DOCSLIB.ORG

Identity/Politics: Intersection and Distinction in Digital Publics By

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Identity/Politics: Intersection and Distinction in Digital Publics By Identity/Politics: Intersection and Distinction in Digital Publics by Dmitri Seals A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Neil Fligstein, Chair Professor Kim Voss Professor David Bamman Spring 2020 Abstract Identity/Politics: Intersection and Distinction in Digital Publics by Dmitri Seals Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Berkeley Professor Neil Fligstein, Chair This study tests and sharpens the widely shared consensus that something meaningful changed during the 2016 election cycle in the United States. Both online and in person, highly partisan actors ventured out of comfortable ideological homes to mainstream forums, in many cases acting without support from formal organizations. The apparently new character of their mobilization gave rise to narratives of social and political realignment and suggested the possibility of radical change to the structure of affiliations and identifications in the American public. What realigned in this tumultuous time and what stayed the same? Why do any shifts that occurred matter to the future of advocacy and democracy in the United States? To address these questions, the study brings together tools of concept and method from a wide range of influences including cultural sociology, intersectionality studies, social psychology, philosophy, and political science. The study produces two toolkits to support further work on boundary realignment and political inequality: intersectional boundary analysis and a new typology of participatory publics based on their level of diversity and emotional intensity. The empirical work of this study is a mixed-methods analysis drawing from the discussions of over 1.7 billion comments on the social media platform Reddit from 2015-2017 to reveal connections between discourse, culture, and inequality. The first chapter lays out the conceptual framework of intersectional boundary analysis, distinguishing forms of boundary work and developing tools for measuring boundary work and emotional language in text. It then measures the relative prevalence of different forms of boundary work to reveal shifts in the salience of symbolic boundaries over the 2016 election cycle and uses network analysis to show shifts in how these boundaries align. The second chapter develops intersectional boundary analysis by zooming in on the intersectional complexity of discourse on class inequality in online advocacy forums, using qualitative coding and close readings to critique and move past simplistic narratives like the rise of populism and the white working class. The final chapter explores inequalities of political power by tracking rates of attrition and advocacy activity among the wave of new authors who joined these advocacy forums after the elections. Results connect debates on the role of diversity and polarization, rationality and emotion in participatory publics online to inequalities of political engagement. 1 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Intersectional Boundary Analysis ............................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: The Intersectional Complexity of Class Distinction ............................................................................... 46 Chapter 3: Emotion, Diversity, and Inclusion in Online Publics ............................................................................. 70 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................................................... 96 References ........................................................................................................................................................................ 100 Appendix A: Glossary .................................................................................................................................................... 127 Appendix B: Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 131 i Acknowledgements True thanks to the committee of scholars - Neil Fligstein, Kim Voss, and David Bamman - whose eternal patience, insightful comments, and kind humanity made this dissertation possible. Six years working to found and develop movements and nonprofits in the Bay Area enriched this work but interrupted my progress through graduate school, and I do not take for granted that this committee welcomed me back with honest guidance and open arms. My deepest and most eternal gratitude to my partner Alisa Catalina Sanchez, whose brilliance, generous heart, and writing expertise enlivens every page of this document. I am also indebted to the wise voices from one generation up and one generation down: I am inspired every day by my parents, who faced down much greater obstacles than I did to get their educations; I am also lifted up by the lively spirit of Orozco, now little but already hinting at the wonderful adult they will become. Thanks also to the many friends and collaborators at UC Berkeley, Cal State LA, and elsewhere who have read drafts and offered thoughtful comments along the way. My heart goes out especially those who read the early drafts I produced as I was just getting back in the academic groove. I want to give special appreciation to every author whose comments enter into the analysis of this study and everyone out there working to make their voice heard and claim a seat at the slanted table of democracy in this country. ii Introduction Identity/Politics: Intersection and Distinction in Digital Publics A wave of mass mobilizations during the 2016 US presidential campaign confounded political pundits, rattled established organizations, and raised a challenge to traditional understandings of political action. Both online and in person, highly partisan actors ventured out of comfortable ideological homes to contest for control in mainstream forums, in many cases acting without support from formal organizations. The apparently new character of their mobilization suggested the possibility that 2016 saw a critical election causing radical change to the structure of affiliations and identifications in the American public sphere. What realigned, what stayed the same - and most importantly, why does it matter to the future of advocacy and democracy in the United States? Scholars and pundits focused attention on a wide range of narratives - populism, the white working class, the rise of the alt-right - and so often they contradicted each other, highlighting the importance of one social category and ignoring or downplaying others. This study argues that the best chance of assembling these contradictory narratives into an understanding of how realignment works and why it matters is to combine perspectives and tools of intersectionality studies and cultural sociology, and to pair close readings with big data analysis. Crucially, the analysis directs attention away from the discourse of elites, avoiding the traditional study of political speeches and mass media and instead focusing on informal discourse - the everyday discussions of everyday people. Informal discourse is a crucial site for the study of large-scale shifts in identity and group membership. Elites do not dictate political and social directions so much as tap into forces already present in the broader public (Bourdieu 1991; Norton 2017). Developing methods to measure patterns in informal discourse directly and at scale can reveal patterns that studies of elite discourse would miss - and reveal trends and complexities that elites themselves tend to miss. As boundaries and publics realign and evolve under the influence of charged political events, they contribute to shifts in how people view themselves - or don't - as active and engaged advocates and participants in democracy. The subjective experience of participating in advocacy and political discussion can have long-term consequences for political and power inequalities: many who find their participation ignored or dissonant withdraw in a form of self-censorship (Schwalbe et al. 2000), shying away from politics even in their personal lives (Bennett et al. 2013; Eliasoph 1996, 1998). Still, the great body of work mapping discursive opportunity structures has left relatively untouched a vital question that is essentially quantitative: which styles and structures of communication cause people to remain or drop out more than others? These sociological questions are grounded by my own experiences engaging and observing advocacy in online spaces but also person to person. Before the 2016 election, advocacy on national policy in my city of Los Angeles sat at a low simmer. After the election, I saw neighbors with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives take up political engagement with a new seriousness. Within a month of the election, at least eight new grassroots advocacy groups were founded within a 2-mile radius of my home. By the end of 2017, most of these groups were gone, and the remaining members looked seemed more privileged than the group that first mobilized a year before. 1 These chapters push
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Real Democracy in the Occupy Movement
    NO STABLE GROUND: REAL DEMOCRACY IN THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT ANNA SZOLUCHA PhD Thesis Department of Sociology, Maynooth University November 2014 Head of Department: Prof. Mary Corcoran Supervisor: Dr Laurence Cox Rodzicom To my Parents ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is an outcome of many joyous and creative (sometimes also puzzling) encounters that I shared with the participants of Occupy in Ireland and the San Francisco Bay Area. I am truly indebted to you for your unending generosity, ingenuity and determination; for taking the risks (for many of us, yet again) and continuing to fight and create. It is your voices and experiences that are central to me in these pages and I hope that you will find here something that touches a part of you, not in a nostalgic way, but as an impulse to act. First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Laurence Cox, whose unfaltering encouragement, assistance, advice and expert knowledge were invaluable for the successful completion of this research. He was always an enormously responsive and generous mentor and his critique helped sharpen this thesis in many ways. Thank you for being supportive also in so many other areas and for ushering me in to the complex world of activist research. I am also grateful to Eddie Yuen who helped me find my way around Oakland and introduced me to many Occupy participants – your help was priceless and I really enjoyed meeting you. I wanted to thank Prof. Szymon Wróbel for debates about philosophy and conversations about life as well as for his continuing support.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Judith A. Thomas 2012
    Copyright by Judith A. Thomas 2012 The Thesis Committee for Judith A. Thomas Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Live Stream Micro-Media Activism in the Occupy Movement Mediatized Co-presence, Autonomy, and the Ambivalent Face APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Karin Gwinn Wilkins Joseph D. Straubhaar Live Stream Micro-Media Activism in the Occupy Movement Mediatized Co-presence, Autonomy, and the Ambivalent Face by Judith A. Thomas, BFA Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2012 Dedication For my husband, inspiration and co-conspirator, Rob Donald. (Photo: The First Adbusters’ Poster for Occupy Wall Street, September 2011. Acknowledgements The work of Manuel Castells on autonomous networks and communication power has had a profound impact on this scholarship. The breadth of his vision and theoretical analysis is inspiring and insightful. I hope this work contributes to the continuing critical cultural discussion of the potential of citizen micro-media in all contexts but especially the international uprisings of 2010-2012. Most especially, my sincere thanks to the following University of Texas at Austin professors whose knowledge and curiosity inspired me most: Joe Straubhaar, Paul Resta, Shanti Kumar, Sandy Stone, and especially my generous, gifted and patient supervisor, Karin Gwinn Wilkins. I will miss the depth and breadth of debate we shared, and I look forward to following your challenging work in the future. v Abstract Live Stream Micro-Media Activism in the Occupy Movement Mediatized Co-presence, Autonomy, and the Ambivalent Face Judith A.
    [Show full text]
  • GINA HINOJOSA DEMOCRAT Incumbent
    2020 General Election FACEOFFWEBSITE BOOKLET OCCUPATION CONSULTANT MAJOR ENDORSEMENTS Proprietary Document, Please Share Appropriately 1 VOTERS, CANDIDATES, AND ELECTED OFFICIALS: It’s time to start gearing up for the General Election! In a year that has already seen huge numbers of voter turnout, even amid a pandemic, the Texas state election promises to be one for the history books. To help all Texans better understand the landscape of this November’s race, we have put together a high-level booklet of the candidates facing off for every elected state position. Within this booklet, you will find biographical informa- tion and quick facts about each candidate. It is our hope that you will find this information helpful leading up to, during, and after the election as you get to know your candidates and victorious elected officials better. If you have suggestions on how to improve this document or would like to make an addition or correction, please let us know at [email protected]. Best of luck to all of the candidates, David White CEO of Public Blueprint To Note: Biographical information was sourced directly from campaign websites and may have been edited for length. Endorsements will be updated as major trade associations and organizations make their general election choices. "Unknown Consultant" denotes that we did not find a political consultant listed in expenditures on campaign finance reports. PUBLIC BLUEPRINT • 807 Brazos St, Suite 207 • Austin, TX 78701 [email protected] • publicblueprint.com • @publicblueprint TABLE OF CONTENTS 04. TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATES 32. TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES 220. STATEWIDE CANDIDATES WEBSITE OCCUPATION CONSULTANT 3 TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATES FOR STATE SENATOR 06.
    [Show full text]
  • The Compassionate Rebel Revolution
    The Compassionate Rebel Revolution The Compassionate Rebel Revolution: Ordinary People Changing the World Edited by Burt Berlowe and Rebecca Janke The Compassionate Rebel Revolution: Ordinary People Changing the World Edited by Burt Berlowe and Rebecca Janke This book first published 2019 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2019 by Burt Berlowe, Rebecca Janke and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-2792-1 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-2792-8 Dedicated to the new generation of compassionate rebels. You are the keepers of the revolution. “Perhaps then, if we listen attentively, we shall hear amid the uproar of empires and nations, a faint flutter of wings, a gentle stirring of life and hope. Some will say that hope lies in a nation; others in a person. I believe rather that it is awakened, revived, nourished by millions of solitary individuals whose deeds and works every day negate frontiers and the crudest implications of history. As a result, there shines forth fleetingly the ever-threatened truth that each and every person, on the foundation of his or her own sufferings and joys, builds for all.” —Albert Camus, The Artist and His Time TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ..................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • CQR Tea Party Movement
    Res earc her Published by CQ Press, a Division of SAGE CQ www.cqresearcher.com Tea Party Movement Will angry conservatives reshape the Republican Party? he Tea Party movement seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly, citizens angry over the multi- billion-dollar economic stimulus and the Obama ad - T ministration’s health-care plan were leading rallies, confronting lawmakers and holding forth on radio and TV. Closely tied to the Republican Party — though also critical of the GOP — the movement proved essential to the surprise victory of Republi - can Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Tea partiers say Brown’s Tea kettle held high, a Tea Party activist dressed like a election proves the movement runs strong outside of “red states.” Revolutionary War soldier rallies tax protesters in Atlanta on April 15, 2009. It was among several But some political experts voice skepticism, arguing that the Tea protests held in cities around the nation. Party’s fiscal hawkishness won’t appeal to most Democrats and many independents. Meanwhile, some dissension has appeared among tea partiers, with many preferring to sidestep social issues, I such as immigration, and others emphasizing them. Still, the move - N THIS REPORT ment exerts strong appeal for citizens fearful of growing govern - S THE ISSUES ....................243 I ment debt and distrustful of the administration. BACKGROUND ................249 D CHRONOLOGY ................251 E CURRENT SITUATION ........256 CQ Researcher • March 19, 2010 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ........................257 Volume 20, Number 11 • Pages 241-264 OUTLOOK ......................259 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY ................262 THE NEXT STEP ..............263 TEA PARTY MOVEMENT CQ Re search er March 19, 2010 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 20, Number 11 • Does the Tea Party rep - Tea Partiers Running in MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J.
    [Show full text]
  • 2017 September
    The Gainesville Iguana A progressive newsletter and events calendar September, 2017 Vol. 31, Issue 9 No to Nazis, OnNo April 21 1990, the Gainesvilleto Downtown Plaza,Racists now Bo Diddley Plaza, was rented to celebrate Hitler’s birthday (word was whoever signed the paperwork didn’t know what “the fuhrer’s birthday” meant) . Much as today, authorities wanted the event ignored, but an activist-minded President of UF Student Government, as well as many community activists, turned out over 500 people for a counter rally . The celebrants had about 18 people, an assortment of skinheads and nazis . Their “seig heils” were met with loud “fuck yous .” And of course, a large police presence was involved, with everyone required to go through metal detectors . What follows ran in the May 1990 Gainesville Iguana: Nazis protected by US government, speaker says (Carol Giardina of Gainesville Women’s tion was the forced production of future places indeed, with their Nazi credentials Liberation spoke about women, and the fascists. Others were forced into whore- well covered-up. Some of them are larger Nazi threat . Here is part of her houses, for the Nazi armies. They were covered up and promoted, financed and speech at the rally .) sterilized and exterminated. Feminists supported by our government. share a common enemy in Hitler with all The Nazis are anti-woman and they’re See NAZIS, p. 18 of labor and working people ... anti-women’s liberation. They had a KKK just for women. Küche, Kirche, und I wish I could say that the threat was A living wage, Kinder.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Hits Through News Stories and Opinion Pieces
    MEDIA HITS THROUGH NEWS STORIES AND OPINION PIECES January 1 to December 31, 2017 Digital Original Syndicated & News Broadcast Editorials LTEs TOTAL Op-Eds Op-Eds Major Blogs National 274 34 8 1 12 33 0 362 State 197 309 11 96 81 NA 37 731 TOTAL 471 343 19 97 93 33 37 1,093 Media clips included in this report were generated from activities undertaken or sponsored by Americans for Tax Fairness. A media clip is included that either in whole or in large part was generated by ATF or by allies that ATF provided financial or in-kind support to. Included are news stories, op-eds, editorials, opinion columns, blog posts and letters to the editor (LTEs). Editorials and columns are included when ATF is reasonably confident that it has directly influenced the media outlets or authors through editorial board memos and direct outreach. All clips are in date descending order, with the most recent ones first. For instant access to a clip in the table of contents below hit the Control key and right click at the same time. NATIONAL MEDIA CLIPS 40 Common Dreams: Trump's Christmas Gift to Himself: Study Details How President Will Profit Off GOP Tax Bill 40 Freedom’s Phoenix: Blog: Trump Signs GOP Tax Cut Heist into Law 40 The Real Agenda News: Trump stands to Gain Big Time on Newly Approved Tax Cuts 40 Before It’s News: Trump stands to Gain Big Time on Newly Approved Tax Cut 41 Freedom’s Phoenix: Blog: Trump to Reap Millions of Dollars from GOP Tax Cut Heist 41 Common Dreams: 'Corporations Are Literally Going Wild,' Says Trump as He Signs Tax Bill Most
    [Show full text]
  • Advance Advance the Journal of ACS Issue Briefs
    Advance Advance The Journal of ACS Issue Briefs Volume 12 The Journal of ACS Issue Briefs The Journal of TABLE OF CONTENTS | FALL 2018 Reforming ‘Regulatory Reform’: A Progressive Framework for Agency Rulemaking in the Public Interest Daniel A. Farber, Lisa Heinzerling, and Peter M. Shane Truth is Truth: U.S. Abortion Law in the Global Context Martha F. Davis and Risa E. Kaufman The Special Counsel, Morrison v. Olson, and the Dangerous Implications of the Unitary Executive Theory Victoria Nourse What Starts in Texas Doesn’t Always Stay in Texas: Why Texas’s Systematic Elimination of Grassroots Voter Registration Drives Could Spread Mimi Marziani and Robert Landicho Restoring Objectivity to the Constitutional Law of Incarceration Margo Schlanger Fall 2018 What the Military Law of Obedience Does (and Doesn’t) Do Christopher Fonzone Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute: What’s at Stake for Voters Allegra Chapman Federal Civil Rulemaking, Discovery Reform, and the Promise of Pilot Projects Volume 12 Brooke D. Coleman Litigating Federal Habeas Corpus Cases: One Equitable Gateway at a Time Eve Brensike Primus 1899 L Street, NW, 2nd Floor Washington, D.C. 20036 The Detention and Forced Medical Treatment of Pregnant Women: A Human Rights Perspective www.ACSLaw.org Cynthia Soohoo and Risa E. Kaufman 202-393-6181 Preparing for the 2020 Census: Considerations for State Attorneys General John H. Thompson and Robert Yablon Advance The Journal of ACS Issue Briefs TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction 3 Reforming ‘Regulatory Reform’: A Progressive Framework for Agency Rulemaking in the Public Interest Daniel A. Farber, Lisa Heinzerling, and Peter M.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning from a Decade of Issue Advocacy July 2019 About Omidyar Network
    FIGHTING FOR CHANGE LEARNING FROM A DECADE OF ISSUE ADVOCACY JULY 2019 ABOUT OMIDYAR NETWORK: Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm that invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre, and Pam Omidyar, the organization has committed more than $1.4 billion to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations across multiple issue areas. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com, and follow on Twitter @omidyarnetwork #PositiveReturns. ABOUT RALLY: RALLY is an issue-driven communications firm that takes on sticky political and social problems and finds ways to push them forward. Our team consists of experts in political, digital and media strategy and our clients are leading foundations and advocacy organizations, as well as nonprofit and charitable organizations. RALLY worked with Omidyar Network to help answer the question - what makes for a successful issue advocacy campaign? The goal was to discern patterns in successful campaigns and identify best practices, trends, and lessons learned that could be adapted and applied to other issue areas. WEARERALLY.COM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following people for contributing to the research and writing of this report and lending their time for interviews: Dr. Vicki Alexander, Heather Barmore, Martin Bourque, Kenny Bruno, Dan Cramer, Josh Daniels, Julia Dionne, Michelle Dixon, Ernesto Falcon, Andrea Flores, Kaitlin Funaro, Evan Greer, LeeAnn Hall, Hahrie Han, Heather Hurlburt, Margarida Jorge, Liam Kerr, Kristi Kim- ball, Jane Kleeb, Annie Kim, Richard Kirsch, Dr. Jim Krieger, David McIntosh, Hillary Moglen, Jeff Nesbit, Tom Novick, Khalid Pitts, Lana Ramadan, David Segal, Sara Shor, Sara Soka, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Production Pt 3
    Census Media Tracking on Requested Citizenship Question January 29, 2017 to March 23, 2018 News Date News Headline Outlet Name Media Impact Score ‐ Census Underfunding, Canceled Tests Raise Fears About First‐Ever Online 3/19/2018 Census U.S. News & World Report 200 Asking about citizenship in the 2020 census is "unconstitutional," 2/13/2018 according to 19 Democrats Newsweek Online 200 2/9/2018 Opinion | Census Sabotage New York Times Online, The 200 2020 Census will ask white people about origins but leave out 2/1/2018 questions about Hispanic and Middle Eastern identities Newsweek Online 200 How a citizenship question on the 2020 Census could diminish 1/25/2018 Miami's political clout Miami Herald Online, The 200 Potential citizenship question in census could shift power; GOP 1/25/2018 likely would gain; Democrats doubt accuracy Houston Chronicle 200 1/21/2018 Census 2020: High stakes for Illinois Chicago Tribune 200 1/15/2018 The Census Should Ask About Citizenship Wall Street Journal Online, The 200 1/9/2018 Census doesn't need citizenship question USA Today 200 1/8/2018 Census 2020 doesn't need citizenship question USA Today Online 200 1/4/2018 Don't imperil the U.S. census Los Angeles Times 200 This month, the Department of Justice requested to include a 12/30/2017 citizenship question on the 2020 Census Newsweek Online 200 Trump's reelection campaign calls for adding citizenship question 3/20/2018 to 2020 census amid criticism that he is politicizing the count Washington Post Online, The 160 Citizenship Question Would Convert Census
    [Show full text]
  • Resist, Persist, and Transform: the Emergence and Impact of Grassroots Resistance Groups Opposing the Trump Presidency
    Resist, Persist, and Transform: The Emergence and Impact of Grassroots Resistance Groups Opposing the Trump Presidency Leah Gose and Theda Skocpol Harvard University Abstract The November 2016 election sparked the creation of thousands of local groups committed to resisting the new Trump administration and Republican Congress. Our paper uses online surveys and interviews as well as evidence from fieldwork and web searches to analyze the development, demographics, and activities of such groups operating since late 2016 in eight non-metropolitan counties in four states as well as in dozens of cities, towns, and suburbs spread across the state of Pennsylvania. Local groups were founded through friendships and social media contacts and most of their members and leaders are middle-class white women. Often networked across states and regions, grassroots resistance groups have reached out to surrounding communities and generated and supported new candidates for local, state, and national offices. During the 2018 midterms and beyond, they are challenging and often remaking the Democratic Party at the local level. Word Count: 142 1 With polls predicting a win for America’s first female president, excitement built with the approach of Election Day, November 8, 2016. On October 20, “Pantsuit Nation” was launched as an invitation-only Facebook group coordinated by Libby Chamberlain, a college counselor based in Maine who wanted a site where members, overwhelmingly women, could share joyful anticipation (Correal 2016, Ohlheiser 2016). Some 2.5 million people quickly signed up, often posting pictures of mothers and daughters dressed in pantsuits. On Election Day itself, people posted emotional accounts of heading to the polls.
    [Show full text]
  • Strategic Vision for a Viable American Future — Open Letter with a Moral Story of Truth for Our Time
    THE Unheard HERALD SERVING DEMOCRACY AND THE HEART OF DURANGO COLORADO | TheUnheardHerald.com | Tuesday, November 7, 2017 | SHARE FREELY ¢ Strategic Vision for a Viable American Future — Open letter with a moral story of truth for our time Dear Mr President: Hardworking American your supporters simply as good Families people who, like me, are angry “In this letter I will share my and have had their fill of emp- thoughts about helping you become a I write this open letter to you, ty promises from establishment successful and respected president on Mr President, on behalf of the in- politicians—the “old guard” and behalf of the American people by doing terests expressed by the tens of more recently, childish politicians what is truly right.” It’s now a year millions of people who put you in who are intent on doing whatev- after I wrote that first sentence and office by voting for you. I do not er it takes to get their own way in your prospects for accomplishing buy into the notion that these are order to sustain and serve a bro- that are dim. Many of your sup- mostly deplor- porters are still hopeful you will able xenopho- come through for them; but much bic racists, mi- of the population is in the mode sogynists, and of resistance to your presidency bigots. But your because they don’t like what you tepid non-spe- stand for or what you are saying cific responses and doing. Although it’s tempting to violence and to simply join in and fight with tragedy perpe- the resistance crowd, given your trated by these performance thus far; that is not small but violent what this letter is about.
    [Show full text]