“White Rural Rage” misused my research
The new “white rural rage” narrative is a self-defeating myth.
A new book is all the rage among Democrats — specifically, White Rural Rage.
Written by political scientist Tom Schaller and liberal columnist Paul Waldman, the cathartic screed casts white, rural Americans — just 16 percent of the population — as a “threat to the world’s oldest constitutional democracy,” foisting their anti-democratic, racist, retrograde views on the beleaguered majority of the nation. And they claim to have the data and research to back up their claims.
“Imagine my surprise when I picked up the book and saw that some of that research was mine,” writes Nicholas Jacobs in this week’s Friday Read.
Jacobs, an academic who studies rural America and lives in rural Maine, says that White Rural Rage not only misrepresents his research, but repeats errors that Democrats have made over and over again for decades — “and appear to be making again in this critical presidential election year.”
“To equate the diverse expressions of rural political identity solely with rage is to overlook the nuanced ways in which rural Americans engage in politics,” Jacobs writes.
“Maybe he should start a podcast about it. I hear men are really underrepresented in that space.”
Can you guess who said this about Democratic political commentator James Carville? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
Suing DC’s Favorite Autocracy … A pair of legal cases allege that the United Arab Emirates, one of the most effective diplomatic players in Washington, engaged in shady smear campaigns to ruin the reputations of an American-born oil tycoon and an Austrian professor at Williams College — and manipulated Western journalists and academics to do it. If either case moves forward, “a trial would be quite a spectacle for Washington,” writes Michael Schaffer. “Beyond demonstrating what a deep-pocketed actor can do, it highlights the vulnerability of institutions a lot of Beltway types like to think are above the fray, from media to academia to supposedly dispassionate ratings agencies that rate commercial risk.”
Scotland’s new hate crime laws went into effect on Monday after weeks of controversy from the likes of J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan. With misinformation and misunderstandings flying around, not all of the act’s critics (or supporters) have a clue what they’re on about. Here’s how to sound smarter than them this weekend. (From POLITICO U.K.’s Andrew McDonald):
- If you’re struggling to get anyone interested in Scottish hate crime laws, bring up Rowling publicly daring Scottish cops to arrest her for misgendering several transgender women as the act came into force. Spoiler alert: The police said they weren’t taking any action.
- Don’t let your friends fall into the Twitter/X trap of thinking memes, or, indeed, provocative comments about trans people, have suddenly been criminalized. The main change to the law is the addition of a new crime of stirring up hatred against minority groups, with a very high bar for prosecution and protections in the law for freedom of expression.
- Point out that no serious legal experts reckon that comedians, funny or otherwise, will end up jailed or fined for risque humor as a result of the new act. Make yourself look really in-the-know by bringing up the “comedian” who was fined under the previous laws for teaching his dog how to do Nazi salutes.
- Show off your knowledge of Scottish politics: Harry Potter author Rowling has been on the frontlines of a years-long battle in Scotland over the legal status of trans people, in opposition to the Scottish National Party-led government. That government is struggling to stay on top after years in power, and the reaction to its hate laws and its bungled attempt to sell them have given beleaguered Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf yet another headache.
- Oh, and remember to mention the hate monster with a knowing smirk. That’s this fellow, a creation of Police Scotland’s in the lead-up to the act coming into law. The grumpy creature — aimed at convincing Scots to keep hateful thoughts in their heads, or heids — has come under fire for its linking of hate crime to “white male entitlement.” To most though, the hate monster is just a figure of fun, and another example of the … strange comms from those in power.
RFK Jr. Really Could Doom Joe Biden … Conspiracy theorist turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. relaunched his “Viva Kennedy” program to engage Hispanic voters this past Saturday, echoing his uncle, John F. Kennedy, who initiated the first ever Latino vote campaign in the U.S. in 1960. It’s causing Democrats to sweat, especially following the release of a previously unreported poll in mid-February by Democratic group Equis Research that showed Kennedy performing surprisingly well among Latino voters in a dozen battleground states. If Kennedy draws enough support in the southwest, he could shatter Biden’s winning coalition, writes Adrian Carrasquillo — and hand the election to Donald Trump.
The WCK Killings Hit Close to Home … Celebrity chef José Andrés is a rare case of someone who has achieved fame in Washington without wading into politics. But all that changed when Israel killed several workers from Andrés’ charity, the World Central Kitchen, in Gaza this week. “The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing,” he wrote on X. “It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.” Official D.C. immediately took notice, with throngs reaching out to offer Andrés condolences — including the president. “Andrés’ path to rock star status is an evolution that says as much about Washington as it does about Andrés,” writes Michael Schaffer in a Capital City column this week, “and makes the fallout from the killing worth watching as a barometer of Beltway opinion about Israel’s campaign against Hamas.”
**Who Dissed answer: It was Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, responding on X to a Hill article about a comment Carville made in a New York Times interview, in which he claimed that “too many preachy females” are dominating the Democratic party.
