He does not represent “hillbillies” either. A lot of us with Appalachian roots know the reason some of us were able to not be or stay or fall into poverty- we had a network of family and community who were a safety net for help financially, support for addiction or mental illness issues, etc. Some did not have that network and the government resources were laughable and underfunded for those who are low income. Addiction is an illness that changes a person’s brain chemistry. Poverty feeds the addiction cycle, with lacking nutrition and healthcare.
Mr. Vance has also echoed some racist great replacement theory nonsense. He is a true politician- changing his tune as soon as his party wants to leave him behind. He now touts the Mussolini Wanna Be as the man who showed us government corruption- no, he showed us his own corruption in his actions. And corruption in government is when a court is stacked and bribed in such a way as to make a ruling that a president is just a step below a divine right king in their actions- almost total immunity. When billionaires, corporations and religious extremists join forces- democracy is in danger.
Get out and vote and read as much as you can about Project 2025. And tell others about THAT corruption of government. Some of the agendas in that document are so extreme- I know some Republicans who would not be on board with it. Some of them even lack any common sense or practicality to carry out in a huge country like the US.
We can’t afford to move out of America; and we really don’t to leave our homeland! But we are preparing in case Project 2024 is implemented; we’re also purchasing guns! It’s a very scary thought of having to live under Trump being in the WH again!!
This may seem totally unrelated, but what in the name of everything good in life are they teaching in Law Schools that so many graduates enter politics and blaze a trail of destruction, taking no prisoners, and imposing such arcane measures to make life insufferable for the majority of citizens?
Oh thank you for my laugh of the day. I refer to him as J D Maybelline. Can he wear any more eyeliner? (That's my best Chandler Bing impersonation). I hear that the former guy hates beards. Do you think Maybelline will shave his??
Ha, ha, ha. Very good. This summer will be interesting and a good test of the American public. I am good with being a back seat observer here. I am getting ready for the worst and hoping for better.
Of the three VP names on Trump’s list - I felt that JD was always Donald’s preferred but used Rubio and Berghum as foils… he’s young and has a beard - good to attract younger voters, not to mention his supplicant views on Project 2025. He’s also inexperienced as a politician and plainly immature. I’ve never seen a quicker conversion.
You labeled him correctly as “Uncle Vance.”I hope it catches and sticks!
Yes - just unbelievable. I had to quit reading "Hillbilly Elegy," a few years ago - it was just too depressing. For that reason, just unfathomable that Vance has swallowed the Kool-Aid, and jumped enthusiastically to become Trump's lackey. I shudder to think about what's in store for the country should they prevail in November...
Vance is a lickspittle opportunist. I believe Trump picked him so that Vance would have to undergo the public humiliation of having to recant over and over again the negative things he has said about Trump in the past. And he’ll bear it for the career advancement. Disgust is exactly right.
Vance has a past in line with Trump's financial impropriety. A hedge fund finance guy based in California, Vance set up a non profit in Ohio to "work on Republican identified problems". Goal was to get state of Ohio grants to siphon...er "appropriate" for his Senate run + personal use. Non profit fizzled out around time of Vance's election.
Vance has done nothing in Senate to benefit Ohio. 🙄
Michelle, I have so much affection, respect and admiration for you because of the things you choose to write about. And I emphasize "choose", as very few people with the writing skills to do so, choose to fight for the poor and the Middle Class the way you do!
I would LOVE to see you spread your message to Instagram and Tik Tok by posting videos on both platforms. If you didn't want to be in the videos or use your own voice, there's AI-based software that would allow you to make videos without compromising your own identity or voice.
I made a video on of all things, how to download the Python python programming language. Well, I'm an old man with a raspy voice reminiscent of Nick Nolte. In fact, I WISH I sounded like Nick Nolte! At least with his voice, I would sound like a cool guy!
But with AI, I was able to become this sexy, sultry English lady who made my video sound 10 times better than it would otherwise! And I didn't show my face at all. But with all of my 3 followers, sexy British accent or not, a video on downloading Python can only go so far, lol! But you get the idea!
I am TERRIBLE at being on camera or even making an audio recording! Instagram bores me to tears so I decided to skip TikTok. Someone with better video skills will have to bring the message there. I used to struggle just to record the message on my answering machine. I only know how to write, I’m afraid.
Sometimes when I see an extraordinarily great quote of yours, I feel inclined to want to post them on my Instagram or on Facebook, etc. But I don't want to do that kind of thing without your permission. I have shared stories of yours through the share link, but with a full article, you often get fewer people tuning in. A short quote is sometimes perfect, as it can at least plant a seed of wisdom in a few short seconds.
'...professional success and financial well-being is best predicted by one’s family of origin.'
Yeah, in that sense, the concept of meritocracy is flawed and shouldn't at all be applied to societies where different socioeconomic classes exists, as that would be really unfair towards the poor and underprivileged.
It's not that those who are from the lower classes are inherently lazy or stupid, rather it's the unfortunate circumstances they find themselves in, plus the fact that our whole system is heavily favourable towards the wealthy, rather than the majority working class.
It’s so disappointing, I loved his book, but now I’m so cynical - was it even true? He seems perfect to get Never Trumpers to think about voting red. Ugh.
Thank you. Plan to read your book. I remember , right around the time the Vance book came out- it was resoundingly critiqued by those who also grew up in poverty, in Appalachia or other areas of the country. I wish I would saved this one article which resonates with me to this day - I would’ve saved it had I known how Important it may become. The person was a male who had also grown up in poverty in Appalachia. He mentioned luck - as you have re:mentor or assistance . That is the sense of good luck being bestowed. This person mentioned how important bad luck was to chance of success. That people in poverty are one car breakdown at a pivotal time away from having their heads pushed under. The loss of a job. The loss of a parent or other provider. Illness or accident . People living below the poverty line do not have the financial means to deal with these forms of luck. And freq they may not have the psych means or intellectual means to deal with them either. Not everyone is born with Vance’s intellect . Right there he won the lottery. He compares himself working hauling tiles before Yale with another young man who has a pregnant wife. What if JD had gotten a gf pregnant that summer? Does the young man he worked with have the same IQ? Is he dealing with mental illness?
Vance does not acknowledge all the myriad ways he was both lucky and skirted bad luck that got him where he is today. Since his wife comes from an Indian family that immigrated - what are the odds that she stands on US soil today , with the Yale degree in her hands . Astronomical odds.
Vance just sweeps all those odds away with the flick of his pen and assumes that he is where he is because he worked harder. One wonders how this guy even sleeps at night - DJT sure picked the right guy is all I can say.
Lastly, with respect to children growing up in a hh with domestic abuse- he should really stfu- this is just the way you push kids head under water abs jeopardize their chance of success by exposing them to trauma. He’s about as ignorant as the day is long.
I think Hannah Arendt said it best: “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”
― Hannah Arendt
And, she, herself, dated a notorious Nazi: Martin Heidegger
Which, I guess, brings me to this: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Vance is your typical sell-out who can't sell out fast enough when given an opportunity to slurp at the trough with the "big boys." The short version: Your typical piece of American shit.
Wherever they are in their careers and how they got there I think Vance is simply another Manchin clone. This comparison gets worse in the fullness of time, IMO.
With all the scrutiny any candidate can face due to a media with zero guardrails, it's a wonder why anyone sensible would run for any government office. Those that don't seem to mind the intense scrutiny, sincerely qualified or not, might tend to be bare faced liars. Apparently, the modern media has adopted the concept of public oversight in some imagined 4th branch of our democracies government. In spite of a citizenry armed with cellphone cameras and comms, still that is usually never considered to be another knife the emperor's back. Even with a citizen army of data collectors, there needs to be a decision somewhere to access all this information besides kissing up to a handful of billionaire media owners. I don't think the original article by Walter Rhein saying that a few high rollers in politics and business is all that pushed Biden out the door, I think the rampant use of media noise had a huge impact. IMO Sometimes the bandwagon of media noise pushes us all around.
He does not represent “hillbillies” either. A lot of us with Appalachian roots know the reason some of us were able to not be or stay or fall into poverty- we had a network of family and community who were a safety net for help financially, support for addiction or mental illness issues, etc. Some did not have that network and the government resources were laughable and underfunded for those who are low income. Addiction is an illness that changes a person’s brain chemistry. Poverty feeds the addiction cycle, with lacking nutrition and healthcare.
Mr. Vance has also echoed some racist great replacement theory nonsense. He is a true politician- changing his tune as soon as his party wants to leave him behind. He now touts the Mussolini Wanna Be as the man who showed us government corruption- no, he showed us his own corruption in his actions. And corruption in government is when a court is stacked and bribed in such a way as to make a ruling that a president is just a step below a divine right king in their actions- almost total immunity. When billionaires, corporations and religious extremists join forces- democracy is in danger.
Get out and vote and read as much as you can about Project 2025. And tell others about THAT corruption of government. Some of the agendas in that document are so extreme- I know some Republicans who would not be on board with it. Some of them even lack any common sense or practicality to carry out in a huge country like the US.
We are in full agreement.
Project 2025 is terrifying and I have heard many people start making plans for their safety.
I am one of them
I think that's wise.
We can’t afford to move out of America; and we really don’t to leave our homeland! But we are preparing in case Project 2024 is implemented; we’re also purchasing guns! It’s a very scary thought of having to live under Trump being in the WH again!!
This may seem totally unrelated, but what in the name of everything good in life are they teaching in Law Schools that so many graduates enter politics and blaze a trail of destruction, taking no prisoners, and imposing such arcane measures to make life insufferable for the majority of citizens?
That’s a good question.
Will this decision cost him the election? Like John McCain's disastrous decision to pick Sarah Palin? One can only hope.
J.D. Vance and Sarah Palin would actually make a good couple! Oh dear god ... now I cannot unsee that.
Oh thank you for my laugh of the day. I refer to him as J D Maybelline. Can he wear any more eyeliner? (That's my best Chandler Bing impersonation). I hear that the former guy hates beards. Do you think Maybelline will shave his??
Maybe he was born with it … maybe it’s Maybelline!
Ha, ha, ha. Very good. This summer will be interesting and a good test of the American public. I am good with being a back seat observer here. I am getting ready for the worst and hoping for better.
I saw it proposed about a month or so ago, before Trumpy decided to go with the Duck Dynasty wannabe.
I would have loved to share the videos of Sarah Palin's Thanksgiving interview in the turkey-slaughtering yard at the Alaskan industrial farm.
Of the three VP names on Trump’s list - I felt that JD was always Donald’s preferred but used Rubio and Berghum as foils… he’s young and has a beard - good to attract younger voters, not to mention his supplicant views on Project 2025. He’s also inexperienced as a politician and plainly immature. I’ve never seen a quicker conversion.
You labeled him correctly as “Uncle Vance.”I hope it catches and sticks!
Let’s make it stick!
Yes - just unbelievable. I had to quit reading "Hillbilly Elegy," a few years ago - it was just too depressing. For that reason, just unfathomable that Vance has swallowed the Kool-Aid, and jumped enthusiastically to become Trump's lackey. I shudder to think about what's in store for the country should they prevail in November...
He disgusts me.
He absolutely disgusts me, too. He is a supposed poor person who ascended the ladder and then pulled it up behind him. How evil can one be?
Just like “Justice” Thomas! Great description!
Vance is a lickspittle opportunist. I believe Trump picked him so that Vance would have to undergo the public humiliation of having to recant over and over again the negative things he has said about Trump in the past. And he’ll bear it for the career advancement. Disgust is exactly right.
Vance has a past in line with Trump's financial impropriety. A hedge fund finance guy based in California, Vance set up a non profit in Ohio to "work on Republican identified problems". Goal was to get state of Ohio grants to siphon...er "appropriate" for his Senate run + personal use. Non profit fizzled out around time of Vance's election.
Vance has done nothing in Senate to benefit Ohio. 🙄
Why am I not surprised he's a hedge-funder? If you didn't read my recent piece about hedge funds and private equity, her it is: https://michelleteheux.substack.com/p/why-you-cant-afford-your-doctor-dentist
Michelle, I have so much affection, respect and admiration for you because of the things you choose to write about. And I emphasize "choose", as very few people with the writing skills to do so, choose to fight for the poor and the Middle Class the way you do!
I would LOVE to see you spread your message to Instagram and Tik Tok by posting videos on both platforms. If you didn't want to be in the videos or use your own voice, there's AI-based software that would allow you to make videos without compromising your own identity or voice.
I made a video on of all things, how to download the Python python programming language. Well, I'm an old man with a raspy voice reminiscent of Nick Nolte. In fact, I WISH I sounded like Nick Nolte! At least with his voice, I would sound like a cool guy!
But with AI, I was able to become this sexy, sultry English lady who made my video sound 10 times better than it would otherwise! And I didn't show my face at all. But with all of my 3 followers, sexy British accent or not, a video on downloading Python can only go so far, lol! But you get the idea!
I am TERRIBLE at being on camera or even making an audio recording! Instagram bores me to tears so I decided to skip TikTok. Someone with better video skills will have to bring the message there. I used to struggle just to record the message on my answering machine. I only know how to write, I’m afraid.
Sometimes when I see an extraordinarily great quote of yours, I feel inclined to want to post them on my Instagram or on Facebook, etc. But I don't want to do that kind of thing without your permission. I have shared stories of yours through the share link, but with a full article, you often get fewer people tuning in. A short quote is sometimes perfect, as it can at least plant a seed of wisdom in a few short seconds.
As long as you credit me, I'd love that.
Ok, great! I will do that, and I will definitely make sure you're given the credit you so deserve!
https://cardinalnews.org/2022/09/12/st-paul-lawyer-authors-book-that-says-j-d-vance-is-a-fake-hillbilly/
Thank you Robert!
'...professional success and financial well-being is best predicted by one’s family of origin.'
Yeah, in that sense, the concept of meritocracy is flawed and shouldn't at all be applied to societies where different socioeconomic classes exists, as that would be really unfair towards the poor and underprivileged.
It's not that those who are from the lower classes are inherently lazy or stupid, rather it's the unfortunate circumstances they find themselves in, plus the fact that our whole system is heavily favourable towards the wealthy, rather than the majority working class.
It’s so disappointing, I loved his book, but now I’m so cynical - was it even true? He seems perfect to get Never Trumpers to think about voting red. Ugh.
Obviously, the "J" in his name stands for "jerk".
What do you think the "D" stands for? I have a couple of ideas.
Dick- less
🤣🤣🤣 of course!
Thank you. Plan to read your book. I remember , right around the time the Vance book came out- it was resoundingly critiqued by those who also grew up in poverty, in Appalachia or other areas of the country. I wish I would saved this one article which resonates with me to this day - I would’ve saved it had I known how Important it may become. The person was a male who had also grown up in poverty in Appalachia. He mentioned luck - as you have re:mentor or assistance . That is the sense of good luck being bestowed. This person mentioned how important bad luck was to chance of success. That people in poverty are one car breakdown at a pivotal time away from having their heads pushed under. The loss of a job. The loss of a parent or other provider. Illness or accident . People living below the poverty line do not have the financial means to deal with these forms of luck. And freq they may not have the psych means or intellectual means to deal with them either. Not everyone is born with Vance’s intellect . Right there he won the lottery. He compares himself working hauling tiles before Yale with another young man who has a pregnant wife. What if JD had gotten a gf pregnant that summer? Does the young man he worked with have the same IQ? Is he dealing with mental illness?
Vance does not acknowledge all the myriad ways he was both lucky and skirted bad luck that got him where he is today. Since his wife comes from an Indian family that immigrated - what are the odds that she stands on US soil today , with the Yale degree in her hands . Astronomical odds.
Vance just sweeps all those odds away with the flick of his pen and assumes that he is where he is because he worked harder. One wonders how this guy even sleeps at night - DJT sure picked the right guy is all I can say.
Lastly, with respect to children growing up in a hh with domestic abuse- he should really stfu- this is just the way you push kids head under water abs jeopardize their chance of success by exposing them to trauma. He’s about as ignorant as the day is long.
I would love to read that article! If you ever come across it, shoot it to me, please.
I agree with everything you say. I've been working on another book called "It's Not Just You" that makes this same case.
It was on something really off the beaten path - like Undark or something. The other critique by the Appalachian scholar is good
I think Hannah Arendt said it best: “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”
― Hannah Arendt
And, she, herself, dated a notorious Nazi: Martin Heidegger
Which, I guess, brings me to this: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Vance is your typical sell-out who can't sell out fast enough when given an opportunity to slurp at the trough with the "big boys." The short version: Your typical piece of American shit.
I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you are asking. I am autistic and I get confused easily. Can you be clear about what you are asking? It message me?
Seems odd that he suddenly changed his mind
Ya can take the billy out of the hills …
I think I hear a banjo…
Wherever they are in their careers and how they got there I think Vance is simply another Manchin clone. This comparison gets worse in the fullness of time, IMO.
Can’t we find better subjects to clone?!?
With all the scrutiny any candidate can face due to a media with zero guardrails, it's a wonder why anyone sensible would run for any government office. Those that don't seem to mind the intense scrutiny, sincerely qualified or not, might tend to be bare faced liars. Apparently, the modern media has adopted the concept of public oversight in some imagined 4th branch of our democracies government. In spite of a citizenry armed with cellphone cameras and comms, still that is usually never considered to be another knife the emperor's back. Even with a citizen army of data collectors, there needs to be a decision somewhere to access all this information besides kissing up to a handful of billionaire media owners. I don't think the original article by Walter Rhein saying that a few high rollers in politics and business is all that pushed Biden out the door, I think the rampant use of media noise had a huge impact. IMO Sometimes the bandwagon of media noise pushes us all around.
I missed Walter’s piece. Can you post a link here?