dagblog - Comments for "The Geography of Partisan Prejudice"

Striking extreme trolling by

artappraiser — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 18:30:25 +0000

In reply to The Geography of Partisan Prejudice

Striking extreme trolling by some GOP members in New Hampshire legislature:

New Hampshire lawmaker who wore pearls while gun violence survivors tearfully testified about personal tragedies says ⁦@MomsDemand volunteers⁩ - his constituents - need to “get over themselves.” #NHPolitics https://t.co/AaHU0PZPit
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 6, 2019

What is the most strange about it is they have the confidence that someone/something's got their back. I don't see how a majority of voters, even in the "live free or die" state, would think this is cute. It is such overkill. seems so counterproductive, to dis any constituents this way, picking on victims that label themselves as "moms" (apple pie et. al.) there are many more subtle ways they could achieve minimizing their testimony.

I think this is definitely a Trump effect, it's as if they think they are invincible. Is the NRA this stupid? I would think not.

the article's main point is

artappraiser — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 02:32:42 +0000

In reply to The Geography of Partisan Prejudice

the article's main point is that a sort of cultural political affiliation on the Overton window appears to have replaced other things that used to signify identity. Near the end this sentence sort of sums things up. Politics are becoming a proxy battle for other deep divisions that have almost nothing to do with environmental regulation or tax policies.

This moves on from that. Pointing out that the divisions, they are not real as to affecting policy and as to the things politicians can actually do or fix or accomplish.

This is a great essay by @superwuster https://t.co/y0dyWd0NxE
— Steven W. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) March 5, 2019

This brings me to: the divisiveness. I think it is just about cultural attitudes, culture wars issues. (In a way, is it really so dumb to use stance on culture wars issues to judge friends and who you want to marry? Surely it is an improvement over judging by DNA-based ethnic tribe.)This is why I think it is so important to just say no to politicians who troll culture wars. Any with brains know they can't force the culture to change with laws, they are just cynically using it as a wedge and a distraction whenever they need one. The divisiveness happens when they troll the public with culture wars issues, was the same, just not as extreme, with the Gingrich "Revolution": making a coalition with the "Moral Majority"/Family Values crew. And everytime they needed a distraction, amp them up with a Terry Schiavo case or start talking about feminazis or Hillary coming with her village to tell you what to do with your kids. One thing I always found intriguing about Shrub Bush, he was forced to make friendly with them, but it was well known and even reported that being a natural party guy and all, he didn't like it, he loathed having to pander to them. And he won re-election, he won enough swings. I think that is how: by being reluctant to do culture wars, by being mostly jovial to all and sundry.

Big cavaet: I am talking about national office in the last paragraph. When it comes to districts basically gerrymandered to culture wars specifications, all this doesn't apply. Hence the House is always a screaming mess of divisiveness.

Polls create a caricature and

ocean-kat — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 08:46:50 +0000

In reply to er, my favorite paragraph,

Polls create a caricature and a very uncomplicated one at that. They often give inaccurate information. 8 in 10 see hate speech as a concern. Half might see liberal complaints about christians as the hate speech they're concerned about. This was evident with polls about Obamacare. While a majority were against Obamacare, poll numbers used often politically by republicans, later polls dug deeper and it turned out half of those opposing Obamacare wanted the evil socialistic program ended and half didn't think it went far enough and wanted single payer.

Polls can be interesting and can give us some insight into the thinking of the public but they must be carefully considered. I'm more concerned with what's actually happening in reality. Most Americans are worried about the deficit? Then why do they keep voting in politicians they know will pass a massive tax cut mostly for the wealthy and corporations. That wasn't some secret the republicans hid from the voters. It was a campaign promise and any one with an ounce of intelligence knew the tax cut would explode the deficit. They believe abortion should be legal? Then why do they keep voting in politicians that proudly promise to end the practice. There are laws in several states to ban abortion designed to kick in if Roe is overturned. Barring that there are constant laws that fall just short of a Supreme Court decision against them that are closing abortion clinics and making it harder and harder for a women to make that choice.

I just don't care what people say in polls. Either to often polls are badly designed, the conclusions people draw from them aren't supported by the data, or something more important is happening that the poll aren't catching. Polls don't seem to be giving us a good picture of what's happening and why.

I scored 2.3 or "very

PeraclesPlease — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 07:53:26 +0000

In reply to er, my favorite paragraph,

I scored 2.3 or "very conservative" on the Vox test - on my way to becoming a good Republican.
Of course the test is bullshit - I was just getting good at picking the categories they provided -
who knows why they think that's indicative.

er, my favorite paragraph,

artappraiser — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 07:29:23 +0000

In reply to The Geography of Partisan Prejudice

er, my favorite paragraph, natch:

The irony is that Americans remain in agreement on many actual issues. Eight out of 10 Americans think that political correctness is a problem; the same number say that hate speech is a concern too. Most Americans are worried about the federal budget deficit, believe abortion should be legal in some or all cases, and want stricter gun regulation. Nevertheless, we are more and more convinced that the other side poses a threat to the country. Our stereotypes have outpaced reality, as stereotypes tend to do.

and this is a close second:

Conflict and protest are vital to democracy. But whenever people begin to caricature one another, anywhere in the world, predictable tragedies occur. Fixable problems do not get fixed. Neighbors become estranged, embittered, and sometimes violent. Everyone ends up worse off, sooner or later. “This is the great danger America faces,” Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas said in 1976. “That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.” [....] “Just like with race, the problem is that when people stereotype, they miss the variation within a group,” says Stanford University’s Neil Malhotra, who has researched political behavior for more than a decade. Fundamentally, partisan prejudice is another way for one group of humans to feel superior to another.