Patterico's Pontifications

12/22/2021

Hey, Wealthy White Liberals, You Might Want To Stop Helping The MAGA Train Gain Steam

Filed under: General — Dana @ 10:48 am



[guest post by Dana]

Wealthy, white New York liberal gets angry and smears poor people in a red state. Haven’t we seen this show before? I don’t normally pay attention to what Bette Midler says about anything, but given that she not only insulted everyone in the state of West Virginia but also echoed Hillary Clinton’s big campaign gaffe in 2016, I think it’s worth a look-see. Especially when one considers how Clinton later regretted insulting so many Americans seeing how she helped fire up the MAGA crowd. And we know how that story ended…

Here is Midler’s tweet:

And as a reminder, here is what Clinton said at a deep-pocket fundraiser during her 2016 campaign:

We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?

The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that.

While Midler is not running for public office, her tone and sentiment are similar to Clinton’s. From their lofty monied perches, they both smeared a large swath of the population, and as we saw with Clinton and are now seeing with Midler (judging by the angry responses), Americans don’t like to be told they are less than. Whether it’s West Virginia or New York (remember Ted Cruz’s “New York values” gaffe?), no one likes to be publicly lumped into a giant insult made by powerful elites. It only serves to foment anger and resentment while confirming already-held beliefs about how they are viewed by the more privileged set. Worse, it is this sort of sneer that helped propel a Trump victory in 2016. You’d think Democrats would get that by now. After all, they had front row seats to the unintended consequences when one of their own hurled a mean insult at a far less powerful group of Americans.

Although Midler is not a political figure, her attitude toward those outside of her political, cultural, and economic orbit is similar to Clinton’s in that it serves to reinforce Trump supporters’ assertions in 2016, and perhaps even in 2024, that Trump was/is the only one willing to fight for them. So, wealthy, white liberal elites, you might want to get off your high horses and think twice before insulting the entire population of a red state. That is unless you want to help the MAGA crowd assume White House power again.

Midler later apologized for her insult. Well, sort of:

See, the thing is: she continues to insult West Virginians because they are the very ones who continue to vote Joe Manchin into office.

And I’ll just leave this right here:

literacy rates

–Dana

21 Responses to “Hey, Wealthy White Liberals, You Might Want To Stop Helping The MAGA Train Gain Steam”

  1. My kingdom for a middle-of-the-road, smart, and experienced candidate for 2024.

    Dana (5395f9)

  2. Midler later apologized for her insult. Well, sort of:

    See, the thing is: she continues to insult West Virginians because they are the very ones who continue to vote Joe Manchin into office.

    Even then she’s only apologizing to the “good people” of WV. I’m guessing in her mind that’s what, five or six people?

    frosty (f27e97)

  3. In 2016, Hillary Clinton was speaking to donors, trying to reinforce in them a feeling of superiority.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  4. I think I scale numeracy a little differently.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  5. My kingdom for a middle-of-the-road, smart, and experienced candidate for 2024.

    60% of the vote if it’s the real thing and not aligned with either party. Isn’t it time we kicked these crap artists to the curb?

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  6. See, the thing is: she continues to insult West Virginians because they are the very ones who continue to vote Joe Manchin into office.

    Despite him being a Democrat in an R+23 state.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  7. As much as I like Ronald Reagan, I am afraid one of his principal legacies is that now every celeb believes that they are qualified, nay, required, to deliver their ignorant opinions and make us listen.

    Really, what was the last smart political thing you saw in some showbiz figure’s tweet? (I am including Trump in that group).

    Appalled (1a17de)

  8. @7. Really, what was the last smart political thing you saw in some showbiz figure’s tweet? (I am including Trump in that group).

    Clint Eastwood
    @ClintEastwo_
    ·
    Nov 30, 2020
    Pic shows Biden press secretary wearing hammer and sickle hat with official

    “Red” on red. 😉

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  9. Midler is 76.
    Biden is 79.
    Pelosi is nearly 82.

    The “DC-3”: old, gassy, sputters and backfires.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  10. The ‘Divine Miss M’ herself was educated in the hollows nd backwoods of… Hawaii. She’s a mixed ‘bag’: For instance, from her wikibio:

    ‘In 2001 after 9/11, [Midler] established programs run by her foundation which help wounded service members and their families by providing them resources, including custom homes. One of these programs helps service members recovering from trauma, injury, and loss. Also, since the first Gulf War she visits the USO and military bases to show her gratitude to service members by serving them meals just before deployment.’ -source, wikibugleboyofcompanyBette.noise

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  11. The democrat party is going progressive/leftist. The progressive/left base wants AOC leading the party not biden schumer pelosi establishment corporatists. They don’t care if they lose the 2022 election as long as they control the party. Older black women mostly in the south gave clinton then biden the nomination caution.

    asset (ecdceb)

  12. Midler/Fonda/2024

    mg (8cbc69)

  13. The thing is that for about four generations now, “poor, illiterate and strung out” better describes the “social spending” segment of the Democratic Party than it does Appalachian ridgerunners. Not too mention what does the washed-up old harpy know about anything, anyway?

    nk (1d9030)

  14. Those darn 81 million…

    BuDuh (7712d0)

  15. Wow she really hit the MAGA types right in their insecurities.

    Who know the start of Hocus Pocus has this much clout?

    Time123 (9f42ee)

  16. Joe tells ABC News if he’s in the health he has today he’ll run again.

    … and Putin smiled.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  17. I think it was Senator Patrick Moynihan who famously pointed out that US schools correlate success in literacy with proximity to the Canadian border. Today’s image/map confirms that observation.

    Now, if you only compare “at risk” students (as defined by Ted Kennedy’s “No Child Left Behind” rules) schools in the US South produce higher levels of literacy than schools in the north. The “at risk” kids start behind the general population — and never catch up, thank you NEA — but advance farther in the right direction than “at risk” kids in, say, Wisconsin or Illinois. Very odd, that.

    pouncer (6c33cf)

  18. Memo to Bette:

    You don’t need batteries to experience “that Wheeling Feeling,” old girl.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  19. Wondering why Fulton County seems to be getting nowhere with its investigation of Trump’s calls to the Georgia Secretary of State? Here’s a lot of paragraphs on the subject.

    Basic takeaway — they aren’t going to indict him. If they were, they would have done it months ago.

    Appalled (1a17de)

  20. 15– So all the Dems who criticized her for it are MAGA types, too?

    I see it more as another entitled leftist who can’t fathom why her side doesn’t get its way all the time.

    Factory Working Orphan (fcb19d)

  21. ANCHOR: “The vice president said in recent days that you didn’t see Delta coming, that you didn’t see Omicron coming. How did you get it wrong?”

    BIDEN: “Ha ha ha”

    https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1473802451853590528

    Biden says they didn’t see Omicron coming. His science advisers say they did. Which is it?

    https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1473800017819451392

    Stupid MAGA types..

    BuDuh (4a7846)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0880 secs.