through productive engagement with society. It promises a greater return on wealth, human, and environmental terms. The real issues are whether it disrupts market function to set prices and guide distribution. For example, monopolies and practices undermine capitalism, conservation, and equitable function.
"Per once written: Mockturtle, Trump is a big supporter of the Foxconn deal. Trump is the king of corporate welfare."
Uh. That would be Elon Musk.
She was the la times Baghdad correspondent, had as nearly clueless a take over there.
The Left: "You will do as you're told, deplorables! We will regulate every last inch of your bourgeois lives, and send thugs to your towns and houses if you don't comply. Don't speak on our campsuses or we'll shout you down. If we don't forbid something, it's mandatory, except for abortions, have as many of those as you want. See how great we are?"
The Right: "Leave us alone, and stop killing babies, you maniacs!"
The "Middle": "I'm so tired of all the extremism on both sides!"
The Foxconn deal is much worse than the Amazon deal. Trump and Walker completely made the conservative claim to being for limited government laughable.
The Foxconn deal was about moving production from China to the U.S.
It localizes production and distribution, and reduces the global carbon footprint, if that is a concern. And now that Foxconn no longer benefits from labor and environmental arbitrage, American companies, and workers, can, in principle, compete on equal terms.
"I'm glad I already have a tag that works for this topic — "tired of politics."
Isn't that the strategic goal. Exhaust people into capitulation?
“I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body.”
Isn't that the same misconception that led to Trump's mistake early on where he fell into the trap of saying that having an abortion, if illegal, the recipient should be subject to punishment?
Most abortion laws are aimed at the already heavily regulated commercial providers who perform them, not those who seek or undergo them.
No one is saying what "you" can do with your own body.
conservative claim to being for limited government
That's the libertarian claim. The Constitution does not specify a "limited" government, but rather a a government with a smaller footprint and an efficient gait. The heart of both arguments is that private smoothing functions are both more dynamic and efficient than public smoothing functions and minority regimes. As well as form a basis for optimal conservation and reconciliation of individual rights.
Exhaust people into capitulation?
Let's hope the Left exhausts first. At least Trump is 'high-energy'. Imagine if Jeb were at the helm.
I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body
Then control your own body.
Or but I’m happy to belong to a party that wants to control every other aspect of my and everyone else’s life.
Once written said, "The Foxconn deal is much worse than the Amazon deal. Trump and Walker completely made the conservative claim to being for limited government laughable."
Arguing that one data point proves a sweeping generality is the stuff that conspiracy theory or disinformation are made of.
Ted Turner and his bison ranch is also a king of corporate welfare.
The grand myth that the left will be denied their abortions.
We keep getting lectured we should become more like Europe and there’s a policy we should agree to.
A woman can do what she wants with HER body but not the body of her unborn child. If a woman uses dangerous drugs during pregnancy she can be charged with reckless endangerment [a case I recently heard while on a grand jury]. So if harming one's unborn child is a crime, why is abortion OK?
do with my own body. Then control your own body.
Exactly. Rights and responsibilities. Since this is directed to one choice in particular, selective-child (i.e. life deemed unworthy of life), it is worth repeating that Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, is two choices too late.
It really seems like the Demos are the party of post menopausal pro-abortion women; or, at least Wants to be. My mom is 86 year old, and will ONLY consider Democrats, because of Abortion. Abortion has been legal for 3/4ths of my life; but it's THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS to women that don't menstruate
Did you ask her if there’s something she wants to tell you?
Well, when you politicize everything, everything becomes a source of conflict. The blame for this falls squarely on the left too. I hope they’re tired of it; if they don’t smarten up they’re in for a civil war, and they will find that a lot more tiresome than politics...
Her most recent offering:
https://www.newsbusters.org/journalists/sabrina-tavernise
"The end of the article sounds like a loud wake-up alarm for Democrats"
Not loud enough for our resident dullard.
I think this has been stated before:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018
/11/then_they_came_for_the_white_women.html
https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr
While I am sympathetic to libertarian arguments, I think they are pretty much a nonstarter. The two things the federal government does that enjoy the widest amount of support from the electorate are Social Security and Medicare. The most salient issue for Democrats in recent elections has been healthcare/entitlements. The most salient issue for Republicans has been immigration. In classic triangulation, the obvious winning strategy seems to be entitlements+immigration control.
Once...you have identified the thing that most puts me off Trump--he wants to pick winners and losers.
His "trade" policy is a mess. He doesn't want commercial considerations to rule in the marketplace--he wants to manage things. That is not a prescription for a country to stay rich, to innovate, to offer choices, to move forward. An article in the WSJ this week describes Trump having formed his views on trade in the '80s, when writers like James Fallows were writing nonsensical paeans to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan. Trump thinks you are worse off if you buy stuff that you want or need in international trade. Nonsense! Protectionism is almost always a loser as a policy.
I favor low marginal tax rates and light-touch regulation. Trump has delivered on those fronts.
It is a mixed picture.
"In classic triangulation, the obvious winning strategy seems to be entitlements+immigration control."
Isn't that Trump's policy?
@narciso:
I think this has been stated before:
It cannot be stated enough and is emblematic of everything wrong with the current society. In the world of intersectionality, your worth is determined by where on the victimization totem pole you find yourself. Imagine something like a black immigrant, non-gender conforming disabled lesbian at the top. White women, those poor creatures, can never hope to advance up the victimization totem pole.
I've worked hard to rid myself of the political obsession. It's easy for a retired guy to succumb.
Took up classical piano again, something I abandoned during my working life. Became a church musician again. I landed a job as a accompanist for a classical choral group that meets one night a week. I sit in the hot tub at the YMCA for 15 minutes every day and recite my prayers in an attempt to clear and quiet my mind.
Sold my house and bought a new one with my daughter and son-in-law so I could take care of my grandkids.
Six years into retirement, I'm even going back to work part time. I don't have to work for money, so I'm working for a business that does good work, imaging library and historical collections and archiving them.
I deliberate restrict my time when I will allow myself to comment about anything on the internet to an hour or so in the morning.
The vindictive nature of political debate wore me out. I can't stop other people. All I can do is do the best I can to discipline myself.
@Amadeus 48:
Isn't that Trump's policy?
Yes and no. I think you can make a case that Trump may understand it instinctively, but I doubt very highly that he understands it in a coherent way.
The most salient issue for Republicans has been immigration
Excessive and illegal immigration. As well as immigration reform as cover-ups.
healthcare/entitlements
Social Security is a stable, contributory entitlement. It is a viable competitor to private smoothing functions and as a backstop for individuals who misstep. Medicare is the latter but not the former. Medicaid is neither. There is evidence that medical products and services are overpriced and that insurance regulation (effectively "single-payer") and political leverage have been at the heart of forcing and sustaining this gross misalignment, which is subsequently redistributed and obfuscated.
The miti managed trade created a bubble which fallows missed. It's likely that chinas pla ruling class has done a similar thing.
All I can do is do the best I can to discipline myself.
We tend our own garden. Help each other when needed (e.g. private smoothing functions including charity). And eventually the world will be one big garden for us and our posterity, and the flora and fauna.
"Shouting Thomas said...
The vindictive nature of political debate wore me out. I can't stop other people. All I can do is do the best I can to discipline myself."
Aren't your grandkids worth the fight?
Thank you for noticing, Althouse. Check the quotes around “What happened?’ at the end of the article. Clear, concise written expression has become rare in newspapers and magazines.
Legislation being written passed these days is probably just as muddled.
Modifying phrases often get floated around and migrate toward the tail of the sentence.
...one of several people in the study who was [or were, depending on whether the phrase modifies "one" or "people"] interviewed for this article.
"Wilbur, I clicked so you wouldn't have to. They are not taking comments to this article, so far as I can tell."
I checked too (before seeing you'd already checked0.
I think when the NYT doesn't allow comments it's because there is a type of comment they anticipate and don't want to see.
What do you think the comments would be over there? What is the Times afraid of?
@Althouse, you cannot possibly be “tired of politics” and subscribe to the New York Times and the Washington Post. The latter is perfectly capable of politicizing a high school football game (I know, because it used to be my daily newspaper) and the former strikes me as being worse.
One of my own takeaways from this article is that Trump won a lot of these voters two years ago, but cannot count on keeping them two years from now, since his high energy and combativeness are off-putting to women like the ones quoted. So it’s up to Chuck Schumer and (probably) Nancy Pelosi to keep crazies like Sinema and Ocasio-Cortez bottled up for two years and a party base that, absent cheating, would have given its nomination to a person as far from the mainstream as Bernie Sanders to nominate someone rational. That could happen.
My second takeaway is that — as Chuck has made abundantly clear! — it is not yet Trump’s Republican Party. People may like Trump’s policies and his abundant respect for working people, but people associate those things with Donald Trump and not with generic Republican candidates.
Or conversely when he's on the ballot he fairs better, also those Republicans who strongly endorsed even hunter in California faired better, but that is counter narrative.
I think many of them might be ashamed if they could be made to understand that their disgust with the working class and their own class anxieties drive Democratic strategies. Instead they have covenants to ban pickup trucks and Harleys from their gated communities to "protect property values," which was the same exact excuse used to ban blacks from neighborhoods. They project their own bigotry onto lower classes that are trying to protect their own class interests.
Imagine the horror if the cost of gardeners went up!
I've posted previously here that I'm just freakin' exhausted by the entire thing. All of it. The '-isms', the 'acceptable' Left, the always-in-every-media version extremist far right or alt-right. I'm tired of 17-23 year olds screaming at everyone until they get their way, then demanding more because they have a right to your life. I'm tired of Hollywood starlets telling the people of Israel to just pack it in and go to some other place on the earth with their heads down and just 'trust us'. I'm tired of the shit education system in our country that has only 2 goals- feed itself more money and power, and indoctrinate the young ones with Leftist/spiritualist/collectivist horseshit. I'm tired of ESPN becoming a social justice cause network. I'm tired of diversity fascists. I'm tired of the entire diversity industry- which is akin to the education industry mentioned above. I'm tired of poorly educated grads of journalism schools demanding that they 'have a right' to be part of the White House Correspondents team. No such right exists in the universe.
I'm tired of socialist collectivists parading around as if the 20th century and it's multiple genocides never happened because of them. Tired of the Linda Sarsours of the world in their many guises. Tired of blogs. Tired of everyone on pins and needles and no one ever feeling like they can say what's really on their mind any longer. I'm tired of the Christmas season not feeling like it used to- not giving us a month of actual peace and goodwill toward others. I'm tired of everyone and anything political at this point.
But mostly, I'm tired of bad new programs on Netflix that get promoted as something decent to watch when it's clear that Netflix has the philosophy of- if you throw enough shit at the wall, some of it's going to stick.
I know Elmore Leonard would hate this, but all hell is breaking loose.
As I've asserted multiple times, the Left sees 'the masses' as mice in a maze, to be conditioned and controlled. And, as in any fascist or communist state, only the leadership will enjoy wealth and power. And that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, they like it.
"The vindictive nature of political debate wore me out. I can't stop other people. All I can do is do the best I can to discipline myself."
That's pretty funny ST since you are the king of nastiness.
This is an exhausting bunch of comments.
Get government out of my bedroom and into every other room of the house! And into my backyard! And my bank account, and my car...
I doubt the school employee quoted, Marsha Newman, is really apolitical. If she were, she would not be so frazzled by politics.
Ow,t @ 8:58
And here I thought it was about getting manufacturing and jobs back here in the US. There is no stisfying you is there?
But since we can't satisfy you and you know absolutely shit about manufacturing or jobs or economics I don't think we should event try to satisfy you.
Lot of Democrats who are repelled by their tone, doctrines, cheating and hyperbole.
And they voted for Trump.
This is an enormous problem for Democrats, I think.
If they can't get 'their' people motivated to vote for them, they have to cheat twice as hard just to get the same number of votes. And they didn't look good this election with all the futile cheating.
The 'Leans Democrat' half of the Independents is worn out. The Leans Republican side is angry.
Hmm.
@steve uhr:That's pretty funny ST since you are the king of nastiness.
So much the better that it's Shouting Thomas. "There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
"Well, when you politicize everything, everything becomes a source of conflict. The blame for this falls squarely on the left too."
So true. I find it ironic that these same folks that support the party that politicizes everything - creating the constant conflict - are now seemingly tired of politics. Add to that how the Left has made everything a federal case, wherein the people of one state insist that our federal government make the people of some other state do or do not do something, there can be no other outcome than constant conflict.
You reap what you sow.
@steve uhr: You should keep in mind that there is no one who knows better, how little Shouting Thomas ever got from his style of commenting, than he does.
People have all kinds of reasons for posting what they post. There's trolls, there's people who are apparently doing performance art, there are people who are just there to abuse the other people there, and there are a few folks who are trying to participate in a discussion in good faith.
No one knows but Shouting Thomas why he posts what he posts. And there's no one who's going to know more than he does what it's worth to do that. Provided he's being truthful here, I'd say it seems he feels he's getting damn little out of it.
We've got other people here who are nasty. Some of them simply seem to enjoy the nastiness. Evidently it's getting them what they want out of it. I'm glad ST is no longer among that number.
"What do you think the comments would be over there? What is the Times afraid of?"
Fuck the deplorables. Full steam ahead. We ain't tired. Progressivism ueber alles.
I agree with stevew, above. If you vote for people who perpetuate conflict, do not look for my sympathy. The only way to stop the never ending culture wars is make it stop being fun for the culture warriors.
It's cute how you people take all of this so personally... that's the weakness Trump exploits to win your confidence. This article is really about a generational shift of power and influence from the Baby Boomer Cold Warriors to Gen-Xers and Millenials who really don't have a big stake in the ideological battleground being fought by the me generation.
“Everybody is so right or left, and you’re just kind of standing there in the middle saying, “What happened?’”
Really? Most people don't vote. Therefore, I would postulate that most people don't pay much attention to politics or politicians. Proof of the pudding, just watch 'on the street interviews' of average person being asked about who is VP, Secretary of State, etc. Even college kids have a problem with these questions.
My god, I agree with Uhr. ST really is the epitome of the shouting, Ill-tempered, all politics all the time fanatic.
Blogger hstad said... Proof of the pudding, just watch 'on the street interviews' of average person being asked about who is VP, Secretary of State, etc. Even college kids have a problem with these questions.
This type of retard logic is also exploited by Trump to stir up your emotions so you will do his bidding.
These are not randomized cross sections of society, they are cherry-picked for the most humerus responses. Marshall Mcluhan is laughing.
I think the thing we are really tired of is outrage - theirs, ours, everyone's.
Don't you wonder where this puritanical PC culture shift is going? When you listen to young people, especially college students, you hear people willing to arrest you, fire you, jail you and, punish you for your opinion, even when that opinion was mainstream just a few years ago, and often even when it's still mainstream. Some of these people are now powerful heads of companies and institutions that control much of our lives, and they seem willing to abuse that power and even cheat or break their own principles to advance particular agendas. There is a degree of pendulum swing for most things, and I hope this one eventually swings to a place of mutual respect and freedom never seen before in this country, becuase the direction of the current swing is seriously disappointing and such a departure from the American idea, and that idea is a very exceptional one in history.
There is a belief that over time things get more open and tolerant, but real history is a more back and forth progression that often swings far into totalitarian oppression of individuals. The American idea was new when it started and is still a very exceptional idea in the history of human societies. It has yet to fully realize it's promise, and I think that promise is the only path forward that can possibly lead to a peaceful society of happy and fullfilled humans.
They say Americans are sick and tired of being told how sick and tired they are.
Well, I'm not! But I *am* sick and tired of being told I am.
Even college kids have a problem with these questions.
They're only learning outrage. No time to learn what they are outraged about.
"These are not randomized cross sections of society, they are cherry-picked for the most humerus responses."
This is a knee jerk response. Just ask young people yourself. The same with the average adult. Most people don't understand or know much of anything about their own government. They don't care becuase they feel it's out of their control anyway so why pay attention or do the work of learning about something so distant from their own daily lives.
But don't go by internet videos, just ask around yourself. The community on this blog and many others is far more knowledgeable about this stuff than the average person out there. It's kind of our hobby, but many very intelligent and capable people just don't give a shit about this stuff enough to learn it. I bet 90% of Americans could not get 50% correct on a simple test of civics and government. How many people on the street would you have to go through to find one who could tell you how many senators and representatives there are or who could list the Bill of Rights?
bago: Thanks for expressing your feelings, I am sure they are very compelling to you.
“It feels very lonely out here,” said Jamie McDaniel, a 36-year-old home health care worker in Topeka, Kan., one of several people in the study who was interviewed for this article. “Everybody is so right or left, and you’re just kind of standing there in the middle saying, “What happened?’”
Poor Jamie lives in the homes of the Westboro Baptist Church and the biggest pro teams in State of Kansas, the Kansas government.
"bago: Thanks for expressing your feelings, I am sure they are very compelling to you."
Don't be such a pussy. If you have a counter argument, make it. Otherwise it is you who has nothing but feels, which so far is all you offer. Projection is a common ailment of your political flavor.
Ann Althouse said...
"...I think when the NYT doesn't allow comments it's because there is a type of comment they anticipate and don't want to see."
When Punch Sulzberger fired the last Public Editor of the NYT in May of 2017 and also eliminated the position he justified his actions in a piece quoted in its entirety at the bottom of the Endgaget article below:
"...We are dramatically expanding our commenting platform. Currently, we open only 10 percent of our articles to reader comments. Soon, we will open up most of our articles to reader comments. This expansion, made possible by a collaboration with Google, marks a sea change in our ability to serve our readers, to hear from them, and to respond to them."
Endgaget notes:
"...The NYT's commenting system is powered by Google Jigsaw's Conversation AI, a neural network that has been trained to find and flag trolling, hate speech and gratuitous shitposts in the paper's online comments sections."
New York Times picks an AI moderator over a Public Editor
https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/31/new-york-times-picks-an-ai-moderator-over-a-public-editor/
Notwithstanding Conversation AI's ability to "find and flag trolling, hate speech and gratuitous shitposts" the NYT continues to delay posting reader's comments until they are approved by a NYT moderator...who is also tasked with dividing them into three categories:
NYT Picks, Reader's Picks and All Comments.
Naturally, (after enough comments have been received) the 'NYT Picks is the default grouping from which a reader must navigate from to avoid exposure to NYT-recommended agitprop.
In contrast, WaPo does not segregate comments, allows posts without a delay and 5-minute editing to correct or add to a comment. Also the ability to report a comment to a moderator.
WaPo seems to have way more articles open to comments than the NYT (which seems closer to the 10% number that existed before the Public Editor's position was eliminated).
Blogger bagoh20 said...
"bago: Thanks for expressing your feelings, I am sure they are very compelling to you."
Don't be such a pussy. If you have a counter argument, make it. Otherwise it is you who has nothing but feels, which so far is all you offer. Projection is a common ailment of your political flavor.
As they say, you are what you eat. I already made the counter argument. You people swallow comedy show bits to shape your view of general knowledge levels of the public. No wonder you people chock down conspiracy shit.
“I really don’t think anybody should be able to tell me what to do with my own body.”
Fine. Then keep your vagina out of my wallet.
From the article:
Most do not see their lives through a political lens, and when they have political views the views are far less rigid than those of the highly politically engaged, ideologically orthodox tribes.
************************
A little bit of the author's soul died when they had to write that. Wonder how long it took them to get the words out.
Jim at: Impossible, we gotta pay for it either way.
It really seems like the Demos are the party of post menopausal pro-abortion women; or, at least Wants to be. My mom is 86 year old, and will ONLY consider Democrats, because of Abortion. Abortion has been legal for 3/4ths of my life; but it's THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS to women that don't menstruate.
*******************
Agreed. Such a narrow issue, confined to half the population during their 'stupid years'*. I am younger than your mother (pushing 60) and no one seems to notice some of the innovations that have come along that have made things easier. At home preganancy tests, more birth control options than ever, morning after pills. AND - here is where the "*" comes in - people have access to more information about varied sexual techniques and practices. So many things a boy and girl can get up to that don't leave semen in her vagina. I interpret the demand for unfettered, free abortions as a demand to have the most vanilla, conservative sex ONLY. God forbid you get creative. What prudes.
The much-overlooked core of this thinking:
“For the last two years it’s been impossible to go to a bar on a Monday night and not have to talk about politics,” he said. “Most Americans are sick of that. I think you can win in 2020 by promising that if you become president, people can go back to talking about football.”
In other words, if you elect Democrats, we'll stop making life miserable. With a Democratic president, you can be assured that the hate from the Democratic side of the aisle will lessen, the media will become less hysterical, and in general, things will go back to normal.
As long as you elect Democrats, that is.
All of the criticism of the NYT comments are correct - they are grossly over-curated. However, the WaPo suffers from the opposite problem - they are generally a flaming dumpster fire. A dumpster that was filled with bovine excrement.
having to grudgingly slog thru the democratic process is certainly wearisome when
You got a pen and a phone. And
I won. And
You should Go sit in the Back of the Bus.
They never thought she would lose, and now the game has gone into extra innings
I know Elmore Leonard would hate this, but all hell is breaking loose.
Nice.
I looked for antonyms of "outrage." Surprisingly, "inrage" was not offered.
I looked for antonyms of "outrage." Surprisingly, "inrage" was not offered.
That's because there's no "rage" in "outrage".
What I’m tired of is the nuttery on the right, the endless conspiracy theories. On any given right leaning blog, one hears these absolutely ridiculous stories, ideas, theories and when one by one they are shown to be a lie, new ones crop up. It’s like living in reality to a Trumpists is just too difficult or boring.
Oop said: "...the endless conspiracy theories."
These things exist, but progressivism is itself conspiracy theory, picking little factoids here and there, distorting them and if necessary making them up, in order to set people at one another's throats. All the while ignoring that for the vast sweep of history nearly everyone lived under what we consider brutal conditions.
the endless conspiracy theories.
Russia Russia Russia, secret routers...
My favorite part is how butt hurt Democrats remain that we got a peak behind the hand in glove relationship of Hillary to the media thanks to Wikileaks. All of it true.
Yeah sure Tim, Mueller is investigating a conspiracy theory for all the many months.
“Globalism" is an anti-semetic secret dogwhistle. That’s another looney conspiracy theory pushed by the left.
See, you doggedly stick to it despite the complete lack of confirmed evidence.
Trust me, Mueller will find the crime! I mean we already showed him the man!
Lost another Senate seat in your “blue wave” today, I see. Good luck winning back the Senate any time soon.
"But is this NYT article really about how people are exhausted or is it about how the Democratic Party needs to admit it has a problem?" Both, and likely, more than two.
Conspiracy theories on the Right include economics.
Imagine Dems at 217 in the house. Then it would have been tired schmired. This call is just to catch breath and savor
Blogger tim in vermont said...
“Globalism" is an anti-semetic secret dogwhistle. That’s another looney conspiracy theory pushed by the left.
Jews don't like it either, apparently.
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-how-did-the-term-globalist-became-an-anti-semitic-slur-blame-bannon-1.5895925
Bannon is responsible for many bad things and other Lefty conspiracy theories.
The terms globalism and nationalism are without ambiguity. We should continue to use them un-apologetically and not let the Left define our vocabulary. They've already done enough damage to the first amendment.
Reps have long been tired of politics, and losing in either big jumps (like Obamacare) or small steps (like ACLU supporting censorship of "hate speech"). Like electing a House, a Senate, and a President -- yet not getting funding to build a Wall to reduce illegal immigration; losing again.
Trump is actually giving lots of tired Reps a "second wind".
The Dems have gone too far, so the pendulums they've been pushing (anti-Christian, anti-White, anti-Male, anti-gun owners) have gone so far they've created backlash momentum. Pushing can be fun when there's progress; it gets to be work when you push one way but it seems the culture / politics is going the other way. Pushing then even gets to be tiring.
Trust in God over the long term helps the pro-life people who have been pushing against abortion for 45 years, and are expecting to keep pushing. Trust in "the arc of history" doesn't seem so sustaining.
It's hard to have protests which are serious against a popular will. Lots of Dems are more tired than lots of Reps -- tho there are plenty of angry active Dems, and lots of quite tired Reps, including many "tired of Trump".
And of course if the Dems want there to be less ugliness, they should stop being so ugly in their actions.
I suppose the article says so, but for those like me who refuse to give the NYT our money or clicks, "Exhausted Majority" comes from the recent "Hidden Tribes" report.
I further suppose that while they try to hide it, the NYT folks look on this with great satisfaction: "It's working! We really are tearing the country apart."
Post a Comment