The New York Times continues to make the case against Donald Trump. As well they should. A free and antagonistic press is a cornerstone of democracy.
I like democracy. What I don’t like, what Americans historically don’t like, is having smug elitists dismiss middle America using shoddy math, lousy data and quotes from tweed-wearing “demographers” (picture Tom Hanks’ “Professor of Symbology” in the DaVinci Code).
If voters on both sides are angry maybe it’s because they’re sick of being taken for idiots.
Here’s a breakdown of the NYT’s faux-data driven piece on “The Geography of Trumpism” from Saturday’s front page.
I tried to include a lot of pictures in deference to the Times’ editorial staff.
Had a look at that myself yesterday in between running around. Thanks for putting my suspicions in to proper words and format.
I will no doubt borrow this for dinner speak later today.
Regards
Chuck Bennett
Enjoy, Chuck. Glad it wasn’t just me.
There are so many problems with this article that it’s hard to know where to start.
Statisticians consider correlations greater than .8 to be strong. > 0 to .5 is weak. So statements like “One of the strongest predictors of Trump support is the proportion of the population that is native-born.” is, statistically-speaking, ridiculous because the correlation is only .43
Almost all of the correlations (or inverse correlations) shown in this article are statistically weak, but are presented using words like “strongest” or “highest”.
Then there’s this statement: “Relatively few people in the places where Trump is strong are immigrants” This statement is not really backed up by their data (hence they hedge by using the word “relatively”).
The article continues “and, as their answers on their ancestry reveal, they very much wear Americanness on their sleeve.” The implication being that those who answer “American” are nativists, which is absurd.
Then there’s George Wallace. I guess the Times couldn’t figure out a statistical study they could use to link Trump and Hitler, so Wallace had to do. Given US life expectancy of < 71 yrs in 1968, I'd guess that 90% of voters in 1968 are now dead. Not to mention the impact of the voting rights act over the past 48 yrs. George Wallace won 5 states in the South in 1968. Clinton won those states by landslides this year. Maybe the Times should run a Clinton-Wallace correlation?
It was terrible right from the start. I’m out of town this weekend. I hadn’t planned on writing anything until I stumbled on the times piece.
Thanks for jumping in with me.
All data shows Trump runs best with uneducated whites
Prove me wrong
The research is crap.
I went to the best schools in the world. I’m trained in media and finance. I’ve met 3 of the remaining candidates personally.
Trump is barbelled. He owns the D-students. You’re right. Way to go. He’s also got growing support of A-students with plenty of money. You’d be amazed how angry people so blessed can be.
What we know is that it’s a bullshit process and a fake choice. There is no practical difference between the political parties. They’ve lost touch.
I’ve paid enough in taxes to have helped fund at least a few drone strikes. BF that I paid for part of the Iraq debacle. There is no financial or tangible ideological difference between the two. Not to us, not to the people we kill. Every 4 years the Dems pretend their secret murder drones are sufficient and the right wants to attack.
The idea that the military will revolt under Trump is absurd. Obama has killed thousands of civilians by executive order. Did you vote on that Bc I didn’t.
Let’s stay home. Kill fewer people. Stop being such assholes. See if the world likes us more then Bc they sure as hell cant stand us now.
It’s similar up and down the platforms. Minimum wage: bullshit debate. Mkt fixed the problem (at least past where the POTUS pretends to want to set it). Gun control? Nothing done. Which is honestly f-ing astonishing after the endless whining. (And don’t tell me about Obama being blocked by the GOP. He’s the f-ing POTUS) Obama Care? License to steal for the entire foodchain.
Policing Wall St? Possibly the biggest load of crap of all. Wall St and DC are locked at the wallet more than ever. You think Martin Shkreli is really the face of evil pharma? How about the makers of OxyContin? Generating billions selling synthetic heroin as a painkiller. Where do you think that heroin problem comes from? Mexico? Hysterical. It’s from our drug companies. Think Hilary is going to stop that?
I’m undecided but I know this: none of the establishment pols will touch any of the above issues. I also know I hate seeing regular people played for suckers. That’s why garbage like this Times piece piss me off.
If the left honestly thinks it’s going to shame people into voting for Hilary it’s even dumber than the GOP. Which is an accomplishment of sorts but not one that wins my vote
Spot on Jeff. Spot. Effn. On.
yo, great rant … I endorse this message/rant
I noticed the same thing, no surprise. This morning’s front page was full of anti-Trump headlines … US media … objective journalism
The ignorance fake or real or planned by the lap dogs. Trump simply tells the truth. Just have to listen.
iron bird, you again, what “truth” does Donal Trump tell outside of the elitist bubble that he lives in?
He’s in an alternative universe to my U.S.A. He’s an entertainer. He’s a huckster.He plays a good shell game. So do folks in other countries and they have less patience than we do because most of us live better lives.
We could do so much more for our country if people were less interested in becoming characters in “Dynasty” or subjects on the lives of millionaires. Is that Robin Leach guy and Shari Belafonte still selling the lifestyle? I know CNBC does.
Trump is messing with peoples heads more than the caffeine guzzling Palin and sadly McClain.
He’s messing with you on a scale only succeeded by VP Dick Cheney and President George W Bush, Donal Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and let’s throw in Grover Norquist,
Exactly correct. However, propaganda is effective and there will be no end to it anytime soon. The twentieth century will not be remembered for its technological advances, but for the perfection of propaganda techniques of mass manipulation.
Reads like the whining of a confirmed Trumpet. Does it surprise me that Trump attracts supporters from all walks of life? Of course not. Trump is March Madness. Lots of fun but few people ultimately pick the winner. Trump’s problem is that more people hate him than love him. He’s a freak show that our media can’t turn away from. He is a brilliant marketer.
But so was Madoff. Anyone who supports him should be embarrassed, including those who attended the best schools in the world.
“But so was Madoff”?
What a disappointing conclusion.
Disappointing??
Yes. Disappointing. You set up a nice troll then just shouted a non-sequitur of a criminal.
Just like Monson!
You didn’t make any case at all for either party or any candidate. Didn’t even try. Just shouted a totally unrelated name. It lessened everything that came before it and made the whole schools thing invisible.
On which point, am I to be embarrassed? I obviously wasn’t bragging. I didn’t even name the schools (had one been Harvard I would have been required to mention it in the first paragraph).
Make a case for someone. Sell people on a candidate. This isn’t a Mensa test.
Trump is harnessing the unheard, or ignored, anger of Americans. More than just trailer trash whites. Has the media even looked at who is at rallies?
AssClown Romney was probably the only person in the GOP universe that couldn’t capture this anger in the last election as he was the only on that couldn’t argue against Obamacare. The GOP Establishment is a frikkin’ lost cause.
I’d like to parse this quote from the article, just to show how the Times can try to make its readers believe they’re free thinking, except that the NYT is inserting language to fire up its supports. Hmmmm sounds eerily similar to an argument they make against a certain real estate mogul…
“Trump territory showed stronger support for the segregationist George Wallace in the 1968 election than the rest of the country, and substantially weaker support for the centrist former Republican John B. Anderson in 1980.”
In the sentence before, the article says ‘Trump counties’ include places that vote both Republican and Democratic. Does that mean Hilary or Bernie should be aligned with a raging racist as well?
Also, what good is comparing Wallace to Anderson? All this says is that this centrist that history has forgotten wasn’t too popular. Additionally, while I would never support anything related to George Wallace nor would have ever voted for him, the 1968 election really didn’t turn out well in spectrum of American politics. For you history buffs, the country elected Nixon.
Jeff that Corp Buy Back support of the Market should be going into the Black Out Period leading into earnings about now?
Trump is an ass
http://winningdemocrats.com/rachel-maddow-tears-down-trumps-deliberate-race-war-in-a-brilliant-clip-youll-never-forget-video/