This guy is blaming liberals for racist, misogynist, anti-immigrant Trumpism?? If liberals weren’t so liberal-y, Trumpers would have nothing to react against?? Back to the Ivory Tower for you, professor.
683
Another "thought piece" that The Times publishes to show balance when it is really insulting its audience by giving credibility to shallow, unsubstantiated thoughts. Find me a thougtful, intelligent conservative and I'll read and consider his/her argument. In contrast, this column is neither and it belongs in The New York Post.
537
I just checked the calendar because I hoped this was an April fools day column.
374
I am so sick of these articles! Please STOP.
270
Liberals are guided by emotion.
71
My liberal tribe is going off the deep end.
95
This one landed close to home:
"Racist is pretty much the most damning label that can be slapped on anyone in America today, which means it should be applied firmly and carefully. "
I don't care what color someone's skin is, but I believe in Western civilization, especially the modern version that is trying to be fair to everyone. But I'm afraid it is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. We supported and implemented zero population growth, but our competition did not. I'm afraid that in a generation or two, the entire world will resemble the third world, and whites will become a persecuted minority.
Here's the hard part. I don't want that to happen, but anything that I might advocate to prevent it is construed as racism. I've tried to square this circle intellectually, and I can't do it. The rhetoric of Western liberalism does not give you a way out. If your neighbors become more numerous than you, they can take over, and then it's up to them whether you have equal rights, or not.
As evidence, I offer Sarajevo, where the Bosnians replaced the Serbs, Israel, which can be a Jewish state or a democracy, but not both, and California, where many Hispanics support an idea called "reconquista".
If you believe in Western European-style democracy, and in preventing overpopulation, there is no safe intellectual ground.
686
Why stop?
They can’t stop.
It is part of liberal DNA.
96
"Don't pick that fight?" Really? No sit-ins, no voting rights, women stay in your place, underneath men; let kids work in mines and sweat shops, let disabled folks crawl over curbs. Right. We'll pay attention to your silly and dangerous views and play nice with the crass GOP and their tool in the WH. Sure. We'll go along to get along. Not anymore, not today, your suggestions and "analyses" are stupid.
430
That's because Liberals are actually SMARTER than we think we are. And I do not agree with the decision that the N.Y. Times made to print this opinion piece. To the NY Times publisher and editorial staff — America finds itself in this place with an ignorant, dangerous Con Man elected to the highest office in American Government because you — the paper of record — were not doing your job during the Presidential Election campaign and you continue to do so by allowing the ignorant FOX News narrative into your newsfeed. Stop it. Use your voice to stop the spread of lies and destruction of our democracy instead of aiding it.
477
This opinion piece could also be titled, "Liberals, You're Not the 'Snowflakes' After All."
215
What do flat-eathers, anti-vaxxers, climate-change deniers and white supremecists have in common?
They tend to overwhelmingly identify as “conservative”.
I’m sorry - you were saying something about liberals believing they were smarter?......
504
The fact remains: Liberals are just, fair and equitably just. Non liberals tend to being small minded, mean spirited, they are followers. They need strong, authoritative leadership. They don't like to see others get ahead when they don't. They are tribal, they dislike the other and need that common enemy. They seem to be superstitious and gullible. They are the ugly americans. Don't call them conservative. Liberals or better financial managers by far. Better to call them fascist, as thats more closely what they mirror if you stop and think.....
203
This article is so awful. Liberals as self-righteous? Does the author know anything about the current discourse and politics of the right? I give you John Bolton for a start. And you think liberals are self-righteous? Dear oh dear.
380
Pot, meet kettle.
167
You may not be a racist, a bigot or a misogynist. But you voted for one, a narcissist, a thug, a small-thinker. It is inexcusable. Sorry. And I'm not going to pat you on the head and say, "good boy or girl" in order to keep you from doing it again. If you do it again, well, it's still on you.
476
We vent too. The hatred for liberals in this country is insane, and sometimes we yell back. Playing into the hands of right wing deplorables who like that kind of thing.
96
Why is it that it’s liberals who must be reticent? A few of my recent experiences - a neighbor who regaled me with theories about Obama’s supposed communist beliefs, another, living on her husband’s retirement benefits, seething about unworthy, grasping welfare recipients, descendants of formerly despised immigrants expressing hatred of the more recently arrived. I’ve even heard that the Nazi’s really didn’t kill that many Jews. These folks don’t hold back. On the theory that you can’t argue with the irrational I usually make no comment. It’s hard not to feel utter contempt for such people and I don’t know that my silence helps.
483
With regard to Trump it is not Liberal vs Conservative ideas. It is people okay with racism, sexual assault, lies, more lies and mistruths, people okay with a Russian asset leading our country, people okay with supporting a grifter as the most powerful person in the world, people that don't see the problem with putting unqualified people in the cabinet vs rational, civill people.
There are plenty of self identified conservatives that agree we have a moron running the country. Maybe all thinking people are now labeled "liberal".
277
Dear Professor,
It is stunning that poor Trump has had to suffer through years of lies about his birth certificate. All this obstructionism from the liberals who control congress is just unbelievable. Obama should be ashamed of himself for setting Trump up with that porn star. I must apologize, but there are just too many alternative facts to be listed here. Approximately 3000 + which those nasty liberals call lies. According to the New Republican Translation of the bible, Trump has done no wrong and as long as there is an "R" beside his name he will continue to garner the support of the evangelicals. If a liberal had tried to do half of what your narcissistic, egomaniacal pathological liar of a president has done, we would hear how smart the right is. The "party before country" attitude here is stifling. If Trump was honest about America first, he wouldn't be undoing everything Obama has done just because it has Obama's signature on it. Now professor, as you were saying.......
296
I don't think of liberals as "smart," merely as decent and caring—qualities that can no longer be attributed to today's "Republicans" (more accurately, fascists).
265
What a surprise. Another op-ed blaming liberals for why all the reactionary racists came out to vote for Trump.
274
Can it be that NYT editors are actually allowing a full range of honest thought and opinion? Please keep it up, it’s refreshing to hear other points of view.
205
The same old garbage argument conservatives have been using to try to silence liberals for decades. Right-wingers can say the most vile and dominionist things imaginable, calling themselves the only real Americans, calling their opponents rats, cockroaches, cancer, but should a liberal have the audacity to think they're right, it's smug and superior. So we should be worried about turning people off with our opinions, but Trump Republicans who have taken indecency to new lows can just go right on spewing their smug filth?
292
Republicans should clean up their own house before worrying about liberals.
Republicans won't admit in public they believe in global warming.
Republicans won't admit in public they believe in evolution.
Republicans gave us dog whistle politics and welfare queens, birtherism, the return of the Confederate flag, and a rise in racism and Nazis.
Republicans gave us the Iraq War.
Republicans gave us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Deficits went up under Reagan and W Bush.
Deficits went down under Clinton and Obama.
Clinton had 50% more jobs than Reagan and Obama had almost 400% more jobs than W Bush.
And Republicans have just done it again. This latest Republican tax bill will add at least $10 Trillion to the debt in the next ten years. That is $67,000 per tax payer.
These kinds of article are just a distraction.
263
This article takes “blaming the victim” to a new level. Those who recognize racism are blamed for those who don’t? Those who recognize sexism are blamed for those who don’t? Those who didn’t vote for a corrupt, racist, sexual predator of a president are blamed for those who did?
This is the most illogical piece I’ve read in recent years and only asserts that half of our country is ignorant. They are so ignorant, in fact, that it’s the liberals’ faults that the ignorant are ignorant.
Wow.
282
So "conservatives" can ignore trump's blatent everyday lies about things big and small, all his racist comments, his obvious ignorance, the evidence of financial crimes and "conservatives" can try to impose their religions teaching on women to take away their rights and not allow them and their family and doctors to make one of the most important personal decisions about their bodies while opposing any laws that would keep guns out of the hands of people with mental and emotional problems, deny the overwhelming evidence of the science of climate change, claiming "both sides" were bad at the racist , Nazi parades in Charlottesville, pass tax cuts for wealthy and corporations that add trillions of dollars to the debt after President Bush destroyed the surplus and they spent 8 years deriding President Obama for the debt and Liberals should say "Oh, they just have a different opinion and we should respect it." Really?
122
“Don’t waste your words on someone’s that deserves your silence”. Albert Hubbard.
40
While the author is trying to appear rational and sensible - he is committing precisely the same sin he accuses his caricature "liberal" of - a blanket categorization followed by ridicule.
I know both "liberals" and "conservative" who are well informed rational intelligent individuals - and I know members of both of these groups who are complete idiots.
And sir, you are insulting me (I assume you would label me as a liberal) by lumping me with a bunch of idiots and criticizing me for their faults.
For example as much as I find Trump to be a sleazeball - I thought Michelle Wolfe performance was simply awful and tasteless. And I was disgusted by the fact intelligent "liberal" conversation gets tarnished because this unfunny foul-mouthed person is labeled as one.
Not every opinion is created equal. Some ideas (and people) are just stupid - regardless of their label.
Furthermore, these are two ill-defined labels that are way too broad, meaningless and simply tools for allowing us to stereotype and then dismiss people and ideas en-masse. These labels fail to capture the nuances, variations and dimensions of people and opinions.
85
"Dems are so MEAN and that's why I vote against my own interests over and over again! That'll show 'em! So there!"
If you don't want to be called "stupid" don't do really stupid things.
Remind me again, who are the delicate PC triggered snowflakes?
137
We have entered a very challenging era. Where 60 million people can align themselves with the candidate who neo-nazis, white supremacists and the KKK say speaks for them, yet these same people demand that they NOT be called racists. In this narrative, it is worse to be called a “racist” than it is to align yourself with those whom actively are white supremacists. This alignment isn’t supposed to say anything about those supporting Trump. Their motives are not be questioned at all, while our immigration policy has been turned into a tool to terrorize black and brown people. But that’s not supposed to say anything about his supporters either.
Additionally, they actively voted for a person who boasted that he could kill someone on 5th Avenue without consequence and his supporters would still love him and indeed they do. They actively voted for a person who boasted that he could sexually assault women.
Yet it is those who would NEVER vote for such a person whom are chided, scolded and blamed for causing 60 million people to behave this way. It’s just liberals being sanctimonious to speak out about what it says that so many aligned themselves for whatever reason with such values. Why should these people be free from hearing what their support of these words, actions and behaviors says about who they are and what they will tolerate?
Don’t speak up in your own defense liberals. You might hurt the feelings of people whom are actively trying to harm you.
157
Gerard Alexander is spot on. I wish he could become a wandering minstrel and preach this gospel to local Democratic groups BEFORE the November elections.
57
Value shaming, a lefty weapon that is running out of steam, seems to be valid target. But truth is too. Unfortunately your blind arrogance is still at work when you write that Trump "made derogatory comments about Mexicans". Y'all cling to these falsehoods like a dog to his bone. He never made any derogatory comments about Mexicans. What said was Mexico was not sending its best. "They're sending us killers, drugs, their (not "they're") rapists".
You had me until you ran right back to your lofty, if ill informed alter.
30
This (not as smart as Gerard thinks) analysis is pretty common--but it misses some points:
1. If liberal's smugness is generating trump voters . . . is the GOP's racism generating hillary voters? I mean--there were more of them. What racism? Go check who actually has a nazi running this year on their ticket.
2. The idea that liberals are "so off putting" with their arrogance and overconfidence is nice and all--but what about the conspiracy mongering that the right engages in (Hannity on Seth Rich, various grifts targeted at older Fox News viewers, the Governor of Texas calling out the National Guard to play to Obama-take-over conspiracy theories in 2015)? Isn't THAT a problem?
In other words--if the problem with liberals is that they're smug and overconfident and it's turning people off, what about the "very fine people" that trump-voters find themselves ideologically allied with? If Gerard voted for trump in 2016, maybe he should address that part first.
But he won't.
95
When your worldview has few facts on its side and fewer reasoned arguments, you resort to calling the other side self-righteous.
78
Not sure exactly who and what is liberal anymore, now that we've thrown progressive and libertarian into the mix.
If you are anti-abortion and pro same sex marriage, what are you? If you are pro-choice and supply-side economics, what are you?
Scratch anyone's surface and you'll find a bias, a prejudice and a weak link to their seamless world view.
The real problem in our country now is that we have created litmus tests and knee jerk reaction in place of the complexity of ideas. I can tell you for certain that any politics that is as anti-science and post-factual as our current rulers, is just straight up scary stupid.
49
Yes, liberals can be too clever by half, self-righteous and many of the other things you say. Your argument certainly had merit in the pre-Trump era. Here's the problem post-Trump:
Trump actually is a racist (good Klan/Nazis, "Pocahontas" "He's a Mexican", etc. etc.). He actually does treat women -- including his own wives -- in demeaning ways. He actually does threaten to jail his political opponents. He actually does call the press "the enemies of the people". He actually does believe that the Federal justice system works for him personally.
Yet, 40-odd percent of the country supports him. What, exactly, are liberals supposed to make of this?
Also, it seems to me that your side spends way too much time delighting in how Trump's statements and policies annoy/outrage/cause cranial explosions among liberals. Really, it's so pervasive on your side, one wonders whether you support the policies or just love that liberals find them awful? (You're not personally doing this in your piece, but since you generalize so much about our side...)
93
Liberals are also called "progressive" because they are on the side of social progress. The world is changing. White people are going to lose their special status in this country and have be just like everyone else. Men are going to lose their special status and have to treat women as equals. Liberals are leading the charge on this inevitable and just movement, and we are going to drag the #MAGA Cro-magnons with us, whether they want to come or not.
109
None of this is as earth-shattering as the smug author thinks. The stupid have always had the numbers. Now they also have the means to organize (social media). This can only accelerate the demise of civilized society, and quite possibly the end of the human race itself. All of this is trivial, and certainly no cause for glee.
44
When you say that "Liberals" use a broad brush of self righteousness that alienates, you are doing exactly the same thing! Most folk who are appalled at the violence of the minority Right speak in measured tones and express there valid opinions toward specific people or groups. You paint an entire political stream with one self righteous and broadly general brush. Where is your indignation toward the minority of right wing zealots and a clearly bigoted president who are largely responsible for the dissolution of discourse? It is typical of fascist political waves to paint the press, artists, educators, scientists and philosophers as oppressors of thought for merely speaking their mind, while dominating the airwaves and data streams with false outrage at being marginalized. You have become a tool of the true oppressor.
79
Who is leveling the racist charge at all Trump voters? Careful about making sweeping generations.
22
"I know many liberals, and two of them really are my best friends."
Tribalism up close and personal, and so reminiscent of "...and some of my best friends are Jewish."
"Liberals dominate the entertainment industry, many of the most influential news sources and America’s universities."
But when, why, and how did they become dominant in these three realms?
34
I am surprised that this writer is an academic. He's just written a really long Tweet, with all the stereotyping and lazy thinking that entails. When you draw conclusions based on popular culture and superficial reporting, you are likely to be wrong. Using the old trope "I have friends" to establish credibility doesn't help.
108
Conservatism is simple isn't it?
White old men get money and privilege and everyone else doesn't.
96
Just by reading the comments, Professor Alexander is proven correct. Liberals like to paint all conservatives as xenophobic homophobic islamphobic sexist racist bigots when that is not the case for most conservatives. The worst is when conservatives suggest immigration reform and enforcing current immigration laws, they are labeled racist bigots.
84
Conservatives would do well to clean up their own house before complaining about the liberal elite.
Republicans won’t admit in public they believe in global warming.
Not one candidate in the 2016 Republican primary would admit in public they believe in evolution.
Republicans are against abortion but work to keep women from getting birth control.
Republicans gave us dog whistle politics and welfare queens, birtherism, death panels, the return of the Confederate flag, and the rise in racism and Nazis.
Republicans gave us the Iraq War. The Middle East and Europe will be paying the consequences for that for two generations. And while we were busy in Iraq, North Korea got their first nuclear bomb.
Republicans gave us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Republicans give us tax cuts for the rich and education cuts for the rest – West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma.
It is not a coincidence that our political divide is at an all time high when our economic divide is also at an all time high.
72
There are many intelligent conservatives whose thinking stems from a legitimate question: how many services should the government be responsible for?
Unfortunately, intelligent and even-tempered conservatives have been driven from the leadership of the Republican Party.
In their place is a misogynist and racist president who doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to governing.
The people who voted for Trump knew these things about him, but voted for him anyway. And in return for this idiocy, they demand respect.
They're not getting it from this liberal.
85
The writer of this article displays the same high handed (and ham handed) self righteousness that he is accusing liberals of. He has tried, unsuccessfully to take a nuanced problem and generalized it. In the end he only adds to the inflamation.
44
Once again we liberals have the dread disease of Premature Morality. The writer points out that our culture changes
"Some liberals have gotten far out ahead of their fellow Americans but are nonetheless quick to criticize those who haven’t caught up with them."
Like when White kids were Freedom Riders and registering Blacks to vote?
Or like when us Liberals protested the Vietnam war?
Maybe when Liberals wanted police actions like what we see on bodycams and YouTube addressed with citizen review boards?
Is Alexander warning us Liberals out of care for moral actions or to slow down any move to morality?
52
Ah Well, you can substitute the word "conservative for every use of the word "liberal and the op-ed works just as well
I personally fid this conservatives whining very off putting
37
Why are you guys so obsessed with this stuff? From the endless pieces about liberals being mean to conservative writers - even going as far as crying censorship even though these writers continue to show up on mainstream pages - to this piece about liberal hectoring. What’s with th obsession? How is this useful? You think anyone cares?
Imagine an op-ed page that brings context to the very consequential things happening in this nation? Like the shameful abuses and human rights violations carried out by ICE? Or the fact that minority-majority cities and territories like Flint and Puerto Rico have been left to rot to third world status in the richest country in the world? Or contextualizing the unprecedented grift and curruption taking place in the current administration?
But yea, keep talking about how mean the liberals are. Ever wonder why people don’t care about the media?
40
Prof. Alexander - a little smugly ya think "Obama caused Trump"? Think again. The abused liberals on this right wing hinge of American history (h/t Madeleine Albright, "Fascism, A Warning") will undoubtedly vote their unfit president into a second term in 2020. Fact (not "alternative fact", h/t Kellyanne Conway) is - Donald Trump's presidency is a bitter pill for liberals and all Americans who aren't ignorant knuckle-draggers to swallow. Then again, on the silver lining side of the black clouds (thanks to fossil fuel coal Redux and denial of climate-change) maybe some Deus ex Machina will come along between now and the Mid-Terms -- one of these terrible days -- to upset the rotten G.O.P. applecart, and send the turmbrils rolling to our 45th President's several White Houses. Think on that.
21
"When they use their positions in American culture to lecture, judge and disdain"
You mean like you are doing?
53
This is a mushy rehash of stale clichés and is a diversion from the important issues that are behind the great divide.
The Trump supporters who don’t want to be called racist? I’ve met them, they tell themselves they are not racist to feel good. The dull witted arguments against prom dresses and food carts... part of the whacky world of the wanna be progressives.
This op ed piece offered no insights
21
Let’s just assume all 63 million Trump voters are backward-thinking racists.
Liberals lost to these 63 million people in 2016. They could use some of their votes in 2018 and 2020 to take back high office.
What’s the best way to change their minds and help them see the error in their thinking:
By engaging them, trying genuinely to understand their concerns, and convincing them the liberal solution better addresses their needs?
Or by dismissing them out of hand, calling them names and telling them they’re stupid?
All stereo-typing is intellectual laziness. Ironically, by stereo-typing Trump voters, “intelligent” liberals engage in the very unthinking behavior they condemn.
Now that’s dumb.
42
I real tire of hearing about self-righteousness from the right wing; a shame we don’t hear more condemnations of racism from the same corner.
39
I'm so, so sorry that decency and concern for our fellow human beings annoys you. Poor you. Your privilege is threatened and your feelings are hurt while millions suffer real pain and deprivation.
Sorry, again, but real pain and deprivation trump hurt feelings. I'm not going to stop trying to improve the lives of those who need help.
40
Liberals call themselves diverse yet they refuse to acknowledge the gray area in life and see things as black and white.
20
i disagree. when you support an openly racist candidate you deserve the label of racist. even if you were duped by his campaign you can claim no such ignorance today.
43
Anyone remember the spate of articles in 2008 and 2012 denouncing the conservative predilection for describing all liberals as America hating traitors, and predicting their upcoming loss as a result?
Me neither.
26
The very charitable assumption in this article is that leftists want to expand their base by convincing other people. But self-righteous people often just want to enjoy their “moral superiority”; in fact, if there wouldn’t be a lot of “bigots” around, they wouldn’t look so special and valuable.
And yes, president Obama did a lot to enhance the left’s self-righteous claims - he literally accused people who would not share his opinions to be “on the wrong side of history”. The one time champion of post-racial America (for whom I voted enthusiastically in 2008) turned to be the the left’s condescender-in-chief.
21
Mr. Alexander very cleverly suggests that a more tactful "re-packaging" of the Liberal message and agenda is necessary in order for it to be more palatable and less offensive to the broader American electorate. He suggests that this may indeed be the best path to victory over Trump and the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections...not to mention the 2020 Presidential election.
If this isn't a "form" over "substance", "the ends justify the means" Trojan Horse” approach to politics, then I don't know what is! In other words, "tone it down"...at least for now...and do whatever you can to get people to vote for you. And once you're in power you can let it all hang out!
The Liberal view of a so-called "typical" Trump supporter is that of a narrow-minded, uneducated, gun-toting, bible reading bigot, sexist, xenophobe and Islamophobe, yes? No degree of "re-packaging" can disguise this sanctimonious, supercilious view.
There's a lot of validity to Freud's psychodynamic theory of "Projection" after all!
6
Hillary very clearly designated only a subset of Trump voters as “deplorables”, with specific reference to those who openly espouse white supremacist views. That so many of his supporters adopted that moniker as a badge of honor should say something about their views.
Liberals speaking about micro aggressions, gender dysphoria, and cultural appropriation are not responsible for Charlottesville and the well-documented rise in hate crimes in the Trump era.
To suggest liberals need to be more open-minded to conservative rhetoric - which has grown increasingly nastier and more intolerant - is morally reprehensible. Are the liberal intellectual ms of Weimar Germany to blame for Hitler’s rise to power?
32
Solid point: Hollywood just an updated edition of Robespierre's Committee of Public Safety, its latest religion.
9
Liberal were smart enough to see Trump as the con man he is....
Like Reagan & Swartzenneger, he ran as a Republican.
25
Inclusion applies to everyone. Obviously.
5
This whiny portrayal of conservative grievance demonstrates the pitiful state of anti liberal rage.
30
You’re right, Gerard. Social progress is happening too fast. We need to tell the blacks and the women and the gays to slow down and wait. We can’t give them equal rights and protections too fast, that would be annoying!
42
This is spot on. This is why I won't vote for a liberal. Congrats NYT you nailed it.
29
Its not so much who might be smart or not smart— its who ends up acting smart by not doing stupid things.
The trick is knowing the difference.
7
Actually, Liberals are much smarter than you think.
Non-Liberals constantly vote against themselves and complain about the results. So, if you like Trump, vote for Trump.
19
Well there is a lot to disagree with here, but plenty have already made the case.
But one more thing, we should understand so called conservatives in America have now made disbelief in Climate Change aka Global Warming an unquestioned pillar of their belief system. They are the only organized group of people on the planet who have come to this conclusion. This is STUPID and dangerous. Own it, professor.
And folks from Oklahoma, where they only have school four days a week and teach with 50 year old books are in charge of the EPA.
But let's don't say anything that might hurt their feelings.
36
You're kidding me, right? Yet another conservative whines about how "elites" think they're so smart. But conservatives run Fox, AM radio, and much of the disinformation network on the web.
This is the sort of set-up you use an adolescent tweaking your friend: "You're so defensive!" one kid says to the other; then the other kids realizes that if she says she is defensive, she validates the assertion; if she says she isn't defensive, she validates the assertion. When conservatives tweak liberals by saying the latter feel "superior," we're in the same boat. If we agree, we prove them right; if we disagree, we're being elitist intellectuals with a superiority complex. I recognize that the Times wants to publish a balance of views, but this piece weaves all the tropes into a quilt that looks like a giant...snowflake.
34
Don't be condescending says the incredibly condescending article. Pretty much sums up the the political power today. I herd this woman who calls herself "Red Pill Black", a black fmale conservative (that is her claim to fame), who exclaimed that liberals are the "real racists". How does she know, because she is "smart". Claiming that being conservative is smart is the new way to counter the educated. Does she really think claiming, in essence and obviously in error, that conservatives are LESS racist that liberals. Please.
10
Mr. Alexander very cleverly suggests that a more tactful "re-packaging" of the Liberal message is necessary in order for it to be more palatable and less offensive to the broader American electorate. He suggests that this may indeed be the best path to victory over Trump and the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections...not to mention the 2020 Presidential election.
If this isn't a "form" over "substance", "the ends justify the means" Trojan Horse” approach to politics, then I don't know what is! In other words, "tone it down"...at least for now...and do whatever you can to get people to vote for you. And once you're in power you can let it all hang out!
The Liberal view of a so-called "typical" Trump supporter is that of a narrow-minded, uneducated, gun-toting, bible thumping bigot, sexist, xenophobe and Islamophobe, yes? No degree of "re-packaging" can disguise this sanctimonious, supercilious view.
There's a lot of validity to Freud's psychodynamic theory of "Projection" after all!
9
It’s interesting that certain conservative pundits refuse to place any onus to be reasonable on the purveyors of hatred and fever swamp conspiracy theories at Fox or Infowars, or the chanting neofascists at Trump rallies, or the tiki torch-bearing white supremacists. It’s the liberals who are the real problem, the liberals who aren’t trying hard enough to understand these “fine” people. The issues vexing America are not economic inequality, or the anti-democratic fascistic tendencies, violent nihilism, racism, sexism and homophobia that currently define the right. No – the real problem is Michelle Wolf, George Clooney, and Maxine Waters. Thanks for enlightening this stupid liberal, Mr. Alexander!
29
"Liberals are trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle." The same may well be said of conservatives as well. If all one listens to is Fox news and Rush Limbaugh, your world is going to be full of angst at liberals, terrified at "femi-nazis," and so on. Social media becomes not an open venue for learning, but an echo chamber for polarization.
The only way to break this cultural impasse is to step into the other person's shoes and see things from their perspective. Alternate watching news from MSNBC and Fox, for example. We all just might learn something that way. In the end we all want the same things: decent work, place to live, good environment for the future. How we get there is the question, but one we can answer more effectively together, rather than shouting at each other.
11
“Some of my best friends are liberals...” No need to read further.
23
Nonsense. People voted for Trump because he gave voice to their hope that one day they would be able to scapegoat their failings. Does this guy really think Trump supporters don't feel good to see a black man gunned down for looking cross-eyed at a white cop? Maybe the good professor should spend more time in the History Department.
26
The article makes some good points, and if only Trump voters were ALL so reasonable there might be somewhere for us to agree...BUT....the POTUS is doing and saying some truly horrible things, too many to list here. And it was easily foreseeable, since he's been in the public sphere for 40 years. He's the most unqualified individual to ever hold the office, and pretty much everything conservatives say they're against (Family Values?). So you're resentful of Liberals' superior airs.....wow. How about looking at results of legislation passed, what works and doesn't. Republicans have increased the wealth gap, continue to want to poison the environment, led us into unnecessary wars, beggared public education, crashed the economy, and unleashed a wave of public hatred and bigotry across the entire country. To cast your vote for this man and his agenda is bordering on sedition, oops, didn't mean to upset you. The corruption and embarrassment he's brought to the highest office in the land was worth it to you to show those uppity Libs, wasn't it?
25
Respectfully Professor? You should perhaps consider actually interacting with more than 2 "liberals" before you paint us with that wide brush you seem so fond of.
14
So to cut to the chafe, what the good professor is saying that even if Trump is a racist, bigot, pathological liar, (and he is) and any number of other deplorable (oops, there's that word) things, conservatives are going to vote for him again just to show us liberals a thing or two?
That would be a quintessential example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. And it's not really good for the future of the country either.
25
It is too late!!!
4
Deart NYT,
At a time when things are so bifurcated and mean-spirited and contentious, how can you think an essay like this is useful or illuminating? Both 'sides' have issues with self-righteousness. It is indeed a problem. But you're fostering (festering) that problem. It's not helpful.
A Subscriber
12
The the author is making should be obvious to all. Americans are being forced in to tribal camps by liberal progressives who demean other Americans. Lately and in particular "white" Americans are being told they are racist and their whiteness gives them power, creates micro aggressions over non whites. Basically hearing their skin color is actually evil. This current thought by professional academia telling white boys and girls they are inharently bad and racist at heart and they start the world with great advantages will have consequences. Perhaps a "blacklash" of sorts. Attacking whiteness is no different than attacking blackness. Attacking skin color will lead America down a very dark path..I can absolutely tell you that a white women working as a LVN in a nursing home in Kentucky with two kids, divorced, trying to make rent who changes diapers, feeds ,clothes the disabled with dementia does not feel privileged. Nor do some of my fellow paramedics who work 6 or seven days a week in 12 hour shifts to get by in NJ....feel privileged. Telling them so probably makes them angry and resentful....
32
feel that the gross simplification of reality embodied in the terms “conservative” and “liberal” leads to the polarization and tribalism we see in today’s politics.
How do you think Mexican-American citizens felt during Joe Arpaio’s reign in Arizona?
The reason I bring this up is that I don’t think of Arpaio’s actions as “conservative”, they were simply racist. The term “conservative” has been hijacked by Fox, et. al., and has been a great cover for the lingering white supremacy unleashed by the last election. Of course, it has been in the Republican base since the Southern Strategy of Nixon, through the welfare queens of Reagan, to the abomination we have today.
So, I do think you can be a principled conservative without being a racist; however, if you still support Donald Trump, you must support misogyny, racism, and other views that are abhorrent to me. Because you can’t support a man who says there are very good people “on both sides” of a white supremacist rally, who wants to build a wall against a country that he has slurred since he announced his candidacy, who wants to ban Muslims from being able to come here, etc., without being, as Hillary said (this should rile up these folks) deplorable.
I separate Trumpism from conservatism, do you?
9
Conservatives literally have all the power in this country. They control both houses of congress, the executive branch, most of the state governments. But they can’t get over that comedians don’t like them.
The ‘poor me the ‘elites’ don’t respect me’ thing is getting kind of old. The actual elites in this country are the ones in power. Not the ones on TV making fun of them. That the Republican power brokers, billionaires and media personalities have convinced people that everyone in America is fighting the “liberal elites” is brilliant marketing, but that doesn’t make it true.
Do we think Donald Trump is a terrible human being with no moral compass? Yes we do. Do we think people who voted for him are at best misguided and at worst mysogynistic racists like the man they admire. Yes we do. But Conservatives say TERRIBLE things about liberals every day. They call us SWJ’s and snowflakes. They called the President WE all admired an ape and not a citizen. Get over it. If resentment of other people drives all your political decisions you will get the world you deserve. Unfortunately we will all have to live in it.
31
Way overdue... I think the Democratic party handed Trump the election by nominating Hillary. (But the reaction to Obama-era righteousness was surely also a factor.)
Many white liberals aspire to be a class above those that support Trump; they act superior by choice. They could never slip down to become a poor minority. But Trump-land may be just a few paychecks away. It's unattractive in a different way than that of Trump supporters, as displayed throughout this paper. In general, I find that conservatives are good people beneath their, often defensive, shells, which may seem bombastic, maudlin, sappy, hyper-religious, etc.. Beneath the rational and informed shells of many liberals, it is often surprising to me in a negative way.... maybe it's just me.
I'm far more liberal than most readers here, yet I voted for Trump, mainly to support Democracy. The establishment is controlled by Democrats and, rightly, feel threatened. They are whipping up antipathy toward Trump and his supporters on the scale of the McCarthy period - and maybe even Nazis Germany. (I lived twenty years in Germanic countries.) They need to stop resisting Trump and their fellow Americans. Open up the primaries, dump super-delegates, have election news blackout periods (like nearly every democracy has), and legislate campaign finance reform. Democracy will prevail and great candidates, like Bernie, will rise up, get elected and lead.
20
Be still my heart. THIS article appearing in the NYT?! I can only imagine the pitched battle that occurred in the newsroom prior to the decision to publish it. Ok, ok. Calm down. They threw us a curveball here. What's next? 'Conservative' columnists who are actually conservative?
15
This guy does not get it: Trump may have committed TREASON!!
Are we supposed to remain quiet?
16
Perhaps Prof. Alexander was not at home in Charlottesville the weekend of the neo-Nazi demonstrations or maybe the fine people there just escaped his attention. What would be the appropriate non-Liberal explanation for their behavior?
13
Sorry to sound so self righteous, but we are a society that lives by morals and by helping people who are not as fortunate as us. We try to improve our educational system to the best of our abilities, but unfortunately there are at least 30% of the people in this country who are stupid. There, I said it.
15
People who rolled the dice and voted for Trump are certainly not irredeemable but people who still support him are. Coddling ignorant bigots is a waste of time and effort. The better play is to motivate disaffected Democrats and moderates. That should be easier and a lot more productive.
17
I strongly agree with this article and I have been a "liberal" most of my life although I don't call myself that anymore precisely due to this problem. I just call myself "independent" now. I really dislike both parties.
And I agree that academia is the source of this repugnant tendency of "liberals" lately. I left academia ten years ago because it was unbearable. Now it's seeped into mainstream culture and it's horrifying.
Politics needs to be redefined to be concerned with issues that face the entirety of our population, not small segments of it. Issues like clean air, clean water, the use of international diplomacy to maintain peace. The focus on people getting easily offended over stupid things like microaggressions is ridiculous. Identity politics is out of hand. It was ridiculous in academia 10 years ago, and it's even more ridiculous now.
And yes, "liberals" are stupid for not realizing that they are destroying their party and losing their allies and many members because of it.
27
"Gerard Alexander is associate professor of political science at the University of Virginia and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute." (claremont.org).
I sniffed a Koch boy as soon as I started reading this. The time has come to identify the actual funding of academics when they are permitted the voice of the U.S.'s major newspaper.
31
Dear Professor Alexander,
Use of the word "liberals" detracts from your argument. What are you talking about? A particular group of people? How do you identify them? They vote for the Democrat ticket in national elections? They ... what?? If you mean to critique a "state of mind" or a way of reasoning, then just talk about that. Don't label people with your preconceptions -- because your preconceptions are not stated and the people you are talking about are undefined. In sum, it's not a group of people you are talking about, it's a manner of thinking. And that manner of thinking can arise in anyone. Even you. Even a "conservative" (whatever that means). So please don't commit the error you complain of in the diatribe by which you complain of it.
Thanks.
10
Mr. Alexander, You're Not as Smart as You Think.
I've been alive for a while - 71 years to be precise. In the last 30 of them, our once-democratic republic has drifted ever further to the right. We see a resurgence in racism, white nationalism, backlash against women's rights, punitive attitudes toward immigrants, the obliteration of the line between religion and civic life, a sell-off our democratic institutions to a growing cadre of plutocrats and more.
So, you think we should be more subdued? I suspect I am not alone in committing myself to be more strident. You write as though the political right and left are just reasonable points on an ideological spectrum. That, Mr. Alexander, is the most dangerous false equivalence in American history. We have lying, anti-democratic charlatans controlling the White House and Congress. The President is a liar and fool. Some members of Congress are treasonous (Nunes, for example). And you think we should be polite?
42
Quite an interesting article where Mr. Alexander, the author uses the very same tactic he accuses "liberals" of employing on others. He accuses liberals of brashly labeling others of being backward in this somewhat a rant of an opinion piece. No where does he provide specific evidence or even defines who and what are these liberal monsters he holds in such contempt.
Sorry Gerald, but all throughout history there have been those who've sought to learn and explore the potential of the world and humanity and to varying degrees, others who wish to keep it contained into little chunks that don't challenge their beliefs. I don't think you embrace change well and likewise prefer the company of others such as yourself.
8
Whatever validity this critique had evaporated with the author's characterization of Trump's comments on Mexicans and Africa as "derogatory". No, these and his birtherism, his record as a landlord, his defense of Nazis are racist. It is not self righteous to think that Donald Trump is a racist. It is necessary to say that Donald Trump is a racist. Please say it Mr. Alexander, you won't feel self righteous. You will, rather, know you are right. And then we can discuss whether such a man's positions can result in policies merit support.
16
Gerald,
You're absolutely right! Why can't we stupid liberals:
• Believe that the previous President was born outside the US?
• Appreciate the fine job that Donald Trump, Scott Pruitt, Ben Carson, David Shulkin, Steven Mnuchin, and Tom Price have been doing at draining the Washington swamp?
• Appreciate the wonder of a tax bill that manages to increase both economic inequality AND the national debt?
• Understand that eliminating the individual mandate for health insurance will lower, rather than increase premiums?
• Understand that global warming is a total hoax?
• Understand that MR-15s don't make it easier to commit mass murders?
• That the world's much safer by NOT monitoring Iranian uranium processing?
• That Mexico's really going to pay for a wall on our Southern border?
• Understand we're better off economically by staying out of the TPP and allowing China to set the trade rules with Asia?
• Understand that just because 13 of their people were indicted by Robert Mueller, that election meddling in the 2016 election was purely a hoax?
YUP, it takes smart conservatives to figure these things out. We stupid liberals never will!
36
Ha. Perusing through these comments, Mr Alexander must be holding his head in his hand, and thinking, there’s no hope for you people (liberals). He genuinely tried to help you out, but after reading one comment after another, after another, liberals just can’t help themselves. Paragraphs of offended liberals , drenched with insults, identity politics, elitism, and intolerance.
The Trump Presidency has presented the greatest threat to liberalism in decades. Trump is showing America what it’s like to have a brash capitalist America First leader at the helm, and liberals are petrified that a majority of Americans, even black folks heaven forbid, just might like it.
13
You can say this having lived over the past 10 years and experiencing who tried to unite us and who thinks their “culture” is superior? Just give us some truth. This piece is propaganda.
10
Maybe, but most people with a liberal political outlook who can read and think critically seem a lot smarter than you, Professor Alexander.
9
Great work, NYT! You've demonstrated your open mindedness in your noble efforts to heal our national divide by presenting "both sides." And I mean that in a much better way than President Trump did with Charlottesville.
Today's thought-provoking "take that, liberals" piece is written by Gerard Alexander, an associate professor of politics at the University of Virginia. And he is totally qualified to be handed the NYT microphone and bless us with his views. Why? Because he knows many liberals, two of whom are his best friends!
At least now I know who to blame when Trump is re-elected. Me, and my smug, elitist, liberal views. Thanks for the wake-up call.
15
I'm really tired of being told what I think.
14
Your entire piece portrays liberals as one big lumped group of people who all think and act exactly the same way. How ironic.
10
HEy, op ed writer, shooting your mouth off: Liberals have been out of power-- they don't get to do any money agenda, they've been out of power for a while. With no power, they change things that well monied lobbyists, well monied propagandists, and well monied ultra rich aren't after-- the culture war.
Keep hectoring the only party that might not lead to fascism.
7
Too many people look for The Magic Centrist. Pundits, professors, columnists all tell us that there are vast numbers of centrists who are looking for just the right 'reasonable' candidate to motivate them and then the extremists will disappear and things will be great again. We've been hearing this for 30 years yet the centrists have failed to make an appearance.
Here's my take. There are no centrists among those who vote. There are rabid Republicans, some 48% of them. There are firm Democrats, 45% of them. There are some confused wishy washy types who proudly assert they are Independents but will swing whichever way the last wind blows, and there's a bunch of idiots.
The independents, the idiots, the Russians, and Comey helped elect Trump. Let's hope next election there are fewer idiots.
Professors of political science are like economists. Always ready to explain what happened and mostly wrong about what will happen.
7
As a liberal academic living in deep-red Indiana, I bear witness to the frustrations expressed by both sides. Hence my disappointment with the defensive comments here that miss the points that Alexander has raised. No, he is not saying that all liberals are arrogant; nor is he denying the intrinsic worth of liberal values (which I'm confident that he largely shares with us); and he's certainly not denying that a great many Trump supporters are racist, stupid, ignorant and/or in the thrall of Fox "News" and other propagandists. But he's right that there's a huge bloc of voters - conservative libertarians, Hillary-haters, those alienated by our dysfunctional presidential system - who could be won over in '20 if we showed them more respect.
813
What a bunch of balderdash. Trump is a woman-hating, cheater, who likely received his funding from a bunch of crooked Russians who now own him. How does one become more accepting of that? He plays to people’s phobias and relishes in tormenting his perceived enemies. He disregards the truth when it does not suit him. The thought that this is the new normal is frankly, nauseating. You focus on one-offs. I agree that there are some liberals who have been offensive in a particular circumstance. But Trumpism will go down in history as the time when the concept of every one out for themselves regardless of cheating and lying became the norm. You Professor need to rethink where you take aim. I don’t agree with the Liberals on many fronts. Indeed, I would be a old school republican if the concept still existed. But today’s Republican Party, which is led by a man who cares not about facts and cares only about what it means to him, and is populated by his sycophants, is nasty to the core.
16
Good column. I don’t think all who voted for President Trump are racists but they did elect a racist President.
6
You mean to say that if I stop calling a racist a racist he's going to stop being a racist? Somehow I doubt that very much.
16
I assure you, growing up in a Republican family, that conservatives can be as self-righteous as liberals.
12
Clinton's superpredators comment and others were reprehensible, but they are a fraction of what defines her as a politician. By contrast, bigotry is tied to Trump inextricably. It's one of the most defining traits of his political career and what he stands for.
He got into politics by pushing the conspiracy that Obama wasn't born in this country. He began his presidential candidacy by portraying Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers. He called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. He falsely claimed thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated 9/11. He re-tweeted blatantly false statistics about black murders of white people. He refused live on CNN to disavow support from the KKK (claiming incredibly that he didn't know anything about David Duke or white supremacy) and relented only after days of pressure. As president, he ended up refusing to condemn murderous neo-nazis in a similar manner, even describing some as "very fine people". He displayed unimaginable callousness to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Ricans. He re-tweeted anti-Muslim propaganda from a fascist UK organization. He pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a man found guilty of criminal contempt of a federal court for refusing to stop his racial profiling and abuse of Latino prisoners. I could go on and on.
There are some lines that are not ok to cross. Millions of people crossed them by voting for, and continuing to support, this man. And I'm not going to give them any moral leeway on that.
17
The author of this piece referred to liberal or liberals thirty times in his essay. I assume this was necessary to drive home his point(s) which boil down to: liberals are smug, condescending, self-righteous know-it-alls who need to apologize to, grovel a bit and be much, much nicer to trump supporters. They don't like it when they feel disrespected. I'm confused. I thought liberals were the "snowflakes".
Once upon a time this liberal could have been considered a moderate conservative. That was before the onset of fox and right wing radio. And frankly, having been on the receiving end of every possible put down and insult for the last 18+ yrs., I have had enough. I've been called a Saddam lover, a baby killer, an America hater and worse. A former friend suggested the best thing that could happen to Obama and liberals would be to meet a bullet.
I no longer give a rat's patoot about trump supporters fragile feelings. I've been nice, patient. I've tried to understand, cajole, accommodate and tip-toe around them so as not to upset, or offend. No more. I'm tired of being bullied by them. Indulging bullies only emboldens them. And yes, that's what they are - just like trump.
26
Why is it I read regular "analyses" of the hurt feelings of racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-intellectual conservatives (those poor unappreciated real Americans!) and chest-beating accusations of the snobbiness among those pretentious immoral liberals?
Self-flagellating liberals, feeling guilty about not being able to reach self-righteous conservatives, are the worst fools in this ongoing charade. Self-righteous is as self-righteous does.
1
"Some liberals" this, "many liberals" that. You are simply repeating the silly stereotypes that have been crammed into the minds of Fox viewers, but saying it in smart-sounding language so it will seem less reductive and meaningless. I suppose having a cabal of revolting creeps calling themselves conservative running the country can make some "liberals" (what ever a liberal is) seem self-righteous when they point it out, and carping when the simple facts are ignored and blatant lies are repeated like gospel. As far a monolithing the opposition: "liberal" is used by the right as a noun far more, and always derisively, than "conservative" is by the left. After seeing that moronic sign in Maryland, it is hard not to conclude that some, and not a few, "conservatives" are every bit as stupid as we think they are, even with a professor to turn their drivel into academic-light.
5
Every liberal needs to read this until it sinks in.
If it helps, try imagining the reverse. Think about how you react when a pro-life campaigners calls you a murderer for supporting abortion rights. Does that convince you to change your mind? Probably not. Yet you think that calling someone who sincerely believes abortion is wrong a woman-hater or oppressor will get them to calmly re-think their attitudes?
Human brains work on a reward/punishment mechanism. You motivate people by rewarding some behaviors, and (less effectively) by punishing others.
One of the most glaring examples of Liberals not doing this was the reaction to pro-Lifers joining the women's marches against Trump.
This should have been a wonderful opportunity to bring these people into the fold, even a little bit, to welcome them, to show them that liberals are good people, to connect one-on-one with them as humans, in other words, to reward them for doing something "good" even though they might not yet meet our perfect liberal standards.
Because once they've been rewarded with our approval and decided they like it, we can talk calmly to them and offer them more reward for first understanding the liberal point of view about abortion, and then eventually maybe even embracing it (more reward).
But no, because we are so 100% sure that we're right and they're wrong - just like ISIS - that some liberals just told these women they were unwelcome!!
The rudeness and strategic cluelessness of this defy belief!
18
Progressives quickly assign anyone who disagrees with any of their viewpoints into one of two categories: Evil or Ignorant.
12
The pot calls the kettle black.
7
Liberals may not be as smart as they think they are but conservatives are surely as mean spirited and racist as they continually prove to us everyday.
9
Prof. Alexander - a little smugly ya think "Obama caused Trump"? Think again. The abused liberals on this right wing hinge of American history (h/t Madeleine Albright, "Fascism, A Warning") will undoubtedly vote their unfit president into a second term in 2020. Fact (not "alternative fact", h/t Kellyanne Conway) is - Donald Trump's presidency is a bitter pill for liberals and all Americans who aren't ignorant knuckle-draggers to swallow. Then again, on the silver lining side of the black clouds (thanks to fossil fuel coal Redux and denial of climate-change) maybe some Deus ex Machina will come along between now and the Mid-Terms -- one of these terrible days -- to upset the rotten G.O.P. applecart, and send the turmbrils rolling to our 45th President's several White Houses. Think on that.
1
The Right will ostracize you if you disagree with any of their political views. The Left will do the same, but go one better by calling you stupid, racist, or "deplorable," thus adding insult to injury.
Come on now, is it really that hard to figure out who people will vote against in this situation?
9
The reason that the label of racism is so damning is because liberals have won the ideological battle over race in public speech. Sadly, plenty of governments enact policies that have racist effects, and this is quite intentional. It's also very much a Republican thing, because elected members of the GOP know that if they limit the votes of minority members, they limit votes for liberals. They also know that they can use their backing of racial profiling and racist police brutality as a signal to the racists in their party. And it's too bad that these public officials don't like being called racist when they enact those policies and use those signals. I don't mind alienating that part of the population that endorses racism. That's how the term "racist" became such a damning label in the first place. And liberals were smart to do it.
4
I'm transgender. This article implies that I should be classified as mentally ill. I'm sick and tired of having to hear this from Conservatives. I would like to know, why am should I respect this view?
8
Mr. Alexander- with all due respect. Your article is blatantly hypocritical. I beg of you- go to the dictionary and look up the word "liberal".
4
Liberals sometimes make me, a liberal, uncomfortable.
I don’t care what Kanye says but have no problem allowing him to speak.
I want conservatives to speak at colleges - I even agree with much of what they. I don’t think the same for Nazis or the alt-right. There NO ‘good people’ in those groups.
I am 100% for staying out of consenting adults sexual lives and 100% for giving women the choice in decisions involving their pregnancies. Although I would rather people’s sexual lives be private - that goes for heterosexual, homosexual and all the ‘-sexuals’ between- it’s pretty obvious that human sexuality is not binary.
I don’t denigrate the sincerity of the the anti-choice folk and would never force any of them to terminate a pregnancy-they should never try to force women to keep their pregnancies either. Women died before Roe v Wade. If they want fewer abortions, they shoukd work with us for more sex education and easier access to birth control.
Anyway, I think most liberals are like me (pretty mild and non-judgemental) and the hatred comes from Fox, Sean Hannity and his nasty ilk who magnify every slight by militant liberals and foment distrust and division.
1298
Navel gazing. Still don't get it. Get what? This: liberals are not smarter. They are not more socially mature. They are immature brats who are sore losers are intellectually bankrupt. No vision for the country, just DIVISION.
8
FINALLY, an opinion from the Times that is reasoned rather than another bitter rant about Trump. As an independent voter, I am amazed at the response to his actions. Sometimes (often) he sounds like an idiot but he is president for the next 2+ years. Grow up or he will be in for 6+ years.
13
This article was written out of the American oligarch's lab for ridiculing and demonizing liberals. Just another attempt to push liberals back behind the ropes, where liberal ideas can be contained and silenced.
6
So Trump is liberals fault. Who knew.
11
Interesting that this writer’s first sentence was a play on the line that has become the epitome of racism, “Some of my best friends are black people.” “I know many liberals, and two of them are my best friends.” This is a condemnation of liberals with faint praise by the political equivalent of a racist.
5
I am positively sick of reading articles that insist that I accept this wave of spiteful, anti-intellectual spittle as a legitimate argument. This bone-headed article tangentially admits that it is the liberal/progressive citizens who are responsible for all that is good in the country. Why should I be ashamed and turn away from that? The fact that an article so full of broad-brush painted nonsense would get past the Times's editorial board is depressing. There is nothing good about the spiteful, cowardly, unenlightened bigots that have infested the GOP. Hillary Clinton had it right: these people are deplorable. I will not compromise my principles for the privilege to wallow in their sewer. Their points of view are beneath me, not because I say so; but because it IS so.
17
If you support Donald Trump, sorry, but I'm smarter than you.
18
I patiently await a rebuttal article using the title "Conservatives, you are not as smart as you think you are"
7
Hold up. Who's being self-righteous here.
16
The only way Trump gets reelected is if the prison in which he is incarcerated lets him have weekends off to campaign and if those who voted for him in 2016 are really as stupid as we "liberals" believe. Well, off to make another movie or this tv week?
2
Pure drivel. Am I supposed to be surprised that the right doesn't like the left.
6
I’m getting pretty tired of the NYT and the plethora of conservation weeds in the garden. A few so we can keep an eye on the historic liars and seditionists.
Not that there is anything wrong with conservatives other than being unwilling to listen, liberals are teaching your children to be gay, my guns have a right to kill, my women belong to me and what do you call Mitch McConell other than a racist.
I looks like the NYT is supporting Trump and Wall Street.
3
Assuming this writer is sincere, it is important to note he is an academic at a top tier university. Thus, he is a conservative in a very left wing world. Every day he hears some idiot make a comment that makes his blood boil. But that world is very unlike the rest of progressive America, which is barely left of center. Right wingers love to characterize as an official plank of the Democratic Party platform every dumb act or comment of a group of 19 year-olds in Berkeley or Madison. They do this to stir up the very reaction and resentment in conservatives that this writer claims he is warning us against. Chances are this is precisely what this writer is trying to do. I doubt he is sincere.
9
I find it funny that when liberals are offended, conservative holler, "thoughen up you snowflake!" But when conservatives are offended, the conservatives say the liberals have to lighten up on them. This is the brilliance of Jordan Peterson at work.
11
Not all Trump chumps are racist, but all racists are Trumpists. As an academic, what does that tell you Professor?
8
Maybe liberals aren't as smart as we think, but conservatives are certainly as willfully ignorant, biased, paranoid and dishonest as we think. Criticising liberals for smugness is a dishonest double standard.
7
Yup, sit down, shut up, know your place, be kinder.....been there, done that and found out that nobody gives you what you don't ask for. I'm for loudly demanding myself.
7
Right-wingers are so sensitive these days.
10
The fundamental problem with your argument is that the white supremacists and Nazis aren't flocking to the liberal side of the aisle. They are joining the conservatives, where they feel welcome.
12
Liberals as they are referred to in this article, is really a derogatory term used by republicans. As the rise of hyper conservatism tea party hate mongers gained traction among disaffected white folk, a moniker was brought out and used hundreds of times daily by the purveyors of hate speech: Limbaugh, Coulter, O,Reilly, Hannity, Gingrich the list is lengthy. The L word became the new N word. Those people on the left, same sex fornicators, that want our guns, our taxes, and our way of life. The true American God and guns way of life. They must be branded with a yellow L on their sleeve. They must be crushed. Make America white again.
14
Guilt by association. Tag bombing. Loaded generaliztions. This is why Americans reject pompous corprate-funded academics.
9
Some of these guys he is writing about might think that he is racist because he disagrees with them on some things :-)
4
Regardless of what liberals do or don’t do, about 42% of Americans will vote for the crude, brutish, greedy, racist Trump and his minions because they think and would like to act like he does. Liberalism has always been an easy idea to mock since it goes against the natural tendency to fear and hate the unknown. To get Americans to vote for someone who appeals to supporting the greater good instead of to their insecurities will always be a heavy lift.
18
This is great.
Somewhat educated people with liberal arts education claim higher ground because the other side is surely "uneducated" and comprised only of racists.
First of all, your reflexive rebuke of Alexander's article proves his point. Someone even hilariously mentioned in the comments that she or he were "busy saving democracy". From where? Their armchair?
Secondly, there are educated people on both sides and uneducated as well. Can't say that inner city blacks are a stronghold of literacy (thanks to Dem-run schools, BTW) yet one never hears about that uneducated block voting in-step for Democrats. Climate deniers are morons but so are petulant children protesting campus speakers.
Third, when one talks about "education" it is unwise to lump together all "education" as many people from STEM will agree that a degree in "gender studies" is frankly speaking a degree in useless pontification and not really an "education". And please spare me the "critical thinking" bit that gets brought up as an argument.
Finally, not all who voted for Trump are racists. And Trump is not racist, not matter how much you wish it were true. Sadly, he often speaks before thinking and NYT, WaPo, MSNBC will always come to a foregone conclusion that whatever he said was at least "dog-whistling".
TL;DR - your assumption that one side is made of idiots while the other only of pure, wise sages is a fairy tale.
12
And here we have another establishment puppet write an article to tell the rest of us how things really are.
4
Amen to that, brother!
1
The main behavioral bit of advice in this article is that people the author calls liberals should indeed avoid expressing opinions that are racist and certainly should monitor their speech to eradicate offensiveness, but refrain from ever suggesting that conservatives do the same.
I presume that a few decades back they would have encouraged "liberals" to take a seat on a bus beside a "Negro" if they wish but not to excoriate conservative bus drivers when they force blacks to the back..."don't pick that fight." Same with lunch counters, swimming pools, whites-only covenants. Stop picking fights that make conservatives feel that you feel superior.
At this point, I have no hesitation at all in, as our beloved president says, hitting them back 10 X harder when they hit us.
8
Alexander certainly used a lot of words to say "Don't be mean to racists--you'll only have yourself to blame when this makes them even more racist."
12
This is nothing more than an apologist article exculptating conservatives for maintaining vile, cliched views about people who disagree with them, i.e., "liberals".
7
"Liberal" is now associated with Kanye West... "conservative" is now associated with Trump. What were once vacuous, stupid, routinely mis-applied labels are now really vacuous, horribly stupid, mind-numbingly routinely mis-applied labels.
Such has become the nature of our so-called 'debate'... hash-tags, soundbites, labels, catch-phrases, and shallow mudslinging rhetoric. Apparently if one actually thinks, one has become one of Spiro Agnew's "effete intellectuals" or "nattering nabobs of negativism". Those pearls were uttered, by the way, 50 years ago; how little has changed in terms of the maturity of political 'dialogue', if that word even applies.
As we said on the playground when we were mere sniveling rugrats, "Sez you...so's yer old man!!"
5
Facts. Where are the facts? I appreciate opinion pieces but when they are devoid of substantial facts, the article serves as a better bird cage liner than a journalistic piece.
5
A simple google of Professor Alexander and one can see a host of his writings ( many book reviews for the Claremont Institute going back decades and nearly all excoriating liberals.
But I guess its Liberals who are the meanies.
9
Another polarizing article from a publication that should lead the way towards uniting our divided country and stop making the polarization of Americans worse than it already is. Liberals are this...conservatives are that...blah, blah, etc., etc.. its all beside the point and only adds to the destruction of our society.
It’s not some endless battle between intellectual liberals and dunderhead conservatives. That’s what The Times and the rest of our Oligarch-owned “ media” want us to believe. To keep us divided. So the Oligarchs can control us and rob us.
Your neighbor has more in common with you than you could ever imagine. Just talk to them. As fellow humans, fellow citizens, fellow Americans. Or don’t talk to them, if you find you can’t. Just stop judging them. And stop believing nonsense like this article that only reinforces that you should judge them.
5
Sick and tired of who's more correct, smarter, etc. The truth is what it is. We can try to get with it or not. My experience is that liberals worrying about what's right are more actively trying to get with it than conservatives, determined to foist right wing ideology on us. It is a gross and stupid generalization, but there you have it.
3
Anyone who supports the white supremacists and racists currently in control of our government and doesn't have a problem doing so is irredeemable. I am tired of being lectured to be respectful and considerate of these people if they are half the country so be it--we are in bad shape. And if you can't see the difference between these individuals currently in power and Hillary Clinton many years ago using the term superpredator you are you being intellectually dishonest or dim
8
The right-wingers I've encountered have been bullies, rude and nasty. They are not my allies, they are the enemy. This article is basically saying, 'progressives, the Nazis aren't so bad. Stop objecting to the things they say and do. Have some understanding.' No way in hell. This author needs to wake up and visit a concentration camp museum to see what happens when liberals are defeated at the ballot box.
15
The amazing thing is that Liberals pride themselves on being open minded and from the commentary here, it feels like they are as close minded as the conservatives they are so disgusted with. The comments reinforce this article. All the derogatory and self righteous statements here are unbelievable. MODERATION people. A liberal who says he/she's perspective is superior because of his/her morals or human decency (or that conservatives are analogous to slave owners) is the same an an Evangelical Christian who damns anyone who doesn't believe in God or a terrorist who believes that his/her views are the ultimate truth. I love that Liberals try to push progress, but being influential requires you to understand all sides, provide ideas that emphathize with all constituents, not dismiss them. I'm a moderate and a minority in this country and can't believe how some of the most intelligent people on both sides of this debate have drawn lines in the sand on what is "right".
16
I’m not sure if the author intended it, but his point is completely validated by the majority of comments that follow.
57
This open ed is more proof of the foolishness of Trump voters, There is an arabic proverb that comes to mind in reading this piece “ in his attempt to anger his wife, he castrated himself” that’s exactly what will happen to the Trump voters if they chose to vote to re elect him just to irritate the liberals. liberals are generally better educated, relatively more affluent and living mostly in the coastal cities, they largely benefit from tax cuts, while Trump voters are going to see their lives significantly deteriorating with the cut to entitlement, the trade wars triggered by the current occupant of the white house and the deterioration of US standing in the world and consequent loss of the dollar status as the world currency of record.
Good job Trump voters, keep irritating us further!.
25
Let me get this straight:
The author thinks that Michael Moore using his career tools to critique Trump is not ok, but the author doesn't have a problem with the shrill, inaccurate propaganda and hate spewing from Limbaugh, Hannity and others?
Yes, it was a stupid choice of someone lacking common sense at the Washington, DC press dinner.
There also has been lots of stupidity on the conservative side, like defending the nonstop rudeness of this White House, from top clear down to underlings making comments that McCain's opinions don't matter because "he is dying".
I am getting pretty tired of the rant that liberals control the media. What about the most watched tv network, Fox? What about Murdoch family control of Wall Street Journal? What about the owner and publisher of National Enquirer who has been in cahoots with scooping up the dirty muck left behind by Trump and hiding it from public with payoffs?
Oh, maybe the author is perturbed because the liberal media's followers read more in-depth articles in places such as Atlantic, New Yorker, this newspaper, Washington Post, the Economist and other publications.
Well that is part of the issue: the liberal media's followers tend to be more educated and more thoroughly read in-depth and factual reports.
14
I believe fundamentally that Donald Trump appealed to the worst in us. People who voted for him were aware of his bigoted attitude toward brown-skinned immigrants and his misogyny. How can conservatives justify pulling the level for this dispicable man? Ok, maybe we liberals appear arrogant or judgmental because we fight hard against racism and strive to empower women. So be it!
17
Oh I'm sorry. Did I hurt your feelings? OK I'll submit. I'll agree to oppose and actively deny any and all programs and strategies that incoming President Barak Obama proposes if you admit that Trump is a hypocritical puppet of the ultra rich and Russia.
6
Mostly, nobody is as smart as they think they are.
14
Another talking point from the right, this is maybe the second or third article I’ve read that attempts to warn us because liberals have an opinion its making conservatives uneasy so ipso facto Trump will win reelection.
Its a false equivalent to say “Hillary Clinton was racist because she once made veiled references to “superpredators.” Hillary apologized, Trump does not. That is the big difference. So when I say he is raciest and so are the people who support him I am correct. They made their bargain with satan and now they have to live with it. In the words of Joseph Welch, chief counsel for the U.S. Army at the McCarthy hearing, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency? “
The right is out of ideas they just want to tear down and replace with nothing.
9
Secretly gay conservatives rabidly denouncing homosexuality. Opposing abortion but perfectly willing to get one for themselves or their partners if convenient.
"Tolerant" liberals who vehemently oppose even listening to other viewpoints. Environmental "activist" RFK Jr opposing Cape Cod wind farm ("not in my backyard"). Eric Schneiderman.
As Michael Corleone said, "we're both part of the same hypocrisy."
12
It seems tome that the language of the campaign and of the leader of the "free world"(?) was inbued with insults, generalizations and hatred. "Mexicans are rapists;"-all "Muslims are terorrists"- this one is a "bad guy" or a "terrific guy".. Trump brought out the immoral generalizations and insults based solely on self-interest long which exaserbated your idea of "liberals" being guilty of such dismissals and generalizations!. Then came the whole concept of "fake news" which generalizes and obscures any issue of truth and fact. It's a viscious cycle of unparalleled diviseness fueled by our public media. What has occurred is a push back against this outrageous talk and against other conservatives or extremists who are totally disimissive and judgmental of the press, Hollywood and universities, who have different opinions than those which self their self-interests- This is an age of activism- where we not only need to walk our talk, but push back further against these ugly thoughts and behaviors of self-interest, dellusion, lawlessness and racism.
6
The opening of this article states the author ‘even has two liberals as best friends.’
How many times have we seen this rhetoric at the beginning of all the worst and invective discussions?
8
You're blaming liberals for Trump? Nice. So much for the party of personal responsibility.
"After the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that states had to allow same-sex marriage, the fight, in some quarters, turned to pizza places unwilling to cater such weddings. Maybe don’t pick that fight?"
Isn't your paragraph above analogous to a lunch counter in the '60s? The problems with conservatives is you don't know what you're trying to conserve. Follow the money. You're content to argue about pizzas, but would be better off thinking critically as to why these cultural smokes are being thrown up in the first place.
There were neo-Nazis marching in an American parade and you don't think you're part of the problem.
13
Thank you. I am a democrat by I am not a liberal . The real problem with the Democratic Party is that they let the liberals take over. The first order of business for the Democrats is to reclaim the soul of the party , the party that rose by protecting the Unions, and the working class, somewhere along the line the republicans managed to box in democratic ideas by giving progressive ideas no safe anchorage but the democrat harbor. The great middle of the country equates liberalism with the nanny state, and through the filter of republican spokesmouths like Rush Limbaugh, the Nanny State is one step away from communism ( the republicans have a way of associating socialism with communism, to the detriment of everybody ) Communism is equated with control, and telling you how to live your life. America is the land of the free, that is our national mythos, and the big lie of the Republican Party works because in America we are taught to fight for freedom. Liberals are so sure years right they they look at all other points of view as wrong , an idea which is more dangerous to them as well as too the country. No one side is always right and no one side is always wrong. The answer lies in the middle , till liberals understand this they will continue to be a drag on the Democratic Party.
28
This was rich, a self-righteous rant about self-righteousness. Based upon Alexander's claims of acquaintanceship with liberals he then generalizes and equivocates and chastises them because they won't compromise their principles to accommodate bigots who want to make a second class citizens of those who are not white males. These unsubstantiated assertions are just subjective and reflexive opinions and value judgments that reveal a lot about Alexander and his projections and not a lot of real information about liberals.
"The fact that the basic agenda of the alt-right is making America a safe place for white men and that its major political activity is whining on the internet when someone disrespects its cultural totems are only two signs of many of how this crowd projects its own insecurities onto others."- Ryan Cooper. Alexander's rant is just more insecure whining.
77
Liberals in America have never had so much fun in their constant harangues about Trump. They have been able to paint themselves in a self satisfying heroic light and they have never been so wrong or so self indulgent.
23
I Agree. And there is more. They are selective about which parts of science they support. Climate change fits their purposes, so that weapon is employed readily. But they haven't left the 18th century in their view of human behavior, maintaining the Kumbaya belief that humans are tabula rasas with no pre-human tendencies. Rousseau (and post-modernism), yes! Darwin (and tons of evolutionary psychology studies), no!
19
This is boilerplate non-writing. Platitudes, generalizations. Substitute the word conservative for liberal in it and it reads the same. Don't blame liberals for the profound fury and hate many conservatives bring today. Its on them, period.
66
Get up every day and ask yourself, “What can I do to reinforce the notion that we are all created equal?”
To me that is what a liberal does.
43
"the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, the comedian Michelle Wolf landed some punch lines that were funny and some that weren’t. But people reacted less to her talent and more to the liberal politics that she personified. " Mr. Alexander is being disingenuous at best.
Yes, truth to power troubles some people especially those in power. Ms. Huckabee-Sanders lies to the the citizens day in and day out, but bring out the smelling salts for those on the side of power if someone calls her on this. The problem is that the conservatives lie and cheat a whole lot, they have to because if they spoke their truth hardly anyone would vote for them. Kanye West can love trump, that's his right but asserting that slavery was voluntary is a lie and should be called out. I could go on but simply put this column is a fail. Sad.
48
Here we go again. The extremists look like a bunch of idiots. OK, but there is a reason we call them extremists. They are on the fringe, not the mainstream. Extremist conservatives and extremist liberals are equally ridiculous.
In something as complex as running a country, many things can be true at once. There is a reason that liberals and conservatives have been squabbling in elections since ancient Greece; both points of view are valid and necessary. The moderate conservatives and the moderate liberals keep the system from swinging too far in either direction, and when it swings too far in either direction, the polity usually has enough sense to elect the other side.
The moderates haven't been doing that well lately. At least they aren't getting much press; all the attention seems to be going to the extremists. This is causing the swings in either direction to be larger, threatening to destabilize the system altogether.
This article is no exception. It makes the common mistake of implying that the outliers are the norm. This is akin to saying that we can all be Steve Jobs or Larry Ellison. We can't. They are outliers, exceptions to the rule. So are the extremists on either side of the political spectrum. This imbalance might be what took down the Athenian democracy in ancient Greece, and it could take down ours today.
27
One can replace the word liberal with conservative in this article and make the same argument for the other side. The word liberal is now seen as profanity to be used when the opposition cannot form a cohesive argument. Call me a liberal, progressive or socialist if you will but I will not back down from such bullying.
37
One only need compare the results of leadership under Obama to that of Trump to realize which is superior. Under Obama's foreign policy ISIS thrived, his attempt to regime change Assad resulted in millions of refugees and misery. N. Korea developed nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. On the economy under Obama's attempt at central control the economy was stagnant leaving millions without jobs, his war on politically incorrect industries inflicted economic violence on millions more. Compare that record with Trump's - Trump's leadership is unambiguously superior.
10
There's a difference between being smug and demeaning towards your opponent and fighting back against them with honor: the point is to respect your opponent, respect your adversary. This author is not telling us to sit on our hands and allow ourselves to get beat upside the head, he telling us to show respect for our counter parties in hopes of not alienating them and making a bad situation, a fight, worse.
He's telling us the shake or hug after a well fought match, and that's impossible if we don't respect our opponents. Surely, y'all know the Republicans will respect us more if we fight hard and well, more than if we perpetuate their stereotypes of us as melting snowflakes. People can make up after a hard fought match, but never do they reconcile after being demeaned and belittled.
24
Trump is a Republican, everything he does is supported by the Republican Party. If god forbid he is re-elected it will be because of Republicans.....the Republican Party, Republican donors, Republican media empires, Republican propaganda and the ever so readily exploitable Republican base.
14
Here, there seems to be an underlying assumption that if progressives were to behave more humbly, Trump's followers would respond in kind; that they would be amenable to rational debate. That's a false assumption, almost risibly so. "Trump people" have immunized themselves against reason, and typically respond to almost political discussion with the standard array of complaints the professor mentions: [1] Liberals play the race card. [2] Liberals dominate academia. [3] The media bias. [4] Hollywood. Even if one were to concede those positions just to keep the conversation civil, he'd still have to deal with "whataboutism". Don't ask liberals to dumb down just to win elections. That's what Trump got away with, but to emulate that tactic would leave 60+ million Americans walking around with their heads down and a bad taste in their mouths.
27
This is pretty much useless as commentary since he seems to think that a 42% approval rating is a strong base for DJT's re-election. He also seems comfortable condemning 'liberal's' judgments but not Trump's vicious denigration of pretty much everyone by groups and as individuals. I fail to see the difference. What he does not explain is why so many vote against their own interests time after time to their own damage and their politicians' success. We have only to look at DJT's desire to destroy healthcare in America except for the very wealthy, who will become more so because of the tax bill which will add to the deficit, and hand money to the wealthy. This just doesn't make any sense.
16
Thank you Mr. Alexander for writing this column and thank you to the NYT for publishing it. Now if only the vast majority of NYT readers would actually take the time to read and think about it.
Yes, as you can see from my Midwest location, I see and hear people recoil almost daily from the pronouncements and literal and figurative eye rolls of superiority by those on the left who think they are our betters. You are not and there is nothing progessive or liberal in your continuing to insist otherwise.
It is instead self-righteous, condescending, and often profoundly rude and crude. In university settings it borders on tyrannical. I agree with you about some things and disagree about others. I’m happy to argue and debate any of it but most of you are unwilling to do the same because you just think you’re right. Maybe you are but just like there is no such thing as “settled science” (an oxymoron if ever there was one), there is no such thing as absolute right in human interactions.
We get to choose what’s right and we can either choose to do it with our neighbors and fellow citizens or we end up doing it to them. Is the latter really a path to professed liberal goals of justice and harmony?
26
I’ve had this epiphany recently that what has splintered in me is culture and policy: I am very much a policy liberal, wanting to see non discrimination laws, immigration reform, restraint of religious liberty as an excuse to simply refuse to participate in a society that protects people and choices with which you disagree, etc. I’m 100% behind liberal policy outcomes, all the way.
What I am not is culturally what liberals in this country have become: chronically cynical, aggrieved, unhappy as can be, seeing a series of micro violences sewn into the very fabric of their reality, combative with disagreement in the way that the moral majority was (is) combative, and so obsessed with a victimized narrative that they don’t spend any time nurturing and promulgating an optimistic, affirmative, happiness based narrative.
I think that is what turns people off: the culture of liberals, not liberal policy. It isn’t the diversity or openness, no matter what they might tell you; no, it is the feeling that the culture of liberals is where happiness goes to die. They spend their whole lives protecting their pain instead of losing their pain. Being happy again would make them vulnerable, and they simply won’t. Letting go of their pain would be like letting go of their identities.
The thing is, most people are trying to get happy, or just less angry or upset. The culture of liberals has nothing to offer on that front right now, but you know what? Liberal policy would get us to happy.
17
I'm not sure we need to give up on satire about the Trump presidency, which is the only thing keeping many of us sane.
But I agree that genuine concern and interest in Trump voters, needs to be more clearly shown. And felt.
Liberals could do so much more listening and reaching out to red states. During and after the special House election in Kansas District 4 just over a year ago—which produced a 20-point swing away from Trump, though not a V—I can't tell you how loud national liberals' silence was for most of Democrat James Thompson's bold, smart campaign, or how painful the "Kansans are just stupid" comments were afterward. It's enough to make Republicans who pay even lip service to the state, look good.
Care about the country? Care, really care, about and for Trump country. It will be noticed.
(Overseas Kansas District 4 voter.)
9
So, to summarize Mr. Alexander's position, Liberals are annoying because we oppose prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination, and openly criticize those who spouse them. Well, I'm proud to be liberal, and I don't care if I annoy people like Mr. Alexander, who believe that we are pushing too hard, and moving too fast.
16
The big divide in American politics points out quite a number of flaws seen in many politicians today. We are asked to vote for and to support individuals who are rude, dishonest and corrupt, narcissistic, immature and unpatriotic. I am applying these labels to politicians on both sides of the aisle. Why is it most Americans are decent but our politicians are not? Is it the pressure from strong lobbies (guns, oil and pharmaceuticals) that corrupt their morals? Or is it that power simply corrupts? Whatever the formula is, it is persuasive and it is the reason Americans on all economic and social levels are stressed out and unhappy. The deplorables are the men and women in Congress and that guy in the Oval Office.
8
The main point of this article rings deeply true to me: liberals and progressives drive people to Trump and Limbaugh and Fox News and Infowars through thousands of micro(passive)aggressions. When we imply that our positions are more righteous, moral, noble, and well-reasoned than those of conservatives, we position ourselves as superior, which will always cause anger and defensiveness in those we address. Once someone becomes defensive, the battle has been lost. It doesn’t matter if conservatives trash us with impunity or how justified our positions may be — if at the end of the day our goal is to win over hearts and minds in a democratic context, we’re not going to do it by admonishing people or making purely logical arguments. I am happy to see more thinkers across the political spectrum pointing this out. What I’m not seeing yet is a guidebook for well-intentioned progressives (and conservatives) on how to move forward — fighting for what we believe in with vigor without feeding the Fox News machine hundreds of taboos it can use to makes its viewers feel empowered and emboldened to do whatever is necessary to put the rest of us in our place. How do we speak in a bold and inspiring way that doesn’t emotionally disempower so many of the human beings who swing elections in this country? Hoping that these answers will start to surface and be adopted by well intentioned people in all parties. Praying we get there before 2020.
15
I think it wasn't much past junior high school when I learned that over-generalization was inappropriate for any writing submission. Mr. Alexander either had a different set of teachers or wasn't paying attention.
15
Since the election of 2016, many studies dissecting what occurred have concluded that the overiding factor among Trump voters was uneasyness among whites about being left behind & losing status. ("people voting against something" - people of other races & origin) Seems pretty racist, xenophobic & tribal to me. The GOP is not the party of inclusion. It is the party of exclusion & with it a fantasy of returning the country to a time in which whites were in complete control & dominated people of other races & places of origin.
You write about "the commanding heights of American culture" (liberal media). Let's look at media commanding conservative culture. Fox News, right-wing talk radio & the burgeoning community online of conspiratorialists. Just listening or watching for a little while, it's easy to see why the GOP has become the party of grievance. All you see & hear are fear-based talking points along the lines of race, religion & country of origin.
(Right-wing media: where whites can talk about centuries of oppression & maltreatment at the hands of other races & foreigners, while reminiscing about turning the clock back decades. It's where you can be reassured that change isn't a universal truth, and if anything has, it can be blamed on the "other," the "enemy," because Lord knows conservatives need an enemy. It's programmed in their psychological makeup. It's all a conspirator's paradise.)
Yes, we liberals are causing resentment, because change is never easy.
15
It’s hard to fathom how someone with the intelectual creds Mr. Alexander claims could lead with one of the most tired phrases of bigots everywhere, “Some of my best friends are ….”.
Webster’s. Bigot: a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.
If his is the new voice of conservatism then contrast it with William F Buckley who once stated that he spent most of his separating conservatives from kooks.
Mr. Alexander seems to argue to assimilate them instead.
In this essay he affirms Salman Rushdie's position: “A classic trope of religious bigots is while they are denying people their rights they claim their rights are being denied. While they are persecuting people they claim to be persecuted. While they are behaving colossally offensively they claim to be the offended party. It’s an upside down world.”
I will never sit down, hold hands and sing Kumbaya with anyone who says that my daughter should be hanged because she happens to have fallen in love with another woman.
Somewhere in this free exchange of ideas we need to discern for ourselves as a society where we cross a line of moral and ethical behavior.
Mr. Alexander has not the depth of thought to make that distinction.
11
Agreed with your opinion. No Liberal or Republican in the spotlight is trying to save liberalism or conservatism. No one seems to have a long term outlook of how this started out as a difference of opinion and is now a disparity that has caused violence and bloodshed in this country. When out of power liberals seem to think that the other side's opinions don't matter but when they get into power, they immediately start appeasing the other side. LIberals - start fighting for real issues such as violence against blacks (especially by police), income inequality, corruption in government (citizens united) and public education and start delivering real blows to the offenders before everyone perceives that you should be respected more than Conservatives.
4
If Trump wins a re-election it won’t be due to liberals mocking sense of humor and superior education.
Liberals lose important elections when they think that clinging to the details of their lofty principles is a wiser choice than capitulating to compromise.
There are still voters out there who are proud of their 2000 vote for Nader.
That’s how dems lose elections.
11
When I see conservatives using their alleged intelligence to fight the serious social problems we have in this country in a way that doesn't just make white people richer and more powerful, I will be less self-righteous. And anyone who votes for Trump to "get back at" self-righteous liberals is part of the problem. Grow up.
12
This article is rife with hypocrisy. The righteous indignation and casting off of liberals by the right is a habitual, if not fermented - practice. To cast disdain to the left without also yielding the same critique at the ‘fox-news era’ of America who insinuate that progressives are un-American, identity-politic-obsessing pariahs def to drain the public coffers is disingenuous, if not irresponsible.
10
It's not that liberal ideals aren't on the moral high ground, it's that liberals are spitting in the eyes of conservatives from the moral high ground. Maybe if we built a bigger hill we could all fit upon it.
4
"But accusers can paint with very wide brushes."
....and that is just what you are doing with this essay!
7
This article, I think, misses the central point regarding Trump. Liberalism, conservatism and Trump’s policies to one side, Trump is simply an indecent person, completely lacking in character. The overwhelming number of his supporters recognize this but with a shrug, focusing instead on whatever it is they like about his policies. In doing so, in normalizing or ignoring his consistently vile behavior, they have effectively eliminated character, morality and decency as relevant to our assessment of our president. This is profoundly troubling and is the most compelling reason for ridding ourselves of the narcissistic, mean-spirited bully currently occupying the White House. We can do so much better, and we must.
14
what i read here from the comments is conservatives saying "see? this is what we are talking about". liberals, occasionally agreeing but mostly reminding us of the 3M votes and trump's epic faults. oh, and then we have the voters in the middle that don't like being offended.
what i don't recall seeing is this: when have anger and fear ever been a good basis for making an important decision? we know liberalism can be irritating and if let loose for too long oppressive. we know that conservative's baseless certitude or the desire for such is a sort of mental illness. how does any of this justify politicking or especially voting in anger? if we are lucky none of us will ever get exactly what we want but we can grow up and make a reasoned, informed choice when we vote. winging it is not really an option. staying home in protest is not really an option.
3
Professor Alexander, you suggest liberals should be more sensitive and lead by example?
For instance, buying a full page ad in the newspaper calling for the execution of 5 innocent men?
Leading a multi year media campaign to spread a confirmed lie about the birthplace of our president?
Using social media to harass fallen soldiers and their families?
Professor Alexander, you are right to point out that liberals can be guilty of being arrogant and insulting. But conservatives are not? We all often fail to explain our ideas rather than criticize those who don’t instinctively understand them. However, the repercussions of conservative arrogance seem to produce direct and indelible effects on human lives and public discourse in this country. I’m not just talking about ICE raids, or bathroom bills, but also the false narrative of free market principles that have allowed giant companies to centralize profits and exploit the vulnerable across all marginalized demographics, rural white people included.
Professor Alexander, if your next op-ed submission is “Conservatives, You’re Not as Righteous as You Think” then maybe I’ll reconsider some of your suggestions.
2163
Perhaps "liberals" aren't as "PC" as everyone's been accusing them of being.
4
I'm so tired of this line . . . Of all the problems we face as a nation, the purported smugness of liberals (because Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingrahm, and Sean Hannity are ANYTHING but smug . . . not!), and the corresponding hurt feelings of white conservatives, doesn't crack the top 100.
31
Grant wrote that the poor, uneducated, nonslave-owning whites fought the rich slave owners war.
Today, government hating Libertarians (Kochs, Mercers), for a great return on their "investment" buying politicians, have the Republican "base" fighting their war without even knowing it.
17
Mr. Alexander writes, "Self-righteousness is rarely attractive, and even more rarely rewarded." Leaving aside entirely any so-called liberal (or any so-called conservative, for that matter), this line betrays the emptiness of his so-called learned cogitations, simply because this line is completely false in the real world. Over the course of history, we've seen all sorts of self-righteous people, and they have indeed been attractive to millions, and have been abundantly rewarded by these same millions. (Jesus has long been my favorite self-righteous person, but Hitler and various other dictators to the present day continue to be the favorites of others.)
8
A "backlash against liberals" is going to get Trump re-elected, really? How about a Russian IRA bot army propaganda campaign aimed at dividing us, especially in key voting districts, and another campaign to hack voting machines?
18
"liberals were more convinced than ever that conservatives were their intellectual and even moral inferiors."
Let's see now - which group denies evolution despite all the evidence that shows it really happened. Which group thinks the Earth is 10,000 years old. Which group claims climate change is all a big hoax.
Which group feels women should stay in their place. Which group holds tiki torch parades in support of white supremacy. Which group supports as a leader someone who is openly racist. Which group. Which group is openly against gays and transgendered individuals. Which group chants "Jews will not replace us". Which group turns a blind eye to sexual assault by those in power. Which group is o.k. with victim blaming for women dealing with sexual assault. which group is o.k. with torture.
Now - which group has a better grasp of reality? Which group has a more accurate moral compass?
17
Wow, this article is pure nonsense. Although I agree with Mr. Alexander that there are liberals out there that are self-righteous and don't know when to get off of their high horses, it is laughable that this is the "thesis" of this opinion piece. For starters- Mr. Alexander, do you think that there are any conservatives out there that act the same way? Surely there are, and it is just conjecture to say that liberals act this way more. Actually, do you you know what I think is self-righteous? Men telling women what they can and can't do with their own bodies. That is the epitomy of a self-righteous 'moral' position, and it is one that is overwhelmingly represented by conservatives. The same goes for opposing gay marriage. It seems conservatives think they know what is best for society, and how people should live their lives.
Second, and for some reason not even mentioned in this garbage piece-- you are under the assumption that Trump won the presidency fair and square, which makes me think that you hold the position that Mueller's investigation into collusion has nothing to do with the Trump campaign-- that has not be proven yet. What we do know, though, is that Russia hacked our election. Yes, maybe a majority of conservatives elected Trump because they were sick of liberals being 'prejudiced' against them-- but that's just a maybe because correlation does not = causation, and I'd say there are some pretty big confounders in play here.
[1/2]
15
Of course, everything in this piece is dead-a on accurate reflection of how progressives view themselves and how they view "convervatives," whom they loosely define as people who do not agree with the canons of liberalism at exactly the same level of ardor they themselves demonstrate.
The problem with this piece is that the New York Times somehow feels the need to publish it. The "revelations" in the article are so blindingly obvious that the only thing they reveal is how disconnected coastal elites are from the majority of Americans. Nothing that was said here is any sort of brilliant discovery; every American in Ohio or Nebraska understands it to be obvious. The revelation here is that the New York Times reader needs instruction on the obvious.
25
So voting for someone who runs on a thinly veiled platform of racism and misogyny is not being racist? Please explain.
15
"At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, the comedian Michelle Wolf landed some punch lines that were funny and some that weren’t. But people reacted less to her talent and more to the liberal politics that she personified."
First, let's recall that it was NOT "the liberal politics she personified" that got her in trouble; it was crass attacking, unfunny, humor based on personal vilification of Sarah Sanders.
Second let's remember the politics of conservatism at Charlottesville that murdered one woman, injured many others, and was personified by torch bearing thugs and vilifying Jews and others that stood in their hate filled way.
5
>>> "As a candidate, Mr. Trump made derogatory comments about Mexicans, and as president described some African countries with a vulgar epithet. But it is an unjustified leap to conclude that anyone who supports him in any way is racist. . ."
Really? Why would it be an unjustified leap?
1. Candidate is openly racist.
2. Supporters vote for, defend and cheer openly-racist candidate.
Why would we *not* conclude that supporters harbor racist tendencies? I suppose there are alternatives -- the supporters didn't notice the racism or are not racists but willingly support one. Is either of those possibilities less damning than the obvious one?
17
>
Better to be too smart than stupid.
Any number of studies show that the left is better educated than the right. Billy-bob doesn't like to read.
Too smart can be corrected since smart people can reason and self-correct. “Science" [smart people's terrain], says Sellars, "is rational not because it has a foundation, but because it is a self-correcting enterprise", you can't fix stupid. Stupidity is irrational by definition.
Every enlightened movement in the history of the human race was a liberal attack against conservatism and it's cycloptic nature. Although liberalism has had its setbacks and folly in this battle, it eventually wins the day.
Conservatism is like a groundhog day philosophy where they always want to live yesterday over & over again. They haven't read their Heraclitus.
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Arthur Schopenhauer
19
"And a backlash against liberals — a backlash that most liberals don’t seem to realize they’re causing — is going to get President Trump re-elected."
(a) Define "liberal". How about--"free thinkers (not bound by brand loyalty to parties (political or god-story), but bound by 'disinterested" academic research and critical thought as the basis of reality and ideality. Academic research is bound by logic and evidence.
(b) Are "liberals" (as defined) supposed to recant--to supplicate haters and phobics (homo, xeno, gyno etc)?
(c) Such supplication might stop Trump's re-election--but he will be replaced by what?--Pence? Romney? or some other god story hater and phobic?
Liberals must recognize the enemy to rational, intelligent, informed government. Alas the enemy may well be sufferers of mass delusion--the brain washed common people.
The problem is to wake them from "dogmatic slumber" before its too late.
5
The ludicrous levels of causality in this article imply that the average American pays attention to more than which fast food to shove in their mouth next or how to coordinate two simultaneous phone calls and chats. What did someone say at the Correspondent's Dinner a couple of weeks ago. Huh??? And yes, I am an intellectual and liberal elitist. What nonsense.
6
Michelle Wolf's routine at the WHC Dinner was poking fun at the politicians and press by hitting below the belt. Kanye West "publicly rethought" that slavery was involuntary. Good comparison, Prof.
6
"Some liberals have gotten far out ahead of their fellow Americans but are nonetheless quick to criticize those who haven’t caught up with them."
If progress, tolerance and equaility are "far ahead" then they should catch up...
If respect, civility and morality are "far ahead" then they should catch up...
If institutions, procedure and the rule of law are are "far ahead" then they should catch up...
No doubt the above will be seen by some as arrogant, eletist smugness when the truth is it was our common heritage until my fellow citizens removed the thin shroud concealing their bigotry, racism, misogyny and xenophobia and plumped for a toxic, malignant con man who shares their anachronistic hate.
#Resist
12
I might give more weight to the arguments here if these were different times. That the author - and the NYT who chose to publish this article - suggests that liberals tone it down when we have a president and an administration that are shamelessly and with overt racism dismantling the foundations of this democracy is frankly tone deaf and ridiculous. Liberals didn't hand over the presidency to a mob boss. Liberals aren't prescribing that children be separated from their parents at our borders. Liberals aren't condoning a president who has allegedly sexually assaulted women. Liberals don't think it's ok that Russia owns the executive branch. Liberals don't think it's ok to make jokes about a dying senator. I could go on. Give us all a break and start calling out what's really going on. We just don't have time for this.
13
This is no doubt good advice. But let's keep things in perspective. Today's conservatives are a thousand times more obnoxious (not to mention dangerous) than the liberals. Identity politics, as tiresome and off-putting as they may be, are fundamentally about people claiming their dignity and turning the tables on their historical bullies and oppressors. They may be misguided and counter-productive, but all of that is small potatoes when compared with the "dismantling of the administrative state," wholesale subversion of entire cabinet departments, attacking foundational institutions like the press, and encouraging neofascists and white supremacists. If the right is chafing at liberals' presumptions of intellectual superiority, then creating a cult of personality around a narcissistic know-nothing, bigot, liar, con-man, sexual predator, and possible traitor is a strange way to try to debunk that idea.
19
Obama was right about the guns and religion bit, just as Hillary was right about about many Trump supporters being deplorable. This is pretty tame stuff, though, compared to the the racist, misogynistic, and vulgar spew that come from the Trump administration and its followers every day and it benefits from being true.
If Obama or Clinton's insights into a segment of the American electorate or liberals' "righteousness" are somehow seen as more damning than Trump's slander and lies or Trump's efforts every day to undermine the rule of law, attack US institutions, and pursue a policy of pitting Americans against one another than I would say, with abject righteousness, that you need to acquire some perspective.
The last thing Democrats and progressives should do is tiptoe around, fearful of the political repercussions from the vulgarians who are rejoicing in the harm Trump is bringing to this country. Instead, folks not completely off their heads need to turn out in droves in the midterms and make it crystal clear that the hate and resentment that propelled Trump into office and which will mark his ghastly tenure have no place in the future of the US.
15
Self righteousness is what you label the reaction to this president's behavior? That is just schizophrenogenic.
3
If you want to see Alexander's points proven, simply read the majority of comments on the NYT.
Don't worry though, Uncle Joe and Kamala are going to get the white working and middle class back into the party!
The DNC has it all under control, just ask Bernie.
12
I consider myself politically a liberal. That, to me, means being open to other points of view (I don't say all; I don't think I need to be open to, say, Nazism). It also means wanting to get at the facts.
The fact is that Professor Alexander is associated with the American Enterprise Institute and the Claremont Institute. No one denies him this right; at least, I don't. But I do deny that The New York Times has done its job when it publishes an article like this one using an academic affiliation as an identifier without mentioning other affiliations; if I were associated with a left-leaning institute and wrote a piece, The Times should say that.
13
Reading many of these comments makes this article seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
17
The comments here confirm the man's thesis...
18
Look! A political strategy might backfire! Amazing! Gerard, how about you try presenting your opinion again, this time without the stretch marks, irrelevant conclusions, edge cases, and personal bias that allows you to go from “I think so” to “it’s settled”. You’re guilty of the same behaviors you accuse liberals of, yet you’re sure those same faults will serve you and not them. In that sense the fitting headline to bookend your own would be “Neither Are Conservatives”. It’s one thing to lose an election, quite another to lose the office while in it.
3
Find me a Republican ready and willing to compromise* on ANY issue and I will trade my leprechaun for him...
*COMPROMISE (noun - com·pro·mise - \ ˈkäm-prə-ˌmīz \ ) – settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions. (per Merriam Webster)
4
lib·er·al
adjective
open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. In light of many repressive American "Traditional" Values, is this so bad?
3
Ouch, says this liberal, because what you are actually criticizing is not liberalism, but leftism. Call it that.
6
Build another wall to keep the liberals out of here too !
2
I am not in the liberal "elite." I don't make movies or tv programs, or do stand-up comedy, or write columns. I'm just your average voter who has, over the years, been increasingly disgusted by the tactics and behavior of the right. Republicans are not decent people. They don't care about their constituents unless the constituent can ship piles of money their way. They put greed before people's lives. They've turned hypocrisy into an art form.
I think most "liberals" will agree with me, even if we disagree with each other on actual policy issues. So yeah, we are as smart as we think.
12
I haven't been able to have an open conversation with a Progressive since Trump was elected. They are so filled with the hate they claim every one else has. Their Dogma is worse than the Catholic Church's in the 1500. Not very progressive.
11
One irony of anyone saying to an Irish person that "if it were you, it [immigartion] would be easy" is that it wasn't. I guess the person never heard of signs during the Irish diaspora saying "No dogs and Irish" or "Help wanted, no Irish need apply". The prejudice then against the Irish was exactly the same as it is now against people from Central and South America and Islamic countries.
I agree that sneering condescension is unattractive in anyone. The progressive wing of the Democratic party is trying to tell that to the liberal wing. What do we get in return? Sneers and condescension. We are unwelcome even though we stand for true inclusion and for a set of economic policies that would "lift all boats", not just the mega yachts.
True inclusion is not just welcoming transgender people and immigrants. It means that we see the common humanity and struggle in all of us. We give respect to everyone. We realize that people who think differently deserve a place at the table, too. It doesn't blame people who live in areas of the country where economic insecurity is high and access to news not from the propaganda arm of the Republican party is difficult to find. They live in a ghetto as like immigrants and African Americans and for much the same reason: it suits the needs of the upper class who feed on that insecurity for cheap labor and a dependable voter base.
Get over Hillary, liberals. We are all in this together.
10
It's ironic isn't it?
You accuse liberals for broad-brushing the conservatives while you are doing the exact thing to liberals.
Stop demonizing liberals and coddling the conservatives. Not all ideas are different. Yes, there are some values that liberals and conservatives can disagree on, but we are passed beyond that point right now. When the conservative's leader considers KKK and NeoNazis as fine people, the comparison just stops.
It baffles me how this overly contritious "liberal" critics have such a high standard on liberals while overlooking the conservative's real problems. Have you ever considered maybe liberals are reacting to the incessant political incorrectness of the right? Why aren't you criticizing them? Why are you equating a party that are heavily on anti-intellectualism to a party that readily embraces intellectualism?
The worst enemy of the liberals may not be the conservatives. It's someone like you who tries to look neutral and normalizes the destruction that the conservatives are sowing in this country. Stop coddling them. They are adults as well. If they can only react to the righteous criticsm by voting Trump, so be it.
8
A lot of the problem is to win we have to prove the other side somehow wrong. That used to lead to bipartisanship. Now it leads to lies as words of the lord, paid for with secret money.
2
It's closer to 35% that are irredeemable. The 'base'.
2
Read the top 30 or so "Reader Picks" comments and the author has pretty much made his point...I'm a liberal working at a school out in rural Washington with a lot of Trump supporters; I sort of think of them as wayward adolescents. Lecturing your pre-teen rarely works, but have a relationship and they will begin to listen to you. I re-frame topics sometimes in conversations in a simple, matter of fact, non-lecturing, lightly humorous way and I think my point lands better. Keep it simple Democrats and maybe you'll have a chance!
11
Mr. Alexander makes his point by scolding Liberals as they tend to scold Conservatives. However, If we are not to sue a pizza place that discriminates against a same sex couple then how exactly do we ensure enforcement of anti-discrimination laws? Should those students not have sat at the counter at Woolworths? Alexander seems to be saying that Liberals will only win elections if we change the way we confront racism but history has proven him wrong. He suggests that left leaning protestors "watch what they say" and not regulate words "from peoples mouths" yet fails to recognize the hypocrisy in this statement. He suggests that the reason some conservatives will side with Trump is because Liberals are mean to them and hurt their feelings when they call them for their racist statements and those of Trump. In other words, it is Liberals fault that Trump is president. I agree, Liberals sat home believing that the win was in the bag. The democratic party forgot to include the poor and minority groups in their get out the vote effort. The DNC forgot to include people of color on the top of the ticket. We are all thankful to Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and all the strong women leaders who have fought for the rights of Women, Children, the Environment and Minority groups however they must make room for younger, black, brown, asian, LGBTQ people. I have many, many republican friends and relatives and in my experience they prefer people who stand up and fight for their beliefs.
2
Mr Alexander is a member of the Hoover Institution - that says it all.
No longer will I go along and be polite about the current edition of the Red Party. The current leadership is a threat to our Democracy. Given what we knew about the current President during the election and many still voted for him.... I do question their intelligence and more importantly their morals.
4
What a hubristic, self-righteous piece about hubris and self-righteousness. I fear it will do little to advance discussion on the issues that divide us.
6
YES!! As a liberal, I think many of us are a contemptuous lot.
6
What exactly is a liberal or a conservative? Although we are quick to divide everyone into one of those two categories (if you're not A, you're B), I never hear anyone defining either term except with broad-brush labels: if you believe that climate change is real and human-made, you are automatically a liberal and so you must also subscribe to the entire "liberal" agenda.
I personally believe that climate-change is real and human-made. I also believe that LGBT people should have a right to marriage, I believe we need to redistribute wealth away from the 1%, and believe the Trump administration is an abomination . So I'm automatically a liberal, right?
But I'm also against abortion as method of contraception, I'm in favor of private citizens being armed for personal protection (except maybe they don't need AR-15's), I thought Hillary Clinton's candidacy was an abomination (and I didn't like Bernie, either), and I believe in the old-fashioned values of working hard, living simply, and taking people as individuals by the content of their character. So does that make me a conservative?
The point is, I don't consider myself either conservative or liberal. I believe in thinking through each issue based on my own inner moral compass and not buying into a menu of pre-defined political beliefs.
I would have thought Mr. Alexander, as an professor at a highly prestigious institution, would have taken a similar approach, but clearly I expected too much.
5
NObody is as smart as they think they are, a suspicion confirmed by Harvard's great Max Bazerman's work, years ago.
I am, however, smart enough not to attach my name to a superficial screed, sourced in right-wing talk radio, that sanctimoniously casts the very same, very wrong wide net it complains about. Conservatives are not a fungible mass, and neither are liberals.
And that makes me smarter than Prof. Alexander. I regret I wasn't smart enough to pass this one by.
8
Yeah, this is the you-made-me-hit-you rationalization for people who don’t take full responsibility for their own choices.
8
So, the people who voted for 45 did it out of spite, because the were mad that people pointed out they are spiteful.
In other words, liberals need to keep their mouths shut, less they offend the people who are mad that people get offended too easily.
Next thing you know, this guy will be making excuses for political violence against protestors and saying that they brought it in themselves by protesting.
6
Conservatives are not as smart as they think. In the 2008-2016 Presidential elections 57%, 59% and 58% of white voters went with the Republican candidates. While 90+% of black voters went with the Democratic candidates.
Being smart is not the same thing as being wise nor honest and moral. Color aka race is the enduring historical hypocritical mark of bigotry that enslaved Africans and made them seperate and unequal in America.
3
OK everyone keep believing it’s about wishy-washy liberals vs racist conservatives. It is what the political and media industries want us to believe. These false debates get people riled up, gin up ratings and turn politicians and media moguls into billionaires.
Open your eyes. All of this nonsense is about the extremely wealthy vs everyone else. And we play right into it, over and over and over again. And now we have a billionaire in the White House funnelling awesome tax advantages to other billionaires, while our infrastructure, education and environment continue to crumble.
The Senate, Congress and the White House, as well as the Media Outlets, are owned and operated by billionaires. Their interests are being served well by dividing and conquering us. And we go about hand-wringing over liberals and conservatives, urbanites and hunters, immigrants and our men in blue. Look, billionaires have no need of infrastructure, schools or public utilities - they can afford to enjoy private airports, private schools and private security.
Until we rise up together, work together and start thinking for ourselves instead of fighting amongst ourselves, then we are doomed.
12
As I read this piece I got angrier and angrier. It seems to be politically correct right now to excuse the dishonesty, corruption, and racism of Trump and his followers. It seems to be politically correct to call out the Liberals for not being smart. I would like to see more "experts" calling out the educated Republicans and Conservatives for totally supporting the Trump Administration no matter what they do or say. That's not smart--it smacks of corruption and immorality.
7
There is a lot of sage insight in this essay. I happen to work in academia. I am on sabbatical this year so I haven't been on campus much and therefore have not been surrounded by like-minded liberals. It has been, pardon the etymological pun, liberating not to be immersed in the liberal world of judgemental attitudes towards the "deplorables" out there in "fly-over country."
In many ways I am more sympathetic now to my liberal colleagues than I have been in the past (and likely will be next term when I return to full-time teaching) when I am surrounded by fellow-travelers congratulating themselves for their moral superiority over the "rubes" out there in red state America. The echo chamber repels as much as it attracts.
6
This is true for all of us. "Liberal" or "Conservative." East or West. North or South. Brown, Red, White, Black or Yellow. We need to remember the basics of our nation and stick together. Our pledge is "Liberty and justice for all." ALL. If there is a word to be banned, it's "They."
3
The newest right wing (the GOP is conservative in name only) ploy: liberals might be right but their smug self righteousness invalidates their position.
When we get nice (and become liberals in name only) we might win elections.
Hilarious.
5
Mr Alexander, is guilty of exactly what he is accusing liberals of.
That is painting all liberals with a broad brush. Yes there are extreme opinions from both sides of the political isle, But celebrities and comedians do not represent the views of all democrats as I would hope Fox News does not speak for all republicans. Americans are being polarized by 24 hr in your face coverage of the Trump reality show. What baffles the mind is how Trump's supporters disregard, dismiss and excuse his vulgar and reckless behavior. What about that Mr. Alexander?
6
As a moderate Republican veteran who voted for Hillary, I can confidently caution all - you better listen to this guy.
9
One would thing a conservative college professor attacking liberalism for their distorted views of the world would not himself distort or mistake fact.
“You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them,” Obama said. “And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
These are the words of Presidential candidate Obama in 1998. which liberals have for some reason been castigated. This professor, citing them as the basis from the condemnation of our supposed claim to intellectual superiority, engages in intellectual dishonesty when he cites only the last third of Obama's words, depriving them of the honesty, compassion and sensitivity with which they were delivered.
Here, a college professor who surely knows full well better, in insisting the claimed lack of sensitivity and acceptance is the problem, distorts the meaning and intention of President Obama's words to mean precisely the opposite of his intent.
Oh the irony - a conservative academic de-contexting President Obama's words.
4
I don't disagree that liberals - and by extension Democrats - need to tailor their message better to appeal to the masses (will 'lock him up' resonate with the undecideds?), but by Alexander's reckoning, liberals shouldn't be true to themselves for fear of angering conservatives. Liberalism tends to be biased toward truth and fairness -- and conservatism, not so much. How so many Republicans can call themselves "Christian" while working so diligently to harm the poor, malign those unlike themselves and condone heretofore taboo moral behavior undermines much of their own moral footing. Meanwhile, their tribe's rejection of science, rule of law and separation of church and state makes them not only wrong, but dangerous. True, not all conservatives do all that, but when they vote for and support Trump, they are complicit. They've got to go.
2
As an Independent, who didn’t vote for Trump, nor wants him re-elected, I urge liberals to heed this article. The knee jerk reaction is to push back and say conservatives are no better. Maybe so. But this is very real. And I’ve been the victim of labeling as liberals make assumptions about my belief system because I disagree on a point or two. This in turn pushes me right of center in self defense mode. I can think through that, but many will not. And the liberal generalizations and mass demonization have the effect of hardening conservative positions. Especially for those that could otherwise be swung not to vote for Trump next time. We need that. Think people
11
It is the business model of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, AM talk radio, etc. to drive a wedge between the people of this country.
It doesn't matter what liberals do or say. It doesn't matter how inclusive or exclusive liberal rhetoric or policy becomes.
8
"And a backlash against liberals — a backlash that most liberals don’t seem to realize they’re causing — is going to get President Trump re-elected."
Putin won't back him, so forget about the reelection.
2
What an appallingly simplistic, poorly argued post. If Professor Alexander had received this from a student, I cannot imagine he would have found it acceptable. To accuse progressives of "painting with a wide brush" while doing the same is, at the least, ironic and disingenuous. My association with the Democratic party is driven by my belief that our children should all have access to a good public education; that we, as a nation, deserve affordable health care; that women are entitled to reproductive rights - just as men have, I might add; and in a deep commitment to environmental responsibility. It is likewise a disservice to Republicans to suggest that they have embraced Trump out of pique. Some careful parsing, please.
4
Arresting parents and separating them from their children at the borders? Throwing out a valid treaty with Iran to not make nuclear weapons? Cutting Environmental Protections? Cutting health benefits? Pushing more nuclear weapons development? I should be worried about offending conservatives? Some of these people are so far gone that there is no reaching them on any level. Science and education have pretty much become a failed effort in the United States of America. Given America's current status as a fascist oligarchy I would expect president Trump to be reelected. That is, if he doesn't involve us in a nuclear war first to distract the public from his persistent failures in office and the misery he is inflicting on all of us.
7
I believe the saying goes:"What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own." Surely a nation with a conscience cannot continue to 'permt, allow and encourage' this sort of behavior before the rest of the world and still feel good about ourselves. It's time for the Trump voters to stand up and own what they've done not just to our nation, but the rest of the world for generations to come. They have in effect told the next generation that bad behavior, intolerance, intellectual sloth, dishonesty in business, and outright lying are no longer a bar to achieving the highest office in the land but rather a catapult to it. What now are we to expect from so-called lesser countries and what mayhem will ensue as a result? Yet liberals are expected to remain silent or give equal time to the opinions of conservatives? I think not.
2
Conservatives aren't equally self-righteous, smug and condescending as liberals? Give me a break. Reading this article just reinforces my point.
5
This opinion by Prof Alexander is oversimplified. Most of the "Liberals" I know are highly educated people who read widely, and are, in most cases, with doctoral degrees. Yes, there are arrogant narcissistic egotists everywhere, but the difference is that liberals generally have a better sense of history than the arrogant narrow-minded extremely conservative blowhards who have destroyed civil discourse.
There is no contest when it comes to the battle of wits. Conservative media pundits are generally unarmed, and in the last 20-30 years have poisoned respectful discourse. They care about power and position, not America.
America, the shining city on a hill, needs to be restored before it is too late. I'm not hopeful.
4
We know the lead-up to the 2016 election, and Trump's win, resulted in broken families, lost friendships, and a loss of civil discourse; yet, regrettably, I do think that many of the points the author has made here are true. Yet, my personal, uncontrollable reaction to these last years as a liberal has been an almost physical reaction having no link to being "smart" or not. I was repulsed by birtherism, and sadly, to this day, I have knowingly kept distant, those I thought I "knew" and respected, who voted for Trump and thereby showed their acceptance of a lying racist who preached the destructiveness of birtherism.
2
Trump has show being smart isn't an asset. Your argument fails completely.
“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
H.L.Mencken
2
"Everybody says I deserve the Nobel Peace Prize......and so do I" Find me a smart liberal that would say that.
3
Self-righteousness, especially when coupled with a judgmental mindset, is not appealing. You seem fixated on self-righteousness displayed by "liberals". That is an appalling false equivalence.
Tell me, have you ever met anyone more self-righteous and judgmental than so many white evangelical conservatives.
When it comes to entertainers. who can hold a candle to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson or Bill O'Reilly when it comes to being self-righteous and judgmental?
You contend that "liberals" dominate the media, but fail to mention Fox, Sinclair and talk radio.
The false equivalence in this piece is just off the charts.
5
So true! While liberals sleep the sleep of the just, Republicans, with just 37% of the electorate, control the majority of governorships, state legislatures, and two branches of the federal government.
6
The big advantage to being a Liberal, is that they're Liberals. In the U.S. rightest have drifted further and further toward fascism while characterizing generally centrist Liberals as "the left".
2
Nah, I’m not buying what you’re selling.
This is an effort to shut us up, to undermine our certainty that bigotry and misogyny must be repudiated.
I’m going to continue raising my voice and applauding people like Michelle Wolf and Maxine Waters. That’s who I’m going to listen to.
6
This essay presents a number of problems.
The man says "liberals ... should not provoke gratuitously." Take a hard look at the title of his essay.
He ascribes broad, negative attitudes to "liberals." He states the assigned attitudes in tendentious, loaded language. Then he decries the attitudes that he put into the hidden thoughts and motives of those he does not seem to respect or like. He does so in each case either without reference to any specifics, or with reference to specifics that are at best highly interpretive in a soul-blackening way with respect to the "liberals" discussed.
He mirrors back what his "conservatives" (usually radicals, as I've seen them) do and derides the very tactics the right has cultivated as cudgels of the "liberals." Astonishing, if it were not so common! One example: who vilifies more than the right? It is not the so-called "left" who specializes in that. In fact, we centrists whom he sneers toward as "liberals" are REACTING to a FOX News wave of open vilifications. Most of them are absurd in their construction. The repeat, repeat, repeat.
We centrists (liberals) come late, late, late to that game. I hope we will never play it like FOX.
This essay is below the standard of a serious news organization except as an example of weak thinking. In that latter thing, it excels.
1
You have a choice of 2 candidates, which do you vote for?
A would steal the bread out of the mouths of the poor so that the rich can have more cake. B would insist the rich eat less cake so the poor can have a little bread.
A would prevent 2 people from marrying because they don't fit his view of the right kind of couple. B would say that it's not for government to stop a loving couple from marrying.
A would tell women they can't have an abortion though they may desperately need one. B would say that it's not for government to interfere in personal health decisions.
A would give massive tax breaks to the rich, despite the ballooning debt and decaying infrastructure. B would remind the wealthiest that it is a safe, stable society, with a well developed infrastructure that in large part makes their wealth possible.
I could go on.
Which would you vote for?
1
With all due respect to Mr. Alexander, and his beliefs, his arguments don’t hold much weight with me. I don’t consider myself a liberal, but Mr. Alexander does because I look forward, and want to make adjustments today, for the future, and tomorrow. There is a difference in being progressive vs. liberal. Think where our country was while Nixon was President. I was a Republican then, and supported the ERA, the opening of China, the AMA’s declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness, a woman’s right to choose, the sale of American wheat to Russia, and the end to the Vietnam War. The conservative idealistic argument of turning the country back to the 1950s hadn’t taken hold yet, because people remembered the 50s and its shortcomings. Fast forward to today, and the Republican Party. Today, being a conservative has been shaped by corporate donors with disproportionate wealth directing the Party. Their numbers are diminishing as they age, and as their numbers decrease they wield their power by being more fascist in their governing. They are in power because 50-58% of the country shows up to vote in a strong voter turnout, and 30-38% in non-presidential elections. If the non voters would show up, ie. millennials, our country’s leadership would look much different today.
2
So much opposition to Mr. Alexander's piece in this comment section. I don't understand how what he's saying is so offensive to some.
Maybe its time to put down the sword of justice and open eyes and ears as to why some feel the way they do?
6
A proxy for the country’s sentiments may be the viewership of partisan networks.
CNN viewership is down more than 25% and Fox News is up about 5%.
CNN’s alarmist panel after panel making outrageous predictions where the opposite becomes true only works for the diehards.
The choir is downsizing.
3
Cute article. There have been hundreds of such articles in the past, oh, three to four years, usually penned by conservatives for whom the leftist scolds are already off-putting.
I don’t like it either when I’ve done or said something racist and I get called out for it. But I have learned a lot from recognizing and losing my white privilege.
My message for the author and like-minded individuals: use the shame of being called out, use the sting of recognizing your racism and bigotry and centuries of misogyny, use it to be a better person and think about how best to to treat your fellow human beings. It’s a painful but valuable process. Instead you’re writing articles like this and doubling down on oppressive tactics while the rest of us try to come together.
That’s what this moment is really about.
2
Not sure how Mr. Alexander defines liberal, but there are a lot of us out there who consider ourselves moderates who are deeply distressed by Trump's assault on American democracy, the press, the courts, our allies, the poor, minorities and immigrants. We find it difficult to understand how people of principle can support him. To blame it on liberal rhetoric, is to absolve his supporters of their responsibility to engage in critical thinking and civic responsibility. It's a clever way to tell people to shut up about Trump's amorality, incompetence and corruption, but I find it as disingenuous as calling a lie an alternative fact. But it's quaint the professor has some liberal friends.
1
Another day, another article in the NY Times telling liberals how we need to understand the way the other side thinks or else. How many columns have you written about Trump voters, even devoting an entire editorial page to them just a few months ago, whereas I never see the same coverage given to people who did not and will never vote for Trump.
You let the Trump voters go on and on and not once, do I ever read a question from the reporter, asking the respondents to explain what exactly they like when they talk about his policies. Certainly it would be interesting to hear why they like that the EPA is making our water and air less safe again for instance or that health insurance is becoming more unaffordable thanks to the Republicans continuing onslaught against Obamacare. You just let them vent. Certainly there are voters who are having trouble making ends meet, yet who voters for Clinton, but one would never know it from reading your coverage.
You seem to have the same fascination with these conservative writers from places like the Koch founded American Enterprise Institute. What about having a similar article from a political science professor with liberal views. You used to do these mini debates, with different viewpoints on the same topic at the same time. At least readers could see a more balanced opinion, but I'm not sure that's what you want. More and more the NY Times proves to be socially liberally but politically and economically conservative.
2
Liberal? This is so narrowly framed. I am legitimately disgusted by the policies being enacted by our current political majority. How dare they deliberately jeopardize the well being of our planet and future generations.
If the "other side" cannot see the environmental atrocities being committed and the dangers of capitalism run amok then I remain appalled by their ignorance. This has nothing to do with smart or self righteous.
I have predominantly liberal ideas: climate change is real and human-driven, race is immaterial and likely a false concept, immigration strengthens the country, and so forth through the list of general beliefs. But I reject the label of “Liberal” because of too many of that label behave as portrayed by the author. The most anti-liberal act I can imagine is censoring someone because you don’t like his or her ideas. Or hyperventilating about whites wearing the clothing of another culture. Or eating a food from a culture not prepared by someone of that culture. This is the sort of idiocy and narrow-minded thinking often displayed by people who let a label determine their ideology, and, as it does, pushes them into ridiculous extremes to show their “purity.”
I see it often in many contemporary Conservatives: Total denial of climate change, capitalism as the cure for everything, any religion not Christian is false . . . we know these views well. Liberalism should not emulate extremism, but call it out.
Then look within for the smugness and condescension and get rid of it. Following that, and with clear eyes, get rid of Trump in 2020.
1
Apparently Mr Alexander believe liberals are self righteous because we don’t want to hear anymore hate speech on campus from the Milo Yiannopoulos, Richard Spencer or Laura Ingraham. Hate speech is hate speech, if not stood up to here and now, then when? Or maybe he isn’t bothered by the proliferation of the mass shootings with military type assault weapons in the country. This is a battle for democracy and human life. If Mr Alexander finds the tactics of the left self righteous, he is certain welcome to his opinion. But for me, the racism being spewed by Fox & Friends and this President is unacceptable and must be addressed by any means necessary to stop it. If Mr Alexander find it self righteous, he can listen to Fox & Friends along with his president.
2
All very true. But as "conservatives" are not monolithic neither are "liberals". Some anti-Trump enthusiasts definitely are not particularly concerned about the "feelings" of that minority of the electorate that stands by Trump through thick and thin. And Professor Alexander is not alone in questioning the tone of dissent with the President's, well, everything that questions the intelligence of his supporters. David Brooks, Michael Gerson, and Kathleen Parker have voiced the same criticism. My question is, then how should one go about dissuading people of their "gut" support for a serial liar, serial adulterer, birther blowhard? Because that is what it comes down to. Republican electoral strategy has for years demonized everything "liberal" and they went so far as to turn a blind eye to Trump's ugly rhetoric - the birther nonsense is a prime example. Are the "liberals" responsible for that?
I guess my response to Professor Alexander is this. Why are you not showing us "liberals" the way to persuade Trump supporters that:
1. they are a minority - Trump got less votes than Clinton, so stop acting like there is a mandate to drag the country back to the era of the robber barons;
2. stop tolerating the lies Trump tells despite the fact that a rather large number of Republican politicians are willing to ignore all the lying;
3. stop behaving like school yard bullies that hate the smart kids. There is a reason that academia has a liberal slant - academia is a meritocracy.
2
Let's face it many consider themselves liberal or centrist because conservatism is so unpalatable--anti-environment, anti-diversity, anti-women, anti-affordable health care, pro-assault weapons, pro-swamp & big business, etc. etc. To stay in power and to sell what is such an unpopular agenda to many, it is necessary to play the blame game, and cast liberals as the evil scapegoats. This is the mission of FOX "news" and right wing media and is crucial to attacking democratic norms and building a white nationalist, post-truth society favored by the president.
Liberals are sanctimonious? You mean worse than evangelicals who support trump? Has anyone noticed that the GOP is in power across government, yet still needs to blame Obama and liberals for anything that goes wrong? This is of course required to order to deflect attention from their negative, anti-democratic agenda.
“We have met the enemy and he is us”
5
Like most of us, Mr. Alexander only points to the information that suits him. Michelle Wolf’s routine at the correspondent’s dinner was not one-sided. It’s true she made more fun of Trumpies than of liberals – because Trumpistas are even more ridiculous. The conservative yelps after her routine show that they can’t take a hit. Examples of her equal-opportunity digs aimed at liberals:
“I’m here to make jokes, I have no agenda, I’m not trying to get anything accomplished. So everyone that’s here from Congress, you should feel right at home.
“I also want to make fun of Democrats. Democrats are harder to make fun of because you guys don’t do anything. People think you might flip the House and Senate this November, but you guys always find a way to mess it up.”
Rachel Maddow. We cannot forget about Rachel Maddow. She’s the Peter Pan of MSNBC, but instead of never going up, she never gets to the point. Watching Rachel Maddow is like going to Target — you went in for milk but left with shampoo, candles, and the entire history of the Byzantine Empire. I didn’t need this.
We’ve got our friends at CNN here. Welcome, guys, it’s great to have you. You guys love breaking news, and you did it, you broke it. We’re covering three topics. Every hour is Trump, Russia, Hillary, and a panel full of people that remind you why you don’t go home for Thanksgiving.
1
When the New Normal is "Be Cruel" you stop wondering what is wrong with these people and just start yelling. There is no discourse when every day is a fight just to fact check the lies.
2
Intelligence does not guarantee winning elections when the election process is unfairly influenced by a dumb archaic electoral college, when the wave of tribalism/nationalism is on the rise, when republicans refuse to call out this president.
5
A question for Professor Alexander: if two of his best friends are Liberals, are they where he gets his perspective of Liberals who are so in his face with Liberal criticism? If so, why are they his best friends? If not, are they the exception to the rest of those critical, self-righteous Liberals?
And I'm still looking in these responses from the conservative who is willing to call out their own for their part in this criticism game. Many in the GOP claim that they are morally superior and are quick to use the term Libratard and claim the high ground on patriotism, family values, etc. Maybe they are in here. I certainly see several comments from Liberals who are agreeing with Professor Alexander.
From my perspective, there is plenty of irrational behavior to go around, but I don't think Progressives need to be ducking their heads and dropping their valid arguments because it hurts someone's feelings. The fact is there are more racist behaviors on the side of the GOP and we need to call it out and those Conservatives who are not racist need to call it out, too. Just as I will agree that cultural appropriation arguments are often ridiculous.
3
Get real. Go over to Fox News and see the self righteousness oozing from its pages like lava. Once again so-called "liberals" are supposed to hold their fire while the conservatives fire when ready. There is an incredibly obnoxious streak in the Democratic Party. A really stupid streak of pure self righteousness, but it is only a streak and does not even remotely compare to the cynical greed that is the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Trump and the Republicans are helping the billionaires, they are not helping the people they promised to help. Wages are not going up and the tax cut is a travesty that will only help corporations and the wealthy. Student loan debt, access to health care, living wages - the Democrats are right about those issues, not the Republicans.
10
Don’t you find it odd that the vast majority of think pieces about examining one’s political motives or trying to understand “other side” come only from or are directed only at the liberal side?
There seems to be this implicit assumption that Trump voters are incapable of self-reflection.
5
This article will fall on deaf ears; if anything, it will cause liberals to double down on their derision and contempt. They are remarkably unaware of the consequences of their actions.
For example, Michelle Wolf became singlehandedly one of the most potent arguments for the election of Republicans this fall. Her supporters in the Times and the Beltway cheered her foul-mouthed, mean presentation, while others, almost without exception, were horrified at her degradation of our culture.
Another: late night TV hosts uniformly pan Donald Trump. Surprise. Does anyone outside Manhattan and West Hollywood believe that they are doing anything but preaching to the choir? That anyone turns to Jimmy Kimmel for help formulating his political views? That anyone really cares what Kimmel says?
6
Although I hear you and agree on many of your thoughts, I want to add that one of the reasons I personally cannot even support the questionably ‘good’ accomplished by the current occupant of the White House, is his admitted abuse of women. In my mind that negates his credibility in all realms. I hear some of my friends who support him say, “you need to get past that, it’s old news.” I cannot move past that, it’s as if they are asking me to ignore the rot on a tomato and just eat it anyway. Even if you cut out the rot the tomato is still tainted. I do try to listen to what others say, even those who I disagree with. But I hope they will do the same with me.
4
Feeling guilty about ourselves and shutting up would be way worse than expressing our opinions and getting people energized. Conservatives feel no guilt whatsoever for their aggressive and repulsive behavior. Why is it that liberals must always feel guilty and tone it down whereas conservatives are the "real America" and can say whatever they want?
Liberals are real America and deserve a voice without feeling guilty about it. We are on the right side of history. In order to win, we have to be energized, vocal, and persistent. Yes, some people will be repulsed, but if we're not out there with energy and consistency, the mainstream Fox media will win because they dominate the conversation.
3
It is better to be right, then to be loved. Those that fall sway to the emotional appeal of the easy ideas rooted in fear, hate, and ignorance will find themselves accursed. Too few people are standing against this current tide of deceipt, and all the earth will suffer for it.
3
This is so frustrating to read. Yes, I am opposed to a guy who has no civility, no regard for others, has been free with his adherence to laws his entire life, who mocks everyone. But that doesn't make me a bad person. I agree that the smugness often exhibited is unattractive, but I try desperately to understand those who support such a divisive, selfish, and hateful person to be the leader of our country.
5
In Corey Robin's excellent book, The Reactionary Mind, he puts forth a very persuasive argument that Trump is simply a logical outcome of conservatism as opposed to being some fluke or aberration. I've heard numerous anti-trump folks on the right blaming "populism" or some other head scratching what about-ism to try and distance themselves and the Republican Party from the toxicity of Trump and his minions. But I think the sad reality is that Trump makes perfect sense when you follow the historical trajectory of conservatism and certainly the Republican Party in America from Nixon onward. Reagan? W? The McCain-Palin debacle? A decades long slide into utter defunctness. Sorry but liberal smugness did not get us Trump. America may have made Trump but the GOP elected him and has allowed him to cause the destruction he has and will continue to do so. Trump didn't run as an independent. He ran as a republican.
7
Got it. Even if study after study confirm that the single greatest predictor of a Trump voter is racism, or that climate change is real, or that immigrants are less likely to cause crime, let’s keep quiet about it because pointing out how your views are supported by evidence and science is obnoxious and offensive. And no more of that tiresome talk about equal rights and treatment for everyone; it riles up the white Christians who’ve been in power since before the country’s founding and who aren’t quite ready for that kind of radicalism. Oh, and let’s not make fun of Trump voters, because making fun of the opposition is cruel and counterproductive. Just ask nuanced, respectful right wing media spokesmen like Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and Sean Hannity, who would never make that mistake in discussing liberals.
The bottom line is Trump is all liberals’ fault. We may be right about an awful lot but talking about it only inflames the opposition. So the next time there’s a mass school shooting or a cop kills an unarmed black man or the White House insults people of color, remember:shhhhhhhh!
13
A college professor should know more about logical fallacies and how to avoid them.
7
As an old-time liberal, going back to FDR, (vivid times in my childhood memories,) I believe that liberals have been known for their humanity and care for the under privileged. That has characterized Democrats through history and Republicans at times initiated and went along with democratic efforts, ie. social
security, medicare, etc. Todays Republican who stands with Trump reflects our times in a manner that I find appalling. Not only are their minds shut tight to social standards but they lack decency.
The fact that Trump does not apologize for the cruel comment a member of his staff made re Senator McCain is typical of the boorishness and lack of humanity he inspires. How his followers can't seem to encompass the totality of the man puzzles me. They ignore his lies ,misogyny, racist comments, unfitness for office but like his policies - some of them inhuman, like separating
mothers from their children at our borders who are escaping the horrors of their countries. How do you accept that? Where is the decency? It's reflected in our lives too. Only yesterday, exiting a
bus, a well-dressed woman pushed ahead of me, opened the door and shut it in my face, leaving an 86 yr old woman, me, struggling to get it open and depart the bus. I caught up with her on the street and quietly scolded her for bad manners - she looked at me like I was nuts and went on her way. Whatever happened to decency?
11
Living as a liberal in a conservative part of the country, I can concur with the proposition that not all Trump voters and followers are bigots or racists per se. Many voted for him for economic reasons, and were ready to give a businessman the chance to work his magic and restore them to financial health. That the businessman talked like a bigot or acted like a bigot was secondary. And yes, many on the left, particularly in the entertainment industry, may be prone to look down on anyone not thinking the way they do.
So, let's stipulate that liberals are wrong, and if the following has occurred at the end of his term, Trump will deserve re-election:
Wages will have increased for the majority of Americans.
We will be out of the war business in the middle east.
The deficit will have decreased from where it was at the beginning of his term.
Coal miners in the mid west will be back making $40 dollars an hour and will be fully employed.
We will all have a fantastic healthcare system at half the price it is now, and so will drug prices.
We will be spending a trillion dollars in restoring our crumbling infrastructure.
Our environment will be restored to a pristine condition.
Even as oil and gas production will have increased, we will have doubled our reliance on wind and solar energy.
Cops who kill unharmed African Americans will be prosecuted.
And gun violence will have disappeared as law and order would have been restored.
Call me then. I'll vote for him.
7
I know lots of liberals, lots more than two, and I don't know anyone who misinterprets Clinton's "deplorables" comment as applying to most Trump voters.
I'm sure most Trump voters don't consider themselves prejudiced; most people don't. I'm sure most weren't motivated by racism. But they voted for a racist candidate. Trump called for a Muslim ban. He slanders Mexicans specifically. He averred the an Indiana judge of Mexican extraction could not judge him fairly. More evidence is not needed.
Can you vote for a racist without being a racist? Are bad deeds OK if you think good thoughts?
Certitude and self-righteousness are hardly liberal phenomena. How is restricting access to abortion — forcing women to bear children — anything less than self-righteous? What was the invasion of Iraq, where we'd be greeted with flowers, or the withdrawal from the Iran deal if not self-righteous?
America is the land of opportunity. There, see?
The author presumes all liberals are concerned with microaggressions and whatnot. No. This liberal is concerned with protecting opportunity, the environment, and health. Americans die needlessly, thousands every year, from untreated treatable illness and toxins in the air, food, and water. They suffer the specter of medical bankruptcy. They bear $1.5 trillion in student debt. These problems are fixable if addressed. Maybe I'm not so very smart, but I have yet to hear a conservative admit they're problems, let alone articulate viable remedies.
4
It’s not a matter of being smart, but being right on issues. You quote one demeaning comment by President Obama and struggle to quote any demeaning comment made by President Trump. Hard to believe you could ever be objective when it comes to any political discourse. You accuse liberals of being judgmental, and somehow ignore the judgementalism of the Christian Right and conservatives that long preceded President Obama. A majority of Americans do not share the values and behaviors exemplified by Trump, and thankfully, never will.
5
This probably feeds right into the argument being made in this editorial, but I feel that if Trump is reelected it’s because his voters (and Hillary was right that a good chunk of them are deplorable) have more voting power than progressive (or liberal) people. The electoral college gives the rural, ignorant, “forgotten” citizens more of a vote than the urban, educated, “elite” ones. It is the latter people who “make America great” today. All I can say is that I’m happy I live in NYC, one of the enlightened areas of the country.
3
There's really only one problem with liberals - they're right more often than knuckle-dragging conservatives. We can't help it that we get it, and you don't. Try re-enrolling in the third grade and, this time, pay attention!
1
We do have greater issues than Trump. McConnell rejected democratic process long before Trump came along. He is still there, not even allowing a bill to come to the senate floor for discussion. He is truly a dictator, with no regard for democracy, even within his own house. Not allowing a SCOTUS nominee to be debated was as evil as evil gets, if you subscribe to the rules of our republic.
3
My perspective may be altered because I wasn't born in the US and I don't live there. However, I have always thought that ignorance is a dangerous thing that should be fought against, possibly with public money because in the end the whole society benefits from higher education. So I am a bit puzzled whenever I read about liberals criticized for their education and considered an out of touch élite. I'd say the out of touch are the poor gullible souls who don't try to improve their critical skills and discernment, falling subsequently into the hands of politicians who actually don't give a fig about them
5
I do not agree with your prediction that Trump will be re-elected. With only a year in office, with Mueller yet to be heard from, with a Republican Congress that has turned on its constituency and with a angry election in the future, our Republican cohorts are digging a deep hole and there is no indication they plan to stop digging.
3
"Liberals don't realize how provocative and inflammatory they can be."
I was going along fine in this piece until this line of text.
Provocative like spreading the despicable birther lie about the first duly elected black president?
Provocative like taunting and demeaning a dying war hero who served his country, spent five years as a POW, endured torture, turned down a deal for early release that did not include his fellow captives?
Provocative like Joe Arpaio- defying court orders, launching investigations on politicians who tried to stop him, raining terror down on people merely because they looked Hispanic, costing his municipality huge financial losses due to lawsuits and settlements?
Provocative like lying multiple times every freaking day?
Provocative like saying that "the Press is the enemy of the American people"?
I could go on and on, but let's think about the inflammatory accusation:
It's inflammatory to abhor pulling frightened babies and toddlers from their mothers' arms at the border?
It's inflammatory to fight for health insurance for everyone?
It's inflammatory to notice and yell about a tax policy that favors billionaires and corporations?
It's inflammatory to point out that "trickle down economics" never works?
It's inflammatory to put up a stink about rhetoric bashing minorities, women, LBGT citizens, Muslims, the poor...?
Yes, discourse on both sides is in the toilet. Provocative and inflammatory, though, seems like the pot/kettle thing.
10
I posted a previous comment thinking this professor was a liberal critic criticizing liberals. It seems I was wrong.
So you conservative critic, why are you blaming liberals for your Trump? Have you ever considered that your side's embrace of Fox News, Limbaugh and Gingrich version of politics have degraded the American politics and relation with facts and truths that have resulted with Trump?
Look into the mirror. It's not the liberals who gave birth to Trump. It's you, conservatives. Don't try to pass the buck on us.
5
As an independent moderate who grew up in the rural South and votes Democrat, I would add this: liberal sanctimony is doubly frustrating because it's rarely countered in non-conservative media. Take the transgender bathroom issue. Liberal dogma holds that the rights and feeling of the transgender person are sacrosanct. The thoughts and feelings of the overwhelming majority of girls and women who will be shocked and uncomfortable when a man walks in the bathroom? They don't count. You're a bigot for bringing them up. My point is, this is an highly debatable issue. And yet, during the kerfuffle here in N.C I searched for and could not find a single nation commentator in non-conservative media who dared to question liberal orthodoxy. They knew digital lynch mobs would come for their jobs if they did. In the world they inhabit, a repressive moral climate reigns. Trump swing voters, and many others I suspect, do not want to live in that world.
5
Are you kidding me?
Jerry Falwell
Ronald Reagan
Rush Limbaugh
Bill O’Reilly
Donald Trump
Kelly Ann Conway
Ann Coulter
All blowhards who have used their “positions to lecture and judge”.
And—- they have been wrong wrong wrong on the economy
taxation and deficit issues for forty years, and liars.
Liberals maybe losing the day—- but it’s a trope that it’s because they’re smug.
It’s because conservatives are doing a better job of reaching swing voters. As a proud liberal, I’m sick of hearing this argument.
12
This column became valueless at the transgender discussion when the author proffered liberals declare those who are hesitant about bathroom usage as biased. Hesitant? Republican state legislatures creating bathroom usage fiats are hardly acts of hesitancy.
2
Oh my, this is expresses my sentiments perfectly. There are two sides to every issue. Pride cometh before the fall. Many of us ride the proverbial fence and just lean a bit to the right or left as the winds of change blow. When we are forced off the fence and told we must adopt the newest policy from the opposition our hackles go up. We resent being slammed as much as they resent being exposed. Thank goodness there is The Manufacturer's Handbook of Life (Bible) which is the is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It provides clear directions that are available to everyone on every issue that arises for humankind.
1
How do you define 'Liberals'? Is it possible much of what you point out is based on a black and white, us versus them, mentality that we have evolved into, and that you are playing into, rather than the prejudices of one 'group' versus another?
1
Mr. Alexander makes a compelling argument against sending your kids to the University of Virginia.
5
And Larry Sabado makes a compelling argument to the contrary.
1
This op-ed is familiar conservative nonsense. Select a few left-wing excesses and then smear all liberals as complicit. Sorry, we all did not collaborate on Michelle Wolf's uncomfortable script before her performance. (Frankly, I haven't heard it myself, but would advise conservative intellectuals to pay more attention to what's happening in the WH and Congress.) Neither did we all get together and vote on the UC "microaggressions" list.
Even more familiar here is the projection by the author: how conservatives on talk radio, Fox News, Breitbart, etc. smugly rain their ignorance down on us 7x24 and have been impervious to published facts; "alternative facts" Kellyanne Conway called them not long ago . It's conservatives who have in lock-step lined up behind Trumpian bigotries, whether about immigrants, climate change, trade deals, international treaties, locking up Hillary, etc., even when it hurts their own voters.
And the thousands of lies, and more lies that daily issue from the mouth of dear leader. Lies that conservatives can't explain and so don't try anymore.
It's so much easier for conservatives to whine that liberals aren't as smart as they think they are, than responding to legitimate questions about the course the country is taking under "conservative" leadership. Yes, what's most familiar about this op-ed is how profoundly undemocratic it is in attempting to quash opposition by focusing on silly side issues like "who's smarter."
4
You know...Republicans could have avoided this by selecting a candidate who didn't use racist dog whistles and concentrating on economic issues, but...they didn't. Turns out the "tribe" that spent 30 years nodding along to the greatest hits of Limbaugh and Fox News and picking on liberal points of view don't like it when they step out of their affirmation bubble and find out that other people don't agree with them and think they're backward. I don't know what to say to people who spent years calling minorities and feminists and LGBT people snowflakes for wanting equality but turn out to be the ultimate snowflakes when the finger points back in their direction, but whatever it is would probably hurt their delicate feelings, so...
2
I grew up in a socialist home and have become religious and more conservative in my values. Having experienced, over many years, a wide variety of people and opinions on both sides, it is my experience, as a broad generality, that liberals are more self-righteous and intolerant (yes, intolerant!) of opinions that differ from theirs than are conservatives.
I like Neal Stephenson’s take (in his book Cryptonomicon) on why this might be:
“… the post-modern, politically correct atheists were like people who had suddenly found themselves in charge of a big and unfathomably complex computer system (viz. society) with no documentation or instructions of any kind, and so whose only way to keep the thing running was to invent and enforce certain rules with a kind of neo-Puritanical rigor…. Whereas people who were wired into a church were like UNIX system administrators who, while they might not understand everything, at least had some documentation…. They were, in other words, capable of displaying adaptability.”
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon
5
The quality of thought evinced in this opinion piece makes me wonder if Professor Alexander was an “ideological diversity” hire at the University of Virginia.
3
Professor Alexander, If you want to do a fact based pierce on who, on average, is smarter, you would lose out biggly. You could start with who backed seatbelt laws and see if liberals were righter than conservatives. Or which ideology reduces teen pregnancy more, abstinence vs comprehensive Alex ed... oh wait. I forgot. Facts don’t matter.
3
"When Mr. Obama remarked, behind closed doors...that Rust Belt voters “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them,” it mattered not so much because he said it but because so many listeners figured that he was only saying what liberals were really thinking." And THIS is one of the main reasons I voted for Trump. At least Trump says, flat out, what he really believes. He's transparent, and not a typical two-faced politician. Obama & Clinton's need to hide their true opinions made me leery of EVERYTHING that came out of their mouths.
4
I've never met a condescending, name-calling conservative who insists it's his/her way or the highway. Oh. Wait.
3
Marring the one valid point Mr. Alexander makes about backlash caused by frustrated venting by the left is a sea of problematic oversimplification. Of course there is backlash. How obvious. But this is not all caused by liberals. How about Hannity? Limbaugh? Both dropped out of college before it tarnished their purity, I guess.
Mr Alexander, you're ignoring the fact that conservatism has been hijacked, bears no resemblance to old conservative values (fiscal responsibility? national debt?) and much of today's division has been engineered and fabricated by outside influence (Russia) and is now being milked daily by our Oligarchs and Fox Church. Pastors like Hannity and Carlson, and by extension Murdoch, personally benefit on a grand scale by promoting conspiracy theories that further divide us. They personally are responsible for fabricating much of today's "backlash" by their flock.
Meanwhile, our Oligarchs are quietly reveling in their good fortune--getting obscenely wealthy by removing even more money from circulation in our economy. This contributes to economic stagnation and worsens income inequality, and the oligarchs haven't the foresight to see that they, too, need to keep lower classes healthy to feed the source they pillage--so their own grandchildren will have a source from which to steal.
This lack of foresight reveals one of the following: stupidity, mental illness (hoarding) or addiction to money and power. Or maybe all three.
3
Your point about not so much voting for something as voting against it is quit true, especially in my case. I am a staunch conservative with libertarian leanings as to economics and free markets. However, as a lifelong New Yorker, I saw through Trump’s boastfulness and braggadocio. His sixth grade vocabulary and atrociously gaudy paeans to his name are revolting to me. I might have considered voting for HRC as the least worst candidate until her double play of “despicables”and comment to Bernie bros that their agenda was her agenda.
2
I will try to be civil here. Conservatives: you put our current president in the White House and you are writing about liberals not being as smart as we think we are? How smart are you for doing that?
I also know many conservatives and a few of these are friends, despite that fact. The ones I know exclusively get their news from fox and thus have no clue of what is going on here in reality-- anyone with an actual intellect knows, watching fox makes one dumber in direct proportion with the time spent watching it.
A "Confederacy of Dunces"
3
Sorry but this Virginian professor misses the mark by a wide margin.
Instead of rigorous analysis, he offers up a tired and repeat cliche. Does he really believe people are so motivated to vote Trump because of perceived slights by "their betters," the supposedly snotty, wealthy elites who inhabit the big blue cites on the coasts? Jon Stewart as the Antichrist? All down the drain because they didn't like a joke line?
His observations, based on questionable anecdotal "evidence," is laughably wrong. I sure hope the guy's a better teacher than he is an op-ed writer.
Oh, and by daring to venture that mild criticism, I guess that I just enlisted another 1,000 dopes to again vote for Trump.
Oops.
2
Well, professor, we read The New York Times, worldwide considered the "paper of record." You, apparently, read The Times, as well. One may not agree with its opinions, but most would agree that the paper is rigorously fact-checked, perhaps the most rigorously fact-checked information source in the world. Professor, where do you think Trump supporters get their facts? In fact, are they even interested in facts? Cheerio.
2
Generalizing about "Liberals" and "Conservatives" really does not help the debate. In America there is a wide diversity of thought. It always bothers me when people start their argument with"Liberals think this..." or "Conservatives think that..." We all need to take a step back and listen to each other, and look past the simplistic formulaic arguments toward well thought out solutions to our problems. That can happen with open dialogue free from preconceived generalized bias.
I never knew you could be a sore winner until Trump and his supporters came along.
If liberals are everything the author claims, it didn’t happen in a vacuum. If he really cared about the state of our politics, he would cast a similar light on conservatives. I’ll be waiting.
3
I simply resent being called a liberal--I am socially progressive, and fiscally conservative. We have a politics problem in this country with an inherent need to put a label on everyone. This guy's no different. Thankfully, I didn't waste part of my student loan attending any of his classes!
4
Scary. A professor of political science being given a platform in which he presents an argument which is the equivalent of saying that black people should know their place.
Is President Trump a racist, professor, or is he, as he claims, the least racist person you'll meet? I would also argue that there are easily far more than 60 million citizens in this country with overtly racist feelings or tendencies they have not come to grips with. That's the ugly truth we are faced with today.
Lastly, the reason liberal politicians are ineffective at getting voters to support them is that they too often are just as corrupted by special interests as their conservative opponents.
1
Liberals think everyone is redeemable, and that people have good hearts if you give them a chance.
Conservatives think everyone should be responsible for themselves, and correct behavior, values and thinking will win the day.
Liberals are unbearably naive about the realities of society and government, and conservatives are entitled hypocrites and just flat mean.
I'm a moderate. I help those who help themselves, and believe greedy people need to be reined in. I focus the former on kids, and the latter on the sociopaths with unspendably huge piles of money on Wall Street.
I vote for pragmatic problem solvers who vow to knock down the level of stupid in our country. Lately, the middle where they usually roam free is a wasteland.
4
Are you denying Trump is a racist?
Would you support a racist for President if he was "conservative" enough.
Why are the most intelligent Americans, the ones with PhDs, MDs, and JDs, mostly liberal, especially professors and teachers. Do we want stupidity as a principle for leadership and progress?
Our country is a liberal democracy and we study liberal arts in college.
Liberals did a good job running the country from 1930-1980. Since then inequality and corruption has increased so much that people want to take back America.
Since 1990 liberals have made made great progress in social issues such as civil rights, including racial, gender, and medical.
So tired of the analysis of the most simpleton sort. Why not have more categories in your head than Trump and Roger Moore as representatives of American democracy. I am ready to pull the plug on this kind of over-chewed gristle. Ugh.
1
It's always easy to parody rigor and reason when you start with a silly generalization like "liberals".
1
How ironic that this advice trades so heavily on the sort of relativism liberals are often called out for.
Some things don't seem very relative or negotiable to me. Lying. Wilfully wrecking the planet we all live on. Sexual assault. Racism. Hyper greed. Bigotry. Gerrymandering. Pay-to-Play politics.
Oh, yeah...I almost forgot. Treason.
1
Every day we are besieged by a gauntlet of insulting, condencending, and possibly illegal comments and actions from conservatives at the highest levels of government and you say that the source fo the problem is elitest "liberals?" Okay. How about this? We'll follow your lead since you are so sure that we "liberals" are not so smart. Let's start with the latest attack on Senator McCain by conservatives.... Not a good look...
2
Please. Leftist smugness is a mote in the eye compared to Rightist smugness. At least Leftists read articles like this. Show me the equivalent “Let’s really try to understand the other side” argument on Fox News. It’s not there. Why? Because leftists care what rightists think, but the reverse is not true. And until it is, I’m not interested in empathizing with those who don’t believe in empathy.
It doesn't take any liberal ideology to vote one's outrage at this president's footsie with white supremacy, his refusal to condemn neo-Nazi rioters, his kowtowing to dictators and strongmen, his un-American attacks on the judiciary, the press, and on the separation of powers forming the structure of American Costitutional liberty, just leaving aside the rest of it. Many of the most conservative figures in public life have loudly and forcefully condemned all of this and more. They do so every day, to their great credit. The "backlash" is against Trump himself, his policies, and their painfully obvious roors, and most emphatically not against the broad, rightful, and righteous outrage these and maby other matters of plain record have inspired in a decisive majority of Americans. So kindly refrain from attempting to scare liberals with don't-make-people-mad nonsense. If this liberal Democrat finds himself ageeing every day with John McCain and Lindsay Graham and George F. Will, then something is about to be put right, and not by any fear of your wagging finger, or anyone else's.
Boy, oh, boy, does this sound like the "look what you made me do" argument. Or, maybe its closer to the "women, thou hast tempted me" heard from the million of lusting men who can't face their own lust. Or perhaps its closest to the abuser standing over his victim who's yelling "why did you make me so angry?". Sorry Alexander, your argument is as empty as all the others that try to blame somebody/anybody else for your/their actions.
1
It's conservatives that overwhelmingly reject climate change, evolution, science in general, higher learning, equal rights for minorities, help for the poor, minor gun safety measures and environmental regulations. And they voted for a "man" who wanted to ban Muslims, called Mexicans rapists, refused to rent apartments to black people, mocks POWs and Gold Star families, lies habitually, bragged about sexual assault, refuses to read anything, and gets his information from Fox News.
Yes, we *are* smarter than them. And we will win.
2
Truthfully, as a liberal - I am not sure what conservatives stand for and they are completely off putting. They are not fiscally conservative, they are not supportive of the poor, the ill, the elderly, the military, the environment. They support tax breaks for the rich and want to take food out of the mouths of children. They are against abortion but support the death penalty, hate gays, trans, Mexicans and people of color.They attack the FBI, our laws, and support torture. They hate John McCain and war heroes in general. I suppose we should just be quiet in the face of NRA support when our children are being killed? (3 of my children's schools have been attacked or threatened by attack). Sorry, am I off-putting? Did I offend you. I am offended every day by my president, my senator (Tom Cotton), Scott Pruitt, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Devon Nunes - the list goes on. As a conservative you're upset that Kanye is chided by Maxine Waters? A comedian hurt your feelings? Give me a break. Your president brags about grabbing women's genitalia and calls them pigs and dogs. He lies daily. Elitist? No. Embarrassed and horrified.
1
The comments nicely demonstrate the author's point. Liberals assume each and every opinion of theirs is morally superior to that of any other, and that they are superior to conservatives intellectually and morally. To paraphrase - When Michael Moore and Nancy Pelosi are your best garments, you are better off naked. Liberal intolerance will re-elect POTUS.
4
Oh good another useful political science professor who initially misjudged the election, who's now suddenly an expert on the current political climate. I'm independent, but I sympathize with the conservatives who want to cut humanities funding. Let's start with the poli sci department.
5
Good one. Sure didn't see anybody on the left predict HRC was going to win by, say, 80%.
1
I’m willing to take responsibility for getting exasperated with “deplorables,” and to acknowledge that calling people names is guaranteed to make things worse.
But my values are based on a deep commitment to learning and growing, and self-examination to prevent my petty individual wants are put in perspective along with the concerns of all the other living things and our home planet.
I am reluctant to compromise any of those values , especially to avoid hurting people’s feelings.
6
I think the author is writing primarily about the type of liberal he meets in academic circles, who believe they can tell everyone else how to live. They accept nothing less than idealogical purity and are exquisitely sensitive to any slight, real or imagined. I know a number of these individuals and do not enjoy discussing things with them. As for the entertainment industry, the relatively small number of loudmouths overwhelm their more moderate colleagues. Dr. Alexander paints with a very wide brush. Most liberals do not conform to this caricature.
7
, there are two kinds of liberalism: 1. liberalism in terms of the enlightenment emphasizes rational thought and scientific discovery combined with individual liberty. the second type of liberalism is economic liberalism otherwise known as free markets. most of the people , who today, call themselves conservative are , in reality, liberal. turns out liberalism and conservatism are not mutually exclusive. so far as socialism goes, and this is a side note, but all economies are mixed in terms of the level and degree of the public sector entering into the private sector, or vice versa. in the United States, for example, we have public education, some publicly funded healthcare, public infrastructures, etc. so liberalism means rational thought and individual liberty, leftism is when a particular brand of liberalism is coerced upon an entire population. that's the difference. liberalism is free and leftism is coerced.
3
Mr. Alexander says; "Liberals dominate the entertainment industry, many of the most influential news sources and America’s universities." Has he considered that "liberals" dominate our universities because people in a university environment (and news and entertainment) are extremely well educated over a broad array of topics? Or that people are put off by "liberals" because "liberals" challenge long-held beliefs? This article leads me to ask Mr. Alexander if he is in fact not as smart as HE thinks.
7
Dear liberals. Just because much of the right is: racist, closed minded and based on ignorance, that doesn't mean your views based on PC smugness, arrogance and ignoring facts you don't like is correct or will win anyone to your side. You simply give Fox News and a skeptical segment of the public all the reason they need to dismiss you without a second look. Try using a few facts and be willing to hear the other side out for a refreshing change. I'm willing to change my mind on most issues, but not just because you call me a name or talk down to me.
432
We liberals can pick at the author’s examples or reasoning and feel good about ripping apart how he made his point. Or, we can step back and take in his thesis that painting Trump supporters with a broad brush and belittling conservative thinking—and along the way belittling the people from whom that thinking springs—could lead to a Trump 2020 win. So what if the right does the same lumping together of left ideology?
The general points in this article are valid, and the warnings should be heeded.
21
One of the common techniques used by conservative media and conservative propagandists is to take the most extreme positions of the cultural left and portray them as widely accepted liberal values. I've spent my life in very liberal professional, academic and social circles and nobody ever accused me of committing microaggressions, of culturally appropriating anything, or of being an unwitting racist. The cultural left has introduced some ideas that, if considered fairly, provide useful new perspectives but very, very few liberals embrace them all or walk around flinging those concepts at their colleagues and acquaintances to enforce conformity. I don't have data on this, but I'd bet that the range of opinions a person could express without creating uncomfortable social tension is far, far wider in a Manhattan happy-hour bar than in an equivalent watering hole in rural Indiana. I'm tired of hearing these imaginary depictions of liberal society that are constructed with the purpose of stirring resentment among middle-Americans who have never actually experienced life in a big blue city.
27
I absolutely agree with you. Except about English departments at tony universities (like the one where I teach). Essentially the technique is to take the over-the-top assertions of powerless English professors, and their embrace by a few virtue-signalling students for four years, as representative of liberal politics everywhere.
2
Your first sentence is absolutely true and can be equally applied to the other side.
1
Does the faculty at UVA really think and write this way? Amazing. Such generalization. And it supports such an inferiority complex.
But Alexander does succeed in revealing something that we all know, that there is a deep divide in the politics in our nation.
Alexander is unhelpful here, even as he accuses liberals of being unhelpful. Emotive response is not thinking. Of course, we could evoke Goldwater in a paraphrase: "In the defence of Trumpism, emotive irrationality is no vice."
18
I would like to know what Gerard's feelings are towards the issues raised before he lectures about the methods used to push them. Does he want those basic freedoms achieved or is ambivalent about them or doesn't see them as basic freedoms at all. Or maybe he simply opposes them. If it is only a question of strategy then he should just keep advocating in ways that he feels are effective. If it is to derail others, then well he should say so.
9
The question that must be answered is what is a conservative? The road map to this philosophy has changed since the Trump presidency. Tax cuts have been passed which will produce budget deficits in the near term future; criticism of our system of law and order goes unchallenged; American heroes are publically disgraced;the elected president has no connection with normal religious mores. These platforms,beliefs, or ideologies are contrary to conservative doctrines. The obvious conclusion is that flexible conservative mantra defies all reason. A better compromise would allow centrist conservatives and liberals to join hands in the center ailse.
6
Even Republican teachers are beginning to wake up to the realities of what Republicans really stand for.
West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Oklahoma.
Tax cuts for the wealthy and cuts to education for the rest.
11
I am glad that the Times is publishing diverse opinions, but I don't agree with Gerard Alexander. It is shown in the demographics that liberals who voted for Clinton had higher levels of education than conservatives who voted for Trump. If liberals value education while conservatives value religion then there are significant differences in views of progress. Why not title a different article, "Conservatives, God Does Not Love You as Much as You Think." Conservatives can pray to their religious leaders for their progress since they value religion so much. Liberal technocrats can trust their "smart" college training and educated knowledge to lead them to progress. As a liberal, I do value "smart-ness" more than divine intervention. That's just me and a lot of liberals.
17
Ask when was the last time you saw any opposing opinion on Drudge, Breitbart, Limbaugh? You won't.
1
These highly-charged social issues grip our attention and boil our blood, but are they even the business of politics? While we fulminate (counter-productively for the most part) about bathrooms and the like, environmental protections are slashed, health care is rolled back, wealth inequality grows and on and on, all while we're looking the other way. Ironically, I think we'd find much more to agree about if we focused on what really matters in most people's lives.
6
Like so many conservatives, Mr. Alexander is quick to condemn intolerance from liberals but makes no effort to address the fountains of hate spewing from Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity and President Trump. The reluctance of conservative intellectuals to confront hate speech on their own side speaks volumes about the true attitudes of the Republican base.
25
and by reducing thoughts to "their" side you reduce the dialogue to them vs. us and create the perfect example of what the gentlemen is trying to say. You lump the base of the GOP is to people who listen to Rush and Jones and Hannity. I don't and don't care for their bombastic remarks...but it is interesting their ire and remarks tend to be launched towards hate mongering liberals specifically than all Democrats....Just the opposite of what you did by lumping in all conservatives....
2
Juvenal - There is a vast difference in the reality of liberal vs conservative "hate speech". You can name, as you just did, the "fountains of hate spewing" individuals on the "conservative side." So far, as of 11:03am Sunday morning there are 1211 hate spewers commenting on this article with, I'm sure, many more to come. And this being only one article, on one day, in the NYT.
3
Mr. Alexander writes as if all "liberals" act as one. Like if enough of us had, at the liberal meeting we all attended, encouraged Meryl Streep to stay away from politics, we could avoid appearing condescending to all "conservatives". Both groups contain a wide spectrum of views. Both contain a wide spectrum that ranges from those who are able to think critically and those who reflexively cheer for the pundits latest talking points.
Social media exacerbates the problem. We didn't all "pick that fight" with the pizza place, for example. Certain people in that community were offended and picked that fight. The rest just posted on social media, in the kind of temporary moral outrage that both sides are reduced to on a daily basis.
What would improve the situation is if our candidates refused to take the bait on these issues and focused on the mostimportant issues that their constituents face. And if the media would not devote the majority of their coverage to such divisive stories.
I watched about 5 minutes of CNN reporting on the Trump administration aide who made the McCain death joke. I switched channels and came back 45 minutes later and they were STILL having the same discussion, making the same points, finding ways to rearrange the same expressions of outrage. I won't hold my breath waiting for this to change.
Maybe the deplorables on both sides of the spectrum are the millions who seem addicted to these repetitive outrage echo chambers.
12
Lots of good points, but it doesn’t a much education to understand what basic decency and equality is. Some things don’t require a law degree to understand in the Constitution, either.
7
Yes, we pick that fight. The fight must go on.
Conservatism is simple. It tends to be focused on the past and on religion. It tends to be uncompromising toward changing the status quo. These traits unifies it and makes it easy to be understood.
Progressivism is complex. It tends to be tolerant (i.e. liberal). By nature, progressivism seeks for compromises. These traits make it appear diffuse and unfocused.
A unified minority can render a tolerant majority irrelevant.
If progressive political speakers cannot translate their agendas into a simpler, unifying VISION of what a future may look like (ex. yes, we can), they may indeed face another loss to the simpleton.
Should progressives win house and senate, they will need to put safeguards in place to protect diversity, such as limiting their own power by breaking up monopoly parties into at least five mandatory factions, by abandoning the Electoral College, by facing voter suppression, and by introducing requirements for the highest office, such as security clearance and disclosure of tax returns.
11
Liberal progressives are not tolerant of any one they disagree with or any challenge to their orthodoxy. Orwell's
1984 depicts a world run by liberal progressives.
4
I cannot believe that this is an actual editorial in the nytimes. The author seems to have a chip on his shoulder. Yes, people on all sides are righteous about their strongly held beliefs. Don’t even pretend that conservatives are not. To use this as a criticism is rather empty. I don’t think this editorial says anything other than “I don’t like liberals.” It is a perfect example of the tribal thinking that the author ostensibly decries.
60
The author never claimed to be conservative. Or liberal, for that matter. All he’s saying to liberals is, if you want to win elections and take back the White House, you’re doing it wrong. Antagonizing the other side only energizes them. You claim to be smart; then, act smart. Change your tactics, lefties, or we are all doomed to another term of Trump.
5
Chris Matthews makes the point that in the Washington he knew for many years it was conventionally held that conservatives might hold policy positions we dislike but they are agreeable and pleasant on a personal level, while liberals who hold preferable policy positions can often be unpleasant to socialize with.
13
You would think, reading this article, that most conservatives are respectful in their treatment of liberals, or Democrats in general, and are unjustly rewarded by the haughty scorn of lefties. Actually, conservatives just believe that their views are superior and entitled to unquestioning respect, and they get rally annoyed when they don't get it. Let's just concentrate on the facts and talk about those.
43
There is certainly truth to this. But part of Mr Alexander's argument is that liberals have an outsize voice in our society due to our predominance in the realms of entertainment and higher education. And there is truth to that also.
11
They get annoyed but they don't protest, interrupt and demand cancelation of speakers so no one can attend or listen, attempt organized national boycotts of companies who sponsor conservative or religious radio and TV programs to remove them from the air, don't target small and large businesses for extinction thru misrepresentation of ideals who do not choose to make a cake for a gay wedding or have Christian-based company policies (Hobby Lobby, Chic-fil-a).
I don't care for how Meryl Streep decided to share her political views (disrespectful) so I no longer pay to see her movies - I do not organize people to picket movie theaters to stop them from going. I don't like the unthoughtful shrill anything-Trump-is-wrong presentations by Matthew's and Maddow nor the opposite from Hannity so I dont watch them - I do not organize national boycotts of their advertisers either. I am impatient with environmentalists who want no coal, no gas, no nuclear power but delusionally offer only solar and wind power as the solution.
Dogmatism is endemic on the left.
3
Truth and reason should have an out sized voice over superstition and foolishness. "Conservatism" has no clothes in the are of Trump. It has become a buzzword for the already too rich to further loot the country and World. Simply a fraud.
This arguement sounds familiar. It sounds like the "don't push too hard" that was common about desegreation of schools, housing, etc. Nothing changes without pushing. Otherwise complacency rules. The thing that is most striking about Trumpism is the bigotry and hate. If we don't push back against that then we are as awful as he is.
36
Mr. Alexander let's discuss this topic from this angle. I do not like abortion, and there's something about it that I find repulsive. In fact, I believe that we should take every step possible, including supplying all poor women with contraception, to avoid the option of abortion. However, I support a woman's right to have an abortion. That makes me pro-choice, even though I have a revulsion against abortion. I recognize my position, and do not describe myself as a part-time pro-choice person or a pro-choice person with qualifications attached to this title. I vote for candidates who are pro-choice and I support organizations that are pro-choice and support abortion rights. I don't shy away from the apelletion of pro-choice. However, when it comes to Trump supporters, they do not want to be designated as racists, in spite of the fact that they support a racist. Racism, like abortion-rights, does not come with an asterik and fine print defining when you are or are not a racist. You either are or you are not. If you support a candidate who is, then at least come clean about it, and don't be insulted when the rest of us see you for what you are.
40
A most thoughtful response. Surely not all Trump supporters are racist. But Trump openly stands for such a multitude of unappealing attitudes that it is easy to ascribe one or more of them to his supporters. I'm sure many millions of people voted for Trump because Hillary was off-putting to them. Many may vote for him again. Even a liberal like me can see that he touches a chord in many people who feel forgotten, even though he caters to their emotions, not their needs. I mean, yes, unemployment is down. Good news if you think earning $7.50 @ hour is something to crow about.
2
"Poor women"?? How about a bipartisan "all women" and throw in men as well? Your asterisk is showing.
1
This professor made some important points, in regards to the need for liberals to fight for the collective constitutional interests of ALL Americans at ALL times. Liberals MUST avoid the strategic blunders of reactionary stereotyping of broad sections of America’s working families. Liberals must understand that, regardless of ethnicity, gender, creed, or orientation, politics is a game of addition not substraction. To win, liberals must get the majority of voters to support the issues that address voters hopes and aspirations. Hence liberals must roll up their sleeves, avoid being armchair revolutionaries, get down from the ivory towers and engage viters directly at the grassroots levels on the issues that matter most - jobs, education, healthcare, environmental justice, peace, civil, labor, women’s, LGBTQ, human and voting rights.
However, this professor conducted what appears to be a deliberately disingenuous polemics against liberals when he attempted to blame liberals for the possible re-election of Trump in 2020. This line of attack on liberals inadvertently borders on intellectual dishonesty.
What does our good professor expect of liberals? Should liberals become voiceless Trump flunked “so Trump doesn’t win in 2020”? Should liberals ignore the long and continuing record of blatant discrimination, sexism and racism that’s deeply rooted in the GOP agenda? This, liberals will not and must not do!
17
Labeling the MSM as liberal has been the war cry of the right for decades. The MSM is a ratings machine. Look no further than the false equivalency placed on birther, Benghazi and email stories while Trump had full rallies aired repeatedly.
If Conservatives were, they wouldn't get this current response from the left.
No Conservative would support the handling of the SCOTUS seat that way, but a deplorable would.
No Conservative would vote for a candidate that suggested 2nd Amendment people could do something about his opponent, if she won and started appointing judges, a deplorable would.
No Conservative would cut taxes during good economic times and run a trillion dollar deficit, a deplorable would.
This article plays upon the culture wars the right is fond of pushing, knowing that it is easier to motivate voters with fear and division.
26
He's exactly right.
14
He's exactly wrong.
2
A version of this column seems to run every day somewhere, and it does make an important point about political technique. Anyone who has ever had a political conversation knows that many liberals can be smug, just as many who describe themselves as conservative can be cruel. Like the similar columns, though, it does not acknowledge that the writer is accusing all of us who do not live in the right-wing Fox "News" bubble of having the sensibility and approach of the most annoying person in the faculty lounge. That is not so. We merely recognize that race is the dirty secret of American politics and that the faker in chief exploits it.
21
Liberals may be condescending but your essay shows we have no monopoly in that quality. Your essay reeks of condescension.
What your side does much better is hold together as one when you may not like everything about a candidate. Look st the evangelicals' reaction to Trump. We often demand purity in our candidates.
But if democrats come out to vote (and can vote in spite of voter suppression which only your side does) we win. There are more of us. You may not like it but most Americans believe in progress. And one of its qualities is that all Americans are treated fairly.
21
I did not vote for Donald Trump nor would I ever vote for him. Nevertheless, I want the President of The United States to succeed (whatever the party). It is my sincerest wish that Donald Trump and the media would agree to a truce so the vitriol would stop.
9
Vitriol is the fuel for Trump's rancid self-absorbtion engine, and the media can't look away. Ratings and advertising dollars are fuel for a struggling media industry and Trump has been awfully good for business. That's a lot of fuel and a whole s-ton of combustion. As for blithely wanting the POTUS to succeed, whoever he may be and whatever his party, to quote Lin Manuel Miranda's Hamilton: "If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?"
3
Unfortunately, "succeed at what?" has to factored in if we have a cheat or a liar at the helm. No one is above the law.
1
The media report what happens, it's not their fault if Trump's behaviour as a president is abominable. And it would be very wrong to keep silent about that. That would be the beginning of generalized ignorance. And we all know that ignorance has been fertilizing Trump's soil from the beginning
2
The title of this article should be be that Liberals should be more goal oriented if they want to “win”. It implies that the “intelligent” are not “smart”. It means to resurrect middle and high school feelings of academic inadequacy of some readers. The 1% are “smart” because they have money to buy influence and “trick” voters that their enemies are the “Others” - the academically educated, other races, immigrants - tribes to which they are not. Smart means pursing a goal absent of morality - which is to build a voting coalition to give the 1% the power even if it means promoting hatred. Winners do whatever it takes to win - this makes them smart.
15
"Pressing a political view from the Oscar stage, declaring a conservative campus speaker unacceptable, flatly categorizing huge segments of the country as misguided — these reveal a tremendous intellectual and moral self-confidence that smacks of superiority. It’s one thing to police your own language and a very different one to police other people’s. The former can set an example. The latter is domineering"
It seems to me Mr. Alexander's criticism of "liberals" (note the overgeneralized binary that hides more than it reveals) is itself an attempt at language policing.
11
Mr. Alexander is warning us to not commit an enforced political error. I don't understand why my liberal brothers insist that stating an opinion they don't like is language policing, while universities blocking Ben Shapiro from talking in the name of campus safety is fighting fascism. This hypocrisy which you have so clearly put on display is why I voted Hillary in 2016, but very well may vote Trump in 2020. I hope you are proud of yourself.
3
A UPenn study recently found that "growing domestic racial diversity and globalization contributed to a sense that white Americans are under siege by these engines of change." Republicans response to this sense of decline, which was caused by policies enacted under Republican and Democratic rule? Elect an incompetent con man with a history of racism and corruption just because they like what he says about people who aren't white.
Liberals may not be as smart as they think. But al least they desire a fairer society that benefits most people. Conservatives desire money and power. They'll manipulate the system to achieve those ends, even if they come at the expense of democracy.
16
This article is full of valid points — if you spend your day listening to Fox News and right wing talk radio. It is full of the unspecified “Liberals make people feel...” narratives that are reported on Fox as news without any specific facts on who these liberals are or what they actually believe. He does specifically cite Michelle Wolfe’s jokes as being disrespectful and self righteous, and yet all she did was to say in no uncertain terms that Trump and his spokespeople were liars and that every journalist in the room knew that and had profited from it. The truth hurts, but it is not disrespectful. The problem though is that for Trump’s supporters, the Fox narrative is real, but how do you counter something that does not even exist?
20
We’re not as smart as we think? Either that, or so-called “conservatives”, in 2018, make it too easy for us to feel smart. They’re big targets. Of course, Trump supporters are anything but conservative - more-accurate description might be “ground-floor Fascists”.
Oops - historical accuracy is now perceived as self-righteousness. But as Colbert says, “the truth has a well-known liberal bias.” Think about it!
8
I am a liberal and would actually agree with most of these perspectives if they were written about "some liberals." How can it be wrong for certain liberals to cast all Trump voters as racist but acceptable for the author to cast all liberals as elitist and condescending?
17
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
If 60 million people voted for a candidate running as an outright racist, then it is perfectly fair, and accurate, to accuse them of accepting racism.
11
A very depressing essay. It's an argument for entropy; it implies that mindless tribalism trumps education and intelligence. Sad to think this just might be true. <sigh>
6
I’m commenting not on the article but on the gist of many of the comments here. Fellow liberals—could you make the writer’s point for him any better if you tried? Instead of taking umbrage at Alexander's use of the label “self-righteous,” how about looking at the main message of what he’s saying, which is essentially that acting as if all 63 million people who voted for Trump are as reprehensible and irredeemable as he is is a great recipe for getting Trump re-elected? The only question that this liberal commenter is interested in answering is, “How do we prevent this man from winning the presidency again?” My takeaway from this article is that even if you DO believe you’re superior intellectually and morally to all people who voted for Trump, acting condescendingly toward them is a bad idea because it DOESN’T WORK! That’s all. Enumerating all the ways conservatives are at least as guilty as liberals of smugness and self-righteousness may be emotionally satisfying, but it doesn’t change the math. Sixty. Three. Million. Voters. (Give or take.) They’re the party in power. Maybe some of those voters can be convinced not to vote for Trump again, and maybe that starts by giving them the benefit of the doubt that there is more to them as people than their admittedly reprehensible decision to vote for… that man. How to make that happen is the question that interests me, not affirming how much righter we all believe ourselves to be than those on “the other side.”
21
Well said. Another thing the left ignores is that many people who voted for trump had previously voted for BHO, some twice. Many of us wanted Obama to be the transformative leader he should have been. Of coarse, when he turned out to be just another cautious politician with little to no experience or agenda beside protecting the status quo (Wall Street /bank bailout etc) hope for real change was lost. Next time, run Neil degrasse Tyson.
4
Agree with the above. A party that uses identity politics as the foundation for their message simply cannot win. Thanks Gerald Alexander for at least trying to convince liberals that "smart" doesn't mean superior.
5
"As a candidate, Mr. Trump made derogatory comments about Mexicans, and as president described some African countries with a vulgar epithet. But it is an unjustified leap to conclude that anyone who supports him in any way is racist, just as it would be a leap to say that anyone who supported Hillary Clinton was racist because she once made veiled references to “superpredators.”"
If in the 2016 campaign, Hillary had doubled down on her statements from the 90's rather than disavowing them, I would have had no trouble making that jump. Trump doubled down on his -- how exactly is this a leap?
3
Good article and overdue in our political discourse, I like the reference to political tribes as that is what I have seen the left become as they destroyed the middle ground with the "you are either with us of against us" mentality. Additionally I have found a number of core principals of the left to be irredeemable to what are American values are including ridiculous support for illegals aliens and in calling anyone a racist that they do not agree with.
11
Being from the progressive camp, I can tell you it's very difficult to get Trump supporters to share their views, or have a discussion about politics.
I have truly wanted to know their points of view. I have liberal friends, so searched for Conservatives willing to talk politics (not argue about them).
Mostly, they get angry and defensive at my bringing up the topic, even when asked open-ended, non-judgemental questions. I just want to learn.
I've had only one non-angry response to the question, "How do you think Trump's doing? " It came from a Christian woman who said she hated everything he stood for, he was not Christian, but she wanted him to get his tax plan passed, then vote him out.
From what I've gleaned, I think people support Trump primarily to have lower taxes, and secondarily to get a job. I think they are willing to overlook his vulgarity, infidelities, law-breaking and racism to have more income. They want to survive.
They simply do not believe their taxes will rise and their healthcare will worsen. Some believe Trump speaks factually. There's a lack of critical thinking and analysis among the entire electorate, leading to decision by emotion.
I don't feel self-righteous as I watch Trump make geopolitical decisions--I feel scared he'll start a war, feel desolate that he's selling and destroying beautiful public land to fossil fuel companies, feel angered that every decision from healthcare to Iran results in more death.
14
"... so searched for Conservatives willing to talk politics (not argue about them)."
How did you go about that "search"? And how could you "talk politics" without arguing (in the sense of debating)?
"... when asked open-ended, non-judgemental questions."
'"How do you think Trump's doing? "'
Suppose the answer you get is "Great". How do you continue to "talk politics" after that?
I am proud to be labeled liberal .
I don’t go for labels , but in a society with such a deep dichotomy as the US , I must side with liberals.
I am surrounded by people who are uniformed , misinformed and under informed, the Fox News crowd, averse to books ,science , climate change and above all lacking common sense .
These people are in a fossilized state , unable to have a rational conversation on everyday facts without attacking with their fake ideas the counterpart.
I am in Florida where the majority is on Medicare and Social Security, entities taken for granted by the conservative Floridian Republicans even though have been generated by “ blasphemous SOCIALISM “ .
1
What is most amusing here is how the comments in response to this piece so eloquently make the author’s point!
11
Exactly. As I dove into the comments after reading the piece, I thought, "Forget the polls; Trump's odds of reelection will probably match the proportion of offended commenters."
Needless to say, I'm depressed.
3
Sure, if you read and cite them selectively with a pre-established agenda in mind. As the author did in the piece itself.
1
Sure does.
Many liberals are very smart. But they are not as smart, or as persuasive, as they think... or as smart and persuasive as you i bet Gerard, who only used the word "liberal" 17 times. progressive liberal, i wear it as a badge of honor.
4
It's not really that we're so self-righteous, but rather that conservatives have such poor self images. Though rightly so.
In some spiritual views, it’s considered when someone complains about traits in others, it’s actually a part of themselves they can’t accept. Some descriptions of liberals used in this article are they’re domineering, they lecture, and judge. Yet can’t the exact same thoughts be ascribed to conservatives? As an example, I might say conservatives are too narrow minded. Liberals would probably quickly agree with me. But is it possible that I too am too narrow minded? Hard to admit, but the possibility’s there. So where’s the difference? The bottoms line is it lies with the factual, not opinionated, outcome of each side. It’s true opinions can hold heavy weight and sway people. But let’s remember opinions are not truths. Something both sides have a hard time admitting and believing.
1
Gerard Alexander is Associate Professor of politics at the University of Virginia AND a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
AEI is based on the revisionist historical causes of the the Confederacy from THEIR perspective.
Not on reality at all.
9
What about self-righteous, condesending, humorless conservatives?
You pass along the liberal media myth blythly - while ignoring that the highest rated TV (Fox News), most popular films (A quiet place) and talk radio are today largely funded by and espousing extreme conservative views.
Americans love labels too much. When are we going to stop name-calling and start thinking for ourselves? The media culture thrives on ratings. Artificial hype and false conflicts like the one you write about do serve a purpose. They gin up ratings and make pilies of money for all media outlets - while our country, our communities and our standards of living go down the drain.
6
Exact same article could easily be written about conservatives or any other person(s) who are certain they are 100% right in both their opinions and fact. Opinions are fine but facts are much less debatable.
4
Hear, hear. Accusations of racism and bigotry are being used to establish victimhood and thus to achieve power. There has never been less racism in this country and never has it been decried in such a shrill fashion. The author is right: accusations of "racism" and "bigotry" are kill shots. They shut down the conversation before it can begin. Liberals have come to resemble Winston Churchill's definition of fanatics: they won't change their mind and they won't change the subject. I didn't vote for Trump in '16, but I might in '20.
7
Other than for opposing liberal Democrats, for what positive reason would you vote for Trump in 2020?
3
Confronting actual racism as happened in SC and elsewhere is as American and Christian as it gets. It exists.
Your imagination that "there has never been less racism in this country" is based on zero facts and facts count. Democracy is for grown-ups. Thinking ones.
1
Well then, it’s time conservatives gave up their mantle of being the high moral ground. That ship has sailed.
8
Brilliant. Best article on the many faults of the pompous liberals. The resentment against liberals and their ideas is at an incredible high. People are embracing anti gay attitudes and racial attitudes out of this resentment. I see it everywhere all day long. Under Bush we were making progress with race. When Obama got in and the liberals went wild that all stopped and reversed. Yes the liberals got carried away and are in the unreasonable, angry, irrational and even violent bucket now. And they barely recognize it. Love the picture. Perfect.
6
“People are embracing anti-gay attitudes...out of resentment”.
“Liberals went wild”.
I suppose you’re referring here to the concept that gays and lesbians can marry?
Thanks. Now I’ve really heard it all.
4
Mr. Alexander finishes his essay with excellent suggestions for how all of us should treat all of us. Assuming he wants people to actually listen to him, it's ironic and unfortunate that he begins the essay with monolithic ideas about "liberals" that are just as off-putting as the things he accuses these monolithic "liberals" of saying. We will all be better off if we can accept Mr. Alexander's recommendations for tolerance and civil discourse, while ignoring the ignorant things he said along the way.
7
While I deem myself a liberal, it often bothers me how some on the center/left view multiculturalism. Rather than see it as a manifestation of modernity, some liberals view it as a medium through which they express smugness and self satisfaction. Whereas it's one thing to signal this to a conservative, it's quite another to convey this to an immigrant. Liberals are often perplexed by why many immigrants vote conservative, without realizing how they alienate immigrants through their patronizing attitude.
Yep, there are times liberals need to smell the coffee, and I'm not talking about latté, either
7
I tried having a level argument with a family member who voted for Trump about racism, specifically that a vote for him enables racism, even if it doesn’t intend to—even if you voted for him for other reasons. Show me a Trump voter who will say that while they “voted for him other reasons”, they will also publicly disprove of the language Trump uses against people of color, women, the LGBT community, immigrants, you name it. They never will. So you’re telling me this is liberals’ fault for putting an unwanted mirror in front of Trump voters’ faces?
5
The "progressive" agenda is backward and bigoted, but they simply cannot see it. Their only arguments seem to be that if one does not agree with their Marxist lite dogma then that one is "racist". They have diluted the meaning of "racist" to the extent it no longer has any meaning. They are smug, and believe themselves superior not realizing just how shallow their thought process are. But keep up the good work "progressives" like the author says it helps motivate conservatives to vote to prevent "progressive" dogma from harming them and the nation.
6
What's hugely telling and entertaining about Conservatives is their self-righteous "ownership" of our Founding Father's.
The joke on them is that our Founding Fathers were arguably the most progressive thinkers/leaders in human history, breaking from 10,000 years of religious and birthright control of humanity.
The telling is their swinging like a sword this belief they can channel and "preserve" the intent of the Constitution better than anyone while lacking to recognize the Founding Fathers created a stunningly original document attempting to prevent Conservative control of thought and action.
Liberals lack Conservatives "one-mindedness", this does impart democratic dis-advantages. Absent the rightwing's collective thought or mob characteristics Liberal's open-mindedness, and genuine belief in individual freedoms don't coalesce around single topics like abortion or gun rights.
We need to be incredibly thankful liberals don't, or we would find ourselves living in an authoritarian's utopia of fear.
4
Conservatives accusing liberals of being self-righteous is a bit rich, given the “right’s” enduring priority of imposing its religious and cultural views on all Americans through not just rhetoric, but through executive orders, legislation, and activist judges.
Liberals may be annoying, but they're not trying to insert their church into the state, strip entire classes of people of basic human rights, or deny proven facts because their "guts" know better than science or empirical evidence.
If conservatives are truly concerned about self-righteous behavior, they would do well to look in the mirror.
11
Sure there are liberals who go over the top, take things to far and act self-righteous. Conservatives too. It is a universal human failing. Liberals laugh about excessive political correctness too.
That doesn't excuse the REAL racism expressed by the Trump administration, with its long list of bigoted remarks and policies targeting Mexicans, Muslims, Haitians, Africans, Jews and many others, and the supportive remarks about and retweets from white supremacists in Charlottesville and elsewhere. Racism is not incidental to Trump; it was the primary feature of his campaign.
The 62 million voters who supported Trump found, or find, this casual bigotry emanating from our highest office at least acceptable. So it's an issue, and not one made up in the liberal imagination.
No doubt there are times and places in which liberals should tone it down and be more gentle in trying to persuade voters. But silence in the face of an all-out assault on American values - "torture works, folks" - cannot be met shyly or silently.
10
I not sure I’m ready to say that liberals are the smartest or most advanced thinkers. But even if they are, the world is full of really smart people that could not lead others. Perhaps what we need to are great leaders that are intellectually honest enough to have liberal underpinnings on the big issues, but not so self righteous to be seen as a zealot. Zealots are great at pointing out what needs to change but rarely can they make good policy or lead effectively.
5
Yes, self-righteousness can be distasteful. But smartness can be measured in plenty of ways, including one's response to national security cyberattacks (Russia etc.), monetized gullibility (Fox News), and commonly held scientific truths (climate change, vaccines). And racism.
If you found yourself agreeing with Mr. Alexander's observations, arguably just another extraordinarily "limited view" of the global situation, take a moment to see if you "liked" any of these:
https://www.facebook.com/help/817246628445509?ref=shareable
3
Sorry, Mr. Alexander. I was busy trying to save the democracy from the pugilism of the right wing. What did you say again?
2
This wasn't new thinking by any means, but I do too wish liberals would publicly fight their battle in a way that is less judgmental, combative and snarky. I always think of Martin Luther King. Having read his speeches many times, I cannot recall that he ever said those who had beliefs that blacks were inferior to whites were 'stupid' or 'should be siloed off from the rest of us" - all things that liberals will say about Trump-voters/ abortionists/ bigots/racists. And yet MLK's consistent non-violent approach won. I don't know why us liberals have resorted to this fear-based/anger-based/childlike rhetoric that of course turns people away - no one likes to feel shamed or judged or feel like their beliefs are being mocked. How do we change that? - that's what I would like to see written about more. How as liberals do we evolve our own thinking? What can we learn from those who did bring about equality and peace? I loved Obama but he did bring a little superiority to the table that we could do well to tone down.
4
Professor Alexander, you’re not as smart as you think either! You fail to distinguish between liberals and progressives. Our country and society move forward when progressives, not liberals or conservatives, figure out how the government can fairly initiate cost-effective laws that meet the needs of all the people
1
Red states ask: what do Democrats have to offer? The answer is, a better way.
California, Oregon, Colorado and Washington together comprise the 4th largest economy in the world, with globally recognized cities, universities, industries, medical facilities and arts. Within their borders live diverse, vibrant and tolerant populations unafraid of outsiders and confident in their ability to compete.
In contrast, red states are home to weak economies and retrograde social environments based on evidence-free policy-making and a fixation on the past. They starve their schools and universities and wonder why their young people leave. They quiver in fear of brown people and foreign competition.
Oklahoma looks more like an Arab emirate, with its extraction economy and religiously-dominated politics. Kansas is an economic disaster due to the blind application of Reaganomics, despite the ample evidence against it. The Carolinas obsess more about gays than gays do. Even Texas, economic leader of the South, is handcuffed to the oil industry.
There is a reason the red states are net takers of tax dollars and the blue states are net providers. The blue states, while fallible, are run by people who look to the future, run their states to improve the lives of their lowliest citizen and rely on evidence to make policy. The red states live in the past, bemoaning their diminishing relevance and deploy evidence-free policy to benefit the rich and bolster the old religion.
10
As a conservative who had to think hard about supporting Trump, but am now all in for him, much of that change was driven by the liberal\left institutions who are obsessed with him hating him as a personality. No matter that his policies seem to be working for the good of most Americans. I say to the left, keep it up, and Trump wins easily in 2020.
5
"Without sacrificing their principles, liberals can come across as more respectful of others. Self-righteousness is rarely attractive, and even more rarely rewarded."
Wow. substitute "conservatives" for "liberals" - more apropos it seems to me.
3
Mr. Alexander thinks that liberals think they are smarter than say, conservatives I guess. I must confess I don't think I am smarter because I am a progressive, or a liberal, or because I believe differently than those who supported Donald Trump. What I know is that I know principles or the lack of them, and how to arrive at logical conclusions based on fact. I know as a lifelong student of political science and economics that outcomes matter and they illustrate the truth somewhat conclusively. We know who passed the laws and would know more if the law required fuller transparency of those who bend the arc of justice for the benefit of the few. So I ask the professor how objective is he in observing political behavior that points out the con of what conservatism has turned out to be. Deficits it appears, only matter in politics when Democrats are in power. Deregulation is a cover for those who pollute our environment so they might privatize the profits of business while they socialize the costs to society. That those who support leaders who lie, cheat and betray us, who defy the very Christian principles they profess to govern their lives by, and condemn those of us who believe the right to choose is a freedom based argument, I say we resist. It is not we think ourselves smarter, it is our belief we think ourselves right, principled and just. We are people tired of hypocrisy, and tired of being vilified by the ignorant and the corrupted. So excuse me if that bothers you!
7
The mainstream media is unfairly biased against Trump. It is difficult to justly criticize Fox News when outlets like CNN and the Washington Post devote entire editions to sneering at Trump. He desrves a lot of it but not all of it, and the coverage of, say, the North Korea opening has been almost all critical in both these sources. CNN is a mirror image of Fox News, usually without even the token opposition pundit that Fox sometimes has. Every line or two of hard news is followed by a panel where Trump is routinely savaged no matter what he does. Perhaps one of the things that will be hardest of all to rebuild, post-Trump, is the objectivity of American news.
5
CNN no longer covers real news. CNN and the rest of the MSM pit vipers now devotes endless air time to the queen of tabloid trash Stormy Daniels. This juicy X-rated soap opera goes on and on every night on TV with no end in no sight. Making peace with North Korea is so boring in comparison to a sleazy scandal.
3
As a liberal myself, I understand exactly what Mr. Alexander is talking about. And I take it as a badge of honor that my liberal viewpoints enrage and repulse white nationalists, homophobes, climate change deniers, Fox News viewers, Rush Limbaugh listeners and the people who voted for George W. Bush, Trent Lott, Paul Ryan and Donald Trump. The people who believe in "intelligent design" over scientific facts and data are the same people who found Kelly Sadler's "joke" about John McCain being irrelevant because "he's dying anyway". These are the people who were targeted by Russian troll farms and took the cyber bait hook, line and sinker. And I'm not sorry if Mr. Alexander and his ilk are offended by sanctimonious views.
8
Nope, Nope, Nope!
People get all bristly when they hear people criticize Trump because they identify with Trump. That's why they voted for him.
They identify with his racism, his misogyny, his xenophobia, his anti-world view.
People who feel they are being attacked personally usually with respond negatively. Whenever Trump supporters hear people criticize Trump, they feel they are criticizing THEM!
It's understandable that people would not want to be seen as racist, etc. However when you support someone whose policies are clearly racist that hurt and inflict harm on people of color, no amount of blaming liberals or anyone else who disagrees with that will clean that up or justify that choice.
If you are not racist, don't vote for, support, or defend racist policies. That would go a long way to convincing people that you are indeed the image you wish to purport.
7
Oh for crying out loud! There are folks of this description on both sides of the aisle: it’s a matter of degree, and the media is an amplifier to it all.
Listen: no one is right, or wrong, 100% of the time, and that most certainly applies to one’s self.
It *is* possible to have a conversation without injecting contentious political and social debate into the mix. I’m a barber and I do it - or rather, don’t do it - all day long.
Peace and Love. Even if you’re a conservative.
17
Dr. Alexander's effort to equate Hillary Clinton's historical use of the term "superpredator" with Trump's explicit, frequent, and unapologetic racist rhetoric was not successful. It rather reveals how weak the overall argument is. Clearly those who voted for Trump have a great deal of comfort with racism, regardless of how they may perceive themselves. That is not an elite opinion but a logical conclusion.
1417
You said logic. That is a microagression against Trump supporters.
146
Thank you for this thought provoking thesis. I believe it is helpful for me to challenge my thinking, or, more accurately, consider the validity of anyone else who is challenging it.
My take on what you have said is that you are trying to prevent President Trump from being reelected. I did not get the impression that you were trying to scold me because I am a liberal. I got the impression you were trying to warn me about some defects in my manner of Thinking and actingthinking and acting.
We are not black and white and we are not either Democrat or Republican. I believe we are all on a continuum. While I gave been registered as a Democrat since the age of 25, I do not march in lockstep with any democratic principle. For instance, I was very uncomfortable with Michelle Wolff’s “comedy“ routine and would not likely agree to have lunch with anyone espousing those mean-spirited points of view. I felt that she was likely doing more to alienate voters than to bring us all together.
Thank you for taking the time to write your article and for politely pointing out ways that I can become a better advocate for the Democratic Party.
8
I am a true blue Democrat. And I have been turning the other cheek to conservatives and their name-calling and harmful policies since Reagan and his gang were in office.
I agree that it does no good to malign a group with broad brush strokes. But all that turning the other cheek and making nice just ended up here - with a crazy crook and his miscreants(R) in all the power positions of government.
Turning the other cheek doesn't work when the other side is playing hardball. And with unlimited guns, no less.
Failing to call out the ugliness is a mistake. If you are going down, go down swinging.
I am not encouraging us Dems to be ugly but at least we need to take a stand and speak the truth. And racism is real and widespread in the republican party of 1980 to present.
There, I said it.
2563
Dude, every word you wrote was spot-on.
Nice guys finish last, Leo Durocher said; the Repubs have used us like a doormat since St. Ronnie.
All that's necessary for evil to conquer is for good people to do nothing, specifically, turn the other cheek. There, Jesus, I said it.
244
The fact the Russians hacked the last presidential election and quite feasibly directly assisted Trump's campaign; that Kobach and his ilk spent the previous decade disenfranchising as many minority voters as possible; the fact the Republicans spent the same amount of time gerrymandering every district in every state they could get their hands on...and STILL lost the popular vote never seems to occur to the professor or others who are bound and determined to blame Trump's corrupt accession on any and everyone else but a minority of the electorate's vengeful resentment.
25
Maybe its the massive propaganda operation of the conservatives driving the conservatism. I remember Obama during elections when he was not so nice. During those times he was very strong, politically, telling the truth in response to the propaganda lies, holding the messengers accountable with his words. Then he'd win go back to being mister nice guy, practically the nicest guy in the world, and the conservative media would constantly tear him to shreds. Why not? He's the political opposition and he's so nice, there will be no consequence, just rip his character apart all day. What liberals need is better fighters.
The real mistake of liberals is falling for this foolishness of winning one and only one election: whatever the next election is. They win and they never do anything liberal. They certainly rarely take any risks on liberalism. Conservatives play the political long game and they play the governance short game. They think long term about politics and when they win they seize the opportunity to change the system in their favor. Liberals are all short game at politics and then scared to implement any liberal ideas for fear they won't work, or even, they won't be perfect. Liberals need to learn to take risks when they actually get elected because optimal courses of action involve risk. You have to go there to succeed.
8
If electing Trump is conservatives playing the "long game", I shudder at the prospects of the planet. Any one who puts Pruit in charge of the environment is putting short-term financial gain ahead of the health of the planet and all life on the planet. Climate change denier are not playing "the long game" in any way.
1
I have never met a self described liberal who would vote for any Republican candidate. On the other hand, I have met many conservative people who would and have voted for Democrat candidates. Coincidence, or simple blind partisanship and prejudice?
5
I'm Canadian and I must say I find American politics fascinating. I am a member of the Conservative Party of Canada but have voted for the Liberals as well. Having said that, if I were American, I could never vote for the current Republican Party. When I look at Trump, I don't see a conservative, neither in his personal conduct nor his policies. And while I am currently optimistic about what is happening with North Korea, I find his personal conduct and many of his policies not to be conservative. I was wondering if some of the reluctance to vote Republican has to do more with the current state of the party? I'd be interested in your thoughts. Thanks.
Perhaps that is because there are still a few moderate Democratic politicians scattered around the country whereas the so-called Republican base has made it virtually impossible for an anti-Trump Republican to get on the ballot.
This liberal often voted for republicans, but that was before they vowed to undermine a president, at all costs, and before their rhetoric involved petty practices like dropping the "ic" from a perfectly good adjective.
1
Conservatives are not as smart as they think.
If they don't change, Trump will not get reelected.
4
The commentators on this article overwhelmingly render condescending and disdainful verdicts on Professor Alexanders' opinions and even proffer personal attacks against him for deviating from liberal orthodoxy. Could it be that they are as predictable in their thinking and reactions as he maintains? The proof will be in the pudding - when Trump is re-elected.
11
Sorry pal. The catastrophic problems and ongoing chaos challenging the American Democracy has very little to do with how many citizens embrace "Conservative" or "Liberal" political viewpoints. Our challenges have EVERYTHING to do with GREED and DISHONESTY and the insatiable NEED to CONTROL OTHERS to avoid our own sense of fear. What is lacking in this country... is a lack of vision, and a lack of critical thinking skills. There is a way out of the this mess. It requires us to all look inward and focus on HOW each of us can contribute more to our family, our community and humanity. We all need to stop blaming others, look inward and get to work.
9
Great essay. From the reaction, liberals/progressives don’t like what they see in the mirror. The commentary reinforces the professor’s point, claiming everyone that disagrees with you is racist is no way to win friends and influence people. Trump’s margin of victory came from people in the Blue Wall of states that had previously voted for Obama. Hard to call them racist. But you will continue to paint with a broad brush, all who voted for Trump are uneducated racists, and have that view reinforced in your coastal elite communities and news media sources. As we approach the mid terms, the Russian Collusion story is collapsing and the facts point more to FBI/State Department mis-conduct, possibly with the Obama’s administration complicity. How will that play in the mid terms? I think not well for the so-called Blue Wave. With a strong economy, progress in North Korea and Iran, Trump in 2020 looks like the more likely outcome.
6
Let's skip the meaningless labels and talk about what matters: the rule of law. Corrupt politicians have no interest in preserving democracy, no matter what they call themselves or how smart they are supposed to be.
5
There are some legitimate criticism of the Left here.
However, it’s not a question of Liberals painting all Trump-supporting Republicans unfairly as bigots. For someone to continue to support someone like Trump - after all his vile words, deeds and policies - is at a minimum, a form of casual bigotry.
The question is then, how to reach these people before they dismantle the nation(?)
That’s not arrogance, but realism: the burden is on Liberals. (Put another way, nobody serious out there is writing articles that Trump conservatives need to reach out to Liberals to save America from itself in 2020.)
To do this, the objective for Liberals /should/ be to take the High Road and change minds.
And for this I agree with you: we’re not always so smart at that.
6
In my opinion, this is the best article I have read in NYT in the last ten years. I couldn't agree more.
9
Jose Latour, I couldn't agree more.
A life long Democrat who is so repulsed by the Democrats; they are evolving into unAmerican snapping turtles in behavior; completely turned off by the humor, and ideology; can't vote for anyone any more.
3
In our hyper-polarized society the words “liberal” and “conservative” have lost all meaning and have instead become weaponized tribal labels. I would posit that the denizens of intolerance on the left are not, in fact, liberals but are reactionaries. The same goes for so-called conservatives: there is nothing conservative about today’s Republican party. It has reached its apotheosis with the ascent of Donald Trump. They may call themselves conservatives, but their conservatism bears no resemblance to the conservatism of Edmund Burke. It is instead regressive and reactionary, driven by fear and resentment. What the author calls “liberal” is not liberal, at least not in its pre-weaponized sense but is instead the opposite side of the same coin.
7
Mr. Alexander makes a valid point about liberal self-righteousness, and I eagerly await his column on conservative self-righteousness--each tribe is smug in its own way.
I would take Alexander more seriously if he didn't make numerous slippery points, for example, framing Kanye West's recent statement that slavery was "a choice" as "rethinking his ideological commitments."
And no, liberals don't control "TV's most influential news source." That would be Fox News (the numbers prove it), which has become state TV under Trump and relentlessly brainwashes its viewers to hate crime-infested undocumented workers (they're not), "Christmas haters" (I've yet to meet one) and yes, "America bashing" liberals, while totally ignoring the fact that we may have a Russian agent in the White House.
Meanwhile, I'll be looking for that column on conservative self-righteousness. Fair and balanced, right?
www.newyorkgritty.net
8
The author has not proven his case. If liberals took his advice, and ceased to be as deriding, strident and shaming as the author purports them to be, what evidence does he have that it would actually win more conservatives over, rather than just give them extra unchallenged space within which to breed their fetid ideas? Shaming works, which is why all cultures do it. For every conservative that is lost by shaming (and is then cited as anecdotal evidence that shaming fails), perhaps a greater number really do get smartened or muted or fended from going even crazier. I am posing this as a serious question: how can we know which is the most effective posture to take against a group engaged, in their own minds, in cultural warfare? The author makes claims, and he may be right, but is there evidence that his approach of strategic politeness will change minds? Obama was almost exasperatingly civil and reasonable. We saw how it worked for him.
3
I agree with you about the silliness o f the things you mention. There are many others. But these people are at the fringe and always have been. The proponents are not mainstream liberals. The real issue for mainstream liberals is that they (including me, I afraid.) Haven’t had ne idea since 1972.
The grand ideas they had were magnificent ( equality for all, the war on poverty, better health care, skepticism about war,beating back many silly conservatives ideas.) but he they have no coherent set of principles any more.
Mostly they they either have gone into a defensive opposing only the most egregious sins of the right, or caving to the right. To give an example, liberal politicians are afraid to discuss abortion or gun controls ending with the right taking over the debate to the extent that, In the eyes of the public, they seem to supporting the right to murder her own unborn child and that closing gun show loopholes will somehow lead to the end of mass murder. They have not raised a finger to effectively oppose acceptance of war as the only effective foreign policy. Give me a break. Liberals need a coherent set of principles and courage. Mostly courage or take on the right.
1
John Kennedy wouldn't be welcome in today's Democratic Party. I'm pretty sure LBJ wouldn't either. He may have been liberal but the words he used in talking... Well they were rude, crude, lewd.
2
Professor, somehow I just don't feel in the mood for a Rodney King meets Sally Field Oscar acceptance speech meets turn the other cheek moment.
3
You say " The president's current approval ratings are at 42 percent." I do not believe this. Perhaps this is another pole like those that said that Hillary would win with 80 percent of the vote.
We not only need to separate perception from fact but we need to realize how easy it is to cheat when determining poles. That many poles buy thair lists of phone numbers from companies that are fully willing to slant that list in any direction needed.
2
Polls said HRC had an 80% chance of winning, not that she would garner 80% of the votes. HUGE difference.
1
I guess I will be castigated as elitist for pointing this out, but in this context, it’s “poll,” not “pole.”
Also, your belief or non-belief in something has nothing to do with whether a phenomenon is empirically true.
Gather data, analyze it, draw your conclusions, and submit for peer review. That’s how “belief” translates into empirical reality.
2
Mr. Alexander simply asserts that liberals consider trump supporters to be racist, and says that this is why these supporters won't listen to liberals. Therefore, they won't reconsider their own attitudes - and we're supposed to change our liberal ways because of this!
First sentence of the article:
"I know many liberals, and two of them really are my best friends."
Where have we heard this before?
14
He was being ironic.
And liberals believe they're smarter.
3
You make his point. (Sigh)
3
Despite Americans' gift for amnesia, they can sometimes get it right. It took eight years for them to figure out that George W. Bush was unqualified to be president. Eight years later years later they elected someone even less qualified and far more hateful. Now that we are all enrolled in Trump University, the extent of the flam-flam is unavoidable and the knowledge of it unavoidable. Just give it time and trust in Lincoln's wisdom - those wonderful words about not being able to fool all of the people all of the time. That and Robert Mueller.
6
As a recovering liberal (but no republican) this assessment is long over due. The left has lost its way and opened the door for trump and the neo right by being as closed minded, self righteous and blind to the numbers and issues as anyone on the right. Immigration is the classic example. Anyone who doesn't support the lefts near open borders agenda is labeled a "xenophobic racist". These same lefties claim to be environmentalists while ignoring the fact that Americans are the per capita leaders in co2 production and adding more people to this country (of any race, for any reason) is probably the single worst thing you can do for the environment and GW whether it's done out of misplaced care for the billions of unhappy people on earth or the thinly veiled agenda of getting rid of the white majority in the u.s. (Which seems to be one of the corner stones of leftist thinking). It's past time to take a long view of what's in the earths and the u.s. best interest and realize that no one has a corner on moral superiority or speaks for the almighty or has the right to smugly talk down to and be dismissive of those who disagree with them.
10
Idealists of all intellectual stripes tend to become detached from reality. This happens when they chase the shiny objects of theories that "explain everything."
We currently live in a news atmosphere where good reporting of the sort that is done by this newspaper, is the exception rather than the rule. Even here, though, idealism still creeps in.
There is indeed a backlash brewing, but I think it is a matter of, once again, trying to judge "lesser evils." Progressive friends and websites have both breathlessly proclaimed that their view is the new "silent majority." They are in error. Very, very, decided error.
Most people are not particularly idealistic. Rationalism vs Empiracism is what all of this comes down to. Empirical though is perhaps more naturally occurring with Rationalistic thought being a thing inadvertantly emphasized in four-year institutions. Sadly, Rationalism (whether Western or otherwise) has a destructive history largely because it requires a suspension of disbelief as it is based on things not evident but rather requiring interpretation. Belief, faith, these are basic human needs that need to be watched like a hawk, because while they give us innovation, invention, and comfort in times of trouble, they also have given us witch hunts, wars, and social fragmentation.
Neither "Liberals" or the dumpster fire known as "Conservatives" are as smart as they think they are.
4
Anyone who does not want Trump re-elected should read this column very carefully. The column overgeneralizes but the core message is certainly true.
8
I think Mr. Alexander misses a fundamental point of modern Republicanism. The notions that are and continue to be promoted by most Republicans are the antithesis of what our country was founded on. They're driving imperatives to punish the poor, impose their faith, criminalize the LGBT community, demonize people of color, deny reproductive choice, close our borders, deny science, and this list goes on. The Republicans are defined by what they're against, not what they'e for. The "big tent" of the Republican Party reminds me more of Hedley Lamar's gang recruiting in Blazing Saddles than the outreach efforts of a political party in the 21st century United States. The need of groups, like Evangelicals, to virtually shove their faith down my throat by law makes them more like the Taliban or Isis than any of them would like to admit. If being forced to confront what you've become is offensive, so be it.
8
I think it difficult to say what this country was founded on. The Americas were simultaneously an opportunity to acquire resources, and with it power and wealth, but also a dumping ground for Europe's poor and expendable masses. My earliest direct ancestor was sentenced to exile in Quebec for the crime of salt smuggling! Our beloved constitution, whose interpretation, can never be agreed upon by nine Supreme Court Justices, was a painful exercise in compromise - I am quite sure the Gentlemen from South Carolina had vastly different goals than did those from New York (and still do today). But I agree on your larger point. The Republicans have their own ivory tower from which they lecture, and for most of my adult life, it has been deeply committed to enriching a small tent of (mostly) men who profit but rarely fight in the wars we wage, while pandering to a religious community that encourages it followers to humbly sacrifice and serve without question (to know their place) in exchange for a place in heaven. Now, we have too many in this country espousing ill-liberal and extreme ideas that don't sound that different from those of the Taliban. Trump encourages it, and for Paul Ryan it is a price worth paying for his precious tax cut.
4
Excellent May 10 article in the Washington Post on Trump voters -
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/trump-voters/?utm_...
Many of them are not the boneheaded caricatures of liberal commentary. If Dem politicians actually listened to their often justified concerns, they might do better at the polls. The liberal branch of the Democratic Party doesn't have all the answers to Americans' problems.
5
Unfortunately, there's a paywall to this article.
Do liberals push some points too far? Sure. But minimizing the degree to which racism accounted for the election of Trump is very, very dangerous. Racism does not serve our nation well-- not among voters and certainly not in leadership.
9
It’s it’s not that we think we’re so brilliant. It’s that the other side brings nothing to an intellectual debate.
13
Exhibit one in the smugness evidence box.
2
This is a case of sour grapes. The professor doesn't want to admit that the "liberals" he knows hold the moral and intellectual high ground. It is interesting that he uses the term "liberal" instead of Democrat. The people about whom he is writing are Democrats which are right of center conservatives, not liberals.
7
A bunch of ‘soft’ analysis - without substantive background facts - doesn’t equal sound opinion.
4
Liberals have done so much more than write good TV shows.
They created social security, gave women and people of colour the right to vote for starters. And today,they are fighting to preserve democracy, clean air and water, and the notion that all people are equal under the law. If those things offend the non-liberals, that’s their issue not liberalism’s.
17
As famous conservative once said. "There you go again". You realize both Lincoln and Nixon (yeah that one) had a lot to do with the issues you speak of?
3
Excuse me Sir, but when you’re right you’re right. That has nothing to do with being self-righteous. On the other hand you could be accused of advocating relativism and false equivalencies.
7
Hard to argue this point of view when ones own arguments are equally or more beholden to the same problems. Agreed, some liberals focus on identity politics to the exclusion of the major catastrophes such as climate change, but so dotes the author.
3
The author’s first evidence proffered is that of the words of a comedian and Kanye West? Seriously? Dude, you need to start with your strong evidence when you make an argument, not with the whiny nitpicking.
Sorry if Trump voters have notions that are stuck in the 1800s. Liberalism built the modern global economy and society. If people don’t like it, then they can go back into their caves and beat rocks together. The world doesn’t need you anymore.
9
"...who might be open to reconsidering ways they have done things for years..."
Sure. Why not? After all, if fifty years isn't enough time maybe another year or two will do the trick!
2
I’m sorry to say you are allowing this smug writer to convince “liberals” they are bad. Just the fact that he keeps repeating : liberal, liberal, liberal. Have you ever listened to right wing talk radio? That’s what THEY do- Until finally people believe there is a monolithic LIBERAL conspiracy.
There are plenty of conservatives and republicans s who are appalled- nauseated even- by this current administration: Steven Schmidt, David Jolly, Charlie Sykes, George Will, etc. Are they “LIBERAL?”
The president is a criminal, a con artist. One doesn’t have to be a liberal, a conservative, a moderate, or a whatever. He’s a disgrace.
So this writer shouldn’t lecture that “ liberals” just don’t get it. This writer has an agenda. He’s a creep. Is he trying to shame “liberals?” Shame on him.
1
This is the most important editorial the Times has published in a long time. I’m a liberal and have become disgusted this past year watching the smug, mocking stance of the entertainers and the media directed toward conservatives, especially outside of urban areas. Stephen Colbert is an example—I adore him but his whole show is Trump bashing. And media “scandal,” “controversy,” outrage,” about everything is wearying. We do have to stop this and focus on what liberals can offer our country, because I have heard anything intelligent coming from them since FDR.
11
It’s media’s job to make people aware of the Democrats platform, not the comedians’. Mr. Trump gives them plenty of fodder on an every day basis.
1
Not "pick the fight" about bakers refusing to serve same-sex couples?! Really?
Maybe we should have been satisfied with Brown v. Board and not "picked the fight" about race discrimination in employment or housing or public accommodations? Professor Alexander seems too smart to be serious about this suggestion.
10
Trump's election was not the fault of the 'liberals' but of the fact that the Democratic candidate was not 'liberal' enough. She represented the same values as the greedy, warmongering, entitled Republicans whom Trump claimed to oppose.
"And a backlash against liberals — a backlash that most liberals don’t seem to realize they’re causing — is going to get President Trump re-elected."
No it won't. Already Democrats have recorded unexpected victories in local elections in the heartland and November could turn into a Democratic victory in one if not both Houses, leading to a lame duck presidency at best and impeachment at worst.
As for 2020, when Trump's outlandish promises of prosperity disappoint his core supporters in the marginally won swing states he will suffer a landslide defeat, especially if the Democrats elect a fresh, bold, charismatic figure like JFK and with a Southern VP to calm red state fears.
The Democrats and 'liberals' know what to do to win. Now they just have to do it.
4
This article frankly isn't as smart as it wants to be. The claim that "liberals" control the media and culture sounds like an alluring and believable, because that's what prominent conservatives in the media frequently repeat on a daily basis. Let's also not forget that conservatives control nearly all the levers of government at the national and state level presently. How's that for influence?
Moreover, many of these examples are problematic and misrepresented. Take for instance the quote, "'Gender identity disorder' was considered a form of mental illness until recently, but today anyone hesitant about transgender women using the ladies’ room is labeled a bigot." Sounds convincing when you leave out the details, doesn't it? In my home state, conservative legislators weren't just "hesitant" about my friends using a bathroom that corresponded with their identity, they quickly passed sweeping legislation that left people feeling utterly dehumanized. Who is actually ignoring different perspectives?
There is plenty of room to critique the current state of political discourse. This author overplays his hand with some pretty weak and misleading arguments. This is a slightly played up version of the same boilerplate "liberal elites" refrain we've been hearing for decades.
11
Liberals may control the entertainment industry, though I think even that's overstated.
Conservatives however control the courts, most school boards, the military, nearly all evangelical churches, big business, most statehouses, congress, and the presidency. Conservatives also have their own news network, are conspicuous on the editorial boards of most newspapers including the NYT and dominate sports. Conservative ideologies support bigotry of every stripe.
Conservatives deny climate change. They also endorse the Donald Trump across the spectrum of his boorishness and his authoritarian leanings.
Given the degree of conservative influence then, and the mess that influence has made and is making of this nation and for much of the globe, I just wonder why Mr. Alexander isn't more concerned about conservatives not being as clever as they think they are?
12
Exactly. The Avengers: Infinity Wars and Black Panther are hardly equivalent to Fox News and lifetime appointments to Federal courts.
"This means that people with progressive leanings are everywhere in the public eye — and are also on the college campuses attended by many people’s children or grandkids."
---
What a poor piece of rhetoric this exercise in self-pity is.
"Progressive leanings" as misused here, are actually the moral and intellectual underpinnings of our collective culture, hearkening back to the birth of our nation. From the Abolitionist movement, to the Labor Union Movement, The ascension of US Arts and Sciences, to the emergence of the Great Society, "Progressive leanings" are everywhere because they've always represented our better angels and the deep respect for intellect and institutions embodied in our DNA.
Modern Conservatism, which should appropriately be labelled the "Venal leanings movement" is a capitalist protectionist and anti-government racket that also hearkens back to the birth of the country: to American Slavers, to The Confederacy, to state genocide of native peoples, to the rise robber barons, Reconstruction-inspired re-emergence of the Klan in the 1920s, to McCarthy, Nixon, Reagan, and now the Trump Syndicate.
If anything requires rooting out, it's the adherents and defenders of the latter, not the former.
9
The reason that you can freely express these opinions is because of liberals. This country was founded by liberals. The conservatives of the day wanted to stay with Britain. The idea that people should govern themselves was a radical notion.
When George Washington handed off the presidency to John Adams, this was the first time in recorded human history that a transition in government occurred without a coup or nepotism.
Since democracy is a liberal idea, perhaps that is the reason that so many conservatives just don't like it. They would much prefer authoritarian rule. They would not let a sitting president make his appointment to the Supreme Court. They wanted to impeach members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court when conservatives did not agree with their ruling regarding gerrymandering. North Carolina conservatives in the state legislature began voting to limit the governor's power when a Democrat won.
And, the list goes on.
Conservatives dominate all three branches of the federal government, most state governments and corporate board rooms. And, yet you are still whining about liberals.
And, who would ever want to study at a university where conservative thought rules: no climate change, no evolution.
Conservatives use fear, hate, greed and ignorance to win elections and to govern. They lie and are easily bought. If you can use a broad brush, so can I.
Liberals have given me this country and all the things I care about.
19
There are so many topics this otherwise excellent column didn't even touch on, like climate change, tax relief, foreign policy and others. Conservatives are so tired of being lectured to by the self-appointed righteous, and the backlash is close to exploding. In the past, leftist self-righteousness was the dominant philosophy because it was foisted on Americans by the dominant leftist news media and overwhelmingly leftist colleges and universities. But the leftist news media has lost its dominance, and the colleges and universities are next. The future of self-righteous leftist identity politics is bleak.
2
Seems to me that if the "liberals" were really smart, they would stop providing almost 24/7 coverage of everything the man does, by name. This level of (free?) publicity exceeds any I've ever seen or heard. We've started using the "record and view later" features for TV so we can not only skip all the commercials but all the coverage of POTUS. It makes the network news really short, about 10 minutes usually.
5
Professor Alexander speaks of self-righteousness with inadequate memory of the history of President Obama’s two-terms relationship with Congress. His and the GOP's basic self-righteous vacuity smears his thesis. There is no science in political science which deliberately ignores history.
3
An article that could have been written at many points in our history. There are always those who get ahead of current political awareness and hurt the feelings of people who like things the way they are, alongside more careful arguments for progress. But both are necessary.
This column is actually guilty of its own claim, trying to “explain” to the left how fighting against racism, etc., the wrong way has led to more of it. Just tone it down, people, and we’ll decide when you’re ready for justice.
3
Yes, we libs like to think we occupy the higher moral ground. And, in light of events which have occurred in the past year and a half, it appears that we do. As for Michelle Wolf, whose jabs at trump administration staff were thought too sharp, her remarks about the press corps cut deep as well. But Wolf's gibes were nothing to Kelly Sandler's comment about Senator McCain. Wolf is a comic, Sadler is an administration official. Yes, the higher ground has a pretty good view of the nastiness swirling about in he base.
8
The #metoo movement has certainly shown that liberals are the sexual predictors by 5 to 1 over conservatives. Not very progressive.
2
Sigh. While I agree we on the Left have not helped ourselves or the country when we stereotype and hyperbolize, this writer gives liberals the power to drive other Americans to Trump. Trump voters are depicted as weak-minded and thin-skinned with no convictions of their own. Compassion is not a finite resource. It’s possible to feel for Americans having trouble with a changing world (as has been the case for millennia) while recognizing transgendered women don’t have to wait for the bathroom. It’s a little complicated and requires a lot of compassion. It rejects competition and profit. It might be anti-American or it might me the core of America. Or both.
Whenever I read a piece like this, I wonder why the writer doesn't just say liberals need to be better than Trump supporters and treat them with a respect and tolerance they don't show to liberals. There is some sense to the argument if it might actually win more elections for liberals and all Democrats, and in some regions it probably would. But instead, these pieces all seem to be scoldings about liberal smugness and intolerance. Both traits hold sway on both sides of the political spectrum, but only liberals get blamed.
5
I'd suggest liberals double down and push forward. Isn't this the standard right wing trope - "Hey Lefty, quiet down or you'll drive away the moderates...."
We've fallen for that reasoning for years. You can't pass Medicare for all, Obama, even though you have the votes. Tax reform needs to be bipartisan! The list is endless.
Yet, when the GOP gets in the majority, it completely shuts out the Dems and rams through legislation on one vote majority party line votes.
Let's articulate our vision loudly and clearly and unreservedly and take it to the ballot box in 2018 and 2020. Let's see how the votes get tallied. And if we end up with single vote majorities and the presidency, let's quickly pass our legislative agenda - real tax reform with higher effective top rates and relief for middle and lower income households. Use that additional revenue to pay for proper infrastructure and higher ed support programs, Medicare for all, comprehensive immigration legislation, etc.
Let's not hold back. Certainly let's not listen to the minority opposition warning us that bad things will happen if we fully use our voice - they have already happened in part because we have foolishly heeded their self-serving predictions of doom. Now is the time for action, time to fix this mess...
3
While the professor points out some amplified, isolated examples of silly, "liberal" bloviating, we have a macro-aggressor in the White House, who every day drags us deeper into his personal playground of destructive and poorly thought out urges. The monstrous id runs amok.
Classical Liberalism and Conservatism, have important points to offer all of us; however in the context of today's political environment, I don't even know what these positions are any more, beyond red-faced people screaming at each other on the TV. The simmering rage harbored by so many is truly disturbing and seems to fall somewhere outside of these schools of political thought.
2
Liberals often have learning but they are not smart, and they are not persuasive, and this has been the situation for the past century.
3
Mr Alexander accuses all liberals of thinking with one mind, one more example of the projection that appears to be the most virulent infection facing us today.
My experience has been the opposite, as I suspect those of many progressives has been. I seek the truth, not the tribe, which is somewhat more difficult than following trends or seeking popularity.
My disappointment is reserved for those who disrespect in any form; those who display the weakness of character that impels them to elevate themselves by lowering others. If I choose not to associate myself with those who prefer lies to the truth, or who lay their misdeeds on my doorstep, I won't apologize for it.
The danger lies in forgetting one's fallibility, and that flaw crosses all political boundaries.
1
There is very little actual thinking going on in American Politics. Conservatives use only a conservative amount of thinking.....and Liberals use a liberal amount of wishful thinking.
Both terms are ridiculously out-of-sync with the 21st Century. Any "liberal" using the term "progressive' needs to be laughed out of the room. There is absolutely nothing "progressive" going on inside of liberalism...which crystalized into an immutable form some time about 1968, and has not changed its rhetoric since, not one word.
And in spite of all the divisive politics, most Americans dont contribute to political campaigns, nor do they participate in political activities, America remains better than most other countries in spite of our guilt-trippin political propaganda.
1
Yes, lordy me, the resentment of anyone considered "liberal" is a huge motivating force among Trump voters this year. Maybe the writer has missed the approximately 4 million stories in the New York Times and Washington Post, carefully unearthing what Trump voters want and what they think, in an attempt to understand them without actually using the word racist. Basically, it seems, they're resentful and angry and don't like feeling looked down upon. We get it.
4
As I once told my ex-sister-in-law, “It must be a great responsibility for you to always be right.”
Missing the irony, she replied, “It is.”
She acts like a typical liberal. And for the record, I’m a Democrat.
7
The mathematical equivalence here drives me nuts. "The president’s current approval ratings are at 42 percent, up from just a few months ago." For starters, that jump is nothing but a statistical blip, largely unchanged for months and well within the margin of error for almost every poll.
But even if you buy into the results, it begs a bunch of questions. Like: what does that very poor approval tell us about Conservatism? That is remains a distinctly minority view? That Trump is its defining icon? That his "base" does not actually include a large contingent of Americans whose views are really and truly reprehensible?
Or is it that Trump is slowly changing the hearts and minds of Independents who didn't vote for him? That his leadership style is admirable and/or effective? That a sloppy, uninformed, and impulsive foreign policy (supported by a truly second rate team) might start a couple of massive new wars? That after 16 months on the job we ought to feel good about a governing coalition that has accomplished almost nothing of consequence? Or that has redefined unethical behavior at nearly every possible opportunity?
No question, all those problems come down to liberal hubris.
1
I think the polarization began In the Bush era where liberals were very suspicious of the Iraq War propaganda and the outcome reinforced their beliefs of a war without a cause and a war without a plan. When Obama was elected, the attacks from the Right were instantaneous, vicious, organized, and unrelenting. The liberals hardened. It's been an uncivil war ever since.
Anyone not familiar with the invidious influence of Fox News and related talk radio shows should not be commenting on partisan energies in the US. And it is clear that Gerard Alexander has little or no sense of the role Fox has played over the last 20 years creating a venomous atmosphere in our political debates. The difference between the right and left, oversimplified to one major example, is the difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Both are viewed by their partisan opponents as evil incarnate. Both are subjected to vicious attacks from their opponents on their honesty, ideology and personal moral character. The difference between these two candidates and how they are perceived is a measure of how far we have strayed from an ability to see the world clearly. How can you reason with people who shout "Lock her up!" in concert with a man like Trump? Credit for this division goes largely to Fox News and its offspring.
Sure there are a few screwy extremists on the left who vote for the likes of Jill Stein and it is easy to overgeneralize them to "the Liberal" as this author does. That 42% of our voters, not a few, are under the pall of Donald Trump can only happen through the agency of a powerful propaganda machine like Fox News. As The Donald would say, how sad it is that some professors of political science, who should know better, are huddled there too.
3
The huge reality that needs to be explained is how, if liberal or left ideas are so popular and self-evident, do Republicans control the Presidency, the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the majority of State Houses. Oh, gerrymandering? Really? I believe that the Moon landing was faked, too. The liberal / left controls the Cultural Media (both the mainstream media and the Academy) and yet seems unable to turn that power into a majority at the polls. That's a puzzle to be explained. I hate to be all Richard Nixon on you, but there is a "silent majority", or at least a "strategic majority" (e.g., Pennsylvania voters) that doesn't buy what emanates from the New York Times and UC Berkeley. But outside of YouTube, Twitter and the emerging Internet alternative, there is not a media vehicle to talk back. Well, except for Kanye. So stop lecturing Liberals and start persuading, or even better empathizing.
4
The Senate and electoral college overrepresent rural voters. CA and NY, two of the largest populations, safely blue, good economies, and they get two Senators.
I agree with one point in your comment and it's only because you forgot a comma. "Stop lecturing liberals." I'm tired of being told I'm an elitist, that I don't play to win, that I have to get down in the dirt and apologize for having ideals. I'm a taxpayer, veteran, college-educated, hardworking American. I grew up in poverty and I read books. I have this crazy idea that being respectful of others matters, that language matters, and that empathy is not a weakness.
I'm afraid Mr. Alexander's hope for liberals engaging in civil discussions with people they disagree with is nothing more than wishful thinking.
Since the 2016 election many progressives have become so filled with vile hatred and intolerance that they are incapable of changing anytime soon. I have experienced liberals who unilaterally dissolved long term friendships due to political beliefs.
If this continues Trump will win again in 2020. Republicans may also retain the House and gain seats in the Senate this November. There is a big world outside of the progressive media, entertainment and academic bubble. Until Democrats begin to understand this fact they will continue to lose elections.
7
Thank you for an excellent article Mr Alexander. I can assure you that all conservatives who support President Trump agree. As for the Never-Trumper conservatives, well they are in some kind of limbo and nobody really knows what they are thinking. The one issue it would be nice to see you focus on is the lack of debate. If Liberals are so sure of the inviolability of their ideas, they should be willing to debate conservatives at every turn. We on the right are always ready to debate and to learn from new ideas. The left cannot honestly say that. Perhaps college campuses should be focusing more on the free exchange and debate of ideas. The lock step thinking by college students is somewhat troubling.
5
Happy to debate. How's that invasion of N. Korea coming? Or is it a combination of sanctions, diplomacy and regional cooperation that is moving the needle?
How is that lovely new trillion dollar deficit, during a solid economy, possible? What happened to the Conservative idea of negotiating drug prices?
I am a liberal, and I agree with virtually everything said in this piece; I strongly support free speech and engaging with rather than dismissing ideas I find disgreeable. But there are also plenty of conservatives who agree with essentially every liberal critique of the alt-right.
The problem is (and this really is one of those rare areas where this is not a false equivalence) is that each side cherry-picks the most outrageous views of the other side, assumes they are universally held, and demands all members of the other side be held accountable for them.
That said, currently some of the most offensive views of the right can be found in the Oval Office itself, and it absolutely would be a false equivalence to suggest anything of that sort had ever happened on the left.
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I am constantly astonished how few people understand what differentiates those on the right and left. It is simply the amount of fear in our DNA we inherited from evolution. It is on a continuum, we all have different amounts and the more you have, the further right on the political spectrum. And since we all born this way, it is unconscious, automatic "thinking" and we aren't even aware of it. Even political scientists, who should be teaching this before we destroy ourselves.
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Consider the opposite hypothesis. That all of the experiments in communism and socialism have required much higher levels of policing and state control for the experiment to go on, and the reliance on censorship, centralized state control, a generally narrowed field of “normativity” in all aspects of behavior... I could go on but it seems worth considering the evidence against what you postulate. From my perspective once you ask the question who is fear driven and controlling in their politics, the answer seems obvious. It’s the doctrinaire practitioners, the hard core. Left and right.
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Spare me the pearl-clutching Mr. Alexander.
Your arguments would have more force if you could demonstrate how conservatism has advanced because it has been so civil, so polite, so restrained in its advocacy and outreach. Show us how conservatives have worked to engage in open and honest debate. Show us the respect they have given those who may not agree with them, but are still their fellow citizens.
A quick search of the web finds you've been talking about liberal condescension for years, and complaining that liberals do not give conservative ideas the respect they deserve.
Perhaps there's a reason for that: respect has to be earned. Conservative ideas do not stand up when put to the test in the real world. Perhaps liberals could be more polite in telling you that, but it's still going to be an inconvenient truth.
Here's a challenge for you professor. Explain how your advice to liberals can be applied to the conservative movement that is fully behind Donald Trump, and he way he champions conservative values.
One more reminder. Donald Trump was rejected by a majority of American voters. Only a broken system put him in the White House, with the help of some pretty bad actors. Assuming he makes it to 2020, do you think he has done anything to change those numbers in his favor?
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Your post perfectly makes Mr. Alexander's point.
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Let me express my sincere irritation at Liberals trashing their fellow Liberals not for real crimes like Weinstein, but imaginary crimes like the author has listed.
Without wasting too many words, here's my case.
1. The 60M who voted for Trump would have voted for a pig with diarrhea as long as it had an (R) next to its name on the ballot. Deny that. Try!
2. Trump won by around 70,000 votes, divided between 3 states.
3. Trump, despite flying home to sleep in Trump Tower each night, visited more towns and had more rallies than Hillary.
4. Blue wall was a myth. The Trump campaign needed to make only a small hole in it and they did.
5. Hillary ran a lousy campaign, she is a lousy campaigner, whatever else you may claim she is, she is a lousy campaigner.
6. Trump knows how to play an audience. He knows how to keep his opponents off-balance. He did it to the 16 pros who ran against him in the primaries, routing Jeb, Rubio, Kasich, et al. He spent less than Jeb!, Hillary spent 2x what Trump spent, and lost.
7. Hillary should have won by 20 points in a landslide. It was her election to lose, not Trump's to win, and she lost it. All Trump had to do was keep the 60M onboard and grab just a few more in key counties. He did it.
Note NONE of this has anything to do with the criticisms this author puts forward. Enough with the over-analysis professor. Trump is still keeping everyone off-balance, except Mueller, so far. Wise up and open your eyes, self-flagellate in private.
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Look in the mirror. That person thinks they're better and smarter than other people in this world. And for anyone who voted for Trump and still supports him, you're not looking at the face of an innocent victim of malicious liberal ostracizing, you're looking at the face of someone who's choosing racism and sexism as your path. Fix it. Quit making excuses.
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Sorry if you are offended by "liberals". But there is no thinner skin than that of the "conservatives"...and no group that has been as aggressive about claiming victimhood.
For decades, conservative media has played the victim card and done so with venom. Ann Coulter called liberals "traitors", Rush Limbaugh gave us "Feminazi" and other cute terms, Fox gave us the "War on Christmas", and the accusation of liberal bias is thrown about with reckless abandon. Proof is never required. The accusation is considered verification by itself.
Is there excess in the backlash? Of course. It's normal. But focusing on the excess is a grand way for conservatives to avoid looking within at the excesses they have condoned for decades until it has become normalized.
Demonizing the poor as "Welfare Queens", defending Confederate monuments, blaming immigrants, hating abortion, loving guns, and pretending Christians are under attack have been part and parcel of the conservative playbook for decades. Dividing our nation with hatred has been the goal. It has worked. The GOP won in 2016. They rule without compromise.
Now we are told liberals should be careful what they say. Someone might be offended!
When "Conservatives" tell me who uses a toilet is as important as men marching in the streets chanting, "Jews will not replace us!", I have little sympathy. In fact, I find your concerns and priorities dreadful and dangerous.
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I had to stop reading this when the reference to "liberals" as controlling Hollywood, academia, news started to sound dangerously like a polite euphemism for Jews. Given that so many non-liberals who are less eloquent make this accusation outright - this piece bristles. I hope I am mistaken about the author's intentions.
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We should indeed avoid painting with broad brushes, on both sides, but specific instances need to be called out.
A Congressman leaped up and shouted, "You lie!" during a State of the Union address by President Obama, and we were admonished to admire the man for exercising his First Amendment rights. When Dems sat silent and didn't clap during President Trump's recent SOTU, he claimed they could be suspected of "treason," a very serious word.
The representative from my home district recently claimed that all mass murderers are Democrats, and people who objected to this were accused of being "oversensitive."
A native-born American who is also a deputy editor at the NYT was told by an affluent New Yorker on the streets of the city that he should "go back to his home country." Is this OK?
And when the NYT runs articles on studies providing data showing that discrimination in housing, education, etc., actually exists, there always seem to be commenters who will twist themselves into logical knots to maintain that the only reason for any gaps between the races is black inferiority. Is it going too far to think that such commenters might be racist?
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Conservatives have their ascended position because they talked endless, aggressive garbage about anyone who crossed them. Anyone raised in the hate-sphere of Con-Talk can attest, as can any honest person raised in the blood red South.
Cons got where they are by condescending and defaming all difference. This was not to convert the Libs they where in dialog with but to convince the people listening. Treat Cons like the revanchist, small, timid racist that they are and people will start to see them that way with greater frequency. Decency wins by using the tools of the previous masters, such is life.
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Liberals don't understand the damage their feigned self-righteousness does to their own cause.
A perfect example, and one that will come back to bite the Democrats again in the next election, is that an average everyday American that believes we should have and enforce immigration laws does not deserve to be labelled a racist.
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Nor should an average everyday American be quick to assume that label is being applied.
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Let’s change the contrast from liberals/conservatives to people who vote for Republicans/Democrats/whomever, because that’s what this piece is really about.
Do smart voters vote for a candidate who says he will bring your job back (you know, the one you lost because the business in your one-industry town closed) when you should know he’s only selling you a dream?
Do smart voters think that a candidate who lies constantly, makes up his facts, changes his policy stance daily, and continually shows his ignorance of the issues is someone who has the ability to be the leader of our country, not to mention, the de facto leader of the world?
Do smart voters think a candidate who talks about shooting people on 5th Avenue and encourages his audience to beat up reporters and demonstrators at his rallies is anything else than an over-aged bully?
Do smart voters think that a man whose history has been one of unabashed racism is fit to be our head of state?
Do smart voters ignore his past sex crimes and immoral life?
Do smart voters really admire a man who disparages the courts, law enforcement, the press, because they are not in his service?
How much respect do smart voters have for a man who wants to run the American government as if he were a mafia Don?
Do smart voters swallow all this and more because he seems to be giving them what they want in one particular matter they hold dear when the rest of him is filth and they know it?
Do they?
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Offensive and stupid remarks need not be liberal or conservative. Today, we hear that a joke, a real knee-slapper, about John McCain's terminal illness will not be disavowed by the president. Disgusting as this is, it actually gets worse.
It turns out the real issue is that the folks behind this sick bit of "humor" want us to believe thay are the victims. They are victimized by information leaks. Yet again, the problem is not what happened, it's that somebody got caught. It's hard not to feel superior to people who think this is ok.
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Trump and the GOP are not heeding the author's advice. Instead they're doing everything possible to tick off both progressives and centrists. The Blue Wave is coming for you, Trump, Mitch, and Paul.
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So, you are saying that Trump was elected because his followers had their feelings hurt.
And we are supposed to be the delicate snowflakes.
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In part, if liberals keep yelling 'racist or racism!' to condemn every little thing, it loses its true value or meaning. Also, the truth is everybody is a little racist, EVERYONE. Whites don't own it nor are they the only ones who practice it. People are tired of the deplorable word too. Thanks HRC for that one. Keep denigrating all white people as racists, then prepare for more Trump/GOP time. Michael Moore knew Trump was going to win because he comes from the blue collar side of the tracks. There are more people who wash down their Velveeta sandwiches on Wonder bread with Kool-aid or Bud than most liberals are even aware of.
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My...what a broad-brushed indictment of “liberals.” Pardon me if I’m A. Not as described. B. Not willing, say, to tell a gay friend to “just take the abuse” because we are too far out in front on acceptance of differences, or C. If I am disgusted by the 8 years of vilification of one of the most decent men to ever have been president. And finally, i am not going to quietly accept that instead of a solid, educated, dedicated conservative, the republicans have put the country in the position of having to accept a narcissistic sociopath in the White House, who might as well be a Martian. When the house is burning down I’m just not going to be very judicious in how I sound the alarm.
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You do realize that poll after poll after poll has established that the biggest factor in being a Trump voter is bigotry, right? Sexism and racism are basically straight-line correlations with voting for Trump. It's not income- Trump voters actually are wealthier than both Clinton voters and the median American. It's not economic distress- non-white working class people voted for Clinton by a huge margin. It's flat-out bigotry.
It's uncomfortable to be called out, but it's wrong to ignore this fact. The very nicest thing that can be said for Trump voters is that they don't care that Trump is racist and sexist, and that's kind of the definition of damning with faint praise. Usually that's not the case. It isn't an accident that Trump won 81% of the white evangelical Christian vote- he courted that notoriously sexist, racist contingent for all he was worth. It's not an accident that David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, endorsed Trump. It's not an accident that neo-Nazis and "Men's Rights Activists" have seen a resurgence since he took office; they are his people and his voters.
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