The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 22, 2017, 02:50:40 pm ---What was it about the story that frightened you, friend Jeff? Was it the language the Trump supporters used when they said they were going to deliver Colorado to Trump: "We're going to start on the Western Slope and do a sweep east and color it red"?
I've overheard such language from my Republican son-in-law and my daughter. I was alarmed at first but then I realized it was all bluster.
There is a larger question related to this that I will ask you over on your blog, if that's okay.
--- End quote ---
I don't really care about their political opinions (well, actually I do), but the threats to journalists, the adoption of Trump's idiocy about fake news--even in a small-town/home-town newspaper, but especially the general lack of civility and threats of violence--especially threats of violence against people who disagree with you--for which I hold Trump responsible--that frighten me. If we had a Bastille, these people sound like they'd be ready to storm it.
If Trump were removed from office in any way, I would advise the people of Denver and Boulder to lay in ammunition because I really fear there could or would be violence against Democrats. And I ain't jokin'.
(Incidentally, I don't think it was the last-minute e-mail revelations that cost Hillary the election. I think it was the "deplorables" remark. How such an otherwise intelligent and politically savvy woman could make such a stupid remark is entirely beyond me. It was like that remark that Mitt Romney made about the 98%, or whatever it was.)
As for my blog, if what you wish to discuss is political, I'd rather you didn't. If you want to say something about the loss of civility in politics, that would be OK.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on July 22, 2017, 03:18:45 pm ---(Incidentally, I don't think it was the last-minute e-mail revelations that cost Hillary the election. I think it was the "deplorables" remark. How such an otherwise intelligent and politically savvy woman could make such a stupid remark is entirely beyond me. It was like that remark that Mitt Romney made about the 98%, or whatever it was.)
--- End quote ---
The phrase was ill-considered, but I don't think she was referring to average Trump supporters, like FRiend Lee's daughter for example. I think she was referring to members of the sexist/Islamophobic/white supermacist alt-right, like Steve Bannon and the since-disgraced Milo Yiannopoulis. In which case, I agree with her. Those people are deplorable (actually, the part of that phrase I hate the most is "basket of" -- hunh?). But she didn't make the distinction clear enough.
Still, I think her downfall was that too many people just Don't Like Hillary. Often for reasons I think are sexist or ridiculous -- she's been investigated so many times for so many supposed scandals and always come clean, which leads many people to think she must have done something shady, rather than that she's been under a microscope for 20 years, so if there were anything truly scandalous we'd know by now. I even think it's possible she has done some semi-questionable but not outright illegal things -- but compared to Trump she's practically saintly.
I don't know many conservatives, but the closest I heard among my right-leaning friends and acquaintances was that they hated both candidates but hated Hillary more. I'm not sure what they think now. If we're friends, I prefer to avoid the topic.
Especially after my one coworker friend said she voted for Trump and then later in the same conversation said why can't we have a healthcare system like Canada's. "Why don't you ask your conservative friends?" I said. She was dumbfounded. "No Republicans voted for Obamacare," she said, which is true, but ignores the fact that Obamacare would have been a lot stronger -- and more Canada-like -- if Obama didn't weaken it to placate Republicans. My coworker is a perfectly intelligent woman who I enjoy talking to otherwise, but who apparently does not pay nearly enough attention to the news.
Front-Ranger:
So, now the Denver Post makes the schism between urban and rural Colorado its front page Sunday edition story: Colorado Divide, while The New Yorker and the Washington Post have already covered it. I suppose this story will crop up in other states too. The situation in Colorado is more dramatic since the Continental Divide separates Denver/Boulder from the more rural areas.
But I think the whole story is oversimplified and blown out of proportion. In the case of Colorado, how do you explain Aspen or Telluride? They're rural but even more liberal than Denver. There are also Colorado Springs and Pueblo, large metro areas that are really quite conservative. No, Grand Junction is an anomaly because of its dependence on the oil and gas industry. Working around oil and gas seems to make people become conservative. Is it the fumes? :laugh:
I don't think my daughter is your average Trump supporter. She was educated, after all, at Boulder's Colorado University and is a Millennial. There are so few Millennials in the Republican Party that she has rocketed to star status. I came in a few days ago to babysit for her and she was applying false fingernails. I didn't say anything but wondered why a mother who washes baby bottles and changes diapers would want to wear false fingernails. It turned out that she was preparing to go to a photo shoot where her portrait would be taken for the cover of Colorado Politics Magazine.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 24, 2017, 08:57:27 am ---But I think the whole story is oversimplified and blown out of proportion. In the case of Colorado, how do you explain Aspen or Telluride? They're rural but even more liberal than Denver. There are also Colorado Springs and Pueblo, large metro areas that are really quite conservative. No, Grand Junction is an anomaly because of its dependence on the oil and gas industry. Working around oil and gas seems to make people become conservative. Is it the fumes? :laugh:
--- End quote ---
I would suspect that Aspen is the anomaly here, not Grand Junction. Think of all the outside money that has made it a playground for the rich and ... rich. Money, especially lots of money, makes a difference. I wouldn't be surprised if even "the ordinary people" whose jobs cater to the rich outsiders who come to Aspen are doing a lot better financially than the average inhabitant of Grand Junction.
Have you spoken with OCD about the week he was recently stuck there?
And Grand Junction, unlike Telluride, does not have a world famous film festival.
Front-Ranger:
Are you saying that rich people are more liberal???? I did not know that. (That's what I say to my children/grandchildren when they tell me something off the wall.)
Yes, I agree that Aspen is an anomaly. Telluride too, but not for its film festival (actually Telluride has many film festivals, music festivals, and every other kind of festival). Colorado is full of anomalies, towns famous for their eccentricities. Denver and Grand Junction are probably the most homogenous, though, the one on the right and the other on the left (figuratively, and literally if you look at them from the North Pole).
But Denver is a fairly large city and can't be lumped in with Boulder. Colorado elected a Republican Senator last year and we are grappling with the brown noser Cory Gardner who is largely responsible for getting that seat-stealer Neal Gorsuch into the Supreme Court. Colorado is a purple state and Denver is a purple town. There are many baskets of Ds all around and they aren't all in the boondocks.
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