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Beto O’Rourke and the Privilege of Public Rage
His cathartic reactions to the mass shootings and the subsequent praise demonstrate a power that female politicians do not have
Beto O’Rourke is angry. Actually, Beto O’Rourke is pissed off. As a Texan and native El Pasoan his state has been at the center of the last two mass shootings. When asked by a reporter following the El Paso shooting in early August, “What can the president do to make things better?” Beto showed he’d had enough. His response made headlines: “What do you think? You know the shit he has been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the f — k?”
Beto’s rage was palpable and also safely wrapped in White male privilege.
The headlines that Beto has received since his initial reporter pushback and then following yet another shooting in Texas — this time in Midland and Odessa, have been mostly positive with the Statesman going so far as to call his F-bombs “tactical deployment.” While dropping F-bombs at town halls and on cable news is usually not the norm, Beto is making clear that we are no longer living in normal times. “Not sure how many gunmen. Now sure how many people have been shot…
