Tab Clearing and Quick Takes
Steven L. Taylor
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Tuesday, February 27, 2024
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13 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Just want to remind that Rep. Perry was at the Jan 6th riot (he claims he never actually entered the Capitol, but has been seen on video with one of some of the convicted Proud Boy members within a few dozen feet of one of the breeches and has been resisting the FBI’s attempts to investigate his actions that day).
@Stormy Dragon:
My apologies, I was confusing Scott Perry with Doug Mastriano. I sometimes get my “Pennsylvania Politicians who are also traitors” confused sometimes. Although involved in the insurrection, Perry was not actually part of the riot.
Trump’s nonsense about his sneakers and his mug shot getting him street cred with Blacks isn’t really about Black people. He’s telling his followers “I’m not racist,” and by extension, “and neither are you.” while reinforcing their racist stereotypes. It’s actually kind of clever, in a perverted sort of way.
@gVOR10: The denial of racism and the desire for validation from minorities is, I believe, one of the more underappreciated components of the modern right-wing worldview. Trump may express it in the cringiest way possible, but it didn’t start with him; it goes back a long way.
@gVOR10: @Kylopod:
It’s all part of his schtick of trying to get people to identify with him. He tells white audiences he’s just like them, only rich. He tells Black audiences about his mugshot and indictments, because they can relate to that. Plus he also claims to Black people that he’s persecuted, just like them.
@Kylopod:
I see that as one of the big asymmetries between the right and left these days. Most of the progressives I know are repulsed by conservatives and want nothing to do with them. Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to have this weird jealousy of the left and seem to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to come up with ways of forcing the left to adore them.
@CSK: I’m not sure how, but this reminds me of the observation that Trump is like a hobo’s version of a rich person.
@Kevin:
It was John Mulaney, from a 2009 routine. I remembered the comparison during the recent gold-sneaker event.
@Stormy Dragon:
There are a lot of ways this is true. On some level I think there’s a resentment that liberals dominate show biz, which may help explain their worship for both Trump and Reagan.
I was thinking of it from a different angle, which is their obsession with proving that Dems are the true racists. Racism to them is never a serious issue, it’s an accusation you lob at the other side. So when they decry the left’s “racist” attacks on Clarence Thomas or Tim Scott or Ramaswamy or whomever, they aren’t speaking from outrage, they’re speaking from one-upmanship: I know you are but what am I? Mommy, Jimmy called me a poo-poo-head, but he’s the real poo-poo-head!
As a result, they’ll latch onto whatever minorities are willing to give them that validation, from the few political figures they have to actual celebs like Kanye, Snoop, and so on.
@Kevin: @Kylopod:
Well, it’s true. Trump IS a poor person’s idea of a rich person. His taste is garish, which is one of the many reasons why he never fulfilled his primary ambition, which was to be welcomed into the upper reaches of Manhattan society. He’s loud, he’s vulgar, he’s a braggart, and a boor, all of which are anathema to the haut monde.
Running for the presidency is his way of getting revenge against the bluebloods who spurned him.
@CSK: Remember the comparisons between Trump and Rodney Dangerfield in films like Caddyshack and Back to School? But Rodney’s characters never gave a fuck what anyone thought of him. That’s what made him awesome. Trump’s fans see Trump in that light, but it’s pure delusion. His pathological neediness is the polar opposite of the Dangerfield archetype.
@Kylopod:
Indeed. Trump is desperate to be loved and admired. Unfortunately for him, the people who love and admire him are the ones he most despises.
Turley adopted the time-honored tactic of claiming “Joke! It was a joke! You slow-witted bovines don’t understand the sophisticated humor of the law professoriate!”
I bet when he gets together with conservative Supreme Court justices, they laugh until tears roll down their cheeks.