I don't think the boys were railroaded. Multiple people had called the police about a group of boys robbing and striking and intimidating park goers that night (which included the boys, by their own admissions, I think). They were in the park harassing people that night and they each confessed and implicated the others. I (really) have no idea if they were involved or not but you can see why a jury might think that. Trisha's body was so badly beaten that investigators assumed there had to have been more than one perp. Like 5 bones were broken, her skull was fractured, an eyeball crushed... and she had no memory. It's been some time since I watched the documentary When They See us but from what I understand it was a highly dishonest and incomplete portrayal of the investigation and the trial. The city settled with the boys for millions of dollars-which the victim and investigators all STRONGLY objected to. In my uninformed opinion that decision had more to do with political considerations... but perhaps it was the just move. I really don't know enough to make a claim there.
"has not adequately addressed some parents’ concerns and perceptions that trans women may have an unfair advantage in women’s sports."
Transwomen are male, and therefore their advantage in sports is huge, it's obvious to everybody, and it's message-proof. I 100% support bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters, and sports leagues that allow transwomen to be with women. But female-only spaces exist for a reason and the wealthy Democrats (who will never use these spaces)want to eliminate them.
We can be kind to transpeople, but they have a responsibility themselves. And please notice that all of these problems only go in one direction. There is no epidemic of women identifying as men assaulting men in prison or winning in men's sports. We can be kind to those with gender dysphoria while still acknowledging biological reality.
Great piece, Greg. I first came to know of you through Glenn Loury's podcast with John McWhorter, and became a fan immediately. This last paragraph struck me:
" Until the Democrats recalibrate their messaging and policies to reach people like my two drivers, and until they gain some insight into Trump’s appeal among the demographic groups that chose him over Harris, they are guaranteed to remain in the wilderness of discontent and election failure."
Only the Democrats can't recalibrate their messaging and policies. If they do, but don't go all the way, they'll lose some of their progressive base, if not all of it, and they'll lose elections as a result. If they start to adopt more common sense policies, they'll be accused of abandoning their commitment to "social and racial justice", and their own side will eat them alive. I'm afraid they're doubling down on their rhetoric, which can be seen daily in the failing venues of cable news outlets like CNN and MSNBC, and online newspapers like NYT and WaPo- both before and after the election. They're simply not interested in exploring what they did wrong, or what Trump's appeal is.
No one on any of these networks are talking about the rust belt, other than to call them all bigoted troglodytes, and the fact that a lot of people there had their pensions wiped out by the 2008 collapse. Correctly or incorrectly, many of the rust belt denizens blame Obama for that, and like it or not, all they remember is Obama and Geithner and Paulson as the face of corporate bailouts. This was completely missed by almost everyone other than Trump. This, in my opinion, is why he was able to eek out a win in 2016, though he was clearly less popular than Clinton. This election should have sent everyone reeling, because the polls were wrong, the analysis was wrong, and everyone was put on their heels. But they're now repeating these errors en masse.
In addition, middle class families now scorn the upper class, starting with private high schools and the Ivy League. The media and the Democrats (now largely part of the same apparatus, in my opinion) completely avoided the fact that Asians were being systematically denied a seat at the intellectual table simply because they score too high on tests. People like myself and other see this as utter hypocrisy, and we don't forget.
Then there's the absolute shredding of social norms almost overnight and the gestapo-like enforcement of these very new social norms. I believe this to be the major issue here. People began seeing the justice system as a lopsided way to enforce cultural changes via not only legislation and regulation, but also through cancellation, public shaming and encouraging young people to ostracize anyone that doesn't agree with them on socio-political issues.
If one were to ask me pre 2020 "What are the odds that two men from different states and backgrounds at a place of business that only employs 25 people would have children that ostracized these men and their families because of gender ideology?" I would have first asked "what is gender ideology?" and then I would have said that is highly unlikely. Yet that has happened to both myself and a coworker, and roughly around the same time. Our stories aren't unique.
To us, this puts a nail in the coffin of any hope of either of us voting Democrat ever again. There are scores and scores of us. There are support groups where people like us, both men and women, mourn the loss of their children to this ideology. I haven't talked to my daughter since her 20th birthday earlier this year. She left in the middle of the day, moved her things out and hasn't spoken to anyone in her family since. The only inkling I got as to why this might have happened is an SMS text notification because she was on my health insurance that her prescription of testosterone was ready to pick up at the pharmacy. The support groups that exist, and I know they exist because I've thought about joining them, stay clandestine for fear of social and legal reprisal. This cultural power is being wielded less now, but in the throes of socio-political upheaval starting in the spring of 2020, it was used as a cudgel to try to metaphorically beat people into submission.
This too does not escape peoples' memories, and is in fact permanently seared into mine. The woke language games and the penance for not playing along has become more than the collective consciousness of this country can bear. I think that this alone would be enough to win an election in opposition of these cultural changes, but there was oh so much more than that.
Besides white people in general being demonized as the root of all that's evil; corporate corruption, racism, nepotism, favoritism, unearned privilege, islamophobia, transphobia, homophobia, etc. it was also broken down in a more granular way. Straight white men, to be specific, became the popular whipping boys (pun intended) of the left. It's no mistake or mere coincidence that the biggest shift in demographic voting patterns for Trump were young white Gen Z men, and other straight men that are black and hispanic and Asian. Obama's chiding of "men of color" and insinuating in various ways that if they didn't vote for Kamala Harris, they were sexist at the very least, didn't help either. His political influence is a thing of the past I believe.
The FBI tracked and followed female parents that spoke out at school board meetings because they oppose biological boys from sharing bathrooms and private changing spaces with their biologically female daughters. So, just consider that for a moment. Not only were their concerns not taken seriously or addressed by school boards, but they were sometimes added to watch lists because of their political and social opinions.
I myself, along with dozens of other people I know were stopped at intersections and had demands leveled that I hold up a raised fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by threat of violence. I would have said this was impossible before 2020 and things like this only happen in Central Africa, Eastern Europe and South America (I have seen this in a couple of those locations with my own eyes). Put plainly- it freaked me the fuck out.
The SANCTIONED GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP VIA BACK DOOR CHANNELS IN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS of anyone with conservative ideals, whether they be "nobody" citizens or 220+ year old newspapers like the New York Post is another reason why people voted for any option other than Democrat in this last election, and a big reason why I think they'll continue to.
Formerly loyal Democrat familiars saw their social safety nets in cities decimated by the reallocation of funding to support migrants that are in the country illegally. This is the only portion of any of this that I see seriously discussed outside of any independent venue such as this one, or on Fox News. Instead what we see in the dying, decaying airwaves of left-dominated media is "well now we know for sure that over half of the country is racist and sexist". That's it. That's the sum total of in-depth analysis of the political shellacking that was witnessed on November 5, 2024.
This is what leads me to believe that Democrats won't win an election for a while. With more and more people tuning into alternative media, with the insanity of the last 4 years becoming realized in greater detail, and with Democrats doubling down on the very talking points and ideology that pushed people like me away, I don't see how they recover from this before the next national election. It's possible, I guess, but not very likely.
Great article, thank you. Personally, I think Harris DID lose due to intersectionality: Intersectionality of her lackluster performance as a VP, her unclear agenda, questionable integrity, and her lack of charisma. Nothing to do with her race, sex, or husband.
Even if Democrats or Republicans get their messaging right, that is not what people seek. People want change not lip service. Too many of us can look back and see empty promises.
I think it's deeper than Trump - the point the author makes here about the condescension of urban elites toward everyone else in life is what is driving, I think, the current re-ordering of our two main political camps. I don't see the Democrats being able to effectively advocate for both their chose core of urban white professionals and middle- and working-class folks of all backgrounds. The elites see their interests as contrary to those of other demographics. My guess is the Democrats are going to continue to shrink in voter rolls and influence for a few more years, at least.
Pretty good article. Not perfect. If Donald Trump cannot possibly care for "working people", then to be consistent one should also state that Oprah, Lebron, and Mark Cuban do not either. The Central Park Five were part of about 30-35 Black and Hispanic young men who were attacking people in the northern part of Central Park on 4/19/1989. They were not ID'd by Trish Meilli because she was knocked into a coma by the brutal attack. The five (actually six, but that is not particularly relevant) WERE positively ID'd by OTHERS who were attacked in Central Park that evening - that is a part of the story that few people today are aware of. And lots of other details that obviously are avoided by those promoting a certain narrative. Mattias Reyes left his DNA inside Meilli, and that is why the five were exonerated on the rape charges. But not the brutal assault and battery. I wholeheartedly agree that Trump's insistence that Obama was born outside the USA was stupid, but he did the same thing with non-Blacks such as Ted Cruz (go back over the 2015-2016 GOP primaries). Cruz was born in Canada and Trump said that disqualified him (although it is not in reality that simple). Stupid? Yes. Racist? No. He even alleged Ted Cruz's father was somehow part of the JFK assassination or coverup. Bizarre and typical Trump, but let's not jump to "racist", "sexist", or other ad hominem unless the facts clearly justify it.
When considering the race/gender issue consider a hypothetical 2024 match-up between Nikki Haley and Joe Biden. It's not that far-fetched. Think about it. An old white guy competing against a woman of color. How many of the people who are screaming that Harris lost because of some combo of racism/sexism of the voting public would have themselves voted for the woman of color over the white, male Democratic nominee? My guess is very few. So I guess that makes those people racist/sexist, by their definition.
The trans ideology movement is systematically attempting to undo all of the rights women have fought for in order to be safe and equal in public life. This is the reason I could not vote for Harris, while at the same time I could never vote for Trump.
Trans activists are trying to get rid of the distinction between biological sexes. This is removing women's safety and dignity in public bathrooms, locker ooms, spas, prisons, rape crisis shelters, domestic violence shelters, stc. They are also stealing opportunities from girls and women on sporting teams.
From now on I will vote for candidates who fight to protect women's rights and welfare, not just regarding abortion. This leaves very few candidates and no party. GOP is full of hard right Christians who want to control women's bodies and the Democrats are under control of woke progressives who think men who claim to be women should have more rights than women.
Great article. Only one concerning point, regarding George Floyd's "murder." You may still be able to see what really happened by watching the Fall of Minneapolis. I think it is still on you tube.
I appreciate your writing this, but your reference to "my two drivers" is just the same tone deafness that you regret from your previous interactions - a "limo liberal" whose unashamedly acknowledges his awareness of the other comes from those he hires. For someone who claims jazz as their professional medium and aspires to be heir to Albert Murray, I think you need you need to listen a whole lot more before asking for a solo.
While it was heartfelt, my snarky comment above is unconstructive. Yes, I agree, you should have done more listening, but frankly, that feels obvious and easy to say now that our tribe lost. My question to you is- Why did you refuse to listen? That is a genuine question.
I don't think the boys were railroaded. Multiple people had called the police about a group of boys robbing and striking and intimidating park goers that night (which included the boys, by their own admissions, I think). They were in the park harassing people that night and they each confessed and implicated the others. I (really) have no idea if they were involved or not but you can see why a jury might think that. Trisha's body was so badly beaten that investigators assumed there had to have been more than one perp. Like 5 bones were broken, her skull was fractured, an eyeball crushed... and she had no memory. It's been some time since I watched the documentary When They See us but from what I understand it was a highly dishonest and incomplete portrayal of the investigation and the trial. The city settled with the boys for millions of dollars-which the victim and investigators all STRONGLY objected to. In my uninformed opinion that decision had more to do with political considerations... but perhaps it was the just move. I really don't know enough to make a claim there.
"has not adequately addressed some parents’ concerns and perceptions that trans women may have an unfair advantage in women’s sports."
Transwomen are male, and therefore their advantage in sports is huge, it's obvious to everybody, and it's message-proof. I 100% support bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters, and sports leagues that allow transwomen to be with women. But female-only spaces exist for a reason and the wealthy Democrats (who will never use these spaces)want to eliminate them.
We can be kind to transpeople, but they have a responsibility themselves. And please notice that all of these problems only go in one direction. There is no epidemic of women identifying as men assaulting men in prison or winning in men's sports. We can be kind to those with gender dysphoria while still acknowledging biological reality.
Great piece, Greg. I first came to know of you through Glenn Loury's podcast with John McWhorter, and became a fan immediately. This last paragraph struck me:
" Until the Democrats recalibrate their messaging and policies to reach people like my two drivers, and until they gain some insight into Trump’s appeal among the demographic groups that chose him over Harris, they are guaranteed to remain in the wilderness of discontent and election failure."
Only the Democrats can't recalibrate their messaging and policies. If they do, but don't go all the way, they'll lose some of their progressive base, if not all of it, and they'll lose elections as a result. If they start to adopt more common sense policies, they'll be accused of abandoning their commitment to "social and racial justice", and their own side will eat them alive. I'm afraid they're doubling down on their rhetoric, which can be seen daily in the failing venues of cable news outlets like CNN and MSNBC, and online newspapers like NYT and WaPo- both before and after the election. They're simply not interested in exploring what they did wrong, or what Trump's appeal is.
No one on any of these networks are talking about the rust belt, other than to call them all bigoted troglodytes, and the fact that a lot of people there had their pensions wiped out by the 2008 collapse. Correctly or incorrectly, many of the rust belt denizens blame Obama for that, and like it or not, all they remember is Obama and Geithner and Paulson as the face of corporate bailouts. This was completely missed by almost everyone other than Trump. This, in my opinion, is why he was able to eek out a win in 2016, though he was clearly less popular than Clinton. This election should have sent everyone reeling, because the polls were wrong, the analysis was wrong, and everyone was put on their heels. But they're now repeating these errors en masse.
In addition, middle class families now scorn the upper class, starting with private high schools and the Ivy League. The media and the Democrats (now largely part of the same apparatus, in my opinion) completely avoided the fact that Asians were being systematically denied a seat at the intellectual table simply because they score too high on tests. People like myself and other see this as utter hypocrisy, and we don't forget.
Then there's the absolute shredding of social norms almost overnight and the gestapo-like enforcement of these very new social norms. I believe this to be the major issue here. People began seeing the justice system as a lopsided way to enforce cultural changes via not only legislation and regulation, but also through cancellation, public shaming and encouraging young people to ostracize anyone that doesn't agree with them on socio-political issues.
If one were to ask me pre 2020 "What are the odds that two men from different states and backgrounds at a place of business that only employs 25 people would have children that ostracized these men and their families because of gender ideology?" I would have first asked "what is gender ideology?" and then I would have said that is highly unlikely. Yet that has happened to both myself and a coworker, and roughly around the same time. Our stories aren't unique.
To us, this puts a nail in the coffin of any hope of either of us voting Democrat ever again. There are scores and scores of us. There are support groups where people like us, both men and women, mourn the loss of their children to this ideology. I haven't talked to my daughter since her 20th birthday earlier this year. She left in the middle of the day, moved her things out and hasn't spoken to anyone in her family since. The only inkling I got as to why this might have happened is an SMS text notification because she was on my health insurance that her prescription of testosterone was ready to pick up at the pharmacy. The support groups that exist, and I know they exist because I've thought about joining them, stay clandestine for fear of social and legal reprisal. This cultural power is being wielded less now, but in the throes of socio-political upheaval starting in the spring of 2020, it was used as a cudgel to try to metaphorically beat people into submission.
This too does not escape peoples' memories, and is in fact permanently seared into mine. The woke language games and the penance for not playing along has become more than the collective consciousness of this country can bear. I think that this alone would be enough to win an election in opposition of these cultural changes, but there was oh so much more than that.
Besides white people in general being demonized as the root of all that's evil; corporate corruption, racism, nepotism, favoritism, unearned privilege, islamophobia, transphobia, homophobia, etc. it was also broken down in a more granular way. Straight white men, to be specific, became the popular whipping boys (pun intended) of the left. It's no mistake or mere coincidence that the biggest shift in demographic voting patterns for Trump were young white Gen Z men, and other straight men that are black and hispanic and Asian. Obama's chiding of "men of color" and insinuating in various ways that if they didn't vote for Kamala Harris, they were sexist at the very least, didn't help either. His political influence is a thing of the past I believe.
The FBI tracked and followed female parents that spoke out at school board meetings because they oppose biological boys from sharing bathrooms and private changing spaces with their biologically female daughters. So, just consider that for a moment. Not only were their concerns not taken seriously or addressed by school boards, but they were sometimes added to watch lists because of their political and social opinions.
I myself, along with dozens of other people I know were stopped at intersections and had demands leveled that I hold up a raised fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by threat of violence. I would have said this was impossible before 2020 and things like this only happen in Central Africa, Eastern Europe and South America (I have seen this in a couple of those locations with my own eyes). Put plainly- it freaked me the fuck out.
The SANCTIONED GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP VIA BACK DOOR CHANNELS IN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS of anyone with conservative ideals, whether they be "nobody" citizens or 220+ year old newspapers like the New York Post is another reason why people voted for any option other than Democrat in this last election, and a big reason why I think they'll continue to.
Formerly loyal Democrat familiars saw their social safety nets in cities decimated by the reallocation of funding to support migrants that are in the country illegally. This is the only portion of any of this that I see seriously discussed outside of any independent venue such as this one, or on Fox News. Instead what we see in the dying, decaying airwaves of left-dominated media is "well now we know for sure that over half of the country is racist and sexist". That's it. That's the sum total of in-depth analysis of the political shellacking that was witnessed on November 5, 2024.
This is what leads me to believe that Democrats won't win an election for a while. With more and more people tuning into alternative media, with the insanity of the last 4 years becoming realized in greater detail, and with Democrats doubling down on the very talking points and ideology that pushed people like me away, I don't see how they recover from this before the next national election. It's possible, I guess, but not very likely.
Bravo! And my deepest sympathies for your family tragedy.
Thank you Richard.
Great article, thank you. Personally, I think Harris DID lose due to intersectionality: Intersectionality of her lackluster performance as a VP, her unclear agenda, questionable integrity, and her lack of charisma. Nothing to do with her race, sex, or husband.
Even if Democrats or Republicans get their messaging right, that is not what people seek. People want change not lip service. Too many of us can look back and see empty promises.
I think it's deeper than Trump - the point the author makes here about the condescension of urban elites toward everyone else in life is what is driving, I think, the current re-ordering of our two main political camps. I don't see the Democrats being able to effectively advocate for both their chose core of urban white professionals and middle- and working-class folks of all backgrounds. The elites see their interests as contrary to those of other demographics. My guess is the Democrats are going to continue to shrink in voter rolls and influence for a few more years, at least.
Pretty good article. Not perfect. If Donald Trump cannot possibly care for "working people", then to be consistent one should also state that Oprah, Lebron, and Mark Cuban do not either. The Central Park Five were part of about 30-35 Black and Hispanic young men who were attacking people in the northern part of Central Park on 4/19/1989. They were not ID'd by Trish Meilli because she was knocked into a coma by the brutal attack. The five (actually six, but that is not particularly relevant) WERE positively ID'd by OTHERS who were attacked in Central Park that evening - that is a part of the story that few people today are aware of. And lots of other details that obviously are avoided by those promoting a certain narrative. Mattias Reyes left his DNA inside Meilli, and that is why the five were exonerated on the rape charges. But not the brutal assault and battery. I wholeheartedly agree that Trump's insistence that Obama was born outside the USA was stupid, but he did the same thing with non-Blacks such as Ted Cruz (go back over the 2015-2016 GOP primaries). Cruz was born in Canada and Trump said that disqualified him (although it is not in reality that simple). Stupid? Yes. Racist? No. He even alleged Ted Cruz's father was somehow part of the JFK assassination or coverup. Bizarre and typical Trump, but let's not jump to "racist", "sexist", or other ad hominem unless the facts clearly justify it.
When considering the race/gender issue consider a hypothetical 2024 match-up between Nikki Haley and Joe Biden. It's not that far-fetched. Think about it. An old white guy competing against a woman of color. How many of the people who are screaming that Harris lost because of some combo of racism/sexism of the voting public would have themselves voted for the woman of color over the white, male Democratic nominee? My guess is very few. So I guess that makes those people racist/sexist, by their definition.
The trans ideology movement is systematically attempting to undo all of the rights women have fought for in order to be safe and equal in public life. This is the reason I could not vote for Harris, while at the same time I could never vote for Trump.
Trans activists are trying to get rid of the distinction between biological sexes. This is removing women's safety and dignity in public bathrooms, locker ooms, spas, prisons, rape crisis shelters, domestic violence shelters, stc. They are also stealing opportunities from girls and women on sporting teams.
From now on I will vote for candidates who fight to protect women's rights and welfare, not just regarding abortion. This leaves very few candidates and no party. GOP is full of hard right Christians who want to control women's bodies and the Democrats are under control of woke progressives who think men who claim to be women should have more rights than women.
Great article. Only one concerning point, regarding George Floyd's "murder." You may still be able to see what really happened by watching the Fall of Minneapolis. I think it is still on you tube.
I appreciate your writing this, but your reference to "my two drivers" is just the same tone deafness that you regret from your previous interactions - a "limo liberal" whose unashamedly acknowledges his awareness of the other comes from those he hires. For someone who claims jazz as their professional medium and aspires to be heir to Albert Murray, I think you need you need to listen a whole lot more before asking for a solo.
While it was heartfelt, my snarky comment above is unconstructive. Yes, I agree, you should have done more listening, but frankly, that feels obvious and easy to say now that our tribe lost. My question to you is- Why did you refuse to listen? That is a genuine question.