Here's something to think about: who benefits more from preaching political correctness, the left or the right? If, like most gut-feel types, you instinctively assumed it was leftists and libtards, well the jury is out on that one. I refer you to Moira Voigel's excellent article in the Guardian detailing how "a quarter of the American population elected a demagogue with no prior experience in public service to the presidency. For Trump supporters, his lack of both a political background and competence weren't liabilities, but strengths. Faking "maverick" or "outsider" status while launching a jihad against a corrupt Washington establishment is the oldest trick in American politics, but the Don went one step further. He made anti-PC rhetoric the hallmark of his campaign, going way beyond what public figures can or cannot do and say.
Every demagogue needs an enemy. Trump's was the ruling elite, and his charge was that they were crap at solving America's problems.He spun the story that Hillary Clinton was willing to let ordinary Americans suffer because, "They have put political correctness above common sense, above your safety, and above all else." He said this after a Muslim gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando. "I refuse to be politically correct." What a humanities professor may have seen as language changing to reflect an increasingly diverse society - in which citizens attempt to avoid giving needless offence to one another - Trump saw a conspiracy.
Throughout his campaign, Trump blasted PC, blaming it for an extraordinary range of ills and during the first debate Fox News host Megyn Kelly asked him how he would answer the charge that he was "part of the war on women?"
"You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs,' and 'disgusting animals'," Kelly pointed out. "You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees …"
"I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct," Trump answered, to audience applause. "I've been challenged by so many people, I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either." Trump went so far as to claim US district judge Gonzalo Curiel was unfit to handle the suit against Trump Universities because he was Mexican American and therefore likely to be biased. Vogel claims, "Every time Trump said something "outrageous" commentators suggested he had finally crossed a line and that his campaign was now doomed.
But time and again, Trump supporters made it clear that they liked him because he wasn't afraid to say what he thought. Fans praised the way Trump talked much more often than they mentioned his policy proposals. He tells it like it is, they said. He speaks his mind. He is not politically correct." The phrase conjured powerful forces determined to suppress inconvenient truths by policing language. I was reminded of this a month ago when I had the incredible luck to see John Stewart live on stage at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan.
"After the elections practically everybody claimed Trump got in because of PC. Ok, so here's the deal, I'm willing to scrap the system. On behalf of Jews, I give back the word, "kike", feel free to use it, and on behalf of my black brothers, I'm begging you to chuck the N-word back into circulation on one condition. That Trump resigns. Trust me, bro, it's a small price to pay. You know when I first moved from New Jersey to New York, I had to scratch three words from my vocabulary: 'faggot, wimp and retard.' It wasn't such a big deal with the first two but covering the campaign was impossible without using retard every 60 secs.
I'm serious, retard, retarded. Well, I came off one of my best sets ever where I did a 7 minute retarded riff on Trump and I thought I'd killed onstage. Except that when I got off stage, one of the lights guys comes up and goes: "Hey John, I'm a big, big fan, love your work. It's such a privilege being on the set with you." And I'm like, thanks man. That's great, appreciate it. And then he's like, "There's just one thing, you use the word 'retard' a lot and every time you say it it cuts through me like a knife because my kid you know, he's like, he's got some issues with ADHD." And then before I could control myself, I go, "Dude, you're a faggot."
