Really important post--When people talk passionately about what they believe, others respond. When they cage everything in cautious poll-tests platitudes, people tune out and they lose.
The other important lesson of Macklemore, is that fellow musicians responded with solidarity, refusing to play on the rest of the tour. When the political right went after the Dixie Chicks for Natalie Maines saying that George Bush's Iraq war made her ashamed to be a Texan, other musicians didn't defend them, or not enough of them. The lesson was clear--that if you speak out, you'll pay a price, and The Chicks went from topping the country charts to seeing their careers almost destroyed for several years, deterring others from speaking out as well. Because Macklemore spoke out and other musicians joined him, the attacks ultimately backfired.
Paul Loeb, author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Perseverance and Hope in Troubled Times (Oct 13) theimpossible.org
You don't seem to realize that you just approvingly compared, as a campaign strategy, the far left's antizionist hate rhetoric with Trump's highly effective (in your argument) anti-trans and anti-immigrant hate rhetoric from the 2024 campaign. Appeal to the passions of the crowd, not just to what voters say they care about in polls. But I wonder if you'd lavish such praise on a musician if he had entertained his fans wearing Blackface instead of Jewface. Actually, I don't wonder, I know you wouldn't laud an anti-Black racist. I don't think you're wrong that using hatred against a group of people works in campaigns. Whether it's the Willie Horton ad or dehumanizing Nazi propaganda, hate is very effective. But it's extremely bad and wrong, too. You might have noted that in your piece. Whether Trump or Mamdani, targeting hatred toward people is cynical and evil.
Really important post--When people talk passionately about what they believe, others respond. When they cage everything in cautious poll-tests platitudes, people tune out and they lose.
The other important lesson of Macklemore, is that fellow musicians responded with solidarity, refusing to play on the rest of the tour. When the political right went after the Dixie Chicks for Natalie Maines saying that George Bush's Iraq war made her ashamed to be a Texan, other musicians didn't defend them, or not enough of them. The lesson was clear--that if you speak out, you'll pay a price, and The Chicks went from topping the country charts to seeing their careers almost destroyed for several years, deterring others from speaking out as well. Because Macklemore spoke out and other musicians joined him, the attacks ultimately backfired.
Paul Loeb, author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: Perseverance and Hope in Troubled Times (Oct 13) theimpossible.org
You don't seem to realize that you just approvingly compared, as a campaign strategy, the far left's antizionist hate rhetoric with Trump's highly effective (in your argument) anti-trans and anti-immigrant hate rhetoric from the 2024 campaign. Appeal to the passions of the crowd, not just to what voters say they care about in polls. But I wonder if you'd lavish such praise on a musician if he had entertained his fans wearing Blackface instead of Jewface. Actually, I don't wonder, I know you wouldn't laud an anti-Black racist. I don't think you're wrong that using hatred against a group of people works in campaigns. Whether it's the Willie Horton ad or dehumanizing Nazi propaganda, hate is very effective. But it's extremely bad and wrong, too. You might have noted that in your piece. Whether Trump or Mamdani, targeting hatred toward people is cynical and evil.
"Christian Nationalism" is a nonsense term. It goes against "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations!"