"Sanewashing," "normalizing," "neutrality," whatever—in the media, Trump's campaign is portrayed as politics as usual. That rounding up all immigrants, getting rid of them, is something reasonable. That throwing in jail people he doesn't like, including governors, journalists is a somewhat unusual solution to a problem. The New York Times, in particular is complicit in pretending that Trump's speeches are anything other than "the waste-product of a dangerous and disordered mind."*
The most annoying thing about the "Defund the Police" slogan, and the immediate backlash to it (duh) is that the kerfuffle went right around the real problem: the arming, armoring, and militarization of police departments. At *great expense* to the taxpayers, which is me.
I'm talking about armored vehicles with heavy guns. Assault rifles. Armed helicopters with night vision. I can't blame police officers for wanting to be a sort of permanent SWAT team. It's safer for them. And even though the populace in the USA is now *heavily* armed, the army can't be used against them. Not yet, anyway.
Relying on my extensive personal opnion, I think the "defund" people jumped on the opportunity provided by the spectacularly sad, stupid, murder of George Floyd to push their cause, and thousands of angry, anti-racist young leftists once again eagerly shot themselves in the foot. It's so much easier than getting organized.
amazingly comprehensive post on 'sanewashing.' who knew? (or at least i didn't). I worked for a long time as senior most communications person in higher ed at lots of "name" schools, responsible for most of the words that came out of official mouths. my job, it now becomes clear to me, was sanewashing, pure and simple, which higher ed leaders proudly utilize today.
A great, great essay, Nancy!
Thank you, Benjamin!
"Sanewashing," "normalizing," "neutrality," whatever—in the media, Trump's campaign is portrayed as politics as usual. That rounding up all immigrants, getting rid of them, is something reasonable. That throwing in jail people he doesn't like, including governors, journalists is a somewhat unusual solution to a problem. The New York Times, in particular is complicit in pretending that Trump's speeches are anything other than "the waste-product of a dangerous and disordered mind."*
*Charles Pierce
The headline on Jameson Foser's latest post is "A new poll finding voters think Donald Trump is a centrist should be a wake-up call for the news media." https://www.findinggravity.net/p/a-new-poll-finding-voters-think-donald
"A somewhat unusual solution to a problem”: Exactly.
The most annoying thing about the "Defund the Police" slogan, and the immediate backlash to it (duh) is that the kerfuffle went right around the real problem: the arming, armoring, and militarization of police departments. At *great expense* to the taxpayers, which is me.
I'm talking about armored vehicles with heavy guns. Assault rifles. Armed helicopters with night vision. I can't blame police officers for wanting to be a sort of permanent SWAT team. It's safer for them. And even though the populace in the USA is now *heavily* armed, the army can't be used against them. Not yet, anyway.
Relying on my extensive personal opnion, I think the "defund" people jumped on the opportunity provided by the spectacularly sad, stupid, murder of George Floyd to push their cause, and thousands of angry, anti-racist young leftists once again eagerly shot themselves in the foot. It's so much easier than getting organized.
Amen to all of this.
And I just realized I was sanewashing.
amazingly comprehensive post on 'sanewashing.' who knew? (or at least i didn't). I worked for a long time as senior most communications person in higher ed at lots of "name" schools, responsible for most of the words that came out of official mouths. my job, it now becomes clear to me, was sanewashing, pure and simple, which higher ed leaders proudly utilize today.