A Giant, Glaring Example of Why Knee-Jerk Accusations of Racism Are Harmful
One point to add to Jonah's Corner post on the fallout from Donald Trump's comments about David Duke and the KKK . . . For decades, and in particular during the Obama administration, Americans have been told by certain African-American leaders and portions of that community that society as a whole is deeply racist and in fact white supremacist. Arguments like "American society is still structured around maintaining and protecting white privilege" are pretty common on the left. Millions of Americans who despite the KKK and all it stands for, and who attempt to treat everyone they encounter with respect, dignity, and Christian charity, get told on a regular basis that they're part of the problem. There's been an indisputable effort to define anybody the Left doesn't like as dangerous and beyond the pale. The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled Ben Carson an "extremist", putting him on the same list as . . . David Duke. The Department of Homeland Security instructed that the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden Flag is "commonly displayed by sovereign American extremists." Most of us have argued against those assertions; knee-jerk accusations of racism and extremism attempt to shut down debate, smear legitimate political arguments and ideas, encourage blame-shifting and scapegoating, and generally leave Americans Balkanized and angry. The shoe salesman in Des Moines is tired of being told he's responsible for the Oscar nominees being so white. But there's another reason relentless and often-baseless accusations of racism and extremism are harmful: they've conditioned people to tune them out. The overload of finger-pointing has left certain corners of American society deaf to accusations of racism and justifiably tired of people with no overt suggestions of white supremacy -- i.e., Donald Trump, who supports affirmative action and at times has had a close working relationship with Al Sharpton -- being demanded, on camera, to renounce people they've never met or would give the time of day. None of this changes the fact that Trump's answer was pretty terrible. When somebody asks, as Jake Tapper did, "Will you unequivocally condemn David Duke and say that you don't want his vote or that of other white supremacists in this election?" the right response is something like, "Screw that guy and the horse he rode in on. I hope they immolate themselves while trying to light up a cross." Trump's answer, once again: Well, just so you understand, I don't know anything about David Duke. Okay? I don't know anything about what you're even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don't know. I don't know, did he endorse me or what's going on, because, you know, I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists. And so you're asking me a question that I'm supposed to be talking about people that I know nothing about. Now, we've all seen Donald Trump denounce people. He might be the single most famous furious denunciator in American life. He makes Gordon Ramsey look patient and even-tempered. And yet somehow, when asked about some of the most deservingly detested figures in modern American life, Trump shrugs and says he doesn't know anything about them. The Consequences of Having a President Who Thinks Things Will Be Easy One of the less-often mentioned objections to Trump is the question of whether he'll be able to do what he wants to do. Take the border wall. A President Trump would be extraordinarily driven to build the wall; failure to complete it or have it nearly completed by the end of his first term in 2020 would be seen as an inexcusable failure. There's a lot of skepticism around Trump's promise that he can get the Mexican government to pay for it. Trump's plan for leverage includes impounding all remittance payments derived from illegal wages. The plan to impound remittances would need to pass Congress, and would need time to take effect. Mexico's going to be extraordinarily reluctant to write a giant check for something that they see as against their economic interest; more importantly, they probably would see President Trump and the wall project as an intolerable insult to their national honor. Trump estimates building a wall would cost $8 billion; others put it at $10.5 billion. Mexico's remittances were $23.6 billion in 2014. Maybe a President Trump would conclude that building the wall is the priority, and he could try to pressure Mexico to pay for it, or a portion of it later. Even if the Mexican president shows up in January 21, 2017, with a check made out to the U.S. Treasury for $10 billion, a President Trump would need Congress to appropriate those funds for the wall construction project. This is conceivable with a Republican Senate and extremely difficult to see happening with a Democratic Senate. Even if Republicans keep control the Senate, Democrats would almost certainly filibuster and use every procedural and parliamentary maneuver in the book to prevent funding of the wall construction. Then the lawsuits will follow; every immigration group in the country will file suit after suit, trying to win injunctions against moving ahead with construction. They'll claim the wall harms the environment. They'll claim the wall is a public-safety and health hazard. They'll claim the wall disrupts legitimate international commerce. The Trump administration is likely to win most of these cases eventually, but all it takes is one judge to create a giant legal headache for the Trump administration. (Of course, it's easy to imagine the Trump administration declaring they don't recognize the court's authority and simply ignoring any court order.) Then, once contractors began building the wall, any construction company involved would be demonized in ways that makes Halliburton and BP look like Mother Teresa. Those companies could expect boycotts, ad campaigns, threats. You'll see protests and sit-ins at the construction sites, and possibly security threats against the project. Wait, we haven't even gotten to the engineering challenges. If you use poured concrete and it doesn't dry correctly in the desert heat, you'll get cracks. (Pre-constructed concrete slabs are probably the better option.) Structural engineers argue that, pulling out all the stops, building the wall would take four years. Eric Trump, Donald's son, is running around telling people, "My father will build the wall so fast, people's heads will spin." The point of all this is not to argue that the U.S. shouldn't build a wall. There are portions of the border where a wall makes sense. It's that this process is going to be extremely difficult, and right now as a candidate, Trump makes it sound like it will be extremely easy. This is a formula for an American electorate that is even more disappointed and angry four years from now. Deductibles Increased in 41 States Under Obamacare Freedom Partners unveils a new "Deductibles Tracker" showing how much deductibles have increased on average, in each state. I know this will shock you, but most people are finding their deductibles are going up and in some cases, way up. Their analysis shows deductibles have increased in 41 states under Obamacare -- in some states like Mississippi, by over $1,000. Seventeen states -- representing over half of total exchange enrollment -- are seeing double-digit spikes. The largest increases were in Mississippi (39 percent), Washington (31 percent), South Carolina (26 percent), Louisiana (24 percent), Florida (23 percent), Minnesota and Vermont (22 percent), Arizona (21 percent), and North Carolina (20 percent). The group asks, justifiably, "The Obama administration is constantly bragging about the amount of insurance cards it's shoving in people's hands. But what good is government-mandated coverage if you can't afford to access it when you actually need it?" In California, the average deductible is up $362 in 2016. Michigan? $492. Washington? $809. Sorry, Floridians, your figure is brutal: the average deductible is up $990 in 2016. Blame the dangerous, high-risk lifestyle of Florida Man. ADDENDA: If you're at CPAC, I'll be speaking Friday at 1 p.m. on a panel entitled "Survive Obamacare; The Secret to Winning Healthcare Freedom" in the Chesapeake room.  | 
Comments
Post a Comment