Grievance Hunters Go After Buttigieg
The guy is from Indiana, part of the American Uncool Belt (which the state I'm from, Michigan, is also part of).
I say that really in contrast with the Eastern Seaboard states like New York and also Washington, D.C., which Mr. Buttigieg was sneering at.
Side note: If you aren't sneering at Washington, D.C., and those who run it, you aren't awake and/or lack a pulse.
But, of course, Buttigieg got in trouble with the "woke" for his comparison.
Jessica Chasmar writes in the Wash Times:
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg ignited a backlash on Twitter, particularly among people of color, after he claimed that the country's next president needed to embody the values of "the American Heartland.""In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we've come to know and expect," Mr. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, tweeted to his 1.6 million followers Wednesday afternoon.
As of Thursday morning, the tweet racked up only 1,300 retweets and a whopping 10,600 replies, with some users accusing Mr. Buttigieg of casual racism and furthering deepening his divide with the black community.
"Uhhh... what?" former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien tweeted. "Shaping by the heartland is better? Is that where all the 'Real Americans' live? Is that the only place where 'American Values' can be found? This is offensive and disgraceful.
What a bunch of bullshit.
See above, sneer-compare.
We all know this.
It's about ordinary Americans versus politicians.
Just some of us make racial hay out of it. In tweets. Which is far easier than actually doing anything to make change.
via ifeminists
Quick-grab race numbers from statisticalatlas com—
The United States is 12.6% Black.
Indianapolis (near my childhood) is 28% Black.
Fort Wayne (Buttigieg) is 15.2% Black
Detroit (Amy's childhood) is 79.7% Black.
Why would any sane person assume that rhetoric about 'Heartland vision' is racially discriminatory?
Crid at January 31, 2020 11:32 PM
Now that I live in the countryside I kind of get it. Big cities are often very similar. They all have that street I call "The Rich Person Mall" with Hermes and Armani... Champs Elysées, Newbury Street, Rue Basses, whatever. They have McDonalds, Starbucks and the GAP. They have all the same shops. Sure, I'm oversimplifying. There's architecture and funky neighborhoods and such.
When you go into the smaller towns and countryside, that's where most of the weird stuff that makes the country unique is.
It sometimes feels like people in big cities have more in common with people in other big cities, anywhere in the world, than with their countrymen in the sticks/flyoverland/hinterland/whatever you want to call it.
NicoleK at February 1, 2020 1:15 AM
Agree with NicoleK -- somebody who frequents the nicer parts of London, New York, or Manila won't feel terribly out of place, or even slightly confused, in any of them.
Per Crid: "Why would any sane person assume that rhetoric about 'Heartland vision' is racially discriminatory?"
You can't, but the only other thing you really could say is, "I don't think anybody in flyover country really trusts out-of-touch cosmopolitan sophisticates such as ourselves, but I don't know why." It's easier to call 'em knuckledraggers.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at February 1, 2020 6:22 AM
You know that means the DNC noticed people would rather vote for him than for Warren and that's a cardinal sin.
Sixclaws at February 1, 2020 6:38 AM
It's just that the "expert" class got their panties in a bunch. They want a return to the days when "experts" were given a certain amount of deference.
Of course, in those days, the experts did things: man on the moon, winning the cold war, the start of the technology revolution. Most of our "experts" couldn't find their ass with both hands, a map, a GPS and Waze.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 1, 2020 6:50 AM
> in those days, the experts did things
Not certain that's true... There've always been people who could blow hot air and do little else for a living. Remember Hugh Sidey? He'd been saying mundane things for years, and when I finally saw him on TV, he seemed like the type who'd have problems with shoelaces or a wristwatch: But he worked for Time magazine, which had every reason to pretend he was a distinctive observer of world events... He was inexpensive to employ. We could both name dozens of such people.
Crid at February 1, 2020 6:58 AM
Can't say I remember a Hugh Sidey. But I'm from the sticks and can't chew gum and walk at the same time. There are, and will always be blowhards who think they know more or better than the rest of us.
This is more of what I had in mind. Dated 16 June 2016:
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2016/06/calm-down-trump-wont-be-president-and-britain-wont-leave-eu
The beauty of the Information Age is that us little folk can look up what was said previously without access to LexisNexis, and compare predictions with results. I suspect that Ian was drinking heavily last night.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 1, 2020 7:13 AM
> Can't say I remember
> a Hugh Sidey
The point is thereby affirmed... He didn't *do* anything.
Crid at February 1, 2020 10:43 AM
"Why would any sane person assume ..."
Sanity hasn't been part of the equation for a long time.
Look at Flint Michigan. What sane person would think the Governor is responsible for the water problems of some tiny city? Look up any of the 'big' stories of the last decade. Similar levels of sanity. As IRA points out similar levels of accuracy. Which is why people pay so little attention to the news these days.
Ben at February 1, 2020 11:00 AM
All the cosmopolitan sneering at Flyover Country is just another good reason to retain the electoral college, so that people in the less populous flyover states can still retain a chance of influencing the outcomes of Presidential elections.
mpetrie98 at February 1, 2020 11:44 AM
All the cosmopolitan sneering at Flyover Country is just another good reason to retain the electoral college, so that people in the less populous flyover states can still retain a chance of influencing the outcomes of Presidential elections.
"All the cosmopolitan sneering at Flyover Country" is just (mostly) politics of resentment expertly stoked by politicians and clergy.
We have a man who lived in a literal gold penthouse in the most cosmopolitan cosmopolis in the land peddling this politics-as-peevish-vengeance manure, and it sells.
Kevin at February 1, 2020 1:37 PM
Trump didn't make Don Lemon mock everyone who doesn't live in New York and LA. Heck Trump isn't even involved in this CNN vs. Buttigieg stuff. You may need to reassess your Trump Derangement Syndrome Kevin.
Ben at February 1, 2020 3:22 PM
Ben, I’m not sure what you’re referring to in either case, but my comment still stands. The president, who has lived a most privileged “coastal” life, has never shown a whit of interest in non-coastal America until it was politically advantageous.
Kevin at February 1, 2020 10:45 PM
You can use google Kevin. Or even a reputable search engine. That you don't know is only emphasizing your ignorance.
Same with your "has never shown a whit of interest in non-coastal America until it was politically advantageous." Bullshit. Trump is a TV glory hog. He always cared about his TV ratings. There are a lot of people who don't live on the coasts. Trump always wanted to be on their TV.
The TDS just makes you sound nutty.
Ben at February 2, 2020 7:49 AM
> Bullshit. Trump is a TV
> glory hog. He always cared
> about his TV ratings.
What kind of demented Trump voter could imagine that this portends public service?
Crid at February 2, 2020 10:30 AM
You can use google Kevin. Or even a reputable search engine. That you don't know is only emphasizing your ignorance.
Ben, I am many things, but I am not ignorant.
At your suggestion, I looked up the Don Lemon thing. I don't care what Don Lemon says; do you? I don't know what CNN and Buttigieg is.
Same with your "has never shown a whit of interest in non-coastal America until it was politically advantageous." Bullshit. Trump is a TV glory hog. He always cared about his TV ratings.
I don't know how that translates to caring about people's lives. Regardless, one might make the same argument for Don Lemon and his TV ratings.
Trump may have his qualities, but a longstanding concern for the common man or woman is not one of them.
Kevin at February 2, 2020 12:04 PM
Kevin, somehow that reminds me of what a certain radio host said, maybe a couple of weeks ago (not verbatim): "If Fox News were to turn on Trump, he'd be finished."
lenona at February 2, 2020 12:54 PM
Kevin, look up. Top of the page. Not that difficult to find.
As for Trump caring about common people's lives, so what? Gee, that puts him in common with about 300 million people in just the US alone. You really think Buttigieg cares? Or Warren? Or Bush?
You need to step back from the crazy. You are spouting easily proven false statements.
Crid, never said anything about public service. Just that Trump really does care about all Americans no matter where they live. He really cares about them looking at him and talking about him. I may like him as a president but I also am sane. There is no denying this truth.
Lenona, that is already happening. It isn't Trump that is suffering.
The left wing derangement with Fox is almost as bad as their derangement with Trump.
Ben at February 2, 2020 1:13 PM
Er...just how often DOES Fox put down Trump?
lenona at February 2, 2020 2:27 PM
By all that is holy Lenona, don't take my word for it. Look things up. Maybe ol'Ben is going senile. Maybe I'm just confused. Worst of all, I don't even watch Fox.
If you do decide to check things out you'll find Fox has been running anti-Trump commercials for some time. They are notably less Trump friendly in their general stories, though not to the level of other networks. There has been a reversion to the mean going on since what'is'face is gone.
The worst part is Fox isn't what got Trump elected in the first place. CNN was far more significant. Trump would say something exaggerated (as always). CNN would take it crazy literal. Big emphasis on the crazy. Their freaking out would be portrayed as all Democrats. Bada bing bada boom, Trump looks good compared by comparison.
When the people complaining about you are also complaining about you using military force to get extra ice cream you come out smelling like a rose just by comparison.
Ben at February 2, 2020 5:26 PM
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