In his New York Times column today, titled About the ‘Basket of Deplorables’, Blow addresses the remark by Secretary Clinton that have cause such a firestorm.
He begins in a general fashio:
Let’s get straight to it: Hillary Clinton’s comments Friday at a fund-raiser that half of Donald Trump’s supporters could be put in a “basket of deplorables” wasn’t a smart political play.
Candidates do themselves a tremendous disservice when they attack voters rather than campaigns. Whatever advantage is procured through the rallying of one’s own base is outweighed by what will be read as divisiveness and disdain.
One might interpret “will be read as divisiveness and disdain” as particularly applicable in the case of Clinton, who has been charged as being less than transparent about many things, fairly or not.
But what Blow does next is something one wishes had been part of the COMPLETE discussion over the past few days: he provides the two full paragraphs of her statement, which includes her sympathy for those Trump supporters who are not part of the basket, who are hoping for someone who can change what they see as their diminished lives. That paragraph ends with this sentence:
Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.
One could do an entire column on that 2nd paragraph, and I urge you, if you have not yet encountered it, to go to the column and read it, more than once.
After offering the complete words, Blow, before pivoting, offers the following two brief paragraphs:
That second basket got too little attention. Context doesn’t provide the sizzle on which shock media subsists. Noted.
What Clinton said was impolitic, but it was not incorrect. There are things a politician cannot say. Luckily, I’m not a politician.
And because he is not, Blow continues by being more than blunt, starting by saying
Donald Trump is a deplorable candidate — to put it charitably — and anyone who helps him advance his racial, religious and ethnic bigotry is part of that bigotry. Period
He charges if you support Trump you cannot separate yourself from those aspects of his candidacy, you own them as much as he does. After which he writes:
Furthermore, one doesn’t have to actively hate to contribute to a culture that allows hate to flourish.
It doesn’t matter how lovely your family, how honorable your work or service, how devout your faith — if you place ideological adherence or economic self interest above the moral imperative to condemn and denounce a demagogue, then you are deplorable.
I would suggest that there are certain Republican office-holders who have not denounced Trump who should be feeling the sting of those words.
Blow then cites the polling data that demonstrates the attitudes of so many of Trump’s supporters on positions that certainly most here would find repugnant. He does not cite the percentage that feel freeing the slaves was wrong, perhaps because it was much less than half, but does cite the almost 1/3 support for the internment of those of Japanese during World War II.
By now you should be familiar with this data.
Blow says that the fact of the bigotry demonstrated by a large portion of Trump supporters is indisputable.
But remember, Blow prepared us by saying he is not a politician, which meant he WAS going to “go there” and in his conclusion he does:
I understand that people recoil at the notion that they are part of a pejorative basket. I understand the reflexive resistance to having your negative beliefs disrobed and your sense of self dressed down.
I understand your outrage, but I’m unmoved by it. If the basket fits …
I admit I am somewhat torn.
There is little doubt that the positions supported by a significant portion of Trump supporters. Can one argue that we should criticize the opinion but not the person holding them? In most cases I would agree with that approach.
And yet, I also have to wonder, if we will not bluntly confront those positions AND THOSE WHO STILL HOLD AND ADVOCATE THEM, we have no hope of fully addressing it and beginning to heal what part of it we can.
I appreciate that Blow was willing to take it head on. And I urge you to read the entire column.
One last thing. You may be very surprised at the picture I chose for this posting. In fact, if one remembers how much Hillary Clinton is motivated by the social justice aspects of her faith, if you have paid any attention to how she addresses each individual she encounters along the path of her life, it provides the larger context in which — unless you are determined to bring her down — we should interpret her words and actions. It is the context in which she seems to judge herself, as I think was demonstrated by her explanation the next day of the remarks in which “basket of deplorables” occurred. It is something I tried to address yesterday, in a post titled"She listens, and she cares!" As the Dalai Lama has said, “My religion is kindness.”
To which I would add a thought which was part of my tweeting yesterday. When I look at those for whom Blow’s “If the basket fits ...” seems appropriate, regardless of the percentage, out of kindness what I feel towards them is pity that their lives and their perspectives are so distorted. My anger is addressed at those who will manipulate that for personal or political gain, or who knowing better will not denounce those who do such manipulation or actually believe such hateful things. Blow addresses that in this column as well, which is another reason I wanted to share it.
Peace?