How to Get Empathy
One Ohio Republican briefly eschews the rest
Just for some context, this is going to be an entire post about Springfield, Ohio. If you aren’t terminally online, and/or didn’t watch the debate, do yourself a favor and read a primer or two.
In some respects, it’s genuinely impressive that this has spread this far. Springfield is about as unremarkable of a city as you could think of. While just 45 minutes outside of Columbus it occupied about zero thought in my mind until this week.
The idea that Springfield is the classic Midwestern post-industrial city has been written to death but it’s true. The town has seen better days, and the population has been shrinking for decades.
Recently a boom of Haitian immigrants, fueled by ample jobs, came to somewhat revitalize the town. Hardly the first or last time that this has happened but it still feeds right into Republicans hateful hands, as usual.
It’s even a bit surprising that it’s taken this long for Republicans to use the Haitian immigration story to fuel their xenophobic and racist talking points. Usually they’re much quicker on the racism trigger.
A bit more surprising is the legs on this story and the coordinated effort to spread it.
Not every ‘dog whistle of the week’ gets spouted by the former President during a Presidential debate and makes international news.
Perhaps it’s just that the associated vicious lies about the Haitians is salacious enough to go hand-in-hand with the classic immigration fear mongering and it created a perfect racism storm.
In fact, a random Ohio man on Facebook called me an idiot for saying that the Haitians were not cannibals.
While it is the classic Republican playbook, it is hard not to laugh about the pure ridiculousness and callousness of the cats and dogs claim. Even for them it’s a new place that they hadn’t quite gone before.
The sheer presence of these hard-working immigrants has, like clockwork, fueled 1800’s style know-nothing alarm bells throughout the state.
It’s easy to see how this is effective in small towns with Fox News brain that are always looking for the next existential threat. To fuel it further, the states most prominent officials are doing their best to lie, obfuscate, and signal boost.
It’s the same as every other time.
JD Vance, world renowned psychopath, said on X,
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
Not one to be out-done by Vance, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took it a step further in his rhetoric. Similarly on X,
“There’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield. Citizens testified to City Council. These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?”
Yost has also ordered a, ‘deep dive,’ into the Springfield immigration, whatever the hell that means.
The first rule of Ohio politics is that the depravity of Ohio Republicans knowns no bounds, and that all fits right in.
What is surprising though, is the pushback on these accusations from another Ohio Republican, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.
DeWine, in a press conference, said, “I think we should take the word of the city manager and the mayor that they have found no credible evidence of that story, of Haitians eating pets.”
This is an interesting rebuke against a line that is being used up and down the ballot by his own party and it hits at a theme we see in Republican politics over and over. Depravity and racist undertones are fine, until they directly impact me.
In DeWine’s case his personal impact is that he, until recently, operated a school in Haiti, the Becky DeWine School, named after his late daughter.
The school, which the governor has visited over a dozen times, gave over 10,000 children an education, food, and healthcare until the rampant gang violence forced its closure.
Clearly operating the school, and denouncing the bullshit cat and dog story, are both good things by the governor. It’s equally disappointing that something that simple is a notable act from an Ohio Republican.
The Governor and Attorney General of the same state and the same political party completely at odds over a conspiracy is rare but not particularly courageous. You shouldn’t need to have a vested interest in anything to speak out against racism and hatred.
And yet we’ve seen this over and over.
Take for example, the Republican Jewish Coalition, who was so shocked about the Trump, “good people on both sides” reaction to the Charlottesville alt-right march that they issued a statement pleading for Trump to have, ‘more moral clarity.’
It was fine when it was happening to others, but supporting a Nazi rally made it just a little too directly antisemitic for them. It was only temporary too, as they’re back to supporting Trump while he claims that any Jews who won’t vote for him, “hate their religion.”
When you have a xenophobic and racist demagogue as the head of the party you can bend and beg all you want but at the end of the day Republicans lack of spines always lead back to their inevitable endorsements of him.
The machine keeps on turning, even if you disagree personally on this one particular racist claim.
For all his slight moral clarity on this issue, DeWine still said he’s voting for Trump. He also still endorsed Bernie Moreno who is every bit as bad.
That’s what it all comes down to. Every single Republican official is as bad as the next. They are all complicit and equally depraved, even the ‘good ones.’
Not being particularly racist enough on one issue should never win you applause or headlines, and it’s appalling that we’ve reached the point where DeWine denying a racist myth has reached that level.
I desperately hope that one day we can stop giving them the benefit of the doubt and take Ohio back. Until then I’ll be here writing and complaining while the best we have elected produces a tepid pushback against blood libel.
For God’s sake make sure you vote for Sherrod Brown.
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