If you ride on a city bus and use a racial slur against someone sitting nearby you will make the 10:00 news. Count on it. America is hypersensitive about prejudice and discrimination. Now more than ever people are called out for it and that’s not a bad thing. This kind of behavior is intolerable, so why is it acceptable for members of our government who angrily denounce all forms of discrimination to stir up prejudice against Trump’s base of support?
Prejudice: from deplorables to Trump’s base
When Hillary Clinton referred to Republican voters as “deplorables” Democrats got the message. They never looked back and persist in condemning and arousing prejudice against nearly 63 million Americans who exercised their right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
The prejudice behind marginalizing such an enormous group of people for their beliefs is extreme even for the left in Congress. Sneakily lumping Republicans together under the inoffensive label “Trump’s base” doesn’t make it right. Democrats threaten us with what Russia could do to our democracy but they don’t consider the damage done by their own voices out of sheer partisan greed.
you have no empathy
Government Accountability Office photo
Being part of Trump’s base makes you a bad person?
Using a president against congressional candidates who belong to the same party is a favorite attack strategy. How about prejudicial words targeting tens of millions of Americans because they won an election?
Current liberal thought relies on a portrait of an ill-educated, uninformed, prejudiced working class that can’t understand the moral urgency of Democratic Party thinking. It doesn’t matter what the issue is. If the left doesn’t get what it wants, it’s because of the Neanderthals and white supremacists who make up Trump’s base.
No issue is untouched and no viewpoint unscathed. Detention camps for dangerous Trump voters would be running full bore right now if Democrats had the numbers to pass a bill.
Congress encourages prejudice with remarks like these
Bashing Trump’s base is mandatory liberal politics in post-Hillary America. As eager as Democrats are to prove that the president got a helping hand from Russia, they don’t have any fear of how destructive it is for members of our own Federal Government to openly declare how much they despise millions of our citizens because they don’t support a liberal agenda.
Those who are cagey enough to not speak their minds outright use media sources to do the dirty work and call out Trump’s base. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) used this approach with a Washington Post article he retitled “GOP Has Lost Its Mind.”1 So did Dianne Feinstein2 (D-CA) when she explained why she wouldn’t vote to confirm Jeff Sessions and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) over Republican plans for tax cuts.3
Others use a more direct approach. They get credit for having the courage to use their own words.
Straight from Democratic mouths
Thompson: budget is red meat
When the topic is the budget, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) blames Trump’s base:
This cynical budget is more about providing red meat to President Trump’s base than meeting today’s homeland security challenges.4
Vela: you lack empathy
Think we should build a border wall? According to Texas Rep. Filemon Vela, Jr. that’s because you lack empathy. Congressman Vela threw members of his own party into the grinder with Trump’s base:
Beyond the stupidity of offering unmatched concessions and negotiating against themselves, my colleagues have begun to refer to the border wall in the same way Trump’s base speak about DREAMers and undocumented people. Their apparent acceptance of the border wall and disregard of the impact on border communities demonstrates a fundamental lack of thought, logic, and empathy.5
Crowley: birth control makes you an extremist
If you oppose employer payments for birth control, Chuck Crowley (D-NY) labels you an extremist:
There is no logic or purpose behind this archaic rule other than to appease the most extreme voices in President Trump’s base.6
Swalwell: journalists under siege
Apparently it’s dangerous to even write about Trump’s base. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) warned of attacks on journalists when he introduced the “Journalist Protection Act:”
”Not all attacks on journalists this year have been committed by Trump supporters, but the fact remains that rhetoric emanating from the world’s most powerful office is stoking an environment in which these attacks proliferate,” Swalwell said. “We must send a loud, clear message that such violence won’t be tolerated.”7
Pelosi: Trump base-Russia connection
On Monday, Nancy Pelosi claimed at the conclusion of the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation:
”House Republicans have abandoned their oath to support and defend the Constitution and protect the American people. Democrats will continue to take real, immediate action to secure our democracy.”8
Ms. Pelosi also used the “red meat” reference to Republican voters during her remarks at a January 2018 press conference:
And now a president in complete departure, complete departure of Republican presidents in modern times. Republican presidents are in the lead, taking us down a road – just red meat for the base.9
So defend and protect has limits, after all. If you are one of the millions of Americans who voted for this president you are red meat for Democrats in Congress who are under the mistaken impression that prejudice only applies to skin color.
Footnotes
1. “Newswatch.” Bernie Sanders. September 29, 2017. https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/newswatch/092917, retrieved March 14, 2018.
2. “Feinstein: “I Must Vote No’ on Sessions.” Dianne Feinstein. January 31, 2017. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A2A58A6E-50A1-428F-9AA9-FA93691AF2D0, retrieved March 14, 2018.
3. “Trump defies GOP over tax cuts for the rich.” Richard Neal. September 26, 2017. https://neal.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/trump-defies-gop-over-tax-cuts-rich, retrieved March 15, 2018.
4. “Thompson Statement on Trump’s Homeland Security Budget Request.” Committee on Homeland Security. Democrats. February 12, 2018. https://democrats-homeland.house.gov/news/press-releases/thompson-statement-trump-s-homeland-security-budget-request-0, retrieved March 13, 2018.
5. “VELA: Top Democrats’ Support for Trump’s Border Wall an Abomination.” Filemon Vela. [not dated] https://vela.house.gov/vela-top-democrats-support-trump-s-border-wall-abomination, retrieved March 13, 2018.
6. “Chairman Crowley Statement on Trump Administration Decision to Restrict Access to Birth Control.” Joseph Crowley. October 6, 2017. https://crowley.house.gov/press-release/chairman-crowley-statement-trump-administration-decision-restrict-access-birth-control, retrieved May
14, 2018.
7. “Swalwell Introduces the Journalist Protection Act.” Eric Swalwell. February 5, 2018. https://swalwell.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/swalwell-introduces-journalist-protection-act, retrieved March 15, 2018.
8. “Pelosi Statement on House Intelligence Committee Republicans Concluding the Russia Investigation.” Nancy Pelosi. March 12, 2018. https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-statement-on-house-intelligence-committee-republicans-concluding-the, retrieved March 15, 2018.
9. “Pelosi Remarks at House Democratic Leadership Press Conference.” Nancy Pelosi. January 31, 2018. https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-remarks-at-house-democratic-leadership-press-conference, retrieved March 16, 2018.
Image: “Progress and Challenges with the Use of Technology, Tactical Infrastucture, and Personnel to Secure the Southwest Border.” U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-18-397T. March 15, 2018. https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-397T, retrieved March 15, 2018.
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