Hispanic Fanatic

Is it a cult? Perhaps it is more cult-like or cult-adjacent. Maybe it’s merely cultish or cult-light. How about cult-curious?

In any case, we long ago ran out of ways to politely describe, rationalize, or justify the unwavering support of Trump’s hardcore followers. About 20% of Americans will vote for Trump no matter how many felonies he gets convicted of, no matter how many women he assaults, no matter how much bigotry and hatred he provokes, and no matter how much he promises to become a dictator if he is re-elected.

This is beyond political identity or cognitive dissonance. It is far past the affection usually reserved for sports teams or nerd obsessions. It is even beyond the unconditional love one feels for family. This obsession is comparable only to religious mania, and the similarity is no coincidence.

Trump fans sincerely believe that “a man who has demanded the execution of people he dislikes is a better candidate for the presidency” than a woman who believes the federal government should create jobs, protect the environment, and promote health and education.

Even when confronted with the fact that Trump hates his own supporters, these true believers indulge in, at best, “skepticism, a momentary denouncement, then an eventual conclusion that Trump is still a man worth their vote.”

Their motivations range from psychological issues to deep-seated fear to bubbling fury to straight-up bigotry, with tangents for ignorance, delusion, and a thirst for vengeance. What’s intriguing about that last item is that they want revenge not just for their own misbegotten lives but on behalf of a pampered billionaire, who like them, “can’t accept what’s happened over the past several years” to an America that has had the audacity to change without their permission.

Even the conservatives who say they oppose Trump eventually fall into line. Recall that early in the campaign season, the other Republicans vying for the nomination accommodated Trump’s behavior “and made excuses for his criminality,” which pretty much gave the green light for “Republican voters to return to Trump, all but ensuring his rise.”

The result is that today, “the potential for political violence from his supporters if he isn’t elected in November” is sky-high. 

It is the behavior of cultists. And it cannot be reasoned with or wished away. This is what blind faith looks like, and it is terrifying.

I’ll be honest. I had forgotten all about that smug frat-boy entrepreneur whose main claim to fame is dropping out of the GOP primary so that his idol Trump could coast to a nomination. This tech bro made some idiotic pronouncements, tried in vain to own the libs, then got kicked to the curb.

In any case, he recently resurfaced to interview a raging racist who was a big deal back in the 1990s, when GOP men thought she was still hot and mainstream media inexplicably labeled her a serious thinker.

Normally, I wouldn’t even notice what a couple of right-wing lunatics say to one another. But one exchange got my attention. That was when the woman said she would never vote for the frat boy because he is not white.

The guy sat there, stunned and stone-faced, as she merrily went on about America’s core identity, which in her view is strictly white, Anglo-Saxon protestant. By the way, this woman used to offer vague denials of her bigotry, but as her popularity dimmed, she dropped all pretense and more or less yelled, “white power” every chance she got.

So how did the failed presidential candidate react? He stammered through the rest of the interview, then later went on social media to thank her for being “honest.”

Now, there are few things sadder than a person who gets slurred to his face, refuses to stand up for himself, and thanks the person for insulting him.

Among those few sadder things is an ethnic minority who has sold out his principles and bent over backward to gain the approval of white supremacists, who then discovers that they will never (as in never never never) consider him equal. 

Progressives were not surprised at this exchange. We’ve known all along that the hard right is synonymous with racism, and we’ve stated many times that any ethnic minority who votes for Republicans is setting himself up for rejection. A few liberals even said they felt sorry for the frat boy, which is on brand for a bunch of bleeding hearts, right?

Conservatives more or less ignored the racism (they have a lot of practice doing that) and praised the frat boy for not lashing out at the woman. 

Please note that conservatives are big advocates for turning the other cheek, having a sense of humor, or not being hypersensitive when it comes to their right to insult minorities. They are not so fond of those concepts if you, say, criticize organized religion or say trans people are human. Then it’s game on, bitches.

Conservatives believe that progressives must follow the lead of Dr. Martin Luther King, which is to refrain from violence. But they conflate this peaceful tactic with timidity. After all, King never screamed or fought with bigots, but he didn’t smile and say thank you to them either.

In any case, conservatives drop all that peace and love shit if they feel insulted. Then they can issue death threats and punch people out all they want.

As for the frat boy, I’m sure he will wander around the fringes of the GOP for a while, maybe pick up a few fans here and there, and gradually fade away as Republicans move on to another ethnic minority they can hide behind. And when the guy is dismissed and ostracized for the last time, and the Republicans shut the door in his face, he will smile and thank them one more time.

Back in November 2016, when our national nightmare was just beginning, media outlets shouted over each other that racism had absolutely, positively nothing to do with the fact that millions of angry white people had voted for a bigot.

It was just a coincidence.

Well, you’ll be happy to know that media outlets have learned their lesson, accepted reality, and are now reporting the unpleasant veracity that racism is a powerful motivator for Trump supporters.

Ha — no, they are still grasping for excuses, denying the obvious truth that bigotry remains a selling point for the GOP.

You see, the New York Times recently rehashed the 2016 election, and their writers acknowledged the myriad studies that showed Trump supporters were more likely to hold racist views. The Times journalists then stated that they “never found this argument to be persuasive.”

Doubling down on their disdain, the Times stated that the “racial resentment argument doesn’t look merely questionable. It looks wrong.”

So there you have it. The Times is not convinced. 

This is the same paper, of course, that was completely convinced that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But the implication that much of Trump’s base has an issue with black people and Latinos? How gauche!

The Times rationalizes their bizarre opinion by asserting that liberals insisted that all of Trump’s supporters were racist. In actuality, liberals pointed out that there were other factors for Trump’s victory — including conservatives’ strange love of authoritarianism — and never said bigotry was 100% the reason. 

But the Times sniffs, “Yes, you did,” and goes on to point out that Trump’s popularity has risen among ethnic minorities, so therefore, racism could not possibly be, you know, a real thing.

How does one approach this smug denial? How do we argue with such impervious delusion?

If I said that Led Zeppelin was a hard-rockin’ band, the Times would say, “I’m not convinced that’s true.” They would point out that Led Zep also created ballads and acoustic numbers. Ergo, I’m lying.

I could point to Black Dog or Communication Breakdown or Immigrant Song or Nobody’s Fault But Mine and dozens of other rockers. And the Times would say, “Doesn’t prove a thing.”

Any Zeppelin fan would tell you that analysis of this type is bullshit. And they would also point out that Physical Graffiti is their best album, but I digress.

The Times’ dismissal of data, common sense, and Republicans’ own words has a simple motivation. It is simply too painful to admit that millions of Americans are unabashed bigots. It’s much more comforting to insist, as the Times does, that Trump’s “populism is skeptical of elites, political correctness, high levels of immigration and other forms of globalization.”

Yeah, that skepticism sometimes takes the form of razor wire across the Rio Grande, but are you going to call that racism? Come on, give the right-wing base a break.

The Times kicks around the “old racial-resentment story about Trump’s victory” by telling us that the “working-class group of Americans who have soured on mainstream politics and modern liberalism are not all hateful and ignorant.” According to the Times, these poor souls “are frustrated.”

To which I say, “Who isn’t?” Furthermore, I would like to know why frustration is an excuse to vote for racism. 

But I’m sure the New York Times would say I’m exaggerating.

Recently, America has endured many disasters: killer blizzards, innumerable mass shootings, governmental dysfunction, and a psychopathic bigot leading in the polls.

But conservatives have identified the culprit for all these and every other issue. They know the main bad guy vexing this nation and unleashing infinite misery upon our country. Yes, I’m talking about diversity.

You see, the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action didn’t quite make America safe enough for white men. So now conservatives are unleashing their ire on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These are the often half-assed attempts that institutions make to include ethnic minorities in their systems.

Conservatives see these programs as unconstitutional and immoral. I assure you that it is completely coincidental that these are among the only areas of American culture where white men are not in charge. Yup, conservatives are taking a completely principled stand… ahem.

In any case, when Boeing airplanes came apart in midair, most experts pointed to “the weakened regulations on Boeing thanks to more than $65 million in lobbying efforts.” 

But conservatives weren’t so easily hoodwinked. They shrieked that airplanes were disintegrating because that’s what happens “when you’re focused on DEI and maybe less focused on engineering and safety.” 

Now, I could point out that “this narrative has no basis in fact” and that Boeing is not “particularly diverse, either at the workforce level… or on the corporate ladder, where the overwhelming majority of executives are white men.” No matter, it must be the fault of the stray black executive or that Latino engineer who clearly didn’t belong there.

Now, commentators have pointed out that “right-wing media figures have also erroneously blamed last year’s train derailment in Ohio and the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank on DEI initiatives,” despite the fact there is zero evidence for that. In truth, many of the catastrophes occurring in America are taking place under the leadership of white guys. But it’s impolite to point that out to conservatives.

So they will continue to blame ethnic minorities and eliminate even minimal attempts to increase diversity. As a result, attacks on diversity in education and within major corporations have intensified.

For example, the University of Florida has eliminated all its DEI positions and canceled its DEI-related contracts. And the accounting firm PwC has dropped its diversity targets. 

Across the country, DEI funding and staffing are plummeting, “after a two-year boom in the wake of the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020.”

You remember that whole George Floyd thing, don’t you? It’s like Covid or the collapse of the Trump economy — something that apparently never happened.

In any case, if conservatives get their way and vanquish diversity, we will get rid of all those undeserving ethnic minorities who are messing up everything and provoking every disaster that occurs. Sure, you might argue that many studies have shown that diverse teams perform better than racially homogeneous ones and that companies that embrace diversity get better results.

But I’m sure those studies are wrong. Yeah, they were probably created by some black guy.

It’s time for another update on how my fellow Latinos are doing.

First, the good news. 

Ongoing efforts to mobilize Latino voters are paying off, and Hispanics are poised “to become a consequential voting bloc influencing contested races in the 2024 presidential election.”

So instead of leaving it to Black women to save America over and over again, perhaps we Latinos can step up for democracy this time.

Your other bit of good news is that scientists are testing new technology on immigrant workers that will “send alerts when the core body temperature rises critically or when other alarming signals indicate heat stress.” The innovation could save the lives of many Latin American immigrants, who often toil in brutal heat to keep the nation’s economy humming.

But that leads to the bad news.

You see, recent studies have shown that Latino kids in states with more anti-immigrant laws “are in poorer health.”

Yes, bigotry is lethal. The study found that Latino children living in states with more anti-immigrant laws and policies—and its “resulting inequities in access” —are more likely to suffer chronic physical health conditions and mental health issues.

On a related note, Latino kids nationwide are also being kept ignorant about their own history.

Recent research has shown that “most of the seminal events” in U.S. Latino history “are not a subject of study in high schools across the country.” The study found that “87% of key Latino topics were either not covered in U.S. history textbooks or were mentioned in just five or fewer sentences.”

And speaking of education, you will be disconcerted to discover that over half of Latino college students considered dropping out last year, which is a substantial increase since 2020 and comes “after Hispanics had made significant gains in higher education.”

As if that weren’t enough, another study has shown internecine strife among Latinos. The study says that most Latinos who struggle with Spanish say another Latino “has made them feel bad for it.” So it’s bad enough that we have white supremacists targeting us. But here is fresh proof that we can be our own worst enemy.

Take it from someone whose abuela was constantly muttering “sin verguenza” about my lack of fluency. That attitude doesn’t magically make someone bilingual. 

Well, that’s about it. As usual, the bad news seems to outweigh the good.

Oh, and one more thing. The recent surge in hate crimes, which includes spikes in antisemitism and Islamophobia, also includes a “significant increase” against Latinos.

So there’s that.

Aren’t you glad that I led off with the good news?

I was a kid the first time I heard of Martha’s Vineyard. Someone told me that the movie Jaws had been filmed there. Of course, I wondered who this Martha was and how she owned an entire ocean that she could just rent out for filming.

I’ve since learned that Martha’s Vineyard is a destination for rich liberals, and as such, it is a prime target for those conservatives who hate nothing more than a wealthy person who has committed class treason by rejecting ethno-fascism.

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All of us—me in particular and America in general—have been talking a lot about civil war lately. To describe the frayed state of our nation, we’ve even learned a fancy new word: anocracy. This indicates a floundering country that is teetering between democracy and authoritarianism. Its presence is the first indicator that a civil war may be coming.

And what is the second indicator?

Well, that would be “whether populations in these partial democracies began to organize politically, not around ideology—so not based on whether you’re a liberal or a conservative—but where the parties themselves are based almost exclusively around ethnic, religious or racial identity.”

So the fact that the Republican Party has become the white-grievance party is more than just disturbing. It is a possible harbinger of war.

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Recently, I wrote about the rise of white supremacist terrorism. As horrifying as that concept is, please note that violence is just a means to an end for America’s racists.

Sure, many homicidal bigots enjoy bashing in a black person’s head or shooting a Latino for sheer enjoyment. But most of them are not content to sucker-punch an Asian person and leave it at that. They want more. 

And that more consists of civil war.

Yes, I know that the idea of internecine armed conflict was laughable during, say, the Obama administration. Well, those halcyon days (which were only mildly halcyon by the way) might as well have been centuries ago. Because here in the post-Trump world, a full-fledged civil war is a distinct possibility.

Now to be clear, a second American civil war would not look like the 1860s version, which featured dueling governments and uniformed armies and generals with wacky facial hair. 

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The “woke mob” didn’t kill 10 people in Buffalo. 

A transgender swimmer didn’t kill 10 people in Buffalo. 

A teacher talking about CRT didn’t kill 10 people in Buffalo. 

No, the biggest menace to Americans continues to be an angry white man echoing Fox News talking points.

In this case, the justification for mass homicide was a favorite among conservatives: replacement theory. 

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Have you ever felt disrespected?

Perhaps someone mocked the color of your skin. Or morons in positions of authority dismissed your good ideas. Or everyone laughed when you said that Avatar is a masterpiece.

Actually, check that last one. You kind of had it coming.

In any case, from toddlers to world leaders to hardcore rappers, everybody wants the same thing:

Respect.

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