Commentary on JD Vance from David Dewitt published in the Kentucky Lantern

[AKwannabe]

Last edited Mon Jul 29, 2024, 12:00 PM - Edit history (1)

As a fellow Ohioan, I have some concerns about J.D. Vance
DAVID DEWITT
JULY 19, 2024 6:36 AM


Snip<
Donald Trump announced Monday Ohio junior U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate in the 2024 Election, and I have some concerns.

Like J.D. Vance, I am also 39 years old; I also grew up in a struggling old industrial city in Ohio; I have also lost countless people close to me to the scourge of drug addiction; and I have also spent a lot of time in Appalachia — although my time was spent as a reporter in the Ohio foothills of Appalachia covering poverty, education, crime, courts, transportation, health care, business, and labor for nearly a decade.

Where does one begin? Perhaps 2016 when Vance first launched into the national spotlight with his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” The memoir part of the book I found interesting and sad and heartbreaking on the level of all the other stories I have witnessed, heard, and reported on about childhood traumas passed down in families struggling with poverty.

Then there was the other part of his book, the diagnosis and prescription part, that I couldn’t understand or relate to: A certain seething contempt and scorn for the people of Appalachia and the Ohio “rust belt,” as though their struggles were the result of deep personal character flaws and a lack of bootstrapping, and not predictable consequences wrought by growing up poor in a region wracked by exploitation, stuck in cycles of generational poverty, and mired in the kind of desperation that accompanies these things.
End snip>

https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/07/19/as-a-fellow-ohioan-i-have-some-concerns-about-j-d-vance/

[underpants]

1. Ending because I know you can only post 4 paragraphs

The hyperlink on the initial OP about Yarvin is interesting.


I have many other concerns, such as his extreme moral and intellectual flexibility that raises serious questions about his ethics and candor; and his advocacy for abandoning Ukraine to the ravages of Putin; and his playing footsie with a neo-monarchist named Curtis Yarvin; and his comments that the radical right should seize institutions and ignore the courts; and his joining the ticket of a convicted felon — also adjudicated guilty of sexual assault and business fraud — who conspired to overturn the results of a free and fair election and rob millions of Americans of their votes, and instigated a violent mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to disrupt constitutional business and the peaceful transfer of power.

I am concerned that J.D. has said he would’ve went along with the plot to create a constitutional crisis by overstepping his authority as vice president and overthrowing the election results.

In short, I have grave questions about J.D. Vance’s judgment and trustworthiness, and I do not understand his apparent desire to overthrow the post-WWII Pax Americana in favor of some sort of nationalistic isolationism where autocrats rum amok, with a reactionary domestic agenda that dismantles programs for people in poverty and will only exacerbate and perpetuate their plight and exploitation, while Trump and the five dozen billionaires supporting him get even more filthy, stinking rich.

[AKwannabe]

4. Thanks

[Native]

2. What a great opinion piece. I hope people actually read it.

Here's a Twitter link if people want to like and retweet it:

Link to tweet

?t=8-39g-B7CVf86wwd7PWGwg&s=19

[AKwannabe]

5. Really weird how I came a upon this article and the Kentucky Lantern

I have a library book just checked out but haven’t started. It is George RR Martin edited and in honor of Jack Vance.

I didn’t know Jack Vance the author. Looked him up on Google then wondered if JDVance stole his name or what…

This article was found through the Google search on JDVance and any connection to Jack Vance. There is no connection btw.

I’ll be paying attention to Kentucky Lantern in the future. They are “Shining brightest where it is dark”.

Here is Kentucky Lantern ABOUT page.

https://kentuckylantern.com/about/

[Qutzupalotl]

3. Vance blames the victims rather than the system that creates them.

That makes him the perfect toady for an autocrat.

[CTyankee]

6. then he hates himself. What a goddam mess of a human being he is!

[Kid Berwyn]

7. David DeWitt belongs in high elected office.

He would make an outstanding junior Senator from Ohio or any state.

He’s writing reveals a mind of Presidential timber.