Shock and Horror on the Left – “Explaining” Trump’s Win

The idea that liberal elites – politicians and media members – live in an insulated bubble is not a myth.  In that restricted space, they are always right.  Those outsiders who do not recognize that are looked down upon, ignored and worse.

No wonder so many on the Left viewed the election results with dismay.  How is it possible that there could be so many wrong-headed, even malevolent, people in America?  To their credit, a few were reflective, noting that they were guilty of group think, like the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.

But for most, they took no blame for their condescending, arrogant view that was best summoned up during the campaign by the Democratic nominee herself:  half of Trump’s supporters could be “put in a basket of deplorables”. 

For New York advertising executive Donny Deutsch, a frequent on MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough’s program, Trump’s success meant that fear of the status quo was the cause.  [No, it wasn’t fear; it was anger with the disconnect between what Americans wanted – not Obamacare, for instance – and what Washington gave them.]

For others on the Left, the results were illuminating in an oddly comforting way for them.  For instance, Dan Rodericks, a Baltimore Sun columnist, wrote

“The eyes of more Americans are now wide open to just how much racism, sexism and ethnic and religious intolerance remains in this country.”

Such opinions simply reflect the Leftist contempt for a large segment of the American populace:  “there is plainly something wrong with them since they don’t agree with me.”

Such views are so preposterous – and twisted – it’s hard to suppress laughter. 

But, alas, those who refuse to stray from the ideological path are notoriously likely to be blindsided when they intersect with reality.  Some will recognize they should have paid attention; most will simply blame the outsiders for not being on the same road. 

Note:  Along the lines of the biblical proverb that there is nothing new under the sun, consider this: 

It was reported, after the 1968 election in which Richard Nixon prevailed over Hubert Humphrey that a New York City socialite was perplexed by the results.  “I don’t know how Nixon won; none of my friends voted for him.”

It can be shocking, indeed, that there are people who live outside the bubble with different views.  That doesn’t make them unworthy of respect or attention.  And that is why Donald Trump, as vulgar and crude and insensitive as he has been, is President-elect of the United States.