The VOICE of scapegoating
By all accounts, Trump's speech to Congress proved only that he's capable of faking sanity for an hour when given a script, but it seems to have successfully conned the MSM into telling a nation desperate for reassurance that he was being "Presidential", at least by contrast. However, he did offer a truly arresting plan -- a new DHS office called VOICE, "Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement", to "act as a liaison" with "victims of crimes committed by removable aliens".
The claimed purpose is to "serve American victims", but if that were the case, there would be no need to define its mission in terms of the legal status of the criminals involved -- if you get mugged and robbed, the damage and your need for help are the same regardless of whether the mugger was an illegal alien, a US citizen, or a Martian. Obviously the real purpose is to highlight cases in which the criminals are illegal aliens and thus to associate illegals (or immigrants generally, based on Trump's rhetoric) with violent crime in the mass public mind.
If the intent and implications still aren't clear to you, imagine if the government formed a special office to work with "victims of black crime" or "victims of Jewish financial manipulation" or "victims of homosexual perversion". This isn't about victims, it's about demonizing specific categories of people.
In fact, it may seem so blatant and crude that it couldn't possibly work, but we mustn't count on that. In Europe, the association of violent crime with refugees and immigrants has been fairly successful, even though crime has actually gone down during the refugee influx. The trick is to highlight and emphasize specific cases of violent crimes committed by immigrants -- and inevitably there will be some, since any population of hundreds of thousands will include some violent individuals -- while ignoring overall statistics. That's just what Trump is proposing to do in the US.
The way to fight back is twofold. First, publicize explanations and dissections of the strategy as widely as possible so that the public knows Trump and his enablers are trying to manipulate them. Second, fight specific stories with specific stories. Cases such as aggressive raids targeting families, or Sara Beltran Hernandez who was dragged from a hospital where she was awaiting treatment for a brain tumor, can bring home the reality of what the right wing wants America to become, even to people whose eyes glaze over at statistics. All we have to do is tell the truth.
The claimed purpose is to "serve American victims", but if that were the case, there would be no need to define its mission in terms of the legal status of the criminals involved -- if you get mugged and robbed, the damage and your need for help are the same regardless of whether the mugger was an illegal alien, a US citizen, or a Martian. Obviously the real purpose is to highlight cases in which the criminals are illegal aliens and thus to associate illegals (or immigrants generally, based on Trump's rhetoric) with violent crime in the mass public mind.
If the intent and implications still aren't clear to you, imagine if the government formed a special office to work with "victims of black crime" or "victims of Jewish financial manipulation" or "victims of homosexual perversion". This isn't about victims, it's about demonizing specific categories of people.
In fact, it may seem so blatant and crude that it couldn't possibly work, but we mustn't count on that. In Europe, the association of violent crime with refugees and immigrants has been fairly successful, even though crime has actually gone down during the refugee influx. The trick is to highlight and emphasize specific cases of violent crimes committed by immigrants -- and inevitably there will be some, since any population of hundreds of thousands will include some violent individuals -- while ignoring overall statistics. That's just what Trump is proposing to do in the US.
The way to fight back is twofold. First, publicize explanations and dissections of the strategy as widely as possible so that the public knows Trump and his enablers are trying to manipulate them. Second, fight specific stories with specific stories. Cases such as aggressive raids targeting families, or Sara Beltran Hernandez who was dragged from a hospital where she was awaiting treatment for a brain tumor, can bring home the reality of what the right wing wants America to become, even to people whose eyes glaze over at statistics. All we have to do is tell the truth.
posted by Infidel753 at 7:11 AM
4 Comments:
Trump's speech to Congress proved only that he's capable of faking sanity for an hour when given a script, but it seems to have successfully conned the MSM into telling a nation desperate for reassurance that he was being "Presidential"
I'm torn. I can't decide if the treatment of Carryn Owens was more like something Caligula or Joffrey would do. Good for Bill Owens in not meeting with Trump and nailing the WH for hiding behind his son's death.
"I can't decide if the treatment of Carryn Owens was more like something Caligula or Joffrey would do."
Caligula would have slept with her, that is, if his sister weren't available. I don't know if Joffrey would have had that inclination.
Well, the "presidential" veneer Trump was able to wear for 24 hours certainly wore off quickly as soon as he opened his mouth and blamed his AG problems on the Democrats.
There's no question that his VOICE program is nothing more than a way to continue to demonize another minority. If the news I'm hearing is correct, it doesn't look like his Muslim ban is going to go forward, since DHS reported that banning people from those countries will have no effect on stopping terrorism within our borders.
Kevin: Either works for me. I wish Trump was a fictional character like Joffrey.
Pinku: Your reference to Caligula's sister suggests a comparison with Ivanka, but I'm not feeling quite brutal enough today to make it.
Shaw: I knew he couldn't fake it for long. And I suspect VOICE will be squelched by the public uproar -- as most of the things he tries to do have been, except (unfortunately) for his godawful cabinet appointments.
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