I'm sorry, I'm educated

Some opinion molders in the political realm like to think their columns have an effect on public perceptions. It's a common attribute of journalists. Sometimes they may change a few minds — more likely advisors of political candidates — but that's just a misconstruction of what's going on especially in the 24/7 news cycle where personalities dominate not ideas. It seems to be a common frailty of opinion writers on either side of the janissary divide. Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times is no different. Though he deserves extolment for publicly calling himself a liberal especially since the entire Democratic Party runs from the word as it eulogizes the social policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the ultimate liberal president. Yet how many working class people read Kristol as much as George F. Will, the libertarian/conservative sesquipedalian? The answer is: Not many on either side. Still, steering the unwashed (or washed) masses toward a grand groupthink path helps pay the bills.

Kristof's recent column "Here's Why We Shouldn't Demean Trump Voters" appears to be an acknowledgment to Trump-supporting neighbors that he's really a good guy or an attempt to head off some explosion of anti-Trump rhetoric to flood the printed and electronic media. From my standpoint as a Joe Blow (I gladly accept the moniker.) the only deluge of anti-Trump sentiment I see is memes online. How they compare to the deluge of anti-Harris/Walz verbiage seems pointless to determine especially since the mainstream media has concluded that it's just Trump being Trump as they ignore serious reporting and discussion of Trump's mental state and personality deformities, or pose the question on a regular basis to Trump supporters: How can you support such a damaged man?

Left out of his condescending column is Kristol's acknowledgement of the physical threats Trump supporters convey to any criticism or pushback of tactics by his campaign. The latest being an Arlington Cemetery employee's fear of bringing charges against a Trump campaign person, a person the media seems reluctant or unable to identify. The examples of Trump supporters threatening or acting against people not amiable to the Trump brand now seems old news to the media despite ongoing happenings. No wonder Kristol uses such sayings as "They deserve empathy, not insults" and don't demonize Trump supporters as "racist bigots." When Trump supporters start banning Nazi flags and other paraphernalia from rallies and Trump stops inviting bigots to dinner, I'll lean more in Kristol's direction.

The boo-hoo aspects of the column got more pronounced when Kristof quoted a Harvard philosopher in reference to class distinctions when condemning Trump supporters. He called it an "avenue for intimidation" and "the last acceptable prejudice." Granted, anyone whether white or black or Latino has (or will) experience class prejudice based on how they dress or talk or the where they live, be it Trump supporter or not. Since the founding of the country and the elevation of the moneyed class to leadership such prejudice has been exercised. Only if the money class has been harmed does the money class act against one of their own, as in Sam Bankman-Fried or Elizabeth Holmes.

It got more ridiculous when Kristoff quoted Bill Clinton about "not demeaning values of those who don't show liberal values." This from the president that bought America NAFTA, which caused corporations to flee American wages and unions for cheap overseas labor, and which later led millions to get behind Trump. At least Kristoff didn't use the Michelle Obama quote where "When they go lower, we go higher." She seems to know better now.

In my life, here in the South, I see little demeaning of Trump supporters. Though repeatedly tempted to engage them, not by insults or name-calling, I just keep doing to my poll worker job, listen to workers confirm their distaste for conventional politics, notice how Black and Latino neighbors keep their heads down and silently laugh at charges of vote stealing. My contacts with other white working-class people in job situations confirm my belief that many are bigoted. They carry blame that can fall like a blanket, on Democrats, on minorities and on government regulation. Their online decisions betray them and their media choices exaggerate their suffering. Solutions fall to other people because facts are undermined.

There's are many different reasons why this country periodically toys with madness. An ill-educated public is one of them. People entertained rather than schooled, permissiveness within an unbalanced economic structure and fear-based religious institutions void of expansive thought seem to weigh heavy on this country's promise. Whatever Kristoff was trying to do with his column beyond just be nice isn't known to me. It's commendable goal but it doesn't work on Trump. Saying he's a neurologically disfigured man is almost being kind. Treating those who support him as wayward children is a mortifying gesture.