By now Hillary Clinton’s comment that half of Donald Trump’s supporters are “sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic” and hence “irredeemable” is known throughout the land. They, said she, belong in a “basket of deplorables.” She thus consigns to her “basket” many millions of Americans, in fact more each day as Trump does ever better in the polls.
Make no mistake about it, this bit of invective was no accident. Hillary is carefully scripted, and especially so in these months of her campaign. Cameras were rolling and she knew it. Moreover, she has said the same thing repeatedly on camera in front of high-end donors. Why then did she say such a thing?
The first and obvious point is that it was heartfelt. She, like the rest of the Elite, harbors deep feelings of contempt for the common Joe and Jane. And the contempt is bipartisan. As many have noted, her comment echoes that of Romney in 2012 who accused “47%” of American voters of being ne’er do well freeloaders, expecting a handout from the government. That is the Republican Elite’s brand of contempt. The Dem Elite on the other hand offer their contempt in terms of identity politics. To them the great unwashed are a mass of bigots and worse. (Other years it is the Balck “superpredators” who feel their sting.) It cannot be otherwise. Every exploiting, parasitic Elite feels contempt for its subjects, so this is not news. Imagined superiority,…