Northeastern Bias? Could that be?

 

"BRIAN STELTER, CNN: Certainly right underneath the surface, many writers and commentators are mortified by some of the things Trump says. You can call it liberal bias, or you can call it a sense of decency. A sense of how politics are supposed to be done. Or how the campaigns are supposed to be played.

ARI FLEISCHER: I would never call that decency. That's not what it is. What it really is, is a Northeastern look-down-your-nose at other people who are different. That's what is it, Brian.

I can't tell you how many people in journalism or other places around the Northeast, where I live now, who are absolutely aghast -- can not understand how anybody could possibly be for Donald Trump. That is disdain for the voters.

I'll never be like that. There's a lot about Donald Trump that I don't like, and I'll call him out on it. But I'll never have disdain for the American people.

That view that you just articulated is disdain for the American people. "  CNN

----------------

I am surprised that Fleischer has it right but he does.  pl  

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/05/22/fleischer_journalsits_who_are_offended_by_donald_trump_showing_disdain_for_the_voters.html

Comments

[Nick Smith]

Among the writers and commentators Stelter is referring to, there is not just outrage that Trump is violating standards of decency or decorum- what you are really seeing is sheer panic on their behalf as they realize they cannot influence the public mood and elections as they have in the past. They have lost control and they don't know how to respond.

Their attempts are getting more and more ridiculous (Kagan making Trump out to be the next Il Duce or Fuhrer... please) and while I have despised him and his ugly developments my entire life as a Manhattan native, he has accomplished something wonderful by giving all these failing upwards types this kind of opportunity to make fools of themselves. Honest Don!

[oofda]

Of course, this is after Trump has paid his dues to AIPAC; if he reverts to his original position of giving an even position to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, let us see what Fleischer says. This sounds more like Israel-firster Fleischer supporting Trump after he has dropped his even-handed support of the Palestinians.

[Alexey]

Reminds me of "Russian liberals" who frequently say things like "95% people in this country are genetic slaves" or "we are different biological species". And all that just because those people have different political views or values.

I guess this phenomena is international.

[Ghost ship]

People from the North-east are just as American as people from the South-east, South, South-west, and North-west. So they are at most showing disdain for some American people. Whether it's most who have the vote and who vote, we will see after the presidential election. Or are North-easterners self-hating Americans?
And it's not as if the disdain is one-sided. An awful lot of Republicans have show disdain for the Clintons and Obama, whether it's justified is debatable just as it's debatable that Trump should be treated with disdain. For example, getting the Mexicans to pay for the wall - perhaps if the United States guaranteed that it would stay completely out of Central and South American politics, the Central and South Americans might be persuaded to have a whip-round to pay for.
With Trump, some of his policies should be treated with disdain, but he does have the advantage that he is not a professional politician which is a major point in his favour.
As for Ari Fleischer, as a political shill, he is a member of the only group of people who should be treated with more disdain than the group, professional politicians that he works for.
I recently saw an article that the United States should introduce it's own version of the Eurovision Song Contest to relieve some of these regional tensions, because just like in Europe they do exist and mocking other countries popular songwriters and singers is preferable to killing each other.

[jsn]

Once in a while, even a blind squrrel gets an acorn.

[Degringolade]

My teenage sons refer to the good Colonel here and the Archdruid as "Dad's Man Crushes". But more serious discussion is instigated between them and I due to these two sources than any others.

The Archdruid wrote a truly excellent article on this very subject back in January. It is still right on target.

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2016/01/donald-trump-and-politics-of-resentment.html

[turcopolier]

Degringolade

thanks for introducing The Archdruid here. He lives no far away. pl

[turcopolier]

Ghost Ship

IMO Fleischer's remarks were about the NE MEDIA, not the population in general. pl

[RetiredPatriot]

Degringolade,

Thanks for the point to that wonderful essay by Greer. There's a lot of truth in what he writes there!

RP

[Margaret Steinfels]

Whatever the prejudices of the NE media, it can't get enough of Trump. CNN must be making millions. Why even the very proper Judy Woodruff can't let an evening pass without marveling at Trump's bravado. Sneer at the media if you will, but everyday it brings Trump's words and gestures to Kansas, and parts West.

[Degringolade]

If you like that one, this one might amuse:

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-decline-and-fall-of-hillary-clinton.html

[Matthew]

Col: You are far too gracious. The East Coast types call it "civility" while they admonish Fly Over Country to refrain from complaining about prolonged wage stagnation.

[Edward Amame]

Trump is a rich native NYer. One of the very types who are regularly portrayed as looking down at regular folks who live in "flyover states." Ari Fleischer is using a classic Karl Rove tactic here: transfer your weaknesses to your opponent.

[Babak Makkinejad]

All:

Kagan on Trump:

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/05/22-trump-fascism-in-america-kagan

[tim s]

That's a great piece by Mr. Greer. Most of his stuff I've read in the past struck me more along the line of the one-looking-down-the-nose-at-others and I couldn't stand it. Glad to see a piece like this from him.

[Javier G.]

My wife and I were at Trump International Hotel in Chicago this weekend. I pointed out to my wife how funny it was to see large numbers of wealthy Gulfie Muslims and Chinese businessmen staying there in light of the media portrayal of Trump as an Islamophobe and Sinophobe. On the DuSable Bridge over the Chicago River you would see foreign tourists taking selfies with Trump International Hotel in the background, where the TRUMP sign is prominently displayed over the river. I thought how funny it was that wealthy liberals in the expensive condos across the river have the illuminated TRUMP sign ever-present in their view (and maybe even shadows on their walls). They're probably in therapy over it.

Btw, when I say media portrayal of Trump, I mean things like Fareed Zakaria's upcoming CNN Special, "Why They Hate Us". In the preview for this special they feature Trump making a bombastic statement at a campaign speech.

[BraveNewWorld]

>"Of course, this is after Trump has paid his dues to AIPAC;"

Well not quite yet. Like all American politicians he still has to go to Israel for vetting and re-education. But Sheldon Adelson is working on getting that done.

>"Sheldon Adelson, RJC ‘laying the groundwork’ for a Trump trip to Israel"

http://www.timesofisrael.com/adelson-rjc-laying-groundwork-for-trump-trip-to-israel/

[jld]

Yup! The Archdruid has some interesting writings but I suspect that he is even more smug than he appear. :-)

[robt willmann]

There is no shyness in giving large sums of money for so-called "speeches", in this case by Hillary Clinton from April 2013 through March 2015. She was given $21,667,000.00 over that two-year period. You can see the list of those who gave all this money at the end of the article--

http://nypost.com/2016/05/22/how-corporate-america-bought-hillary-clinton-for-21m/

The payments for past favors and deposit bribes for future favors are becoming more and more brazen and in the open.

[Tyler]

Babak,

Glad to see that north is still north and Kagan is still wrong as ever.

[Tyler]

Edward,

Yet he's going out on a limb for those people.

You're not as clever as you think.

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

Only American cities have seen growth in the number of new businesses since 2008. In counties with a population less than 100,000, they have declined. In 20 counties it is Okay. In 3144 counties, not as great as it was.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/22/a-very-bad-sign-for-all-but-americas-biggest-cities/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_wonk

This correlates with the higher mortality rate in rural America. Both are symptoms of the malaise that has struck the heartland. This is the reason for the rise of Donald Trump. My explanation is that global oligarchs won and they outsourced the good paying jobs in middle America in order to make more money. The 20 counties in the new America basically build airplanes and weapons, design new gadgets and transfer wealth. This is our new modern Imperium run by and for corporations; not the people.

[Matthew]

Tyler: Being hated by the Neo-Cons is Trump's greatest selling point.

[pob2]

Is this NE bias? Or rather what seems to be going on just about everywhere in advanced economies - urban vs rural, often metro vs the 'burbs? And non-govt services vs manufacturing? Old vs young? Grads vs the rest? Owners vs renters? And then there's gender...

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Deringolade, SST;

Joe Bageant wrote about these issues before it became fashionable:

http://www.dailyyonder.com/joe-bageant-redneck-writer/2011/10/14/3558/
Peace be to his memory. He was a powerful writer.
Ishmael Zechariah