This morning, I’m trying to get new details without constantly re-reading old details about the ghastly murders in Orlando. (Latest news says 50 dead.)
But I’m also trying to figure out why I find Mitt Romney’s admirable stands against Trump so odd.
“I don’t want to see trickle-down racism,” Romney said in an interview here in a suite overlooking the Wasatch Mountains, where he is hosting his yearly ideas conference. “I don’t want to see a president of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, and trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America.”
Again, wholly admirable. Romney is opening himself to abuse, forcing other Republicans to distance themselves from him until this whole thing is over, and is being very direct about the connection between language, ideas, actions, and personal responsibility. I’m oddly impressed by his leadership and convictions. (Or I’m foolishly naive in missing that this is nothing more than positioning himself to be the candidate when Trump finally punches an editor in an interview.)
But the language that interests me is “trickle-down”. Google n-graph tool shows the phrase peaking in 1994 and then dropping quickly:
Definitions from Urbandictionary, an equally authoritative source of the zeitgeist, have two clusters: 1) definitions in the early 2000s close to the 80s economic debates but with some added snark; and 2) some post-2008, post-Occupy venom, as below (CVFD, feel free to take this picture down if it turns out we do have some boundaries):
[IMAGE DELETED. SEE DEFINITION #6 ON URBAN DICTIONARY]
But why use that phrase? Why would a one-time Republican standard-bearer associate a one-time Republican idea with the spread of racism? Why wouldn’t he be cleverer and say “bully pulpit” (you see it right?)?
Makes me wonder two things: 1) trickle-down has drifted into a new semantic space where it connotes leadership (or permission?) by example; 2) the semantic drift has made the word something about slower forms of change; or 3) Romney is consciously using that word to distance the party from earlier economic theories which the deification of Reagan could bring back.
Or is there something more obvious going on that I’m missing while I’m watching the Young Turks?
In at The End of The World 
Hadn’t seen the quote and agree that it’s weird. Suggests that Trump doesn’t represent any aspect of the American psyche re race but might pollute the public with racism from above? Hm …
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Just sold my LP of this. “Trickle Down Theory (of Your Love)” — very early and sort of hilarious use of the phrase as a metaphor for something outside economics:
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I think it might just be another example of how detached Romney is. Real people don’t talk that way. Or, perhaps, he used the phrase because otherwise, he would have to acknowledge the trickle up racism that helped make Trump the Republican nominee.
Meanwhile, speaking of Trump. Did you see his tweet about Orlando. Even a tragedy on that scale, and he has to make it about him. Getting congratulations.
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According to some reports, Romney was close to tears in discussing the Trump candidacy. Earlier this week, an MSNBC reporter caught up with Lindsey Graham in a senate hall way and asked him about Trump’s comments in regards the “Mexican” judge. He’s also close to choking up. From whatever combination of rage, guilt, shame, and regret a basically decent person feels for having helped bring something like Trump close to power. No way this guy’s running again in South Carolina. Though, I can see him playing a role in the post-coup interim government. Perhaps that’s what he’s positioning himself for?
Here’s the clip:
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