What is Sally Kohn’s message about Detroit? Not everyone who heard it tonight on Fox News’ “Special Report” is quite sure, because it sounded as though she was blaming the GOP’s platform of cutting taxes and government spending for Detroit’s descent into bankruptcy — or at the very least suggesting that Republican policies would force more cities to go the way of Detroit.
National Review’s Jonah Goldberg was among those who couldn’t quite place when it was that the GOP imposed crippling austerity programs on a city that’s been under Democrat control for six decades.
Still trying to get my head around Sally Kohn's argument on @SpecialReport that Detroit is an example of the failure of "austerity."
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 22, 2013
@JonahNRO No way. She said that?
— RBe (@RBPundit) July 22, 2013
@RBPundit I *think* so. Hard to parse.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 22, 2013
@JonahNRO she also said the de-investment in Detroit in recent decades is everyone's fault. @RBPundit
— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) July 22, 2013
@JonahNRO the full hack.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 22, 2013
@guypbenson @JonahNRO oh Guy please stop with the compliments, you'll embarrass me!
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 22, 2013
@sallykohn @JonahNRO btw, cool they had you on…but preposterous argument.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 22, 2013
@guypbenson @JonahNRO I didn't argue that austerity (in trad sense) caused Detroit but rather being (wrongly) used to advance austerity
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 22, 2013
That makes a little more sense: the GOP is likely to use the spectacular failure of Detroit to argue that other cities not follow its lead.
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@sallykohn well, ok. Sorry if I misunderstood. Just sounded like your solution to Detroit's anti-austerity was more anti austerity.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 22, 2013
.@JonahNRO Detroit not anti-austerity example, but example of 60 yrs of divestment from biz & govt (GOP & Dem) policies; suburbanization
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 23, 2013
.@sallykohn "divestment" is loaded word. Detroit 1 of richest cities in country 50 years ago. "Blowing it" and "divestment" not synonymous.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
.@JonahNRO meet @mayawiley: http://t.co/cnxJHiaFlj
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 23, 2013
There’s your proof: an article by Maya Wiley, founder and president of the Center for Social Inclusion, posted on The Grio, MSNBC’s site offering “the African-American perspective on the news.” The two factors behind Detroit’s bankruptcy? Race and disinvestment, writes Wiley.
You've got to be kidding me RT @sallykohn: .@JonahNRO meet @mayawiley: http://t.co/wTQA2Qk0Z5
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
@JonahNRO @mayawiley well there's some respectful intellectual engagement….
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 23, 2013
.@sallykohn it's too late and I'm too tired to get into the weeds, but I found that article parodic
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
.@sallykohn Among other problems, it assumes that Detroit's problems were somehow intended which is insane.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
@JonahNRO don't think intentionality is ascribed here — to say something has racially biased IMPACT doesn't = racist intent.
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 23, 2013
@sallykohn it isn't ascribed but it is implied. Detroit didn't fail because of racism.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
@JonahNRO "racism" is a loaded word; i would say detroit was set up to fail by legacy of racially biased policies/practices, depleted city
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) July 23, 2013
.@sallykohn the 2 reasons she offers are "race & disinvestment." The rest is about the "race line." Reads like charging racism.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
Yeah, it really does. How about the conclusion that “racial fairness has to be at the center of all of the solutions to starving cities or we will ignore the roots of the problem”?
.@sallykohn also conventional left argument is that disparate impact = racist. If you want to drop that, great by me.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
.@sallykohn the whole article brims with loaded words, staring with disinvestment, which is where we started.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 23, 2013
If a legacy of racially biased policies isn’t to blame, what is, then?
@JonahNRO @sallykohn the Divestment of capital was a symptom of statist policies-not the cause #basiceconomics #sowell
— Will Ricciardella (@WillRicci) July 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/seanagnew/status/359460482584821762
@sallykohn @JonahNRO That's not austerity. That's @TheDemocrats.
— China is lying (@jtLOL) July 22, 2013
@JonahNRO @sallykohn What do you call it when the parasites turn something into a spent husk? Detroit.
— ???Lyon (@softcrush) July 23, 2013
@sallykohn @JonahNRO As a lifelong MI resident of Detroit's burbs, i think you should study Coleman Young's legacy & get back to us.
— P. Aaron (@BonHagar) July 23, 2013
@sallykohn @JonahNRO #detroit has be run by #democrats since the early 1950s, show me where they put "austerity" measures in place…
— Jeff Ellington ???? (@Jeff__Ellington) July 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/HeistheGiambino/status/359495177276112896
@foxnation Sally Kohn is the poster child for the Dem Party line.
— Retired728 (@retired728) July 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/czechov/status/359494109079158785
.@JonahNRO @sallykohn It's pretty much over in the first paragraph when race is blamed. Look into the $13k/citizen in unfunded liabilities
— Charlie Flohr (@Charlie_Flohr) July 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/RickSpung/status/359492524487872513
@JonahNRO @sallykohn @mayawiley look away pay no attention to the 52 straight years of Democratic Mayors behind the curtain
— Reepiceep (@Reepiceep) July 23, 2013
@sallykohn I for one was glad to see you on Fox. I'll take funny and smart any time. Your Detroit position was dumb in extremis, however.
— FocusedResults (@FocusedResults1) July 23, 2013
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