Sunday, January 31, 2016

Trump, JEB! and the death of WASPy power

(USA Today) - “I guess I’m part of the establishment because Barbara Bush is my mom,” Jeb Bush said at last night’s GOP debate.

He guessed correctly. Never before has being white, rich and connected been such a burden as it is for Barbara Bush’s son.

There is a larger trend at work here, and it is a depressing one for rich white people whose ancestors used to rule the country and, by extension, the world.

The era of “WASP rule,” according to the New York Times, “is fast fading.” For proof, look no further than Jeb Bush, whose campaign travails, sayeth the Times, “can be seen as perhaps the last, wheezing gasp of the WASP power structure.”

As a stereotypical WASP, Bush underperforms in several categories. Not only does he speak Spanish, but he married a Mexican and converted to Roman Catholicism. At most, he is a WAS. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is a proud WASP, the key word being “proud.”

Speaking at Liberty University the other day, Trump highlighted his WASP credentials to a crowd of predominately white Protestants.

He bragged about his religion. “I’m a Protestant,” Trump said. “I’m very proud of it.”

He bragged about his family. His uncle was, like Trump, a “brilliant guy.”

He bragged about his education, informing the audience, “I went to a great school, Ivy League School.”

He bragged about being part of the establishment (“I was total establishment”) and being its worst enemy (“Now I’m, like, the worst thing that ever happened to the establishment”).

But give Trump credit. Not once did he brag about being white.

Despite his credentials, Trump is not a WASP. You cease to be a WASP when you brag about being a WASP. Read more.

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