« Ketanji Brown Jackson don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no Second Amendment | Why October 7? »
March 2, 2024

Two leftists spout gross calumnies against rural (i.e., conservative) whites

By Andrea Widburg

Last week, Mika Brzezinski interviewed the authors of White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. The interview opened with one of the most hate- and rage-filled racial screeds on American television since Bull Connor and his ilk defended Jim Crow, only this time, whites were on the receiving end of the racism. This hatred is as ill-conceived as anti-black racism was, relying on a toxic amalgam of misinformation and redefining long-accepted words and ideas about America.

Here are Tom Schaller (a poly sci professor on the Baltimore campus of the University of Maryland) and Paul Waldman (a “journalist”):

Here’s the pertinent part of that video:

I mean, we lay out the fourfold interconnected thread that white rural voters pose to the country. [snip] They’re the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, and anti-gay geodemographic group in the country. Second, they’re the most conspiracist group: Q Anon support and subscribers, election denialism, COVID denialism, and scientific skepticism, Obama birtherism. Third, anti-democratic sentiments. They don’t believe in an independent press, free speech. They’re most likely to say the president should be able to act unilaterally without any checks from Congress or the courts or the bureaucracy. They’re also the most strongly white nationalist and white Christian nationalists. And fourth, they are most likely to excuse or justify violence as an acceptable alternative to peaceful public discourse.

That’s wrong in every respect. Let’s start with the book’s subtitle, “The threat to American democracy.” What does “democracy” mean? The classic dictionary definition states:

government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

At the federal level, our form of democracy sees the people give voice through “their elected agents” (i.e., it’s a republican democracy rather than a direct democracy, which would see us vote on every national law and policy).

The word comes from the Greek “dﾄ杜okratía” or “popular government.” The Romans had their own phrase: “Vox populi,” or “the voice of the people.” A democratic form of government, therefore, does not reflect what a king, an aristocracy, an academia-ocracy, a kritarchy (rule by judges), a theocracy, or a military junta wants. It is, instead, a government that reflects the values of the greatest number of people.

However, when Democrats use the word “democracy,” they’re bringing it much closer to home: To them, “democracy” means “rule of Democrats.” Their values are “democratic” values, and anything that challenges those values is a “threat to democracy.” The voice of the people is irrelevant. Only the correct (i.e., Democrat) voices count. And the thing is that, if you were to ask them what they mean by “democracy,” within a few sentences, they’d tell you exactly that…only no one ever asks.

And here’s everything else wrong with that racist rant:

“Racist”: This claim relies on redefining what it is to be racist, which used to mean judging people negatively by their genetic race. Most whites subscribe to the Martin Luther King view that people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. (Note: I know I’ve seen these polls. However, search engines simply don’t return them anymore in response to queries.) However, since Trump’s election and George Floyd’s drug-induced death, racism has received an Orwellian makeover: You are racist if you insist that character, not skin color, matters.

“Xenophobic”: “Xenophobia” means “an aversion or hostility to, disdain for, or fear of foreigners, people from different cultures, or strangers.” Conservative Americans (which is what leftists mean by “white rural Americans”) have objected only to illegal aliens. The problem isn’t cultural; it’s legal versus illegal activity.

“Anti-immigrant”: Again, conservatives are clear that legal immigration is acceptable. A completely open border that allows millions of unvetted people, including criminals and military-aged men from hostile countries, to flood America and go on the dole is not acceptable. And no one is more hostile to this than America’s existing minorities (see, e.g., black and Hispanic protests in Chicago).

“Anti-gay”: Conservatives aren’t hostile to the idea of homosexuality per se. They are deeply hostile to the sexualizing of America’s children and the so-called “transgender” phenomenon. Homosexuality is an orientation with roots in the dawn of humankind. “Transgenderism” is a mental illness that claims that people are “born in the wrong bodies,” a condition that can be “cured” with toxic chemicals and mutilating surgery. Conservatives resist recasting society—and indoctrinating children—around an unscientific delusion.

“QAnon support”: QAnon said (a) the rich and powerful are sexually exploiting children and (b) Trump, not Biden, won the 2020 election. There is reasonable evidence for both.

“Election denialism”: There is increasing evidence that Biden won through a combination of (a) illegally changed election rules, (b) legally changed rules that facilitated cheating, (c) fraudulent ballots, and (d) suspect vote counts. Also, when it comes to election denialism:

“COVID denialism”: Conservatives never denied that COVID existed. However, they did assert that (a) it came from a lab in Wuhan; (b) social distancing, masks, and lockdowns were ineffective magical thinking; (c) school closures would damage children; and (d) vaccines were dangerous. Time has proven that they were right about everything.

“Scientific skepticism”: Conservatives do not believe that human activity accounts for the Earth’s four-billion-plus years of climate change, nor do they believe blocking sunlight, decreasing Earth’s hydration, or starving the world’s population will improve things. Also, as noted, they don’t believe that men and women can become the opposite sex.

“Obama birtherism”: I have no opinion about Obama’s place of birth. I do believe that his unwillingness to reveal his birth certificate (making available only a PDF), his putting his imprimatur on his literary agent’s statement that he was born in Kenya, and his refusal to reveal his college records (which would identify his nationality) all make questions about his place of origin legitimate.

“Don’t believe in an independent press”: Conservatives believe strongly in an independent press. What they don’t believe is that the current media is independent, given that its opinions march in lockstep with the Democrat party’s platform and political needs.

“Don’t believe in free speech”: It wasn’t conservatives in government and Big Tech who censored speech regarding the 2020 election, COVID, vaccines, January 6, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and a host of other issues that reflect badly on Democrats. There are no instances of conservatives censoring speech as opposed to challenging ideas and purported facts with which they disagree.

“Powerful president”: Impeachment is the way to make a president answerable for criminal or political offenses in office. What conservatives deeply object to is the Democrats’ demand that the president must be subordinate to the bureaucracy, an unconstitutional entity that, to the extent it exists, is the Chief Executive’s servant, not his master.

“White nationalist/White Christian nationalist”: It galls leftists that conservatives believe that they are answerable to a higher moral authority than the government. That’s the great dividing line that, for leftists, means all conservatives are Hitler.

“Supporters of violence”: Wrong, with the evidence being the George Floyd riots, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and the crime data showing that violent crime is concentrated in Democrat-run cities, often with majority black populations.  

Image: Vicious race haters Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman. X screen grab.

If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com