We’ve been watching the Republican National Convention the past few evenings because, well, there’s nothing else on. We’re not in the midst of watching any particular show on cable, or DVD, and it’s easiest just to turn on one network or another and watch the show. What struck me on the first night was that a union leader (!) was speaking to Republicans, as if Republicans support unions. They never have; they’re pro-big business, and thus anti-union.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48425727-a3e0-4022-9f25-7fa49aa8a1e4_3500x2599.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Robert Reich, 16 Jul 2024<\/strong>: The GOP pretends its pro-union<\/a>, subtitled “How the anti-union party courts working-class voters”<\/p>\n The strategy here, apparently, is if you say black is actually white, some people will believe you.<\/p>\n Reich quotes RNC statements about Biden not being pro-union. Then:<\/p>\n As my friend Harold Meyerson, writing for The American Prospect<\/em>, notes,<\/a> the RNC statement didn\u2019t address the Republicans\u2019 enduring and ongoing opposition to unions, or the officials Trump appointed when president (Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb, et al.) who devoted themselves to crippling unions in every way they could.<\/p>\n It ignored the assessments of dispassionate historians that Biden is either the most pro-union president since FDR or the most pro-union president ever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \\\\<\/p>\n And then last night, the speech by J.D. Vance, the writer and now Vice Presidential nominee, whose political resume is very short, and whose speech avoided any kind of policy statements at all. He spoke of home and hearth. Which is consistent with my ongoing model.<\/p>\n Washington Post, Jason Willick, 18 Jul 2024<\/strong>: Opinion | Did Vance sell a new kind of conservative nationalism?<\/a>, subtitled “On Wednesday night, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Vance fused with modern MAGA.”<\/p>\n The article is a discussion among several people. The key point is Dionne’s third item.<\/p>\n E.J. Dionne Jr.<\/b>: I was struck by three aspects: First, the repudiation of past Republican policies on trade and foreign policy. Second, the hard-edge class language more likely to come from the left \u2014 attacks on \u201cthe ruling class,\u201d \u201cWall Street,\u201d \u201cthe few.\u201d Third, and this was troubling the more I thought about it, a defense of a nationalism rooted more in the land and in identity than in a commitment to, say, the principles of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It was a different kind of conservatism, national conservatism.<\/p>\n Jason: <\/b>I agree, E.J., that the repudiation of \u201ccreedal nationalism\u201d \u2014 or the idea that America is an idea \u2014 was maybe the speech\u2019s most significant substantive point.<\/p>\n E.J.:<\/b> Yes, Jason, the repeated rejection of America as an idea really jumped out, as did his coming back again and again to \u201chomeland\u201d and \u201chome\u201d and mentioning the \u201cseven generations\u201d of his family buried in that Kentucky cemetery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Once again: the dichotomy between loyalty and principle. Conservatives say they live by the Bible and the Constitution, but they actually don’t; they live by allegiance to their land, their family, and their fearless leader, and support whatever he does. Toward the end:<\/p>\n Jim Geraghty<\/b>: He\u2019ll be formidable in a debate. And he\u2019ll steer the GOP in the most populist, nationalist, protectionist and perhaps isolationist direction possible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In the terms I’ve been using: tribal.<\/p>\n \\\\\\<\/p>\n And if no human can escape narrative thinking, conservatives seem consciously intent on reducing the world to black and white. Despite evidence.<\/p>\n NY Times, German Lopez, 18 Jul 2024<\/strong>: The Myth of Migrant Crime<\/a>, subtitled “Republicans suggest that immigrants are especially likely to be criminals. The data shows the opposite.”<\/p>\n Throughout the first three days of the Republican National Convention, officials have highlighted a surge in what they call \u201cmigrant crime.\u201d President Biden \u201chas welcomed into our country rapists, murderers, even terrorists, and the price that we have paid has been deadly,\u201d Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas claimed last night. The day before, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said, \u201cEvery day, Americans are dying\u201d in crimes committed by migrants. Donald Trump has made similar remarks on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n But there is no migrant crime surge.<\/p>\n In fact, U.S. rates of crime and immigration have moved in opposite directions in recent years. After illegal immigration plummeted in 2020, the murder rate rose. And after illegal immigration spiked in 2021 and 2022, murders plateaued and then fell.<\/p>\n Over a longer period, there is no relationship between immigration and crime trends. The number of foreign-born Americans has increased for decades, while the murder rate has gone up and down at different times…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With charts and analysis. Here’s one of my favorite points. Just step back, for a moment, and consider the motivations of immigrants, who walk for hundreds or thousands of miles to get to the US.<\/p>\n In reality, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S. Immigrants have had lower incarceration rates \u2014 a measure for crime \u2014 than native-born Americans for at least 150 years, a recent study concluded<\/a>. Undocumented immigrants have lower felony arrest rates than legal immigrants or native-born Americans, another study found<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why? Consider migrants\u2019 motives. Many risk their lives by crossing dangerous jungles, rivers and deserts<\/a> through Latin America to reach the U.S. so they can find better jobs that offer higher pay. In many cases, they are fleeing crime and violence back home. If they came here illegally, they have an incentive to avoid trouble with the law so they do not get caught by the authorities and deported.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But you won’t sway tribal racists with evidence. They’d rather hear their paranoid fears are justified.<\/p>\n \\\\\\<\/p>\n Another nonsensical position on the right — among many other things, an example of black and white thinking. If something is not *this*, it must be the opposite.<\/p>\n Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, 18 Jul 2024<\/strong>: “The left is godless”: Why a MAGA spokeswoman’s attack makes no sense<\/a>, subtitled “‘Living without God, I just wouldn’t wish it on anyone,’ said Caroline Sunshine about many of her own party’s voters”<\/p>\n Never mind the psychological issues about blind “faith,” her claims simply aren’t true, as Hemant explores with… charts! tables of numbers! Evidence!<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Sunshine\u2019s claim that the left is \u201cgodless\u201d isn\u2019t just a lie and it\u2019s not just a slur. It\u2019s completely disingenuous<\/em>. She implied that Democrats couldn\u2019t possibly feel bad about the tragedy because they lacked religious faith even though they repeatedly and forcefully said as much about the violence (which, by the way, was committed<\/a> by a registered Republican who \u201cdefinitely was conservative\u201d with access to a weapon that Democrats want banned).<\/p>\n It\u2019s especially ridiculous considering President Joe Biden<\/strong> is a devout Catholic who attends Mass nearly every week and cites his faith in damn near every speech.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something extremely arrogant about suggesting others can\u2019t have empathy because they don\u2019t think exactly like you. But that\u2019s the GOP brand for you: If you\u2019re not one of them, you\u2019re a monster.<\/p>\n Sunshine is also just factually wrong in claiming the left is godless.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Politics and the Narrative Drive converge in items today. Robert Reich about how the GOP is courting unions; How J.D. Vance emphasizes his personal story rather than conservative principles; How Republicans cling to the myth of migrant crime; And how … Continue reading ![](\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/JMCN4MYXFFHHQ76QUHWWX6Z6XU.jpg&w=916\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/18\/multimedia\/18themorning-nl-LEDE-hcfw\/18themorning-nl-LEDE-hcfw-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/LeftIsGodless-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n