tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post412285141032906465..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Bret Stephens touts Ritchie Torres for NY GovernorJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-48776527634602671632021-09-22T09:48:26.743-04:002021-09-22T09:48:26.743-04:00I think establishment conservatives have liked up-...I think establishment conservatives have liked up-by-the-bootstraps minority climbers and activists for a long time. There's an element of "he's a friend to my friends, and an enemy to my enemies" to this, and Stephens indicates that he sees Torres as anti-union, anti-woke, anti-theory, pro-police, pro-hard work, and pro-respectability. For him, Torres is about self-help and not redistribution as a solution to poverty. And I imagine Torres isn't notably anti-Israel. So, for Stephens, what's not to like?<br /><br />We also see here the divide between establishment conservatism and right-wing populism (i. e., Trumpism). As you say, Trumpism rejects respectability. It also esteems hard work more as a badge of honor status than as a moral value or a path of advancement (honor status in the contradictory sense that for them hard work is both a marker of lower-caste status for minorities and a badge of elevated honor for working-class whites and manly men generally).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.com