EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is Jonah Goldberg’s weekly “news”letter, the G-File. Subscribe here to get the G-File delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
Dear Reader (and the cast of the Gorilla Channel, who get this “news”letter via sign language. Banana.),
As the sh**hole continues to hit the fan, I find myself in one of those moods where I think everyone, on the right and left, is arguing about the wrong things. Lest folks think I’m dodging the issues that they all seem desperate to debate, I’ll address a bunch of them before I make my case.
Let’s start with the question of Donald Trump’s racism. I find the competition to be most offended by the offensiveness of President Trump’s fecal-crater comments to be more than a little tedious.
Don’t get me wrong: I think they were offensive and, yes, racist. But that, to me, is the least interesting aspect of this episode of The Trump Show. Many liberals seem to think that if they can just prove Donald Trump is racist, The Trump Show will be cancelled. But it doesn’t work that way, not least because — all evidence to the contrary — we are not living in a reality-TV universe. Also, Trump’s bridge-and-tunnel–style bigotry, utterly familiar to anyone who grew up in New York City, has been obvious for a long time.
No, he’s not a Klansman. The pillowcases at Mar-a-Lago don’t have eyeholes cut out of them. But Trump is a man of deeply held prejudices, a glandular decision-maker who famously thinks his instincts are more dispositive than any expert’s judgment or any rational argument. His bigotry isn’t the biological racism of Woodrow Wilson, but of a midtown-Manhattan doorman from Queens who gives the Nigerian deliveryman a harder time than he deserves.
Vox Deplorable
Then there’s the conservative response, or rather responses. For the Trump faithful, this incident is just more proof that Trump tells it like it is and that he isn’t politically correct. The real outrage to them — per usual — is the hypocrisy of people who are outraged. Thus the waves of whataboutist fury crashing every few minutes on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/dangainor/status/951652224136081408
But forget about 2018 or even 2020. The long-term threat to conservatism and, by extension, the GOP is profound. Young people — the largest voting bloc now — are utterly turned off to the Republican party. That doesn’t make them right, but that’s irrelevant. Their opinions are hardening every single day, even as old white people shuttle off this mortal coil.
Maybe there’s a deep and principled argument to make in favor of Trump’s sh**holish gaffes. But very few people outside the ranks of the converted want to hear it. All they hear are defenses of, or deflections from, the issues that arouse their passion. When conservatives and Republicans rush to defend Trump’s indefensible actions, all they are doing is convincing more people that “Trumpism” isn’t confined to Trump. That damage won’t be erased by another record stock-market closing or an uptick in the GDP numbers. It will outlive The Trump Show for generations.
Various & Sundry
I recorded two episodes of The Remnant this week. The first was with Michael Rubin, an intensely informed expert on Iran and the Middle East. The conversation was less jocular than usual, but I thought it was amazingly informative and compelling. The second episode was a free-ranging conversation with Charles Murray about everything under the sun from Martinis and, yes, bullfighting, to the sources of true human happiness. If you haven’t listened, please give it a shot. I thought it was great. And if you do listen but haven’t subscribed, please do so.
Canine Update: The beasts are doing great. While Pippa still has a few scabs from the big fight, she’s forgotten the whole thing (I think). The exciting news is that we finally bought a dog car — a 13-year-old Honda Element. So now we can return to leashless adventures in the mornings. Indeed, I got to take them on a special lunchtime trip today. They’re coping with unseasonably warm weather, proving the need for a dog car. Meanwhile, here’s proof that Zoë puts her work obligations ahead of her comfort.
I started off this crazy week with a hit on NPR’s Morning Edition.
I don’t like Steve Bannon, but I also don’t like Soviet-esque ritual denunciations.
I also don’t like the way Net Neutrality activists are treating Ajit Pai.
The latest Ricochet GLoP Culture podcast
Fire and Fury, signifying nothing
The DACA ruling and our desiccated constitutional system
This week’s first Remnant, exploring the Middle East and Islam with Michael Rubin
This week’s second Remnant, exploring genes, gin, and government with Charles Murray
Why have we let actors become our moral guides?
Dick Durbin’s Dim ‘History’ Lesson
And now, the weird stuff.
Man eats tacos for an entire year
Stray dog welcomed into Alaska family
Michigan pizzeria will deliver pizza and plow your driveway
Camera that recorded its own disappearance returned to owner
An ice-age flute that can play the “Star-Spangled Banner”
Using a potato as an instrument
How Star Wars used Skellig Michael
Testing a 427-year-old mousetrap
Australian birds hunt prey with fire
The birds with black-hole feathers
Very not dumb guy has very not dumb way of lighting a lightbulb
Why some people curse in their sleep
The CIA, a king, and an actress walked into a bar . . .
How alligators survive icy conditions
Why dolphins are deep thinkers
Traumatic personality changes . . . from bad to good
It’ll have to do until we get the Gorilla Channel: Mountain gorillas at home, in pictures