1) Americans aren’t behaving as if Biden is doing pretty good job under exceptionally difficult circumstances
Most people in my location (Texas) are concerned that in the middle of a shooting war, the Biden administration (State Department, Pentagon) seem to be much more concerned with preparations for PRIDE month, then the consequences of our foreign policy. Most weeks over the last several months have featured the President making an unscripted comment that is then walked back by staff. The general appearance is of an administration that is continually surprised by events, not sure what to do, and constantly trying to "wing it" as a response. It is like the inflation issue that we were told was not going to happen in 2021, then told it was not "real inflation", then told it was "temporary inflation" and now we have articles in the New York Times that "actually inflation is good for Americans because it forces us to change our lifestyles." If it appeared that the Administration understood what was going on, and that they had a plan for dealing with the issues, then most Americans would back the administration (ala Bush in 2002-2003). The perception here is that the administration views foreign policy as a distraction from the real job of enacting domestic policy changes. Not sure what folks are seeing on the news, as I tuned out the network and cable news long ago in favor of on-the ground reporting like the Cosmopolitan Globalist.
2) Americans aren’t capable of taking it in?
As has been true through most of our history, most Americans are focused on what is happening in their own community, occasionally in their state or country, as those are the things that affect their lives the most. I have found this to be the case in most areas of the world that I have traveled to. I appreciate the ex-pat community, and the fact that the reporting in the Cosmopolitan Globalist is better than anything available through traditional media, but reject that just because people do not have your particular set of views on the world they should be ridiculed. I get it that you know better than the rest of us, I just don't think you will actually inspire anyone to change their minds or support an alternate policy with a dismissive attitude like this.
1) Americans aren’t behaving as if Biden is doing pretty good job under exceptionally difficult circumstances
I think the middle ground of American politics always going sway the most in the face of economic change. Part of the problem is that the facts involved are difficult to understand, the other is that it is very easy confuse these facts with a counter narrative. All it takes is a few enthusiastic but uninformed relatives or colleagues proclaiming that the economy was failing under Obama for most people to believe it. Unfortunately, for every minute of misinformation dumped into a conversation, it takes at least 5 to try and shovel it out. I'm not sure how many times I've had to explain the difference between deficit and debt. And I'm not sure how often the idea takes root.
Right now all people will see on the surface news is that prices are rising, probably with a fluff piece about a struggling single mother. You're going to have to look far and wide to find more than tepid support for Biden in the face of that, which was the best even Nichols was willing to provide. And tepid is nothing in the face of burning, quasi-religious Trumpism.
2) Americans aren’t capable of taking it in?
Blaming the president for things outside of his control is what passes for analysis in the US. I cringed every time someone put All COVID-19 Deaths at the feet of Trump, as the man could have only nudged that dial. Similarly, there are impossibly dense pundits who will put all blame for the economic woes of the country on Biden, rather than looking at the mess handed to him or that developed overseas.
Trump could have been coherent in his messaging about COVID-19. Biden could have signed a stimulus package that wouldn't have pushed so hard on inflation. Neither of these opinions will sell papers the way finger pointing will.
I think the "solipsism of... our political parties" is the greatest culprit here. What I hear from my fellow citizens is usually quite partisan, on both ends of the spectrum. But I suspect they're a noisy minority. I think most Americans have the capability of understanding the depth of a story, but parties make it unnecessarily difficult to grasp through their framing.
Personally, I wish The Atlantic had gone with a different title for that article. One of the major narratives pushed by right wing is that the main stream media doesn't criticize anyone on the left. They might as well have handed them another log for the bonfire of their frenzy.
Jun 16, 2022·edited Jun 16, 2022Liked by Claire Berlinski
Ukraine is screwed if it’s relying on the US, because Americans have minuscule attention spans, and because the Ukraine War is a culture war issue now. The Trumpist post-liberals are isolationist and back Putin, and they control the GOP. The Democrats are reflexively anti-Trump, so they have to make profusions of empty support for Ukraine. But they’re pacifists by nature, so they’re too scared of their own shadows to intervene on behalf of Ukraine. My wife asks me fortnightly about how the war’s going, but my blue-and-gold bedecked friends on the center-left have already stopped paying attention. I have a friend or two who truly care, but very, very few Americans do. Except the kleptocracy-aping Alt Right and theocrats, who positively are gleeful at the tide turning in the East. Sorry if I’m rambling and grumpy. I’ve had a loud, fractious baby wailing like a Klaxon for the last hour.
1) Americans aren’t behaving as if Biden is doing pretty good job under exceptionally difficult circumstances
Most people in my location (Texas) are concerned that in the middle of a shooting war, the Biden administration (State Department, Pentagon) seem to be much more concerned with preparations for PRIDE month, then the consequences of our foreign policy. Most weeks over the last several months have featured the President making an unscripted comment that is then walked back by staff. The general appearance is of an administration that is continually surprised by events, not sure what to do, and constantly trying to "wing it" as a response. It is like the inflation issue that we were told was not going to happen in 2021, then told it was not "real inflation", then told it was "temporary inflation" and now we have articles in the New York Times that "actually inflation is good for Americans because it forces us to change our lifestyles." If it appeared that the Administration understood what was going on, and that they had a plan for dealing with the issues, then most Americans would back the administration (ala Bush in 2002-2003). The perception here is that the administration views foreign policy as a distraction from the real job of enacting domestic policy changes. Not sure what folks are seeing on the news, as I tuned out the network and cable news long ago in favor of on-the ground reporting like the Cosmopolitan Globalist.
2) Americans aren’t capable of taking it in?
As has been true through most of our history, most Americans are focused on what is happening in their own community, occasionally in their state or country, as those are the things that affect their lives the most. I have found this to be the case in most areas of the world that I have traveled to. I appreciate the ex-pat community, and the fact that the reporting in the Cosmopolitan Globalist is better than anything available through traditional media, but reject that just because people do not have your particular set of views on the world they should be ridiculed. I get it that you know better than the rest of us, I just don't think you will actually inspire anyone to change their minds or support an alternate policy with a dismissive attitude like this.
1) Americans aren’t behaving as if Biden is doing pretty good job under exceptionally difficult circumstances
I think the middle ground of American politics always going sway the most in the face of economic change. Part of the problem is that the facts involved are difficult to understand, the other is that it is very easy confuse these facts with a counter narrative. All it takes is a few enthusiastic but uninformed relatives or colleagues proclaiming that the economy was failing under Obama for most people to believe it. Unfortunately, for every minute of misinformation dumped into a conversation, it takes at least 5 to try and shovel it out. I'm not sure how many times I've had to explain the difference between deficit and debt. And I'm not sure how often the idea takes root.
Right now all people will see on the surface news is that prices are rising, probably with a fluff piece about a struggling single mother. You're going to have to look far and wide to find more than tepid support for Biden in the face of that, which was the best even Nichols was willing to provide. And tepid is nothing in the face of burning, quasi-religious Trumpism.
2) Americans aren’t capable of taking it in?
Blaming the president for things outside of his control is what passes for analysis in the US. I cringed every time someone put All COVID-19 Deaths at the feet of Trump, as the man could have only nudged that dial. Similarly, there are impossibly dense pundits who will put all blame for the economic woes of the country on Biden, rather than looking at the mess handed to him or that developed overseas.
Trump could have been coherent in his messaging about COVID-19. Biden could have signed a stimulus package that wouldn't have pushed so hard on inflation. Neither of these opinions will sell papers the way finger pointing will.
I think the "solipsism of... our political parties" is the greatest culprit here. What I hear from my fellow citizens is usually quite partisan, on both ends of the spectrum. But I suspect they're a noisy minority. I think most Americans have the capability of understanding the depth of a story, but parties make it unnecessarily difficult to grasp through their framing.
Personally, I wish The Atlantic had gone with a different title for that article. One of the major narratives pushed by right wing is that the main stream media doesn't criticize anyone on the left. They might as well have handed them another log for the bonfire of their frenzy.
So much for brevity...
Ukraine is screwed if it’s relying on the US, because Americans have minuscule attention spans, and because the Ukraine War is a culture war issue now. The Trumpist post-liberals are isolationist and back Putin, and they control the GOP. The Democrats are reflexively anti-Trump, so they have to make profusions of empty support for Ukraine. But they’re pacifists by nature, so they’re too scared of their own shadows to intervene on behalf of Ukraine. My wife asks me fortnightly about how the war’s going, but my blue-and-gold bedecked friends on the center-left have already stopped paying attention. I have a friend or two who truly care, but very, very few Americans do. Except the kleptocracy-aping Alt Right and theocrats, who positively are gleeful at the tide turning in the East. Sorry if I’m rambling and grumpy. I’ve had a loud, fractious baby wailing like a Klaxon for the last hour.
“Ethnic Unity” for Han Chinese. The Turkic peoples of China are unified by imprisonment, torture, systematized rape, and mass sterilization.