What the hell happened to JD Vance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

+1 to all of this.

I have to say that I do really wonder about his wife and how she's dealing with this. It would be hard for impossible for me to deal with this. They seemingly moved to Ohio to be close to his roots and to work to "make things better" with your spouse who was moderate right at best. Now the dude is more or less on the Trump. I don't think I could deal.

I also have to wonder what is biracial kids must think, although they are very young so they may not be aware. He gives off very “alpha male” vibes and I am kind of concerned for his wife given his supposed views on working mothers, and that weird statement he made about how your vote should be multiplied by the number of children you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

+1 to all of this.

I have to say that I do really wonder about his wife and how she's dealing with this. It would be hard for impossible for me to deal with this. They seemingly moved to Ohio to be close to his roots and to work to "make things better" with your spouse who was moderate right at best. Now the dude is more or less on the Trump. I don't think I could deal.

I also have to wonder what is biracial kids must think, although they are very young so they may not be aware. He gives off very “alpha male” vibes and I am kind of concerned for his wife given his supposed views on working mothers, and that weird statement he made about how your vote should be multiplied by the number of children you have.

Half white half Indian people who are umc are functionally white. They retain probably .01% of Indian attributes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved his book and learned a lot from his first hand accounts.

I just totally disagreed with his conclusions about how to prevent cycles of poverty endemic to the rust belt and Appalachia where he grew up. Obviously, many of them need systematic help. It sounds so trite and simplistic to contend yet they could all beat inter generational poverty with a bit of elbow grease. Millions of LMC youth not getting into an Ivy law school.

On the other hand, personal work ethic is obviously important as well.

There needs to be a balance between structural supports to encourage social mobility and individual work ethic.

I was surprised to hear he is Republican after reading his book. You’d think he’d have more empathy.

Yah I was really surprised too. … maybe he had to shut down the empathetic part of himself to deal with his family and work on a new family culture for his own wife and kids. Also the Appalachia and rust belt tend to be conservative p9litically so maybe it is more acceptable to his homies.

But policy wise, he is not going to be forging a path for many others to escape inter generational poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

+1 to all of this.

I have to say that I do really wonder about his wife and how she's dealing with this. It would be hard for impossible for me to deal with this. They seemingly moved to Ohio to be close to his roots and to work to "make things better" with your spouse who was moderate right at best. Now the dude is more or less on the Trump. I don't think I could deal.

I also have to wonder what is biracial kids must think, although they are very young so they may not be aware. He gives off very “alpha male” vibes and I am kind of concerned for his wife given his supposed views on working mothers, and that weird statement he made about how your vote should be multiplied by the number of children you have.

Half white half Indian people who are umc are functionally white. They retain probably .01% of Indian attributes.

That's a pretty sweeping generalization.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

Everything you write following this bolden sentence shows he’s not a decent dude - at all.

[Anonymous]

His book was trash. Pull yourself up by bootstraps and then kick your family in the face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:His book was trash. Pull yourself up by bootstraps and then kick your family in the face.

OP here. When I read the book (years ago) I didn’t know of Vance. The book admittedly didn’t seem political at all to me at that time, I just thought it was an interesting story. I come from a very similar town to his hometown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[quote=Anonymous]He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

Everything you write following this bolden sentence shows he’s not a decent dude - at all.

Unfortunately, this is what happens to most people when they enter politics. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His book was trash. Pull yourself up by bootstraps and then kick your family in the face.

OP here. When I read the book (years ago) I didn’t know of Vance. The book admittedly didn’t seem political at all to me at that time, I just thought it was an interesting story. I come from a very similar town to his hometown.

The book really wasn't really intended to be political. Tiger Mom professor encourages everyone at YLS to write a book/memoir. This one was a big hit and the timing was perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:His book was trash. Pull yourself up by bootstraps and then kick your family in the face.

OP here. When I read the book (years ago) I didn’t know of Vance. The book admittedly didn’t seem political at all to me at that time, I just thought it was an interesting story. I come from a very similar town to his hometown.

Because his dog whistles weren’t meant for your ears, so you weren’t listening.

And what happened to him? The GOP is an intellectually, emotionally, morally and ethically bankrupt party that seems to warp and destroy anyone who runs for elections. It’s like the world’s worst gang and once you get jumped in, you’ve lost yourself.

[Anonymous]

Vance's former roommate has released a text from 2016 where Vance said that Trump could be "America's Hitler."

[Anonymous]

I actually dont think Vance's story is unique. Lots of people have similar backgrounds and trajectories.

[Anonymous]

He's venal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vance's former roommate has released a text from 2016 where Vance said that Trump could be "America's Hitler."

“America’s Hitler” just endorsed him. Awkward!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vance's former roommate has released a text from 2016 where Vance said that Trump could be "America's Hitler."

What's wrong with the text?