The National Review on the Republican Party
Here’s David French, writing in the National Review:
I believe Ilhan Omar is a toxic presence in American politics. Her critiques are deeply misguided. But she should temper her critiques because they’re wrong, not because she’s an immigrant. . . .
The near-total silence (at least so far) from GOP leaders is deeply dispiriting. Do they not understand the message the leader of their party is sending — especially to America’s nonwhite citizens? Do they not understand that racial malice as a political strategy isn’t just an ultimately losing proposition but also deeply divisive, picking at the scabs of America’s deepest political, cultural, and spiritual wounds?
Later French suggests that they do understand, but are cowards:
There are many GOP leaders who, quite frankly, understand that they criticize even the president’s racist speech at their own peril. The grassroots have spoken. Loyalty to the president must be absolute, or one risks a primary challenge. Yet individual voters have responsibilities as well, and they must understand that extraordinary loyalty to a malicious man broadcasts their own disdain for their fellow citizens. . . .
Trump is fully employing malice as a political strategy. It’s not clever. It’s not shrewd. It’s destructive and wrong. The fact that so few Republicans can muster enough courage to state this obvious truth speaks to a sad reality — the rot extends far beyond 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I pray that the Republican Party is a vast collection of cowards. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate.
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15. July 2019 at 09:57
I pray that this country doesn’t destroy itself. It’s not a good time to be a member of anyone’s tribe.
15. July 2019 at 10:35
Why is it a losing proposition? Because French wants reality to be that way? It would be nice, but is it true? The “losing proposition” won Trump the 2016 election. At least he thinks so. So it’s only natural of him to assume it again.
Apart from that: He’s probably three times wrong, but in Omhar’s case he hits a sore spot. If someone is as toxic as Omhar, a refugee who was offered protection in America, but who only tells teribble narratives about America and only great stories about Somalia, then I think a lot of voters ask the same question as Trump: Why doesn’t she just go back???
I think Trump is targeting this group of voters, or he’s just very angry and hasn’t thought this through. Probably both.
15. July 2019 at 11:16
Racist politics started with Obama, lauded so strongly for being “the first black president”. That dam has been broken for a whole decade now, and fixing it will not be easy.
15. July 2019 at 11:30
What would the alternative be? A party that prioritizes individuals based on their race? I kind of feel like the Democratic Party has than nailed down. Do you find them as morally repugnant as Trump? I’m asking in all seriousness.
15. July 2019 at 11:59
There is no equivocation here: the president is in the wrong, historically and morally. Looking at the history of our country, there aren’t enough lines here in which I could type all the times a white representative was the subject of this (germans go back to germany!, Catholics stay out!)
https://www.history.com/news/anti-german-sentiment-wwi
You have to be willfully ignorant and stupid to:
1)think that this rhetoric from Trump is anything new
2)think immigrant representatives should be censored, and if they don’t like it to “go back to where they came from”
Literally every immigrant group has changed the U.S. in unique ways. Any BY THE WAY, isn’t it interesting that the right thinks there is a free speech problem on the left and in universities, but when faced with criticism he tells them to literally leave the country? The absolute state of the GOP hypocrisy is amazing.
15. July 2019 at 12:52
French is spot-on. I would disagree with IO on each and every issue but not because she is a Muslim refugee. When was it okay to voice such nonsense that too from a president?
I embraced liberalism during my graduate school in US and by liberalism I mean the classical kind – separation of religion and state, free market/speech , equal opportunity and the rule of law.
From far – It is sad to see US in such doldrums.
15. July 2019 at 13:02
Derrick,
It’s self-defeating that you are using the Germans as an example. The Germans are the largest immigration group in the USA, nevertheless they have completely assimilated. Some was voluntary assimilation, some was forced assimilation. The real question is this: Did these kinds of assimilation harm America or not? I’d say: It was exactly the right way. You either assimilate or you should leave. There can’t be maximum diversity. In the end you need assimilation, a national sentiment, a national identity. You can not have it all.
Who’s censoring her? That’s just a lie. She can say what she wants, but she has to live with the disagreements.
15. July 2019 at 14:12
Anonymous, You said:
“Racist politics started with Obama”
That’s right. Racial politics didn’t start with slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow laws, Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, etc. It all started with Obama, who told white people to go back to Europe. Do you people even know how insane you sound? Obama on his very worst day didn’t say things as offensive as Trump says on an average day.
Tom, I’m opposed to all forms of identity politics (including that in the Democratic Party), but if you can’t see why Trump is especially bad, then I can’t help you.
15. July 2019 at 14:41
Okay one last idiotic idea: The Democratic field seems pretty weak so far. Quantity yes, but no quality.
Why isn’t Nancy Pelosi running? She is so tough. She is cool without even trying. She is the opposite of Pocahontas, AOC, Omar, and all the others.
Republicans don’t hate Pelosi because she’s so hilariously inept and idiotic. They hate her because she’s frighteningly good at her job. Apart from maybe Michelle Obama, she’s the only person so far who could beat Trump.
15. July 2019 at 14:43
Okay now really the last one (Sorry Scott).
Scott,
I think what he means is that racism directly by or through the President in the decades before was never so explicit. It was certainly there, and it was most likely worse, but it was under the surface and not so explicit. No one would have stressed the skin color of the other Presidents. Why should one do that, that is not a good idea. Why is the color of the new President suddenly so important?
I find it aggravating with Obama that he almost completely negated his white origin for whatever reasons, I assume mostly political reasons, or maybe worse: he meant it.
He always calls himself black, but he is 50% white and 50% black, and his black father didn’t even raise him, he left him, he was mainly raised by his white grandparents. So his genes are 50% white, 50% black, his environment is close to 100% white, and yet he didn’t want to know much about his whiteness.
He should have emphasized his blackness and his whiteness, as an example for the future of America. Instead, this one-sided emphasis on his blackness. That was a huge mistake, which fortunately was also criticized by an Asian American, I think in the Washington Post. But under Obama’s rule there were unfortunately only very few such voices of reason. Obama was so nice and so sympathetic, so nobody wanted to step on his feet. Huge mistake.
15. July 2019 at 15:19
Christian List,
Why was the president publicly showing his long-form birth certificate suddenly so important or necessary?
15. July 2019 at 15:55
Like I said, identity politics is poison.
I guess identity politics is becoming the stock-in-trade of many candidates seeking office.
Headline from Politico:
Kamala Harris proposes $100 billion plan for black homeownership
It is a legitimate question to ask whether Trump has Trumpified the Republican Party. But one might also say Trump has Trumpified the Democratic Party as well.
By the way, when I was young and applying for jobs in the federal government long before there was ever a president Trump, I had to mark down my ethnicity and sex on every job application form.
15. July 2019 at 16:07
Trump is playing politics. Identity politics is a losing issue for the Left. The longer he tricks them into screaming “racist” the stronger he gets. A simple trap.
15. July 2019 at 17:22
Effem:
You may be correct.
For the last couple weeks, the face of the D-Party has been four fresh Congresswomen, who say they are “women of color” and that is what defines them, informs them and motivates them. Two of the four women are Muslims, and have made comments that can be construed as “anti-American.”
That is fine, and in my younger days I would have happily dated the Somali or AOC anytime. They are tremendously appealing, smart and are good-looking.
All four of the “quad squad” are 100% entitled to their views.
But is this the way to win an election? Where is the diversity and inclusiveness in the Quad Squad group? Group Think anyone?
Can the D-Party do better than identity-politics squabbling? Evidently not.
I did not think it was possible to lose an election to Trump. The D-Party may find a way. Again (with a possible assist from the Electoral College).
15. July 2019 at 22:01
> That’s right. Racial politics didn’t start with slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow laws, Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, etc.
My perspective is that racism in politics died down and then came back quite strongly when the race of a candidate was sold as one of his main selling points. If you think racism was a driving factor in the early 2000s as well, then my opinion may seem deranged. To my perspective David seems deranged for writing
> Do they not understand that racial malice as a political strategy isn’t just an ultimately losing proposition but also deeply divisive, picking at the scabs of America’s deepest political, cultural, and spiritual wounds?
shocked that whoa, we are doing the the thing we’ve been doing every day for at least a decade.
16. July 2019 at 04:03
Christian, I disagree that Omar is not assimilated. She was elected by the people in her district. Being chosen by other Americans to represent you is as assimilated as you get. When people say Omar isn’t assimilated, they are basically saying the people in her district aren’t fully American. And Omar wasn’t elected by other immigrants—her district is over two-thirds white. Accusing Omar of failing to assimilate implicitly argues that liberal urban Americans aren’t real Americans, which is of course what many conservatives believe and frequently say openly. I’d say that line of thinking is a bigger danger to our national sentiment than anything Omar has said. I agree that we should have a national sentiment, but I’d prefer it to be one based on tolerance and openness.
The love it or leave it argument also doesn’t make sense. Omar and many others on the left criticize America mostly for its foreign policy, i.e. its negative impact on people in other countries. If you believed in that critique, then logically you would want to live in America as it’s the only place you won’t be harmed by American foreign policy.
16. July 2019 at 04:53
Scott,
There are some commenters on this blog who think redlining was not bad. This group might actually benefit from more identity politics. They truly seem to think racism against white men comparable. I’ve read about this phenomenon, but this is my first encounter with it.
It’s unsettling. I might take a break from the comments. Keep up the good fight.
16. July 2019 at 05:22
Anyone who suggests that Obama promoted racism or was the cause of declining race relations in this country is not someone to take seriously. The whole eight years he was in office was just a big reactionary tantrum from the right. They absolutely could not handle the fact that Obama, for whatever his faults, was an extremely polished politician who *gasp* advocated seriously for black Americans! My goodness did the right resent him for that. They resented him not only for what he did as president, but for who he was/is.
To suggest that Trump is anywhere close to Obama in terms of mending race relations is laughable.
16. July 2019 at 05:30
Scott,
I would agree that Trump is especially bad- but only because he is the President. I think you’re wrong that his particular form of identity politics is worse and to even say that means you’re missing the point. Instead of arguing over which statements or responses from different politicians is worse- we should instead be focusing on why all of it is evil.
When group identity is paramount to an individuals world perspective- the next step is to set up the world in terms of hierarchy of group identity- and from there it just becomes a fight. Trump is the symptom of identity politics being played over the past 30 years by the left, he is the rights fist to fight with. If you can’t see that the left and the democratic party is dominated by identity politics in a way the republican party is not, then I can’t help you.
It’s like someone slapping someone else in the face over and over again without expecting to get slapped back. Trump is that- yes it’s bad, but it’s all bad.
16. July 2019 at 06:24
Christian, You said:
“He always calls himself black, but he is 50% white and 50% black,”
If you know nothing about the history of race in America then it’s better to just keep silent.
Everyone, LOL at all the people who think that just because they don’t like affirmative action policies it justifies a racist president.
16. July 2019 at 12:26
Trump isn’t demonstrably racist; he didn’t mention race in his remarks at all.
https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/
Omar is, indeed, a toxic presence in American politics, but despite this, she is better than most Democrats, and, indeed, most Republicans.
In regards to French, all I have to say:
https://twitter.com/RichardBSpencer/status/1136772956133220352
I support pro-White politics.
“There are some commenters on this blog who think redlining was not bad.”
How was Black people being able to enjoy the company of other Black people bad?
“They truly seem to think racism against white men comparable.”
Wrong. It’s much worse.
16. July 2019 at 12:59
And….. there it is. Does E. Harding speak for the rest of you?
16. July 2019 at 13:07
@Bob how is redlining bad and how is racism against White men not much worse than against the darker races? You are White, is that not correct? Why don’t you support pro-White politics? Why do you keep spouting ideologies against your interests?
16. July 2019 at 13:34
Scott,
Should I leave the country, too? You don’t even argument. Appealing to history/tradition is not an argument at all. And even if it was an argument and not fallacy (which it is), you’d still have to word it out. The way you express it, it can mean anything, or in other words: nothing at all.
16. July 2019 at 13:34
bob,
No! What I’d like to know is why I should have even needed to defend myself, as a reader of this comment section. Do you really think most readers of this blog have that sort of perspective on the world?
16. July 2019 at 13:35
Mark,
I don’t think I even talked about whether Omar was assimilated or not. I would have to think about that first. I have talked about Germans, and that they have assimilated enormously, so much in fact that close to all German roots are lost. That’s what quite some immigration groups have done, I guess not just the Germans. Was that good or bad? I don’t want to finally judge that at the moment, because I assume that’s quite hard. I would just like to state that it was the case. I think it can be said that people like Omar did not carry out a comparable assimilation so far.
I don’t think that’s true. Domestic politics is one priority if not the priority of politicians like AOC and Omar. In Omar’s version, America isn’t the bighearted country that saved her from a brutal war and a bleak refugee camp. It isn’t a country that helped her attend college or vaulted her into Congress. To her it’s a failed state (I guess much worse than Somalia, right?). America to her is an extremely cruel and unjust society. Or in her words:
“I grew up in an extremely unjust society, and the only thing that made my family excited about coming to the United States was that the United States was supposed to be the country that guaranteed justice to all,” she told the high school students. “So, I feel it necessary for me to speak about that promise that’s not kept.”
I even think you can have this opinion, but then you should choose convincing examples, examples that are waterproof at best, or at least true.
But she continues with an example about a grandma that (according to Omar) has to steal bread because her granddaughter is starving to death. That’s not a story about Somalia, you know, that’s Omar’s view of America. I’m not making this up, this is a pretty recent portrait about her in the Washington Post.
I agree with you on that point. Some conservatives (maybe most) certainly claim that. But the other side looks quite similar to me: the urban liberals claim that the rural conservatives are not real Americans who do not represent real American values.
That’s exactly the divide I’m talking about. I don’t want to judge who is “right” (most likely no side is completely right). For now it’s just relevant to realize that there seems to be quite a divide, and that this divide probably has been overcome in the past by assimilation (amongst other things?). Exactly this assimilation is no longer taking place today, rather a “dissimilation”.
Everybody side does what it wants. The population splits up and moves apart. If that’s good or bad, I don’t know, individualism isn’t bad per se, but it seems to happen. What may be frightening is that the two sides understand each other less and less, and that there seem to be less and less common ground and compromises.
16. July 2019 at 14:11
Mark,
It makes quite some sense, if you tell almost only bad things about America (as Omar does) and almost only positive things about Somalia. The question even seems quite natural then. Why don’t you go there, what are you doing here?
She gives the standard answer, which is standard yes, but it’s still good: “Because I love America so much.” — Well done Omar, but she shouldn’t say that she loves it more than anyone else, that doesn’t make sense, how would she know, that’s just arrogant hubris.
I like to speak badly about my country as well (Germany) and I like to speak positively about America. Partly to piss other Germans off, I guess. Then other Germans oftentimes naturally say that I should leave and go to America, some others say that I should be deported. That’s not racist but it might be rude. But to be honest: I walked right into that one, didn’t I. But I take it as it comes. There are already enough snowflakes in our snowflake time.
16. July 2019 at 14:12
Harding, You said:
“Trump isn’t demonstrably racist; he didn’t mention race in his remarks at all.”
LOL, are you alt-right types really that dense? A racist statement must mention race? When you read a novel, do you understand any of the nuances that aren’t spelled out in capital letters?
First the alt right says we can’t have Hispanic immigrants because they are the wrong race. And then they deny that opposition to Hispanics and Muslims has anything to do with race. “It’s a different form of bigotry”.
Christian, If you knew anything about American history then you’d know why both whites and blacks regard people like Obama as black. Please don’t play the victim card.
16. July 2019 at 14:14
Becky,
I apologize. I think most of the readers of this blog are good people. I’m troubled by the equivalency some folks here give between identity politics and the lasting effects of the historical crimes committed against African Americans to include Jim Crow, redlining and of course slavery. and I’m curious where it comes from. In E. Harding’s case it comes from Richard Spencer.
E H. and Christian,
I am white. Any discrimination I’ve experienced in life has been minor at best. I have many african american friends and they have all been racially profiled by police. I suspect you have never been pulled over for driving white. Redlining was used to exclude african americans from the post-war expansion of household wealth largely brought on by home ownership. And I consider the welfare of all members of my diverse community to be in “my interest”. I don’t consider myself a victim.
16. July 2019 at 14:53
Scott,
I understand what you mean, but I don’t share your point of view. For me, Obama was the Messiahs of Change. Change was his slogan, remember? Where was the change? It was just more of the same old.
Obama became president at a time when more and more multiracial people openly acknowledged their multiple races. He let us down. Where was the new America? He was the ideal multiracial president who could have reconciled America. But you have to embrace your true origins for that.
You may be right that old America regards Obama as a black. I don’t. Obama doesn’t have to accept the same old. It was his choice. There is always another way.
What’s another way? Let’s see. If Obama ever needed advice, he could have asked people like Tiger Woods for example, who would have never betrayed his mother like that (at least I hope so). Obama has chosen another path. You are who you think you are. Do not play a card that passes this decision on to others. At the end of the day it was his decision.
16. July 2019 at 15:13
Bob,
I just think your focus is wrong. We can still talk about discrimination and reparations for 200 years. There was certainly discrimination and it is still there, even if it got better. But it’s all so negative. It’s not a look towards a positive future. I believe we must find more positive approaches.
There seem to be minorities, such as the Chinese and other Asians, who were also discriminated against in America, but who are doing relatively well today, often even better than white people.
These are positive signs. We have to look into this, how could this happen? Were there reparations? Was there affirmative action? Was it identity politics? What did the government do to boost Asians? What was it? We need unbiased open-minded investigations about that.
Do we all need to become more Chinese, more Asian? Then do it.
The usual oppressed/oppressor narrative does not interest me that much. It’s boring. It’s negative. It’s not constructive.
16. July 2019 at 15:19
Bob,
Apology accepted, and I particularly agree with the welfare of all members in diverse community.
16. July 2019 at 15:51
“When you read a novel, do you understand any of the nuances that aren’t spelled out in capital letters?”
You boldly suggest Trump is in any way a nuanced person. To be honest, you’re supposed to be the anti-Trump one here. I don’t see why you need to defend Trump’s (completely nonexistent) capacity for verbal reasoning.
“And then they deny that opposition to Hispanics and Muslims has anything to do with race. “It’s a different form of bigotry”.”
Of course. Very few people in this country are alt-right.
“historical crimes committed against African Americans to include Jim Crow, redlining and of course slavery.”
Of these, only Jim Crow was obviously bad for Blacks (though it was good for the Black underclass). Slavery was an obvious benefit to Blacks; compare the Caribbean with Africa. Redlining was not an obvious harm to Blacks, unless you think people living around their own race is inherently harmful to them.
Obama is Kenyan-American, not typically Black.
“I have many african american friends and they have all been racially profiled by police.”
That’s because Blacks commit more crime, and (especially in the ghetto) are more savage in general.
“Redlining was used to exclude african americans from the post-war expansion of household wealth largely brought on by home ownership.”
One word: Jews. Housing is a far LARGER proportion of Black household wealth than it is White household wealth. Black wealth is low because they tend to be lazy and shiftless, without the wisdom to invest in STOCKS AND BONDS, where actual wealth is made. Compare Jews. Why aren’t property values higher in Black neighborhoods? They’re pretty high in Jewish and Asian-heavy neighborhoods. Do you think it might have something to do with Black crime and the tendency of Blacks to move out of places with excessively high housing values?
“And I consider the welfare of all members of my diverse community to be in “my interest”.”
Interesting. Do you support ending sanctions on Russia, Iran, and Syria?
“I don’t consider myself a victim.”
The victim who can’t see that he is a victim is the most pitiful kind of victim.
16. July 2019 at 19:45
E Harding wrote ‘slavery was an obvious benefit to blacks’
Wow!
Christen,
My focus is not wrong. EH thinks slavery helped African Americans “obviously”. That’s worthy of focus. Since you share his views of white victimhood, do you also share his views of slavery?
16. July 2019 at 21:21
I think what he means is, would African Americans prefer to be living in Africa? After all, African Americans have higher incomes than Europeans (in Europe).
16. July 2019 at 22:32
How are those liberaltarians looking now? Not such a crazy ideological project if Trumpism is the animating force of Republican politics.
17. July 2019 at 00:52
Scott wrote: “Christian, If you knew anything about American history then you’d know why both whites and blacks regard people like Obama as black.”
But there has also been the tension of “light skinned privilege” among blacks in America.
17. July 2019 at 11:56
Cliff,
Why would that be a relevant point? He claims that discrimination against american white men is worse that discrimination against African Americans. What relevance do living standards in Africa have on this argument. EH could move to Africa too BTW. Or Europe if he feels so victimized? By this logic, if median Jewish income in Israel and America is higher than it is in Poland or Germany, which it probably is, the Holocaust was a good thing? No it was terrible and so was slavery.
What planet do you guys live on? Slaver was bad. EH needs to learn that sometimes life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t make him a victim. Being harassed by police makes you a victim.
and slavery was bad.
17. July 2019 at 13:07
Bob,
No, it’s not. You just think it is, because it’s your lens. You are new here, you don’t even know him. Trust me, don’t go down his path. EH is well-known here, he seems to be Russian-American and he loves Putin. He’s openly racist, that’s his main theme (his basis is Spencer and most likely the race ideology of Nazism). He’s an extreme anti-Semite. He’s so obsessed with race and Jews that he cannot stand Trump (think of his Israel policy as one example). He actually hopes that Trump loses the 2020 election, because to him Trump is a traitor.
I still think it is. You are trapped in your oppressed-oppressor mindset, that’s why you talk about nothing else (not so much different than EH, just the other extreme of the same spectrum) and that’s why you see everything and anybody through that lens. I said everything about that narrative already. It too often misses the point. It’s negative. It’s not constructive.
17. July 2019 at 14:36
You realize, of course, that the main reason the GOP doesn’t like Omar is because of her stance on Israel? Ironic a foreign woman has more balls than all the white men in Congress (and here, apparently).
17. July 2019 at 17:19
Cristian,
Thanks for the heads up on EH. Still a little odd that others seemed to rationalize his statements but i’ll Move on. All good.
17. July 2019 at 19:28
“and he loves Putin”
Not the case. I am genuinely impressed by his political skill (though it could be better), but the problem with him is that, perhaps from the same causes that result in his political skill, he is too naive in regards to the intentions of the imperialist states. Thus, he did not take proper steps of rebuilding Russia as a great power by invading and annexing Ukraine due to his moralism and his naive desire to extend an olive branch to the Western powers. As the West continues oppressing it, Russia should reunify with Ukraine, surely with Belarus’, and probably with Kazakhstan.
It’s true; I cannot stand Trump. He has given us nothing more than Generic R, and, due to his political incompetence, has made the situation for Whites in America much worse. He is anti-Russian, anti-Syrian, anti-Iranian, anti-Cuban, anti-Venezuelan, anti-Nicaraguan, and is a puppet of the Likudniks and the Ukrainian elite. The illegal alien population under him has skyrocketed. He is no different from George Bush except his rhetoric. The situation for Whites in America has declined precipitously under him in the cultural realm, and has barely improved in the political.