Thank you for posting Ms Brashear’s essay. I hope she finds the success that her talents present.
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J. D. Vance may not entirely know who he is. A non-cynical part of me really appreciated his story-telling gifts in Hillbilly Elegy, but at the end of the book you can see that when he got to Yale Law he landed in the hands of Amy Chua and other people who saw ways to turn him into something. Vance, as someone living in an inter-racial family in Ohio, trying to build up community churches yet still working as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, and having political goals as a Republican in the era of Trump, may have some internal conflicts that are incredibly difficult to reconcile with integrity.
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I have been saying for some time that God sent Donald Trump to earth to separate the real Christians from those who just professed the religion because it gave them some way to control the lives of others.
I never expected Vance to fall on that side of the line.
with apologies to Mick Jagger:
I was 'round when Donald Trump had his moment of doubt and pain;
Made sure that JD Vance washed his tweets, sealed his fate.
Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name.
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Yeah and he was a complete asshole about it the whole time, condescending and judgmental, the epitome of the “elite” the reactionary voters love to hate, while posing as an earthy authentic. Pfft! His act wasn’t any better than Turnip’s. I wanted to punch him the first time I hear him open his cakehole.
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See West, Kanye and Owen, Candace
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It’s called the internet. Probably with free shipping.
Now do your part! 
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He’ll find a way, because he’s one of the Cleverly Hillbillies.
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True, true, but there are at least two other GOP candidates who are long time Trump cheerleaders, have never spoken ill of him, and don’t have a brown family. I’d be surprised if Trump backs him.
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The man just destroyed his life. Sad.
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Thank you for sharing this. Fascinating to read the essay and the comments about it — thoughtful and enlightening.
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GETTR
“ Trump’s inner circle didn’t think that naming their new social media platform GETTR (just say it out loud) would be too on the nose.”
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How many Black GQP members are there in Congress? Their tokens are on Fox, OAN, Newsmax, etc., but that doesn’t seem to translate into elected office. At least not anymore.
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Three. That’s Tim Scott in the Senate and two new House members who got elected for the first time last year.
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WOW! Thanks for posting this.
Vance is a pustule. Needs lancing.
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Might as well call it GRBBRG.
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I think that is exactly right. I think he originally wrote the book to illustrate the dysfunctionality of that subculture. He testified to the life he had lived there. I can respect that.
Some claim that “erased” all other experiences of that culture, which reeks of victim-playing to me (Christmas is under attack! Only 96% of the country celebrate a traditional Christmas!). You want to show the experiences lived by others who love that culture? Then write a book. It’s not that hard.
But, with the modest success of the book, Vance turned into someone else. His intentions shifted. He decided to use his newfound celebrity status to expand his brand–if I can use some bizspeak–and translate it into political power, with the opportunity to grift harder and faster.
I’ve seen nothing from him that indicates he has any motivation to help his former culture. I don’t blame him for that, either. You can’t help those who don’t want to be helped and they don’t.
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And yet I find myself caring not at all.
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The more I read other people’s impressions, it’s a book that only rings true if you lived it yourself. My mother, for example, showed up at my school with a .45 automatic and threatened to shoot a black child if the principal didn’t do something about him. This shit happens every day. And my mother to this day claims she is not racist.
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Was GRIFTR taken?
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