I never trusted Jonathan Chait, and I think this Reason piece confirms that I was right:
Over at New York Magazine, which today suffered a website crash that temporarily lowered Internet smug levels by a measurable degree, Jonathan Chaitmakes the bold claim that the Democratic Party is entering a period of dominance. His argument is partially rooted in favorable ethnic and generational trends that have much to do with the relative skills of the two major parties in enticing new voters—something that can confer a very real, but hardly permanent advantage. But Chait also proclaims victory for the donkey party because, he says, “America’s unique brand of ideological anti-statism is historically inseparable…from the legacy of slavery,” and who wants anything to do with that?
It’s tempting to say “what the fuck?” and take Chait’s argument as an exercise in self-congratulatory lunacy—part of the attempt to declare an argument over, and further debate illegitimate—that has become so popular recently.
But Chait links to an earlier piece of his that is both more nuanced and very revealing of a hermetically sealed cultural and intellectual hothouse, one that can make it easy to assume a natural march to victory by his side and inevitable defeat for his opponents.
In “The Color of His Presidency,” an analysis of the (alleged) racial politics undergirding support and opposition for the Obama administration, Chait acknowledged the limits of tying everything the right/Republicans (he tends to group people as “Democrat” and “Republican” and dismiss independents as really one or the other) do and believe to racism.
But he is doing his best, his number one goal being to write out libertarians to the maximum extent possible. Desperate and dishonest politicians and their “intellectual” operatives like Chait see libertarians as a dire threat to the backward equation that power holders and power seekers need.
Chait is very much a Red Team vs Blue Team thinker—deep down, you’re one, or you’re the other. He marinates at New York Magazine, among like-minded thinkers, for whom small government ideas and the Republican Party have largely been “written out of the American civic religion.” Everybody who disagrees is tainted by slavery in Mississippi.
I expect such nonsense to get more and more heated, especially as more and more people self-identify as libertarianish.
For the umpteenth millionth time in all these years of writing this blog, why can’t they just let people think what they think without telling them that they have to be on one “side” or the other?
It’s more tedious than ever.
Comments
14 responses to ““a hermetically sealed cultural and intellectual hothouse””
Chait’s excuse was this academic paper. The graphs in it resemble those here (click on the first and scroll down to Fig. 7.2.
While Jonathan Chait likes to present himself as an objective thinker, he showed the world long ago that he was merely a sophisticated cheerleader for the Blue when he informed the world, I hate President George W. Bush.
I’m confused. I was taught that the Republican party was founded on an anti-slavery platform; Lincoln was elected running as a Republican; Jim Crow laws were from the Democrats. Someone is trying a scam.
Old Curmudgeon
atung! old. The republican party traded in lincoln for strom thurmond some time ago! Libertarians are the “good germans” of the republican party. I have said this before every election cycle 5,000,000 more minority kids turn 18(voting age) and 2,000,000 old white racist republican die to go burn in hell. What part of the word demographics don’t you understand? Their will be NO amnesty for you either conservatives! Your taking points will not matter as these 5,000,000 new voting age citizens go to the poles! Oh and when the democrats get citizenship for the dreamers thats another 1,500,000 votes agains you! Every day we get stronger you get weaker!
Cap*,
And then what? When you’re stewing in your hate, shivering, starving, gazing out at the blasted landscape you created, what will have been the point of that?
The point is we will no longer be living in ameriKKKa! We will be living in AMERICA! White racists think they make america. no they make amerikkka! This is the greatest country on earth thanks to liberals and inspite of conservatives read alan combs book thank the liberals or tom hartmans radio program so you will no longer be like clevon bundy who’s mormon magic underwear is on way to tight!
Arizona Ignoramus:
The republican party traded in lincoln for strom thurmond some time ago.
While Strom Thurmond, as a Democrat, ran for President in 1948 as a Dixiecrat, and like Senator Robert Byrd, filibustered against Civil Rights Bills, his conduct as a Republican is more commendable.
As a Republican, he was the only white Senator from the Deep South in 1971 to have a professional staffer who was black. Until someone can prove otherwise, this is also pretty good evidence that he was the first white Senator from the Deep South to hire a professional staffer who was black. From March 18,1971 issue of Jet Magazine:
Only one of those Senators was from a Confederate state, and as Lloyd Bentsen was from the Rio Grande Valley and the grandson of Danish immigrants, he had a slightly different background and set of beliefs from Strom. Bentsen also made the hire about the same time as Strom.
Strom also nominated the first black from the Deep South to serve on the federal bench: Matthew James Perry, in 1975.
Strom Thurmond: Dixiecrat and segregationist who appears to be the first white Senator from the Deep South to appoint a black to his own professional staff- certainly the only one in 1971- and nominated the first black from the Deep South to the federal bench: not as bad as you think.
http://tinyurl.com/873fkfa Matthew James Perry
Don’t confuse him, any history that isn’t rewritten by Mother Jones or Howard Zinn doesn’t convince him. He is really, really invested in his firm belief that minorities are genetically incapable of voting in any direction but the one he tells them to. This is known as being ‘tolerant’, while the belief that ‘minorities’ are genetically indistinguishable from ‘whites’ and are capable of reasoned thought based on experience is ‘racist’.
I apologize, cut-and-paste truncated the examples.
“ignorant southern white trash republicans need to inbreed more! every month in america 150,000 minority kids turn 18 voting age! every month. thats 6,000,000 every election cycle and nearly all of them hating the evil republicans who try to prevent them from voting with their voter surpression tactics! the g.o.p. motto If we cant prevent you from voting will you please vote for us! doesn’t work to well!”
“hertzlinger people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones! every month 150,000 minority kids turn 18 voting age and they all hate conservatives even more then I do! you may not like who gets deported!”
“white babies are not born racists they have to be taught it and you do a good job of teaching it!”
Fairly clear. He believes minorities hate automatically. Not the reflexive fear-of-difference babies have, but a lifelong hate they are incapable of changing. And he feels very, very self conscious about his racism. Thus the projection and threats of death camps.
sara 18 year olds are not babies unless you think minorities are children they learn as they grow just as jewish children are taught to hate nazi’s as they grow up. you like the nazi’s want to punish ;but not be punished back in return sorry no kings X!
In reading the comments on this thread I am reminded of Charles Krauthammer’s remark that wingnuts view libs as ignorant, whereas libs view wingnuts as evil.
Ample evidence here.
Yes, the first quote from you saying , in paraphrase, ‘Every day 14,000 Hispanics are born all of them hating whites just as much as I do!” seems to have been left off in the post. And I’m too tired to go looking for it again.
republicans are evil! never underestimate your enemy I don’t!
Don’t worry cap*, it’s impossible to underestimate you.