Well said Joe. As a Reagan Republican, I see Vance as a doubling down on two of Trump’s worst traits: populism and isolationism. I almost don’t recognize my party anymore but still think the other side is (much) worse.
And you are right that this election is far from over and it is that sort of hubris that gives us JD Vance as a Veep candidate and quite possibly four more years of Biden/Harris.
Very good piece. As someone who has followed politics closely for almost 40 years, the last three weeks since the debate just seem surreal. I can’t believe we are in this place. I agree that Biden should be replaced, but I’m beginning to think it may not be easy to find anyone who wants to do it. Newsom, Whitmer, etc are probably beginning to realize that they would have a better shot at winning in 2028 when the country is sick of Republicans after 4 years of Trump/Vance. That being said, the race is still close and I don’t see that changing. I don’t buy that voters are going to flock to Trump because of the shooting. Most voting for Biden hate Trump’s guts and what happened Saturday won’t change that. It may sway a few undecideds but most people’s minds are made up.
In my former life as a book editor I had the manuscript of HILLBILLY ELEGY in for consideration. I didn't like it and I turned it down, costing, as it now seems, my employer millions in billings. I'm not sorry. I could not get a handle on this J. D. Vance's attitude towards "his people." I didn't like them much either. Most of the problems they had seemed to me to be self-created. They couldn't hold down their jobs and they fucked up their lives over and over again with their drinking and drugging. If they had tried to do better and failed, I could have extended my sympathies, but they really didn't try much at all. Where are Erskine Caldwell and Harry Crews when you need them? Vance's attitude seemed, to me at least, to be: Man, I glad I got out while I could. I respect him for having had the energy and application to have effected his escape from his rural semi-hell, but I don't believe he really gives a shit about the people he left behind. And speaking, of shit, unlike E. E. Cummings, there really is no shit he will not eat, as long as Donald Trump dishes it out to him.
Interesting, btw, that like Obama, it was a memoir that really launched Vance's political career. Let's hear it for books!
Gerald, I salute your judgment. Something about Hillbilly Elegy felt off to me as well - I recognize that the people of Appalachia are all kinds of difficult, but he didn’t offer much in the way of solutions. Two elements are essential to bringing people forward: believing in their potential for greatness and them believing in their potential for greatness. Vance doesn’t believe in either. Nor does Trump. And when you stop believing in greatness what is left is resentment and anger. Not all can saved, to be sure, but one needs to believe in the possibility, otherwise all is darkness.
Over the past few weeks, I have been engaging with my (quite wealthy) MAGA brother and struck by the populist approach he now adopts : the central feature is complete and utter denial of facts and figures. Crime is actually down in NYC, I say. They are falsifying the data, he asserts. The globe is getting warmer, I propose. Just a cycle, he retorts. And on the subjects where the mainstream argument is not, shall we say, airtight -vaccine protocols, immigration, education- forget about it. I am a big believer that skepticism should be ever present in the American people, but there comes a point where the refusal to accept any contradictory facts leads to logical chaos.
All of which has ramifications for Biden’s candidacy. The MAGA crowd has been especially cruel in asserting that Biden is deteriorating rapidly -and the evidence for all to see is - they are not entirely wrong. Sticking with him reinforces their belief that the MSM and its adherents are nothing but a pack of liars, a world view that even a Barack Obama would struggle to countermand. We need to keep up the pressure to let the people decide.
Well said Joe. As a Reagan Republican, I see Vance as a doubling down on two of Trump’s worst traits: populism and isolationism. I almost don’t recognize my party anymore but still think the other side is (much) worse.
And you are right that this election is far from over and it is that sort of hubris that gives us JD Vance as a Veep candidate and quite possibly four more years of Biden/Harris.
Very good piece. As someone who has followed politics closely for almost 40 years, the last three weeks since the debate just seem surreal. I can’t believe we are in this place. I agree that Biden should be replaced, but I’m beginning to think it may not be easy to find anyone who wants to do it. Newsom, Whitmer, etc are probably beginning to realize that they would have a better shot at winning in 2028 when the country is sick of Republicans after 4 years of Trump/Vance. That being said, the race is still close and I don’t see that changing. I don’t buy that voters are going to flock to Trump because of the shooting. Most voting for Biden hate Trump’s guts and what happened Saturday won’t change that. It may sway a few undecideds but most people’s minds are made up.
In my former life as a book editor I had the manuscript of HILLBILLY ELEGY in for consideration. I didn't like it and I turned it down, costing, as it now seems, my employer millions in billings. I'm not sorry. I could not get a handle on this J. D. Vance's attitude towards "his people." I didn't like them much either. Most of the problems they had seemed to me to be self-created. They couldn't hold down their jobs and they fucked up their lives over and over again with their drinking and drugging. If they had tried to do better and failed, I could have extended my sympathies, but they really didn't try much at all. Where are Erskine Caldwell and Harry Crews when you need them? Vance's attitude seemed, to me at least, to be: Man, I glad I got out while I could. I respect him for having had the energy and application to have effected his escape from his rural semi-hell, but I don't believe he really gives a shit about the people he left behind. And speaking, of shit, unlike E. E. Cummings, there really is no shit he will not eat, as long as Donald Trump dishes it out to him.
Interesting, btw, that like Obama, it was a memoir that really launched Vance's political career. Let's hear it for books!
Gerald, I salute your judgment. Something about Hillbilly Elegy felt off to me as well - I recognize that the people of Appalachia are all kinds of difficult, but he didn’t offer much in the way of solutions. Two elements are essential to bringing people forward: believing in their potential for greatness and them believing in their potential for greatness. Vance doesn’t believe in either. Nor does Trump. And when you stop believing in greatness what is left is resentment and anger. Not all can saved, to be sure, but one needs to believe in the possibility, otherwise all is darkness.
Good one. Really, really good. And bitingly concise.
One of your best Joe. Needed this.
Over the past few weeks, I have been engaging with my (quite wealthy) MAGA brother and struck by the populist approach he now adopts : the central feature is complete and utter denial of facts and figures. Crime is actually down in NYC, I say. They are falsifying the data, he asserts. The globe is getting warmer, I propose. Just a cycle, he retorts. And on the subjects where the mainstream argument is not, shall we say, airtight -vaccine protocols, immigration, education- forget about it. I am a big believer that skepticism should be ever present in the American people, but there comes a point where the refusal to accept any contradictory facts leads to logical chaos.
All of which has ramifications for Biden’s candidacy. The MAGA crowd has been especially cruel in asserting that Biden is deteriorating rapidly -and the evidence for all to see is - they are not entirely wrong. Sticking with him reinforces their belief that the MSM and its adherents are nothing but a pack of liars, a world view that even a Barack Obama would struggle to countermand. We need to keep up the pressure to let the people decide.
Thanks, Curtis, for depressing the hell out of me.
Anytime, Joe, anytime 🙂
Thanks, this somehow made me feel better on a day that feels over 100 degrees..