“Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.
Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt
Paul Krugman: Thoughts for the Horrified
So what do we do now? By “we” I mean all those left, center and even right who saw Donald Trump as the worst man ever to run for president and assumed that a strong majority of our fellow citizens would agree.
I’m not talking about rethinking political strategy. There will be a time for that — God knows it’s clear that almost everyone on the center-left, myself included, was clueless about what actually works in persuading voters. For now, however, I’m talking about personal attitude and behavior in the face of this terrible shock.
Steve Rattner: Trump’s Economic Prescription. First: Do Harm.
Donald J. Trump is positioned to achieve the most radical reshaping of economic policy since Ronald Reagan. Even under Reagan, Republicans never controlled both houses of Congress.
Since Mr. Trump has yet to provide many specifics, I can’t thoroughly assess the overall impact of his plan. But at the least, if he follows through on his ideas, we could face higher prices on imported goods, rising interest rates, substantial inflation and a further shift of wealth to the upper classes. [..]
It’s hard to know whether the conflicting forces unleashed by Mr. Trump will create a recession. For the moment, at least, the stock market is betting no. But in addition to higher interest rates, financial markets are signaling higher inflation rates.
This much is certain: Mr. Trump’s proposals would confer vast monetary gains on wealthy Americans while leaving middle- and working-class Americans — his electoral base — further behind. For his supporters, the irony of a Trump victory is that they may end up even less well off.
Jill Abramson: Hillary Clinton once believed anything possible. Now her tragedy is ours
When Hillary Clinton relinquished her political dream at the Wyndham Hotel on Wednesday, her voice barely quavered. She exuded grace and resilience. The woman has a true gift for giving losing speeches.
Some of her supporters, who began demonstrating on the streets to protest Donald Trump’s victory, yearned to hear something else, however. They would have preferred at least a dash of the defiant tone that Hillary Rodham struck in her famous Wellesley commencement address. In that speech, she talked proudly about how the women in her class were too young to know what was “not possible”. They were going to reshape the ruling order, a pledge that remained unfulfilled. [..]
It is hard to be the first woman in any position of power, but Clinton was more than ready to grab the ultimate prize. On Tuesday night, in the glass encased Javits Center, her fanbase had everything set for victory, even confetti shaped as glass shards. The highest, hardest glass ceiling was about to fall.
The confetti never fell – and at the age of 69, Hillary Clinton finally faced the cold reality that she couldn’t see as a Wellesley student in 1969: it was not possible.
Patrisse Cullors: Trump’s election means more police brutality towards black people
Donald Trump has won the presidency. But did he win the nation’s heart?
We must believe that he did. And, for now, it appears that his form of white nationalism has won too. That is terrifying but also liberating.
Black people have been calling for an end to terror in our communities. Trump was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), one of the largest police unions in the country, with a history of defending violence and racism. It’s the FOP that has largely been unwilling to reprimand officers who’ve killed black people. Under Trump, black lives will become even more vulnerable to state violence.
Other voices joining us in calling for freedom include the Native American community, Latinos, Muslims, the LGBT community and white women who challenge misogyny.
Amanda Marcotte: Yes, the white male anger that fueled Trump’s victory was real — but it isn’t valid
The anger that Donald Trump voters feel is very real. You don’t fling a proto-fascist pussy-grabbing monstrosity into the White House unless you really want to convey that fuck-you sentiment.
Because this anger is so real and so palpable, there’s been an unfortunate tendency in much of the media to assume that this anger must also be valid. The entire election cycle was a clusterfuck of articles demanding empathy for Trump voters, insisting that their rage must have some rational roots — perhaps economic insecurity?
The persistence of the “economic insecurity” angle in the face of overwhelming evidence against it was a testament to the power of hope over reason. If economic insecurity drives this rage, then something can be done about it. But if the rage is driven by less savory factors — unrepentant sexism and racism — then there is no way to mollify it without throwing women and people of color under the bus. It is also not for nothing that most “economic insecurity” theorists were themselves white men, perhaps eager for a narrative that makes people who look like them seem a little more sympathetic.
Recent Comments