Trump broke the Democrats’ thermostat - "Data suggests the Democrats lost ground with moderates, while holding steady among progressives. Charges that racism propelled voters to Donald Trump are at odds with the rightward swing among Black and Hispanic voters, and with a raft of data showing that racial prejudice is in steady decline among Americans of all political stripes. Instead, the data shows Democrats taking a sharp turn leftward on social issues over the past decade. This has distanced them from the median voter, just as Wright’s cartoon depicted. We see this not only in Democratic voters’ self-reported ideology, but in their views on issues including immigration and whether or not minorities need extra help to succeed in society. Notably, the shift began in 2016. This suggests that Trump’s election radicalised the left, not the right. Some counter that this is simply what progressive politics is, but the evidence suggests otherwise. America’s decades-long progress towards racial and sexual tolerance and equality has been a gradual shift, led by progressives with the centre and right quickly following. The pivots of the past decade, by contrast, have been abrupt and are leaving the majority behind. They are better characterised not as moves towards greater tolerance and equality but as shifts in rhetoric or proposed solutions for addressing disparities, where there is plenty of room for disagreement without bigotry. Many of these pivots originated with the activists and non-profit staffers that surround the Democratic party. In an invaluable piece of research carried out in 2021, political scientists Alexander Furnas and Timothy LaPira at the think-tank Data for Progress found that these “political elites” or tastemakers hold views often well to the left of the average voter — and even the average Democratic voter — on cultural issues. This can create situations where policies and rhetoric alienate the very groups they’re aimed at. While 73 per cent of white progressive Democrats favour cutting the size and scope of police forces, only 37 per cent of Black Americans agree. A new study by Amanda Sahar d’Urso and Marcel Roman, at Georgetown and Harvard universities respectively, found that the use of the gender-neutral term “Latinx” used by some progressives was not only deeply unpopular with many Hispanic Americans but may have actively pushed some towards Trump. Political party leaders may counter that such gestures come from activists, not politicians. But there is now widespread concern about speech-policing among every group of Americans apart from the progressive left. US voters also perceive the Democrats as having moved much further left than the Republicans have shifted right in recent years. These shifts, layered on top of increasing education polarisation, are changing the image of the Democratic party in voters’ minds. Survey data shows that in every election from 1948 to 2012, American voters’ image of the Democrats was as the party that stood up for the working class and the poor. In 2016 that flipped. Now it is seen primarily as the party of minority advocacy... Whether or not progressives are ready to accept it, the evidence all points in one direction. America’s moderate voters have not deserted the Democrats; the party has pushed them away."
Colin Wright on X - "Despite years of progressives dismissing and mocking my political meme, a new Financial Times article just validated it with real data. Let's get into it a little. In April 2022, @elonmusk tweeted out a political meme I created several months earlier, making it go insanely viral. It got me airtime on Tucker, and an op-ed in the @WSJ . In that WSJ article, I explained my reasons for creating the meme, and countered some silly criticisms from left-wing influencers. In my article, I wrote: "[O]ver the past decade, and especially the past five years, I’ve watched my party distance itself from the values and principles I hold dear." I explained that while "The right may be inconsistent in its support of free speech, individual rights and women’s rights...the left is consistent in its opposition to all three." I concluded the article with a warning, one that Democrats should have but did not take seriously. "I hope many on the left will resist the urge to debunk or dismiss my cartoon and instead use it as an opportunity to understand why so many people feel it describes their experience. Something has happened over the past decade to make many liberals feel politically homeless, and a lack of curiosity about why is a recipe for not only political failure but social strife." On November 5, 2024, Democrats suffered that catastrophic "political failure" I warned them about, with @realDonaldTrump winning in a landslide victory for the Republicans, running on the exact issues I outlined in my article. Yesterday, @jburnmurdoch corroborated my cartoon with real data in the Financial Times. He even gave me a shout-out! He wrote: "The data shows Democrats taking a sharp turn leftward on social issues over the past decade. This has distanced them from the median voter, just as Wright’s cartoon depicted...This suggests that Trump’s election radicalised the left, not the right." He concluded: "Whether or not progressives are ready to accept it, the evidence all points in one direction. America’s moderate voters have not deserted the Democrats; the party has pushed them away." Democrats: I told you so; but you refused to listen. And instead of facing reality, many of you are now fleeing to Bluesky to ratchet the seals on your echo chamber a few notches tighter. Do you truly believe that will assist you in understanding the average American voter? It won't. You will continue to lose. And you will deserve to lose."
Meme - Michael Shellenberger @shellenberger: "Over the last decade, Democrats & the media said that those of us who opposed DEI, racial quotas, and open borders had gone “far right.” We hadn’t. Rather, Democrats and the media had gone far left. We are only now emerging from 10+ years of extreme, psychopathic gaslighting."
"Democrats have shifted sharply leftwards on cultural issues in recent years, leaving the median voter behind. Average position of Americans who identify as strong Democrats and strong Republicans, compared to the median voter
Net %-pt support for increasing (+) or cutting (-) immigration
% who support affirmative action
Source: FT analysis of US General Social Survey"
Clearly, most Americans are fascist bigots and the fact that 10 years ago most Democrats believed the same things as normal Americans today just shows that the arrc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice
Wesley Yang on X - "Wokeness is a non-electoral politics of institutional capture aimed at bending left-leaning institutions to an identitarian agenda. It has been hugely successful in its goals. That it may alienate the majority and occasionally find itself rebuked at the polls is of little concern or consequence to those running the permanent institutional coup."
Meme - Colin Wright: "Here's a less messy version of the new Financial Times data superimposed on my meme."
Year: 2008
my fellow liberal: *edge of left*
me: *left leaning, close to centre*
conservative: *edge of right*
Year: 2012
my fellow liberal?: *running left*
me: *left leaning, close to centre, but closer than in 2008, and not moving*
conservative: *edge of right and not moving*
Year: 2021
woke "progressive": *edge of left, much further left than in 2008* "Bigot!"
me: *now on the right, though close to the centre despite not having moved*
conservative: *edge of right and not moving* "LOL!"
Left wingers like to claim centrists are "Nazis", so
Lee Fang on X - "I've been smeared for years for pointing this out. Nonwhites and mod voters want public safety/police, immigration restrictions, and oppose race based affirmative action. The woke identity politics demands come nearly entirely from the privileged white upper class."
Thomas Sowell Quotes on X - "Those who say that all cultures are equal never explain why the results of those cultures are so grossly unequal."
Damn racism, colonialism and white supremacy!
Meme - "The Taliban execute homosexuals."
"The US does it far more often. Many LGBT people have been fighting alongside the Taliban and Al-Qaeda against Amerikkkan imperialism. Al-Qaeda has no specific policy to target LGBT folx...far from it. The US, however, does."
Lara Brown on X - "Fascinating that the democrat electoral strategy was to call republicans ‘weird’ while rapidly moving 40 percentage points away from the cultural views of the average voter"
Wesley Yang on X - "Norm MacDonald called the word cisgender "a way to marginalize a normal person." The strategy all along has been to marginalize normal people. The strategy going forward is to do so with renewed intensity."
Meme - Joyce @JoycesWake: "Being a "far right extremist" just means you don't believe in a moral imperative to sit silently while your daughters are groomed, your towns are taken over, your freedoms are suffocated, your culture is debased, and your history is used to psychologically castrate you."
Sociologist: Gardening Spreads Racism, Fascism - "A sociology lecturer at the University of Westminster is claiming that panelists on a BBC radio show are covertly spreading racist and fascist messages when they talk about gardening. Dr. Ben Pitcher claimed that people on Gardeners’ Question Time are really just using gardening as a covert way to talk about white identity without seeming racist... The topics discussed on the show include different plant species and soil purity, which Pitcher identified as code language for racial purity. The Caucasian sociologist said radio personalities use discussions of “invasive” and non-native plant species to express opposition to foreigners. Another guest on Radio 4 — a baroness and former professor of cultural studies — agreed with Pitcher, comparing British concerns about rhododendrons to anti-Pakistani sentiments in the 1980s. A frequent panelist on Gardeners’ Question Time, the aptly named Bob Flowerdew, called Pitcher’s claims “ridiculous.” “Does he want us to stop using words altogether? Perhaps we shouldn’t use Latin names to avoid offending the Romans,” Flowerdew said."
Elon Musk’s mother sparks backlash with ‘racist’ election day tweet - "“I’ve heard there is going to be an Elon hit piece by @RMac18 in the @nytimes tomorrow,” May wrote. “Sadly, Ryan is an American Vietnamese reporter. My book is a bestseller in Vietnam. I don’t think my readers will believe the article if it’s hateful and/or dishonest. Let’s see.”"
Any mention of race by a non-left winger is racist
Royal Canadian Navy considers dropping marching song Heart of Oak - "The Royal Canadian Navy is coming under fire for steering away from its official march, Heart of Oak, because the centuries-old anthem contains references to colonialism and slavery, and doesn’t represent everyone who wears the uniform, including women and Francophones... “More woke nonsense erasing Canada’s proud military history and traditions,” Poilievre said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “Meanwhile NDP-Liberals have been asleep at the switch refusing to supply our armed forces with the equipment and supplies they need to defend Canada at home and abroad. When I’m Prime Minister, we will have a warrior culture, not a woke culture.” The song has raised concerns “within the ranks of the Royal Canadian Navy,” national defence spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an email. “First performed in 1760, ‘Heart of Oak’ contains language that does not align with values and ethos of today’s Royal Canadian Navy or the broader Canadian Armed Forces. Specifically, it includes references to colonialism and slavery, and language that is not representative of all those who serve in today’s Navy.” Plus, the march doesn’t have Canadian roots... Paul Adamthwaite, a Canadian naval historian and former Brit who served 22 years in the Royal Navy, said he doesn’t disagree with diversity. “But there is something that is called tradition, and navies rely on tradition,” Adamthwaite said. “We rely on past experience to be able to be a fighting force if and when needed by the country.” Canada’s navy was launched in 1910 with “two clapped-out old ships from Britain,” he said. “By the end of World War II, we had the third largest navy in the world and there was some pride in it — absolute pride,” said Adamthwaite, executive director of the Naval Marine Archive in Picton, Ont."
Left wingers have very poor comprehension skills, since you can't be derogatory about slavery
HEART OF WOKE: Navy ditching traditional march over 'gendered' lyrics - "Documents uncovered in an access-to-information request show briefing notes and email exchanges between Royal Canadian Navy officials seeking ways to “modernize” the 265-year-old naval march Heart of Oak. Composed in 1759 by William Boyce, the song was brought up in a December 2020 email by the commanding officer of the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, saying the song came up during discussions about hateful conduct... Officials say the song’s gendered language is particularly offensive, including the chorus: Heart of Oak are our ships, jolly tars our men/We always are ready, steady boys steady."
Yet more evidence that when the left talk about "hate" and "hateful conduct", you can't take them seriously. Anything standing in the way of the left wing agenda is "hate"
Navy in 'critical state,' could fail readiness commitments: Commander - "The commander of the Royal Canadian Navy has released a new video warning the force is in a “critical state,” with ships that are beyond their lifecycle and a severe shortage of sailors to operate them. In a video posted to the Navy’s YouTube page, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee said the force may not meet its readiness commitments next year and beyond, though he tried to strike an optimistic tone about its “very bright” future."
Clearly, pushing the left wing agenda helps combat readiness
Target apologizes after firing employee for handwriting ‘trust in Jesus’ on nametag - "Aformer Target employee has been offered her job back after the retailer “apologized” for firing her for wearing a nametag inscribed with “trust in Jesus”. Denise Kendrick, a devout Christian who worked as a cashier at a store in Fargo, North Dakota, said she was dismissed from her role over the alleged dress code violation. Kendrick said she arrived at work on Saturday wearing a plain red sweatshirt, jeans – which are within Target’s dress code guidelines – and the handwritten nametag reading “trust in Jesus” beside her first name. The cashier had been wearing the badge to work since Halloween, she said in a video on her YouTube channel on Monday. Kendrick was then approached by her manager who allegedly said she “can’t wear that nametag”. “‘Well, I’ve seen people with rainbows on theirs,’” Kendrick retorted, referring to the multicolored symbol of pride for the LGBTQ community, she told KVLY 11. “‘I’m going to continue to wear this nametag.’” Kendrick claimed her employee responded: “‘Well, you can’t work here anymore.’” The manager refused to write a written statement about why she was fired... Kendrick said she had worn Christian-themed shirts to work for months and had never had an issue, and was left confused why the nametag was any different... Target’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policy reads, in part, that it “prohibits discrimination” and an employee’s experience shouldn’t be hindered by their religious beliefs."
Clearly, the War on Christmas is a right wing conspiracy theory and misinformation
Woke brigade say Barbour jackets are 'fast becoming' far-right symbol - "It's the quintessentially British rural jacket beloved by members of the Royal Family, prime ministers and was even given as a gift to US President Joe Biden. But now the Barbour coat, with its famed olive-green, wax coated design, is allegedly finding a new group of fans - the far right."
When you just hate white people
Jonathan Bailey says everyone over 40 should be ‘forced’ to watch queer Netflix drama - "Jonathan Bailey has said anybody over the age of 40 should have to watch Heartstopper on Netflix."
Weird. We keep being told that rights are like cake - more for one doesn't mean less for others
Canadian-born Chinese and South Asians top earnings, says Statistics Canada - "Canadian-born Chinese and South Asian people tend to earn more on average than their white counterparts in the long run, according to a new study by Statistics Canada . People from these two ethnic groups are more likely to have higher education levels with degrees in science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM), live in more expensive cities such as Toronto or Vancouver, work in high-wage industries and experience fewer layoffs compared to white people, the agency said. However, the comparison doesn’t hold true when researchers compare “apples to apples” or when they look at the conditional earnings of people over a long period. “When you compare people with similar socioeconomic characteristics, such as education, job, illness, etc., then we find that all the groups, except for Chinese women, earned less than Canadian-born white individuals,” Aneta Bonikowska, one of the study’s authors, said... Similar trends were indicated in previous studies that focused on short-term earnings, but the long-term approach used this time provides unique insights into trends that are important for the economy"
Damn racism and white supremacy!
Afzal Khan MP on X - "For the first time in 14 years, we have a government that is looking to tackle Islamophobia, not perpetrate it. I’m looking forward to meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss further the Government’s approach to defining Islamophobia and tackling hate against Muslims."
JRF on X - "Man I’m glad we dismantled our boring old homogeneous society and replaced it with this much more exciting one where we constantly talk about islamophobia and decolonisation and black and brown bodies and subconscious bias and Palestine and reparations and slavery and Hindutva an"
Muslims need to be protected from Islamophobia by getting them to live only in Muslim countries, since we know Western countries are the most racist in the world
Jordan LeMichael on X - "Real life doesn’t work by per capita. You’re more likely to be killed by a white man in reality."
i/o on X - "Over each of the past ten years, 50 to 60% of all known murder offenders in the US have been black."
'Racist' flag in Wānaka actually Klingon insignia - "Police responding to reports of a racist flag being flown from a Wānaka property found the home was instead flying the colours of the Klingon Empire from Star Trek. The galactic mixup was announced by Wānaka police last week in their weekly update to local residents."
Thanksgiving is our most woke holiday. That’s why it’s so great. - "This holiday is a delight because people agree to put their petty differences aside — to not argue about anything more substantial than whether cranberry sauce should be made from scratch or whether the best way, the only way, is as a gelee slithering out of a can. But more importantly, Thanksgiving is when we agree to graciously make accommodations for other people. On this day, we embrace the bigger differences, the ones having to do with race or ethnicity or culture. At least, that’s the guiding spirit... Everyone is welcome at the Thanksgiving table, from the greatest to the least. Even the loudmouthed, man-splaining know-it-alls — the ones who don’t know how to cook but nonetheless advised the chef to slash the dinner budget because they just didn’t see the value in all those toasted marshmallows atop the sweet potatoes. They’re invited to Thanksgiving, too. But they will be seated at the card table, at the far end of the kitchen."
As usual, left wingers define wokeness as its exact opposite. And talk about undermining your key claim...
Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 on X - "HATE HOAX: Three left-wing suspects have been federally indicted for a 2023 KKK hate crime hoax where they allegedly burned a cross in front of a sign for then-Colorado Springs mayoral candidate @yemiformayor , who is black. His sign was defaced with the n-word. The hoax was allegedly intended to smear the white Republican mayoral candidate as a white supremacist, who then lost the election. Derrick Bernard Jr. (pictured), 35, Ashely Blackcloud, 40, and Deanna West, 38, were indicted by a federal grand jury for maliciously conveying false information about a threat made by means of fire. After allegedly committing the hate hoax, they allegedly contacted leftist activist groups about the fire and slur to drum up media attention for their preferred candidate. Suspect Bernard Jr. was recently convicted at trial of a 2019 murder and faces this new hate hoax-related charge while behind bars."
Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 on X - "Update: The indictment against the Colorado Springs suspects accused of a KKK-style BLM hate hoax show the ringleader communicated with then-mayoral candidate Yemi Mobolade, who is black. Mobolade ended up winning against the white conservative candidate following the hoax."
Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 on X - "Biden's DOJ declined to prosecute the mayor of Colorado Springs after he allegedly lied to the FBI during their investigation into a KKK-style hate crime hoax last year during his mayoral campaign. @yemiformayor, who is black, won against the white conservative after being the "victim" of a fake hate crime."
captive dreamer on X - "This is a great little video, barely a minute long - i encourage all of you to watch it. This was the moment that Bernie Sanders and his movement completely lost in 2015. "Democratic Socialism" was destroyed by leftist "identity politics.""
Christina Hoff Sommers on X - "Identify politics wins—not through rational argument—but through bullying and shrieking. Scenes like this have taken place in nearly every left-of-center movement and institution in the country. So far, the screamers are getting their way."
Keywords: Identity politics wins
Geology is racist, claims university professor Kathryn Yusoff - "The study of the Earth’s rocks and natural resources is racist and linked to “white supremacy”, according to a geography professor at a leading UK university. Kathryn Yusoff, an academic at Queen Mary University of London, said the hard science subject of geology was “riven by systemic racism” and colonialism. She also suggested palaeontology, the study of prehistoric life through fossils, was partly to blame for racism, labelling it “pale-ontology”. In her book, Geologic Life, the professor argued the extraction of gold, iron, and other metals was racist. She wrote that geology began as a “colonial practice” that created hierarchies, promoted materialism, destroyed environments and led to climate change. The theft of land, mining and other geological aspects of colonialism led “toward the white supremacy of the planet” and resulted in “geotrauma”, Prof Yusoff wrote. She also claimed “geology continues to function within a white supremacist praxis”... Dr John Armstrong, a reader in financial mathematics at King’s College London, said: “The programme of decolonisation is politically contentious, anti-scientific, and consistently associated with calls to lower academic standards. “Many university departments have resisted the pressure to dumb-down and politicise their courses, but university leaders and their equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) teams continue to demand that courses are decolonised.” Chris McGovan, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “Geology is no more racist than ‘fish ’n’ chips’! It is an entirely neutral term. Those seeking to decolonise the curriculum are, in fact, building their own sinister empire of thought-control and intolerance. “Applied to exploitation it involves mining and this is almost as old as mankind and not race-dependent, as tourists are reminded when they visit our prehistoric flint mines such as Grime’s Graves, the English Heritage site in Norfolk.”"
Colin Wright on X - "The president of the National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNutt, has published welcome an essay promising to remain politically neutral and mitigate the political polarization of science. Some notable quotes from the article:
"[S]cientists need to better explain the norms and values of science to reinforce the notion—with the public and their elected representatives—that science, at its most basic, is apolitical... Whether conservative or liberal, citizens ignore the nature of reality at their peril."
"Scientists should better explain the scientific process and what makes it so trustworthy, while more candidly acknowledging that science can only provide the best available evidence and cannot dictate what people should value."
"[T]he National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine need to examine how scientists may have contributed to the polarization of the use of science... [Scientists] must avoid the tendency to imply that science dictates policy."
"The public and policy-makers can discuss and debate how to respond to the myriad challenges that confront society, but these deliberations need to be informed by the objective, dispassionate evidence that only science can provide. To that end, the NAS stands ready, as it always has, to advise the incoming administration.""
Meme - Brandon Warmke @BrandonWarmke: "Some people worry about a right-wing takeover of higher ed where people teach Tocqueville. And then you see Penn is hiring a faculty member to specialize in "racial and intersectional microaggression prevention programming" and realize a takeover has already happened."
"Assistant Professor, Clinician Educator Track, CHOP. University of Pennsylvania. Job category: Junior faculty / Fixed term. AOS: Racial and intersectional microaggression prevention programming, race- based bullying, the impact of race-ethnicity based biases on children's development, and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches to intervention development. AOS categories: Philosophy of Race. AOC: Open. Workload: Full time. Vacancies: 1. Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Job description: Assistant Professor, Clinician Educator Track, CHOP"