Funny (but not surprising) how John McWhorter in today's NYT (link at the end) took my quote about Daniel Penny's killing of Jordan Neely and proceeded to "rebut" it while ignoring two-thirds of what I claimed, and the argument underlying the other third. A 🧵... 2/ First, I called Penny a "racist, classist, ableist murderer." I said it. I meant it. I stand by it. Interestingly, McWhorter ignored the classism and ableism pieces altogether, even though I deliberately included them and view the three things as intersectional here...

I don't think going on Joe Rogan would have helped Harris. But if it's true that progressive staffers were the reason she didn't -- because they think it's beneath her, or would provoke backlash -- those staffers are puritanical idiots. A brief 🧵... 2/ I detest progressives who think we shouldn't "legitimize" folks like Rogan by appearing on his show. Um, hey precious, don't know if you noticed but he doesn't need our legitimacy. He has the biggest podcast in the world so...

Folks blaming wokeness for Harris's defeat are hilarious in their ignorance. She did not run on a woke platform. She ran on protecting the border, owning a gun, being a prosecutor, loving capitalism, and rarely talked about anything related to racism, sexism, etc... 2/ The fact that the right decided to tag her w/the label of identity politics is on THEM. It's what they do to Dems whether they are people of color or not, bc MAGA's politic is about white racial resentment and male grievance and Dems are the cause of it all in their mind...

MAGA White people are the biggest purveyors of victimhood in America. Always whining about what other people (especially people of color) are doing to them, and rarely taking personal responsibility for their lives. A 🧵... 2/ And so, let us count the ways MAGA whites think they've been victimized or "held down" by people of color, shall we? By:

-- DEI efforts and affirmative action;
-- Critical Race Theory;
-- Immigration (but only by brown and Black folks)...

For those white liberals talking about how they're "mourning," "in shock," and afraid...FFS buck up. I was just in KC at the 17th Annual Urban Summit, w/ a couple hundred Black folk and they are NOT crying or cowering. They are down to fight, like they've always had to. A 🧵... 2/ This is what makes me crazy about white libs/progressives. They do this thing where they get surprised whenever America (the noun) decides to America (the verb). But Black folks have been watching America America for 400+ years...

For those who suggest the big problem for the Dems was information silos -- the fact that Trump targeted livestreamers/podcasters/YouTubers -- and that's where a lot of people, especially young people get info, that's true, but, there's something to consider. A 🧵... 2/ First off, it wasn't Gen Z that delivered the WH to Trump. It wasn't. Yes, Trump did better there than usual but it was really Gen X (my gen) that did this, for reasons I've discussed before. It makes sense. Gen X sorta sucks, however much we like to brag about ourselves...

Anyone who thinks Trump's win was a "mandate" or landslide, let alone the biggest in 40 years as Tucker Carlson said, is a fool or liar. It isn't close to Obama's wins, or even Clinton's in the EC. Though a clear win, it wasn't an endorsement of his key policies. A 🧵... 2/ So, for instance, voters in states he carried overwhelmingly voted to overturn abortion bans, meaning they didn't endorse the MAGA position on that issue. Same with immigration. Check the exit polls...

People on this platform can be blindingly stupid. Both the MAGAts (obviously) and some Harris backers. Claims of "15 million" (or 10m or 20m) "missing" D voters are fueling conspiracy theories on the left, and the older one from the right about 2020, and both are idiotic. A 🧵... 2/ On the left, some insist the votes were "erased" by Elon's Starlink, or flipped to Trump, or some other nonsense. On the right, MAGA is claiming the falloff "proves" 2020 was stolen and those 15-20m votes were not real, thus, 2024 is more a reflection of true D support in 20..

Let's say there were 2 candidates for President who might win. And on EVERY major issue they agreed but one supported something you found morally reprehensible and destructive and the other didn't. The only rational choice is to vote for that second candidate...A 🧵... 2/ So even if they agreed on taxes, regulation, trade, immigration, foreign policy/militarism and education policy, if one supported restricting women's reproductive autonomy and one didn't, it would make sense, if you're pro-choice, to make THAT the deciding issue...

I'm going to go through this tariff/income tax swap nonsense slowly, because Trump and Joe Rogan make it seem simple, probably because neither of them understand how tariffs or taxes work. A 🧵... 2/ So first, the entire point of tariffs is to be inflationary. Very inflationary, when it comes to imports. So for people who scream about inflation, just wait...And I know, you'll say "yeah but if income taxes are gone it'll be worth it!" Mmm-k, I'll come back to that...

Of all the bad arguments from the left for not voting for Harris over one or another left priority, the most absurd is this: "We should hold Democrats to a higher standard because they SAY they're about justice/equality/peace, etc. We don't expect anything from the GOP!" A 🧵... 2/ The underlying premise here is that hypocrisy is the greatest crime, politically. That it's worse to profess progressive principles and violate them than to just be a fascist from the jump. How precious. Shall we explore the illogic behind this thinking?...

There is nothing MAGA won't blame on people of color. Nothing. Not because people of color are to blame for any of those things, but because divide and conquer is all MAGA knows. So, let us review. A 🧵... 1/ Unemployed? It's bc an immigrant of color or Black person took 'your job.'
2/ Taxes too high? It's bc of 'welfare payments' (presumed to mostly go to people of color). Never mind the contradiction of saying 'they take all the jobs' but also rely on welfare rather than work...

It's odd when people talk about the white male non-college vote being so strong for Trump, as if the part doing the work there was the lack of college. Um, the clear majority of folks of color w/o degrees (including men) don't vote that way. Y'all are burying the lede. A🧵... 2/ Likewise, we hear about the white evangelical vote for Trump, as if the evangelical part were the key. But Black evangelicals and other extremely religious folks of color don't vote that way...

Wait, JD Vance...how can low-wage immigrants both drive down the wage base of the labor force AND be to blame for inflation? I mean, this is some sorta basic stuff, which even a Hillbilly venture capitalist should be able to understand. btw, they aren't to blame for either actually...real wages are actually rising even as America has become "browner" in part due to immigration, and inflation would be far worse if employers couldn't find workers bc the working age population among native born folks is far older

This JD Vance spin on the dog/cat eating story is absurd. He's trying to say "listen, my constituents have said this is happening...like 5 people! It needs to be looked into!" Sure, no evidence, bc "people are saying," just like with voter fraud. No proof but "vibes..." A 🧵... 2/ Look, it's simple: if 5 Black families called Vance's office and said MAGA flag waving white guys were harassing them or threatening them in public, I doubt seriously Vance would spread memes about white racists being racist, just bc "muh constituents said it's a thing..."

It's wild seeing MAGA folks attack the DOJ for indicting actual Neo-Nazi terrorists today. The default seems to be either a) there are no Neo-Nazis, it's all a myth, or b) the group is made up of Feds, or c) they may be racists but they weren't really plotting violence...A 🧵... 2/ This inability of right wingers to admit there are violent extremists on their side who hate people based on race/religion/sexuality and are willing to kill is fascinating. Rather than condemn them and say "we reject those kinds of people" they pretend they aren't real...

The right's dislike of IVF is more evil than most realize. Most people think they oppose it bc of 'extra' embryos destroyed once a successful implantation occurs, as if the main issue for them is the 'destruction of human life.' But that's not really their main concern. A 🧵... 2/ Sure, that's an issue for some. But there's a bigger motivation beneath their contempt for IVF: namely, the belief that women use it for selfish reasons: to delay childbearing for career pursuits, which takes them away from their "natural function" as breeders and moms...

The right can make fun of the Harris/Walz "joy" theme all they want, but what they miss about this critique is telling, and demonstrates how they've managed to paint themselves in a corner for years. And now, it's one they can't get out of. A 🧵... 2/ So for years, what has the right been telling us about Dems, liberals, the left, etc? That we're all a bunch of scowling, PC, humorless scolds who never smile bc we're so busy hating everyone and everything. We can't take a joke, laugh, etc. We're bitter, dour, etc...

The whole uproar over the "white people tacos" thing with Tim Walz and Kamala Harris is a great example of how lots of white folks just lack the ability to laugh at ourselves. It's not "racist against white people" to say what Walz said, FFS. A 🧵... 2/ Self-deprecation (not the same as self-hatred) is a positive personality trait. It's a key component of empirically funny comedy, and what separates the often mean-spirited snark of Bill Maher or Dennis Miller from the actual and effective irony of Jon Stewart or Colbert...

People who spend precious moments of their lives policing the boundaries of race, gender, sex, nationality, and ethnicity do so because of their own insecurities and desire to marginalize others. It has always been this way. A 🧵... 2/ White folks used this kind of identity policing to determine who could be enslaved and who could not, who would be "black" or "white" under Jim Crow, who was indigenous under the Dawes Act (blood quantum is a white notion largely meant to limit indigenous land rights)...

The right wing focus on birth rates and the need to boost them (but let's face it, they only mean among white women) is fascinating and disturbing, for what it says about their actual plans for women moving forward...A 🧵... 2/ To begin, there is no doubt that a decline in birth rates CAN be problematic for an economy. And especially when you couple it with anti-immigrant bigotry that restricts the number of working age people who can enter your country when your own population is aging...