Whatchamacolumn: Polarization continues as a threat to America
I had to re-read the Oct. 18 column in this space to ask myself if, as suggested, it was an endorsement of Donald Trump to be elected president again. It wasn’t.
The article began with carefully accurate statistics about political polarization in Yamhill County, Oregon and the country; it continued with speculation on reasons why half the U.S. electorate polls in support of someone with “so many personal and moral flaws.”
It struck a few nerves, particularly in suggesting that “liberal overreach” is one of those reasons. That’s an old lesson that we started expressing here nine years ago in a column entitled “Trump’s campaign uncovers deep pool.” To quote a few lines from that 2015 missive:
“Here’s how it works: Trump spews out another outrage of thinly veiled racism, sexism or insultism. Each time, the media and political elite respond with ‘gotcha’ statements, hoping to convince people that Trump is inappropriate and hateful. And his polls rise.
((script_author-jeb-bladine))
“Those repulsed by Trump’s ego and irresponsible bluster don’t need the media updates. As Larry Wilmore of television’s ‘The Nightly Show’ so aptly tweeted, ‘Trump had me at Mexican rapists.’
“But those who support Donald Trump don’t care about his specific exaggerations, insults and inanities. They stay connected to him because he panders to biases on gut-level issues that plague many Americans. They look past his unfiltered mouth because he offers them an alternative to the polarized politics that prevent our system from resolving core American problems … Trump uncovered a deep American pool of frustration, resentment and anger. The ripples he created have echoed back a level of support that continues to baffle the media and his opponents.”
Just to recap: Trump will lose in Oregon to Kamala Harris, and no newspaper editorial will have any impact on that fact of life. Better, perhaps, to focus on how to dissolve some of the polarization.
We know something about business boycotts based on long-held opposition to Trump expressed in newspaper editorials; we can only guess how many boycotts from the other side would follow an actual endorsement of Trump for president; and now it’s suggested that failing to offer a formal institutional endorsement to either side of the presidential campaign is cause for reprisal.
Some major American newspapers are being vigorously reproached for failing to publish a presidential endorsement, with suggestions that they fear retribution by Donald Trump. More likely, their thinking ponders retribution by readers toward the institution of journalism and, even more unfortunate, retribution toward each other.
Newspaper editorials have long been intended to spark debate about important issues, and sometimes to move that debate in one direction or another. In the midst of today’s polarized politics, editorials have become lightning rods for many to claim general bias in the newspaper’s coverage of community news. More to come on this topic.
Meanwhile, on a lighter side, this week in a deciding contest, the California Candidate overcame a huge early deficit to the New York Candidate; pulled into a tie; briefly fell behind once again; and pulled out an historic eleventh-hour victory. It was a nice respite from politics to watch the end of the Dodgers-Yankees World Series.
Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.
Comments
Don Dix
Jeb -- no matter what you say, you can't win - nor can the Yankees!
JH
Hello Jeb: It was your choice of words on 10/18 that pushed my button and spurred me to write my letter suggesting that Trump supporters “own” their vote, and not justify it purely as a response to perceived liberal overreach. Your most recent Watchamacolumn (11/1) states that you previously suggested liberal overreach as ONE possible reason for Trump support. That differs from what was implied in your column of 10/18. In that column you asked the question, “what else besides liberal overrreach could explain the willingness of half our population to support a candidate with so many personal and moral flaws”? Framing it in that manner implied to me that you believed that NOTHING ELSE could explain Trump's support - i.e., that liberal overreach is the ONLY reason. I don’t at all dispute that objection to some liberal policies contributes to Trump’s support. My reaction to your “what else” question was that there’s a glaringly obvious and I think more significant “what else” that contributes to Trump’s support - his inflammatory and frequently dishonest rhetoric that taps into and amplifies people’s fears and prejudices.
Having said the above, the wording in my letter could have been better. When I wrote that ‘you’ own your vote for Trump and not shift accountability for that vote to ‘liberal overreach" , I meant for that ‘you’ to apply to your readers who might vote for him - not to ‘you’, Jeb Bladine. I acknowledge that you did not personally endorse Trump. As you said, no editorial will change the presidential election outcome in Oregon. I do also absolutely agree with you that we have to find ways to reduce the current extreme polarization that harms all of us. I don’t always agree with your opinions, but I do have respect for you and for what you’ve contributed to our community over the years through your current and previous role with the News Register.
Bigfootlives
Mr. Haynes,
I read your letter. The United States is not a nation of immigrants; it is a nation of citizens. No nation can stand without a border, and I suspect you are as ignorant as Jeb of what the lack of a border has done to this nation for the last four years. And wanting to take care of our citizens first is only disgusting to people who hate this country. I'm not sure why that is racist, hateful, or bigoted. But what do I know? I'm garbage.
As far as the MSG rally goes, I would maybe try to watch a few minutes of it before you virtue signal and compare it to a music video by Pink Floyd, whose lead singer likes to dress up and do a twenty-minute schtick on stage in a NAZI uniform and rage against the Jews. But hey, Trump is the hater, right? You can't make this stuff up.
I will stand proud with my vote for President Trump and own it until I draw my last breath.
Don Dix
Roger Waters has been dressing up on stage as a nazi for 30 yrs., even to the point of pretending to shoot a fake gun at the crowd. Hardly the best choice to support a claim in this case!
Lulu
Bigfoot--you're probably dusting off your antlers and other bizarre costumes so you and your cronies can go wilding through this country. (Clowns to the left of me; jokers to the right.) Have any further illuminating thoughts about Arnold Palmer? Your guru had several. Maybe the combover hairdo will be successfully resurrected and the people who laugh at it will be shot.
Otis
None of us are cult de-programmers.
Moe
Really Jeb?
"Just to recap: Trump will lose in Oregon to Kamala Harris ..."
CubFan
Moe... Jeb is right, unfortunately. All of the Dem votes in the large metro areas of the state will tip all of Oregon's electoral votes to Harris. There simply isn't enough Republican voters in our state to beat the Big Blue Wall in Oregon.
Moe
CubFan:
Let's see what happens.
Quite an experiment.
Does Que Mala even want to be president?
Can the queen of vacuousness reach 270 electoral votes?
Jeb Bladine
Thanks for the comment, JH.
I’m not sure what you assumed I meant in using the phrase “liberal overreach” – any explanation would have required far more than my small 500-word column. Just as partial reference:
Here’s a deep dive, 5-year-old report from the international think tank, German Marshall Fund, entitled Liberal Overreach and the Misinterpretation of 1989.
https://www.gmfus.org/news/liberal-overreach-and-misinterpretation-1989
And, there’s an interesting chapter in “Majorities, Minorities and the Future of Nationhood” by David Goodhart entitled “Legitimate Populism and Liberal Overreach,” published by Cambridge University Press. Here’s that Chapter Summary:
“Notwithstanding financial crises and pandemics, never have people living in Western societies enjoyed such an extraordinary combination of health, wealth, and freedom. But while liberal democracy has provided the framework for the largely peaceful management of power in Western societies, it has been supplemented in recent decades by what might be called a “liberal overreach.” The chapter identifies three policy areas of liberal overreach. First, the over-enthusiastic embrace of change and openness, from liberals of the left the embrace of mass immigration is emblematic and for liberals of the right it is the free market’s destruction of settled ways of life. Second, the promotion of cognitive-professional employment and academic training as the main route to a successful life. Third, the devaluation of family life and domesticity and the implicit rejection of any gender division of labor. This liberal overreach has provided the fuel for much of mainstream populism in the West.”
Many people have more gut-level responses to different personal interpretations of the phrase, including yours.
Moe
"A model produced by poll analyst Nate Silver, who used to operate the FiveThirtyEight website, has given Trump a 53.8 percent chance of winning over Harris’s 45.8 percent."
"Silver, at the same time, has accused some pollsters of putting their “finger on the scale” and lying to keep the presidential race close in polls, according to a podcast interview last week."
Of course, keeping the race close in polls facilitates stealing the election. Is this "race" an election, or a selection?
Lulu
"vacuousness": the quality of being mindless or unintelligent. That fits, Moe.
And Bigfoot--remember when Trump demanded to physically distance himself from disabled American vets, whom he regarded as "losers"? And how John McCain was no hero because he "allowed" himself to be captured? I guess Trump was awarded far more medals for his own military service. What a class act.
ALLCAPS
LULU IN MY OPION YOU ARE WRONG.GROW A HEART.
treefarmer
“Proud” to support Trump? What a concept. Proud to want a dangerous anti-American leader - an unhinged felon, a contemptable Putin-loving wanna-be dictator, a serial sex abuser - to take total control of America. Does this mean he reflects your values? Would you leave him alone in a room with your teenage daughter?
You may not know, or even want to know, but your candidate has total contempt for you. In private he refers to y’all as “basement dwellers.” He insults your intelligence multiple times daily - he tells you hateful divisive lies and just takes it for granted that you will believe him and applaud his vicious vulgar pronouncements. Then he tells you the truth about his diabolical plans for our country and expects you to believe that he doesn’t really mean it. If you succeed in putting him in the White House again, our democracy will become unrecognizable as he wields unchecked power to exact revenge, installs a cabinet of sycophantic extremists to do his bidding, and corrupts all of our institutions. I know what to expect but his faithful will not likely realize the cost of your support until it is too late. (But at least we will finally be united by our shared suffering?) Remember this though, like it or not, none of us will dare to complain. He intends to jail, deport, or shoot his critics.
May God have mercy on America if you proud supporters prevail.
Moe
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - Mitch Miller & His Gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsgw0W1RE5A
Lulu
allcaps: grow a brain.
by the way, "opinion" is the correct spelling.
Moe
The electorate, including YC, has wisely spoken.
It is certainly tired of being lectured to by the far left, including trivial mistakes in spelling.
tagup
You speak for the entire electorate?…nice ego.
CubFan
Jeb's column here about "polarization". The election is over and the majority of Americans have elected Trump. It would be great if Americans could pull together and give his plans a chance. Our country has a lot of problems and I think most people would like to see us heal as a country!
tagup
No offense Cub, but the calls for everyone to “pull together” are pretty rich after how the previous administration was treated by the republicans. Did the trump/MAGA coalition “pull together “ for the good of the country? Obviously not.
JH
Hello again Jeb and thanks for your response. As I mentioned in my letter and in my previous comment above, my gut level response was not about whether liberal overreach exists or how it's defined. My gut level response was to your suggesting that liberal overreach was the ONLY explanation for there being so much support for such a flawed candidate. While I accept that resistance to some liberal policies played a part, I believe that's not the only reason and not even the most important one. I think the much more significant reason was Trump's appeal to and amplification of voters fears and prejudices - his unfortunately effective appeal to voters 'darker angels'. Additionally --as you know better than most of us--there are at least 2 different information ecosystems, and right wing media has amplified his message and suppressed almost everything critical of him. I know left leaning sites also present a perspective that their viewers want to hear, but I believe not to the degree that Fox does it. Anyway, we're now going to be led by a sociopath and convicted felon who incited a riot to try to illegally overturn an election that he lost. We've had no president anywhere close to that in our 248 year history. He's been getting 'Destruction of Democracy 101' lectures from Putin and Viktor Orban, and I think it's unfortunately likely that he and his enablers will do serious damage to our democracy. Half of your readers either don't believe that or actually favor autocracy. I'm in the half that's saddened by this election outcome, and very concerned about what lies ahead.
Moe
Election 2024 - Why Trump Won - Victor Davis Hanson (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AheBb-MOxy0
MSM
Why were the Nov. 1 Letters to the Editor never posted on this website? There was no opportunity to comment, which was noticed and missed. Strange.
treefarmer
“Pull together? Give his plans a chance?” He TOLD us about those plans and the only possible result will be the destruction of our country and complete destabilization around the globe. JH opines that half the folks either don’t believe our new dictator-elect will do what he told us he would do, or that they actually welcome autocracy. I have given that a lot of thought and predict, now that it is too late and reality is about to settle in, the citizens who made this possible won’t like a dictatorship any more than the Germans did. And this is the ultimate betrayal of every single patriot who laid down their life to defend freedom. (Stand by for our military to be ordered to shoot down Americans in the street, - Trump TOLD us he would do this - and the full implementation of the Project 2025 hellscape.) Bid a final farewell to the Constitution, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and our precious democracy that ALMOST made it 250 years. We were all blessed to live in the USA while it lasted.
I will say it again, without an “if” now that the election is over - may God have mercy on America…… and the world.
Moe
Remember, Biden-Harris can do a lot more damage before 20 January.
And Que Mala is still V.P. So let's just hope slow-Joe quietly finishes his term - else we'll have President Que Mala until 20 January.
tagup
Kamala should just not certify the election results and Joe can use “ official acts” and presidential immunity to stay in office. The GOP thought it was a good idea… right?
Lulu
Why would I listen to anyone too lazy/careless/sloppy to spell correctly? How you write is a reflection of your personal integrity. Obviously, you don't care. Which makes anything you advocate meaningless.
Otis
The market is high right now. Good time to shift your 401k to bonds before the tariffs kick in and crash stocks.
tagup
I don’t know Otis…. With the federal deficit on the rise, and a low priority, Bonds may not be the best option either…..oh well….
Otis
gold, real estate, CD's, fixed annuities, bonds, and even stocks that are less prone to market crashes are all options to weather the storm.
Moe
A little humor:
https://forum.davidicke.com/uploads/monthly_2024_11/73111-42899259-2cfc-423b-9dd5-0269d9b15e16.jpg.462006fa6642cdab522f9bfd3bddc789.jpg
(Note that the trash is Biden-Harris, NOT Americans that may have voted for them. Contrast with Biden's comment, that Americans that may have voted for Trump are trash.)