# Stephen Miller and cosmopolitan bias **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040 "2017-08-07T21:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/61 "2017-08-08T02:01:11Z")
Even Bernie Sanders thinks open borders is nuts. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm\_term=.c7df8cef8e9a](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm_term=.c7df8cef8e9a) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/62 "2017-08-08T02:07:59Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Why would you say that? I only worship God, not politicians. People who worship God wouldn’t say that people only should care about themselves. It’s literally the opposite of what God teaches, both in the Old Testament and the New. You’re as much a Christian as Trump if you actually believe what you spout here. And, if not, you really need to read what God thinks about liars. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/63 "2017-08-08T02:10:12Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Stephen Miller was asked if the proposed immigration policy supported by the Trump administration that weights the ability to speak English higher than previous immigration policies was intended only allow immigrants from Great Britain and Australia. Here is his response. > > Some people think that was response brilliantly turned the tables on the questioner while others thought it was more than a little intellectually dishonest. I’m in the second camp but that’s not what inspired this thread. > > What caught my ear was the use of the phrase, “Cosmopolitan bias.” I had never heard the phrase before and it seemed like a weird turn of phrase for a 31 year-old guy from Santa Monica, CA. So I Googled it and it turns out to be a [white nationalist dog whistle](https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-08-03/cosmopolitan-dog-whistle-word-once-used-nazi-germany-and-communist-russia). No, it’s not. It’s a phrase that has been used extensively about East Coast big city people, especially New Yorkers. It describes the mentality that there’s New York and then there’s the rest of the world. My read on it is that Miller expanded it in Acosta’s case to point out that Acosta has a myopic viewpoint of the world. Acosta’s statement was assholeism of the purest kind, including his absolute rudeness in interrupting Miller and not letting him finish his answers. Acosta basically stood up, spouted ignorant bullshit, and got soundly - and deservedly - slapped down for it. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/64 "2017-08-08T02:11:51Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Even Bernie Sanders thinks open borders is nuts. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm\_term=.c7df8cef8e9a](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm_term=.c7df8cef8e9a) Did you mean to post this in the [Bernie Sanders thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832759) or some other thread? This one is about that dead-eyed piece of shit Stephen Miller and how shitty it is he [and others](https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/05/01/here-s-what-happened-when-trump-white-house-gave-alt-right-troll-access-press-room/216233)are winking at white nationalists from the White House press podium. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/65 "2017-08-08T02:14:51Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Did you mean to post this in the [Bernie Sanders thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=832759) or some other thread? This one is about that dead-eyed piece of shit Stephen Miller and how shitty it is he [and others](https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/05/01/here-s-what-happened-when-trump-white-house-gave-alt-right-troll-access-press-room/216233)are winking at white nationalists from the White House press podium. Except, of course, that no such thing happened. But hey, why let facts and reality get in the way of a good old-fashioned rant? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/66 "2017-08-08T02:15:22Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > No, it’s not. It’s a phrase that has been used extensively about East Coast big city people, especially New Yorkers. It describes the mentality that there’s New York and then there’s the rest of the world. Show. Don’t tell. Used extensively by whom? Prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/67 "2017-08-08T02:17:46Z")
It’s hilarious that in order to besmirch Miller liberals are digging out Stalin-era anti-Semitic “rootless cosmopolitan” phrase that was the euphemism for “dirty kike” (which is pretty weird in itself because they tried to apply “rootless” to people who can trace their descent to 4,000 years ago, but that’s another matter). Apart from the fact that Miller is Jewish… What’s hilarious is that only people who know Soviet history very well (and speaking Russian probably helps) would recognize the reference. Claiming that it is a “dog-whistle” for alt-right is claiming that the average anti-Semite in the United States knows Soviet history and Russian enough to do that. Highly unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/68 "2017-08-08T02:18:15Z")
I don’t think it’s that much different from other labels that the right wing is using to characterize their opposition. As others have mentioned, the ‘coastal elites’, the ‘limousine liberals’ - that’s been around for a while. What is different is the tone and context in which such labels are used now. This is not someone merely using a term in the pejorative to reflect the genuine belief that a subset of progressives are out of touch with the mainstream of society; rather, this is the language of propaganda. Spoken by a conservative in a college classroom debate, maybe it means not much. But Stephen Miller doesn’t use this language accidentally; these are code words. Whether or not they are dog whistles to white nationalists specifically may or may not be accurate - I don’t know. But it’s clearly coded language intended to elicit a response from conservatives, many of whom do probably happen to be white nationalists. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/69 "2017-08-08T02:18:27Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Whether or not it’s their stated purpose, the dollars of foreign aid the US sends to other countries are expected to improve the conditions of those countries; improved conditions means people want to stay there. That is a completely different statement from what you said. You said that the reason why we help improve conditions is because we want them to stay there, and not come over here. You gave anti-immigration reasons behind foreign aid. Can you back that up? Because it sure reads like an excuse to say that being anti-immigrant isn’t wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/70 "2017-08-08T02:19:05Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > **No, it’s not.** It’s a phrase that has been used extensively about East Coast big city people, especially New Yorkers. It describes the mentality that there’s New York and then there’s the rest of the world. > > My read on it is that Miller expanded it in Acosta’s case to point out that Acosta has a myopic viewpoint of the world. Acosta’s statement was assholeism of the purest kind, including his absolute rudeness in interrupting Miller and not letting him finish his answers. Acosta basically stood up, spouted ignorant bullshit, and got soundly - and deservedly - slapped down for it. Yes, it is, and they even cited the source for it. Where’s your source for denying it’s so? Sure worked like a dog whistle, bringing you out to defend your ‘I’ve got mine so fuck you if you want yours’ allies. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/71 "2017-08-08T02:23:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That is a completely different statement from what you said. You said that the reason why we help improve conditions is because we want them to stay there, and not come over here. You gave anti-immigration reasons behind foreign aid. > > Can you back that up? Because it sure reads like an excuse to say that being anti-immigrant isn’t wrong. It’s not at all different from what I said the first time. I even used some of the same words. I did not say it was the only reason b/c it isn’t. Keep your standard lectures to yourself for once, you inferred any anti or pro sentiments; I’m certainly pro-immigration and pro-humanity overall if you’ve seen any of my other posts on this board. [ETA - Stephen Miller hung w/ Richard Spencer at Duke, though Miller denies Spencer more often than Peter when pressed on it.](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/trumps-newest-senior-adviser-seen-ally-white-nationalists/) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/72 "2017-08-08T02:25:35Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Even Bernie Sanders thinks open borders is nuts. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm\_term=.c7df8cef8e9a](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/30/bernie-sanders-criticizes-open-borders-at-hispanic-chamber-of-commerce/?utm_term=.c7df8cef8e9a) Cool. The mimic octopus can change its outline and coloration to appear like several different sea creatures. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/73 "2017-08-08T02:26:08Z")
The statement just doesn’t even make any sense. If someone is cosmopolitan, that means they move among many different countries. Which would inherently mean they are more, not less familiar with how common English is. The only way it makes sense is as some sort of code word. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/74 "2017-08-08T02:31:41Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > It’s hilarious that in order to besmirch Miller liberals are digging out Stalin-era anti-Semitic “rootless cosmopolitan” phrase that was the euphemism for “dirty kike” (which is pretty weird in itself because they tried to apply “rootless” to people who can trace their descent to 4,000 years ago, but that’s another matter). > > Apart from the fact that Miller is Jewish… > > What’s hilarious is that only people who know Soviet history very well (and speaking Russian probably helps) would recognize the reference. Claiming that it is a “dog-whistle” for alt-right is claiming that the average anti-Semite in the United States knows Soviet history and Russian enough to do that. > > Highly unlikely. One wouldn’t need to be familiar with Soviet history, just Stormfront. [Link](https://thinkprogress.org/stephen-millers-strange-insult-of-a-reporter-is-very-familiar-to-white-supremacists/) (not Stormfront) > [@](#): > > White nationalist groups have also adopted the term “cosmopolitan” into their lexicon to attack those they see as “globalists.” The word is frequently used across white nationalist websites and forums like Stormfront, which has its own section on the philosophy page devoted to the idea of “cosmopolitanism.” There, white nationalists espouse dangerous thoughts, including this one: “Confronted with the ruins of their culture, and having been abandoned by the state which purports to represent them, white Americans will have to fall back on their inherited racial and ethnic identities. Only then will the historic American people find the strength to turn the tables on cosmopolitan elites.” This, they claim, is the antithesis to the nationalist, who, above all, puts love of country first. I also learned that white nationalists are also [not crazy about the poem on the Statue of Liberty](https://thinkprogress.org/stephen-miller-attacks-statue-of-liberty-poem-echoing-popular-white-nationalist-talking-point-f90c2ae0be48/) which Miller also attacked. Wink. Wink. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/75 "2017-08-08T02:42:36Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > . . . I’m certainly pro-immigration and pro-humanity overall if you’ve seen any of my other posts on this board. . . And that is why I was so surprised; I took it the same way **Big T** did. I agree that humanitarian aid can have a consequence of reducing the refugee population. I do not agree, however, that it’s meant to. mc ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/76 "2017-08-08T02:44:06Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > It’s not at all different from what I said the first time. I even used some of the same words. I did not say it was the only reason b/c it isn’t. Keep your standard lectures to yourself for once, you inferred any anti or pro sentiments; I’m certainly pro-immigration and pro-humanity overall if you’ve seen any of my other posts on this board. > [ETA - Stephen Miller hung w/ Richard Spencer at Duke, though Miller denies Spencer more often than Peter when pressed on it.](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/trumps-newest-senior-adviser-seen-ally-white-nationalists/) I didn’t say you said it was the only reason, either. I simply pointed out that you said it was a reason. Your second post doesn’t say it is a reason. It is just a natural consequence. These are two different things. All I did was point that out. I do not understand why that would be considered some sort of lecture. And I do not understand why I would be assumed to remember everything you’ve posted on the subject before. All I did was tell you the plain meaning of what you said, and pointed out that it was different from your much better explanation in a subsequent post. I _thought_ I was helping you understand why people responded negatively to what you said at first. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/77 "2017-08-08T02:55:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > People who worship God wouldn’t say that people only should care about themselves. I never said that. I must write this date down, August 7, 2017. My very first Big T finger wagging lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/78 "2017-08-08T02:58:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I didn’t say you said it was the only reason, either. I simply pointed out that you said it was a reason. Your second post doesn’t say it is a reason. It is just a natural consequence. These are two different things. > > All I did was point that out. I do not understand why that would be considered some sort of lecture. And I do not understand why I would be assumed to remember everything you’ve posted on the subject before. > > All I did was tell you the plain meaning of what you said, and pointed out that it was different from your much better explanation in a subsequent post. I _thought_ I was helping you understand why people responded negatively to what you said at first. Depending on the recipient, there are likely dozens of reasons foreign aid is given and that is one of them. The US protects its own interests and those interests are manifold and plenty. I don’t need your help to understand what any other poster responds to me. When I do I will let you know. I may not be a memorable poster but I’ve read your well-meaning condescension for years. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/79 "2017-08-08T02:59:43Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Bullshit. Someone who truly worships God wouldn’t be the cold sociopath that you are. What are your qualifications to diagnose people over the internet? You have none. Even (or especially) PhD’s would never do that. Fail, like the rest of your so-called life. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040/80 "2017-08-08T03:04:53Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > What are your qualifications to diagnose people over the internet? > > You have none. > > Even (or especially) PhD’s would never do that. > > Fail, like the rest of your so-called life. Typical sTrumpet. Yells Fake! and Fail! when someone gets too close to the truth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-miller-and-cosmopolitan-bias/793040.md?page=5)