Share this page!

Seth Cotlar Profile picture
Twitter logo
16 Dec, 5 tweets, 1 min read
I thought Kentucky was still in the United States. I didn’t realize they had split off into a country named after a New York City real estate developer. washingtonpost.com/politics/in-tr…
Not trying to be the language police here, but the language we use both reflects and shapes reality. Note how weird it would sound to refer to Massachusetts as “Biden Country,” though he won there by a margin similar to Trump’s in KY.
The term “Trump County” is deeply authoritarian. Trump’s iteration of the GOP does pose an authoritarian threat to American democracy, but journalists don’t have to give them an assist by legitimizing and normalizing their messed up terminology.
I grew up in rural PA, in a place now called “Trump Country,” affectionately by some residents, derisively by others. The 30-40% of people there who did not vote for Trump understand that the terminology is bullying intended to silence and delegitimize them.
Let me make this point differently. Many critics of Trump refer to “Trump Country” as “the MAGA cult.” Would the WaPo use that terminology in a headline on a news story? I think they wouldn’t, and shouldn’t.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Seth Cotlar

Seth Cotlar Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @SethCotlar

Seth Cotlar Profile picture
18 Dec
Here are some screenshots from a story about a right wing publication that was read by a few hundred thousand Americans weekly. The themes might sound familiar to watchers of today's right.
The article is from 1979, and it's about "The Spotlight" published by the Liberty Lobby. ImageImage
The full text. I've gotten more interested in The Spotlight (which had a significantly larger readership than the National Review at the time) because it was the particular favorite of Walter Huss, the Reaganite chair of the Oregon GOP in 1978. washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…
The other interesting thing about The Spotlight is that it was VERY into alternative medicine, and was VERY suspicious of established medical professionals and authority. Very similar to the anti-mask and anti-vaxx right today. Image
Read 7 tweets
Seth Cotlar Profile picture
13 Dec
Gloria Young from Bakerstown, PA, dropping what some today might derisively call Critical Race Theory on the readers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5 September 1956. "I feel shame for my white countrymen."
I'm not going to show the full image, but this is the story that Gloria saw in the September 1 edition of the paper that inspired her to write that letter.
As a youth, I was taught to think of the civil rights movement & school integration as stories of black bravery, which they were. But they were also stories of white rage, of thousands & thousands of ordinary ppl who took it upon themselves to stand athwart history yelling stop.
Read 8 tweets
Seth Cotlar Profile picture
12 Dec
That terrible “Reconstruction was a mistake” piece, published in Pat Buchanan’s old rag, that’s making the rounds today reminds me of this 1968 conversation between George Wallace and Bill Buckley.
Bill Buckley calls Reconstruction a “systematic exploitation of the South” and “the worst period in our history” after noting that two of his great-grandfathers fought for the Confederacy. Maybe I’m weird, but I guess I’d say, um, *slavery* was worse than Reconstruction? 🤷‍♂️
So let’s have none of this “conservative elites used to have a far less racist understanding of American History” stuff today, mmmmkay.
Read 6 tweets
Seth Cotlar Profile picture
11 Dec
In 1939, when Chuck Grassley and Diane Feinstein were six years old, 10% of Americans (13 million people if the Roper poll was accurate) thought Jews should be deported. 53% said they should face "some restrictions." Only 39% said they should be treated the same as any American.
I mentioned those two senators just for perspective. This was in living memory. This was the generation that raised the boomers, and were the grandparents of Gen X.
Antisemitism is just one manifestation of a broader thread of illiberalism that courses through US history and politics. Don’t be fooled into thinking bigotry (of this and other forms) is some irrelevant vestige of a dead past.
Read 4 tweets
Seth Cotlar Profile picture
11 Dec
There were pictures of David Duke in a Nazi uniform and a KKK uniform publicly circulating in 1991 and yet the majority of white Louisianans voted for him for Governor...just in case you were wondering what past sins US voters have been willing to overlook.
It would be interesting to know how many of those Duke voters who were fine with his past in 1991, were completely unwilling to forgive Obama in 2008 for once going to an event at the home of Bill Ayres.
Duke got 56% of the vote of whites with family incomes under $15,000, 63% of those making from $15,000 to $29,999, 60% of those making from $30,000 to 49,999, 49% of those making from $50,000 to $74,999, and 34% percent of those with incomes $75,000 and over.
Read 5 tweets
Seth Cotlar Profile picture
10 Dec
I watched the NYTimes 40 minute video reconstructing the events of January 6 with students and one of their main takeaways was how close things got to being much much worse. They audibly gasped when Pence and the nuclear codes were quickly hustled out of the chamber.
Another take away was the cognitive dissonance of watching self-described “patriots” marauding through the hallowed halls of the US Capitol like drunk college students trashing the student center after a lost football game.
They’d all watched January 6 in real time and had found it disturbing. But seeing the bloodthirsty rage of the crowd up close like you do in that video really brought home the seriousness of purpose that drove these folks.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @SethCotlar has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @SethCotlar!

Read all threads by @SethCotlar

:(