tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post1476833225722581761..comments2023-11-03T07:05:57.432-04:00Comments on Campaign Tracker: Paul Ryan going to Greenville Monday Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-58336187261281623832012-09-03T16:59:21.542-04:002012-09-03T16:59:21.542-04:00The other component of GOP fakery Ryan exemplifies...The other component of GOP fakery Ryan exemplifies is the notion that a pampered <br />scion of a construction empire who has spent his life supported by government <br />somehow represents the “white working class,” by virtue of the demographics of <br />his gradually gerrymandered blue collar district. I write about this in my book: <br />guys like Ryan (and his Irish Catholic GOP confrere Pat Buchanan) somehow become <br />the political face of the white working class when they never spent a day in <br />that class in their life. Their only tether to it is their remarkable ability to <br />tap into the economic anxiety of working class whites and steer it toward <br />paranoia that their troubles are the fault of “other” people – the slackers and <br />the moochers, Ayn Rand’s famous “parasites.” Since the ’60s, those parasites are <br />most frequently understood to be African American or Latino – but they’re always <br />understood to be the “lesser-than” folks, morally, intellectually and <br />genetically weaker than the rest of us.<br /> <br />Today, though, the “parasites” Republicans rail against also happen to be white. <br />Ryan’s intellectual soulmate Charles Murray, of course, has shown that the <br />struggling white working class is now besieged by the same bad morals that <br />dragged down African Americans – laziness, promiscuity and a preference for <br />welfare over work. Ryan himself rails against the “takers” who are living off <br />the “makers.” And while in the realm of dog whistle politics, many Republicans <br />hope working class whites still see the takers as “other,” in fact, Ryan’s <br />definition of “taker” includes much of the GOP base. It’s up to Democrats to <br />make that plain to the electorate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36710497.post-19423248657108477232012-09-02T19:01:03.755-04:002012-09-02T19:01:03.755-04:00Paul who?Paul who?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com