Readers: this blog is set in the future (sometime after the year 2020). Each entry assumes there has been a 5th revolution in the US — the Revenge Revolution. More about the Revenge Revolution and author, Entry #1. List and general description of entries to date.
Note: most entries are formatted as conversations. Characters appear in a number of entries, with many entries building on previous conversations. Profile of characters (see link at top of page). You’ll catch on quickly. Thanks for your time and interest…and comments.
Scene: Coffee shop near Jordan’s office Washington, DC. JC, Greenie and Jordan continuing conversation from previous day. Series starts Entry #265.
Jordan: “Alright, guys, have my coffee refilled so let’s get back to the topic at hand.”
Greenie: “Well, Jordan, you have two friends…maybe more…who pledged loyalty to Trump regardless of the situation. They stuck with him even after he was taken out. Are these two the norm or outliers?”
JC: “My guess is they’re not outliers. Maybe outliers for Jordan’s friends but not among Republicans.”
Jordan: “What makes you believe that?”
JC: “How many Republicans supported your idol, Judge Roy Moore?”
Greenie: “Hardly Jordan’s idol. But what group makes you think these guys were not outliers?”
JC:
“Evangelicals. Moore was a pedophile and…”
Jordan: “…Pardon me, an alleged pedophile at the time of the special election…”
JC: “…alleged, smedged, the guy was a pedophile, which is about the worst behavior possible whether you’re an evangelical or not. So what do evangelicals do?”
Greenie: “Support Moore, and so did Trump.”
JC: “Why would evangelicals make such a bizarre choice?”
Greenie: “Because they pledged the Trump-is-king fraternity/sorority. Do whatever Trump wanted. And, with Moore, Trump wanted a sure vote for his tax cut for the rich…and more importantly, a tax gift for himself. The tax proposal failed in the end but so did a lot of Trump’s programs.”
Jordan: “Maybe there’s a different angle. What about the evangelical’s concern over Roe v. Wade? Didn’t evangelicals want Moore for the senate seat to ensure a conservative judge for SCOTUS?”
Greenie: “Here’s the flaw in that argument. The decision in Roe v. Wade has never forced any woman to get an abortion, period. If you cut through all the phony arguments about Roe v. Wade, the only conclusion is that evangelicals want to cram their religious beliefs down everyone’s throat. The same is true for most of their other constitutional claims.”
Jordan: “Whoa, Bubbette, aren’t you being a bit harsh? Forcing their beliefs down everyone’s throat?”
Greenie: “No, I’m not being harsh. Evangelicals captured a substantial portion of the Republican Party. Just analyze actions by Republicans during Trump. I admit I still can’t understand why evangelicals supported Trump in the first place.”
Jordan: “You mean supporting him despite all the facts about lying, cheating and the abuse of women.”
JC: “Hardly stuff that evangelical’s support. But evangelicals seemed to rationalize supporting Trump because, in their eyes, Bill Clinton was worse than Trump.”
Greenie: “So, tell me old wise one, was Bill Clinton running against Trump…or was Hillary Clinton the opponent?”
JC: “Greenie, now, now. To be a good evangelical you must believe in alternative facts. What you read in the New York Times and Washington Post – all lies. You must believe in the only righteous network – Fox News…and believe, of course, in Breitbart.”
Jordan: “C’mon guys, aren’t we getting off track? Back to the discussion whether political parties became a defacto tribe for people, replacing tribes based on ethnic groups or culture.”
Greenie: “Jordan, with all due respect, I think you’re wrong and we are on track. For example, the personal behavior of Trump and Moore was the polar opposite of evangelical values. It’s as if evangelicals did a U-turn. Yet the vast majority of evangelicals appeared to continue to support Trump.”
JC: “At least white evangelicals. Fair to say more black evangelicals voted for Democrats than Republicans.”
Greenie: “Point well taken. Why was religion the overriding issue with white evangelicals and not with black evangelicals?”
JC: “There must be something different. Or, if there is no difference in beliefs, then the argument is stronger that political parties have become a tribe for many people.”
Greenie: “Tell you what would be an interesting test. Give the same list of religious-based questions to a group of evangelicals, both white and black. The questions would be answered anonymously with the only coding being whether the respondent was white or black. Then compare the responses.”
Jordan: “And what do you think the differences would be?”
Greenie: “If it were truly a blind test, the answers probably would be about the same. However, if the questions were asked in a public forum, the answers likely would be different.”
JC: “You’re supposing pressure from within the tribe…the tribe being the political party…would influences responses?”
Greenie: “Think so. Remember what Wolf Man said why so many Native Americans had a difficult time becoming successful?”
JC: “The crab-barrel effect?”
Greenie: “Exactly. Every time one of the members of the Indian tribe tried to become more successful, the other members pulled him or her back in the crab barrel.”
Jordan: “What I’m hearing is when one makes a political party one’s defacto tribe, then one is subject to the crab barrel effect. Follow the wishes of the tribal leader. Not everyone joining a political party is subject to the crab effect, obviously, but a very large percentage of party members seems to be.”
Greenie: “Members who join the political-party tribe go along with the party leadership rather than thinking for themselves. Joining the party provides camaraderie and takes away the pressure to think for one’s self.”
Jordan: “Political party leaders seem to understand that party members are subject to…in the most polite terms…brainwashing. And the leaders exploit that opportunity.”
JC: “The brainwashing is effective until one day a bunch of brainwashees realize how bad they’ve been screwed…and voila, we have a revolution, like our very own Revenge Revolution. Now I need a break, please.”
JC: “Fun not being around you.”
Greenie: “Yes, we did have a good time last night. Ordered in and had some wine.”
Jordan: “Give me an example, please.”
Greenie: “People like to belong to a group or groups because it helps them with their identity. By joining you can be ‘this’ or ‘that’ rather than just some individual. Plus, belonging to a group and just talking to other group members can make life easier to understand…at least some of the members think it can. Group think can take away much of the pressure to think as an individual.”
Greenie: “The conclusion seems logical but this idea was birthed last night after a couple of glasses of wine. We’ve done no research.”
Greenie: “Go Back to Trump’s proposals. His hard-core supporters were going to get screwed if the Affordable Care Act was cancelled. They were going to get screwed even more under the proposed so-called plan to reform taxes.”
JC: “One issue we have to address…and it shouldn’t be that difficult to determine…is whether the rank-order of affiliations has changed over time.”
Jordan: “The phenomenon might apply to more than just ethnic groups. People seem to crave some type of affiliation. I still shake my head over a college fraternity brother. At some point in life he pledged another fraternity…the Trump-is-king fraternity. Once he joined, he supported his fraternity brother no matter how bizarre King Trump’s behavior or decision. He stuck with Trump when Trump denied campaign cooperation with the Russians; when he denied any hanky-panky with beauty contestants; and when he denied illegal financial transactions. Whatever King Donald claimed or did he supported.”
JC: “Jordan, what about your buddy…I think he was a former high-school history teacher…who called you a liar for asking for data to support some outlandish claim he made. At some point he pledged the Trump fraternity. Some friend.”
Greenie: “OK, in the meantime, I’ve got a culture we might want to explore…or at least I think it qualifies as a culture.”
JC: “You mean how much should regional cultures sorta blend in versus how much should these regional cultures should stay specific to the geographic area?”
Jordan: “I’m hardly an expert. My take is there are marked differences in cultures among East, Midwest and West and even differences within a region – the Northeast is a good example. As for Hawaii and Alaska…different still. But to me these differences seem more cosmetic than substantive. Yes, some areas are more liberal or more conservative than others but the differences don’t seem to alter the fundamental principles in how the region or the country should be governed.”
Jordan: “The South is a different animal.”
Jordan: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn what you think. Actually, the resentment is probably much greater and deeper than any of us can understand.”
Jordan: “Spot on, Greenie. His election and his rhetoric as president made perfectly acceptable any type of public display of resentment or even hatred of ‘non-true Southerners’. Look back at Trump’s public support of hate groups in Charlottesville.”
Greenie: “You know what I find ironic about ironic about the hard-core Southerners supporting the Donald? Many in the South still blame the North for lots of problems…and they really dislike people from New York. So who do they support? The Donald who was born and raised in NY. The Donald who dodged the draft, claiming bone spurs. The Donald who proposed policies as president that hurt rather than helped his supporters. The guy should have been despised by the people in the south. But no, they adored him.”
JC: “To the hard-core Southerner, he must have been considered a born-again Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee rolled into one. His supporters believed he was going to overthrow the very establishment that the hard-core blamed for destroying the Old South.”
JC: “Lincoln tried to set the stage for the country to heal. He might have been too accommodating. The hard-core Southerners still don’t understand and still can’t get out of the blame stage.”