by Spocko
It seems like everyone’s talking about angry white men (AWM) these days. Who are they? What are they angry about and why do we have to get off their lawns?
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| Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images) |
The politicians want to know the answers to these questions so they can get their votes. The mainstream media want to talk about them to help the non-angry white men understand why they must be appeased–instead of all others.
Fox News and right-wing radio just straight up pander to them. They also need to create more, since their viewers are dying off.
(Speaking of dying off, fun fact: If you compare two people with equivalent schooling and income, the Trump supporter will be the sick fat one. I’m not making this up. See WaPo study under the health subhead.)
I was listening to Micheal Kimmel on Marketplace talking about his book, “Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era, which came out in 2013. He has talked to several hundred of these guys and described them as having, “aggrieved entitlement.” (Doesn’t that sound like a joint problem? “Uncle Joe has traveling lumbago–with aggrieved entitlement.”)
“They were right to be angry, they had been badly done by.” What he wanted to say to them–but couldn’t because he was the interviewer–was, “Do you really think that it was immigrants who issued those predatory loans that forced you to sell your house or leave it in the middle of the night? Do you think it was feminist women who are responsible for climate change? Do you think it was LGBT people who outsourced your job?’ So, I feel that they have a right to be angry but they are delivering their mail to the wrong address.”
Too bad he couldn’t ask the question. But if he had, and they believed him, would he have been able to convince them to direct their angry “mail” to the right address? A great idea, but it’s based on a biased premise.
Kimmel is approaching the men and their opinions about the targets of their anger like a good liberal, which is, “People are basically good. If they knew the truth they would direct their anger at the real villains, not scapegoats!” vs the conservative view which is, “People are no damn good. Take care of yourself and family. Only suckers help others. Don’t let “those” people get something for nothing.”
When Trump loses in November, angry white men are going to take it out on people they believe stopped Trump: Progressives, Democrats and women. They will also go after the people they believe made America crappy for them: immigrants, Muslims, people of color, the LGBT community and of course, the “liberal media.”
They will be angrier than ever. They will feel more “voiceless” since Trump has been saying what they all have been thinking. What form will their attacks take? I expect the usual incoherent rants, bumper stickers and comments in “liberal newspapers.” Of course some will go too far.
The good news is that when these threats go beyond the blowhard scale, we have a mechanism in place to address the issue.
Angry White Thugs With Guns Get Busted
Yesterday I wrote a piece for Crooks and Liars. 2 Bundy Ranch Thugs Who Threatened Feds Going To Jail, about how two of Bundy’s militia buddies didn’t get away with their threats.
I think Cooper’s case is an important one for people to know about. The DoJ got Cooper to roll on all his buddies, thus strengthening the government’s case for the main trials in 2017. The government isn’t the ineffective, incompetent group of lazy idiots the Bundy boosters think they are.
If these militia mooks spent more time on the 1st Amendment vs. the 2nd, they would know that threatening speech isn’t protected speech. They might also know social media can be used against them. Here is Sean Anderson broadcasting from the Bundy Oregon stand-off. Link
When the angry white men with guns start with their violent threats after the Trump loss, we have a plan to follow. It involves evidence, arrests, and public trials. There will be convictions and appropriate punishment. They won’t get to go down as noble, patriotic martyrs –but as bullies and criminals.
What is ironic is that for years they said Obama was going to arbitrarily take their guns. When they finally lose them, as well as their freedom of movement, it will all have been done legally and after due process.