{"id":132484,"date":"2025-09-03T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T21:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/03\/and-thats-why-we-lost-the-election\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T13:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T21:00:13","slug":"and-thats-why-we-lost-the-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/03\/and-thats-why-we-lost-the-election\/","title":{"rendered":"And That\u2019s Why We Lost The Election!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><u>Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Vivia Chen back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, \u201cThe Ex-Careerist,\u201d<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WHEN I GET TOGETHER FOR DRINKS with my depressed liberal friends, we play a little game. It goes like this: If someone unwittingly displays an elite tendency \u2013 like wincing at the idea of eating at Olive Garden or questioning how anyone can sit through\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cats_(musical)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cats<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 we shout, \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we lost the election!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In that spirit, I present to you words and phrases that Democrats should retire forthwith if they ever hope to win back the hearts and minds of Americans. Compiled by liberal think tank Third Way, it\u2019s a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thirdway.org\/memo\/was-it-something-i-said\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">memo<\/a>\u00a0addressed to \u201c<strong>All Who Wish to Stop Donald Trump and MAGA<\/strong>,\u201d listing 45 terms that \u201cno ordinary person would ever dream of saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a sampling of some of the forbidden terms and their subtext from the memo:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Therapy-Speak<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019m more empathetic than you, and you are callous to hurting other\u2019s feelings\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Privilege<\/li>\n<li>Violence (as in \u201cenvironmental violence\u201d)<\/li>\n<li>Triggering<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Progressive_stack#:~:text=The%20progressive%20stack%20is%20a,simple%20majorities%20have%20less%20power.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Progressive stack<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Body shaming<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Seminar Room Language<\/strong>. \u201cI am smarter and more concerned about important issues than you\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Systems of oppression<\/li>\n<li>Cultural appropriation<\/li>\n<li>Postmodernism<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Overton-window\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Overton Window<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/heuristic\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heuristic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Organizer Jargon<\/strong>. \u201cWe are beholden to groups, not individuals\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Small \u201cd\u201d democracy<\/li>\n<li>The unhoused<\/li>\n<li>Food insecurity<\/li>\n<li>Housing insecurity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Gender\/Orientation Correctness<\/strong>. \u201cYour views on traditional genders and gender roles are at best quaint\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cisgender<\/li>\n<li>Pregnant people<\/li>\n<li>Chest feeding<\/li>\n<li>Heteronormative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs<\/strong>: \u201cYou will be called out as racist if you do not use the latest and correct terminology\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Latinx<\/li>\n<li>Intersectionality<\/li>\n<li>Allyship<\/li>\n<li>Minoritized communities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Explaining Away Crime:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Justice-involved<\/li>\n<li>Carceration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I THOUGHT I KNEW MY WAY AROUND THE WOKE BLOCK, but some of these terms threw me for a loop: \u201cprogressive stack,\u201d \u201cOverton window,\u201d \u201cheuristic,\u201d and \u201ccarceration.\u201d And what\u2019s \u201cpostmodernism\u201d doing on the list? I thought that was an architectural term. Amazing, isn\u2019t it, that I\u2019ve been writing about gender and race for over two decades without grasping these concepts?<\/p>\n<p>Happily, my main pet peeves are on the list. Winning the competition for sheer ridiculousness are \u201cpregnant people\u201d and \u201cchest feeding.\u201d Yes, yes, I know you can carry a baby and identify as non-binary, but come on. Not to be technical, but you kind of need those lady parts to gestate and lactate.<\/p>\n<p>And what\u2019s with \u201cthe unhoused\u201d or \u201cfood insecurity\u201d stuff? Do those terms really impart greater dignity to those who are homeless and hungry? If anything, those antiseptic euphemisms detract from the urgency of the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Actually, I\u2019m surprised that Third Way only came up with 45 words and phrases.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I\u2019d throw in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Preferred_gender_pronoun\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">preferred pronouns<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nativegov.org\/news\/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">land acknowledgements<\/a>.\u201d I know identifying your pronouns on email signatures shows allyship (another term earmarked for retirement) with the LGBTQ+ community, but it always struck me as coerced virtue signaling. And the ritualized Native American land acknowledgments \u2014 now de rigueur at graduation ceremonies in many colleges \u2014 seems wholly performative. I know it\u2019s intended to recognize historic injustices, but who\u2019s being comforted? Better to fund scholarships for Native students, though that\u2019s likely a no-go in the current anti-DEI climate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What brilliant mind came up with this baloney?<\/strong>\u00a0The well-meaning and the over-thinking, of course. Though the \u201cintent of this language is to include, broaden, empathize, accept, and embrace,\u201d speakers come off as \u201cenforcers of wokeness,\u201d Third Way notes. \u201cTo please the few, we have alienated the many \u2014 especially on culture issues, where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To that string of adjectives, I\u2019d also add idiotic.<\/p>\n<p>While most liberals I know speak like regular folks, I\u2019ve had my share of run-ins with the language police. And you never know when they\u2019ll strike. \u201cThese activists and advocates may take on noble causes,\u201d says Third Way, \u201cbut in doing so they often demand compliance with their preferred messages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve been chastised<\/strong>\u00a0by editors and colleagues for not being sufficiently \u201csensitive\u201d to one group or another in my writing. I can\u2019t tell you how much time has been spent fighting over one silly adjective.<\/p>\n<p>And I get it on the homefront too: My two superbly-educated daughters are constantly on my case for what I say and how I say it. It\u2019s gotten to the point where I actually slow myself down in order to choose the right words before uttering an opinion at the dinner table \u2014 and they still treat me as a cultural Neanderthal.<\/p>\n<p>This whole exercise is exhausting. And a royal waste of time. There\u2019s so much focus on terminology that we barely have the bandwidth to get to the crux of the real problems we face.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe JD Vance had a point when he recently advised Democrats on Laura Ingraham\u2019s show on Fox News: \u201cStop sounding like crazy people!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not that the Republicans don\u2019t do crazy talk.\u00a0<\/strong>Indeed, Donald Trump has not only mangled the English language but vulgarized it to the max. Worse, he\u2019s made it acceptable. While the Democrats contort themselves to avoid any possible offense to anyone under the sun, Trump goes out of his way to do the opposite. His language is studded with racism (Haiti and African nations are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/01\/11\/politics\/immigrants-shithole-countries-trump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shithole countries<\/a>\u201c); sexism (Kamala Harris is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-reposts-lewd-remark-about-harris-his-social-media-site-2024-08-29\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dumb as a Rock,\u201d \u201ccrazy,\u201d \u201cnuts<\/a>\u201c); crassness (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">grab \u2019em by the pussy<\/a>\u201d); and inhumanity (immigrants \u2013 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">they\u2019re not humans, they\u2019re animals<\/a>\u2018). And that\u2019s just a very tiny sampling.<\/p>\n<p>But guess who\u2019s winning the language wars? Though there\u2019s nothing elevating about Trump\u2019s language, give him credit for being direct and pungent; you can literally envision what he is saying. And clarity \u2014 especially when people feel unseen \u2014 lands as authenticity.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s Trump\u2019s secret sauce: speech that feels like it comes straight from the gut, not a seminar. Democrats can dissect the \u201clived experiences of minoritized communities\u201d but many will be left wondering what was the point.<\/p>\n<p>So the question isn\u2019t just whether liberals can retire their tortured vocabulary. It\u2019s whether they can learn to speak in a language that ordinary people actually hear. Because right now, it\u2019s the crude and cruel version that\u2019s striking a chord with Americans. And that should trouble us all.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><em><strong>Subscribe to read more at The Ex-Careerist\u2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p><strong><em>Vivia Chen\u00a0writes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u201cThe Ex-Careerist\u201d<\/a>\u00a0column on Substack where she unleashes her unvarnished views about the intersection of work, life, and politics. A former lawyer, she was an opinion columnist at Bloomberg Law and The American Lawyer. Subscribe to her Substack by clicking here:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"286\" height=\"72\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Vivia-Chen-Ex-Careerist.png?resize=286%2C72&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1152282\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/09\/and-thats-why-we-lost-the-election\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">And That\u2019s Why We Lost The Election!<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2161516337-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><em><u>Ed. note<\/u>: Please welcome Vivia Chen back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, \u201cThe Ex-Careerist,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WHEN I GET TOGETHER FOR DRINKS with my depressed liberal friends, we play a little game. It goes like this: If someone unwittingly displays an elite tendency \u2013 like wincing at the idea of eating at Olive Garden or questioning how anyone can sit through\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cats_(musical)\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cats<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 we shout, \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we lost the election!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In that spirit, I present to you words and phrases that Democrats should retire forthwith if they ever hope to win back the hearts and minds of Americans. Compiled by liberal think tank Third Way, it\u2019s a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thirdway.org\/memo\/was-it-something-i-said\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">memo<\/a>\u00a0addressed to \u201c<strong>All Who Wish to Stop Donald Trump and MAGA<\/strong>,\u201d listing 45 terms that \u201cno ordinary person would ever dream of saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a sampling of some of the forbidden terms and their subtext from the memo:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Therapy-Speak<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019m more empathetic than you, and you are callous to hurting other\u2019s feelings\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Privilege<\/li>\n<li>Violence (as in \u201cenvironmental violence\u201d)<\/li>\n<li>Triggering<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Progressive_stack#:~:text=The%20progressive%20stack%20is%20a,simple%20majorities%20have%20less%20power.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Progressive stack<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Body shaming<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Seminar Room Language<\/strong>. \u201cI am smarter and more concerned about important issues than you\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Systems of oppression<\/li>\n<li>Cultural appropriation<\/li>\n<li>Postmodernism<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Overton-window\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Overton Window<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/heuristic\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heuristic<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Organizer Jargon<\/strong>. \u201cWe are beholden to groups, not individuals\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Small \u201cd\u201d democracy<\/li>\n<li>The unhoused<\/li>\n<li>Food insecurity<\/li>\n<li>Housing insecurity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Gender\/Orientation Correctness<\/strong>. \u201cYour views on traditional genders and gender roles are at best quaint\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cisgender<\/li>\n<li>Pregnant people<\/li>\n<li>Chest feeding<\/li>\n<li>Heteronormative<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Shifting Language of Racial Constructs<\/strong>: \u201cYou will be called out as racist if you do not use the latest and correct terminology\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Latinx<\/li>\n<li>Intersectionality<\/li>\n<li>Allyship<\/li>\n<li>Minoritized communities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Explaining Away Crime:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe criminal is the victim. The victim is an afterthought\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Justice-involved<\/li>\n<li>Carceration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I THOUGHT I KNEW MY WAY AROUND THE WOKE BLOCK, but some of these terms threw me for a loop: \u201cprogressive stack,\u201d \u201cOverton window,\u201d \u201cheuristic,\u201d and \u201ccarceration.\u201d And what\u2019s \u201cpostmodernism\u201d doing on the list? I thought that was an architectural term. Amazing, isn\u2019t it, that I\u2019ve been writing about gender and race for over two decades without grasping these concepts?<\/p>\n<p>Happily, my main pet peeves are on the list. Winning the competition for sheer ridiculousness are \u201cpregnant people\u201d and \u201cchest feeding.\u201d Yes, yes, I know you can carry a baby and identify as non-binary, but come on. Not to be technical, but you kind of need those lady parts to gestate and lactate.<\/p>\n<p>And what\u2019s with \u201cthe unhoused\u201d or \u201cfood insecurity\u201d stuff? Do those terms really impart greater dignity to those who are homeless and hungry? If anything, those antiseptic euphemisms detract from the urgency of the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Actually, I\u2019m surprised that Third Way only came up with 45 words and phrases.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I\u2019d throw in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Preferred_gender_pronoun\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">preferred pronouns<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/nativegov.org\/news\/a-guide-to-indigenous-land-acknowledgment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">land acknowledgements<\/a>.\u201d I know identifying your pronouns on email signatures shows allyship (another term earmarked for retirement) with the LGBTQ+ community, but it always struck me as coerced virtue signaling. And the ritualized Native American land acknowledgments \u2014 now de rigueur at graduation ceremonies in many colleges \u2014 seems wholly performative. I know it\u2019s intended to recognize historic injustices, but who\u2019s being comforted? Better to fund scholarships for Native students, though that\u2019s likely a no-go in the current anti-DEI climate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What brilliant mind came up with this baloney?<\/strong>\u00a0The well-meaning and the over-thinking, of course. Though the \u201cintent of this language is to include, broaden, empathize, accept, and embrace,\u201d speakers come off as \u201cenforcers of wokeness,\u201d Third Way notes. \u201cTo please the few, we have alienated the many \u2014 especially on culture issues, where our language sounds superior, haughty and arrogant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To that string of adjectives, I\u2019d also add idiotic.<\/p>\n<p>While most liberals I know speak like regular folks, I\u2019ve had my share of run-ins with the language police. And you never know when they\u2019ll strike. \u201cThese activists and advocates may take on noble causes,\u201d says Third Way, \u201cbut in doing so they often demand compliance with their preferred messages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve been chastised<\/strong>\u00a0by editors and colleagues for not being sufficiently \u201csensitive\u201d to one group or another in my writing. I can\u2019t tell you how much time has been spent fighting over one silly adjective.<\/p>\n<p>And I get it on the homefront too: My two superbly-educated daughters are constantly on my case for what I say and how I say it. It\u2019s gotten to the point where I actually slow myself down in order to choose the right words before uttering an opinion at the dinner table \u2014 and they still treat me as a cultural Neanderthal.<\/p>\n<p>This whole exercise is exhausting. And a royal waste of time. There\u2019s so much focus on terminology that we barely have the bandwidth to get to the crux of the real problems we face.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe JD Vance had a point when he recently advised Democrats on Laura Ingraham\u2019s show on Fox News: \u201cStop sounding like crazy people!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not that the Republicans don\u2019t do crazy talk.\u00a0<\/strong>Indeed, Donald Trump has not only mangled the English language but vulgarized it to the max. Worse, he\u2019s made it acceptable. While the Democrats contort themselves to avoid any possible offense to anyone under the sun, Trump goes out of his way to do the opposite. His language is studded with racism (Haiti and African nations are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/01\/11\/politics\/immigrants-shithole-countries-trump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shithole countries<\/a>\u201c); sexism (Kamala Harris is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-reposts-lewd-remark-about-harris-his-social-media-site-2024-08-29\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dumb as a Rock,\u201d \u201ccrazy,\u201d \u201cnuts<\/a>\u201c); crassness (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37595321\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">grab \u2019em by the pussy<\/a>\u201d); and inhumanity (immigrants \u2013 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-expected-highlight-murder-michigan-woman-immigration-speech-2024-04-02\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">they\u2019re not humans, they\u2019re animals<\/a>\u2018). And that\u2019s just a very tiny sampling.<\/p>\n<p>But guess who\u2019s winning the language wars? Though there\u2019s nothing elevating about Trump\u2019s language, give him credit for being direct and pungent; you can literally envision what he is saying. And clarity \u2014 especially when people feel unseen \u2014 lands as authenticity.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s Trump\u2019s secret sauce: speech that feels like it comes straight from the gut, not a seminar. Democrats can dissect the \u201clived experiences of minoritized communities\u201d but many will be left wondering what was the point.<\/p>\n<p>So the question isn\u2019t just whether liberals can retire their tortured vocabulary. It\u2019s whether they can learn to speak in a language that ordinary people actually hear. Because right now, it\u2019s the crude and cruel version that\u2019s striking a chord with Americans. And that should trouble us all.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><em><strong>Subscribe to read more at The Ex-Careerist\u2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><strong><em>Vivia Chen\u00a0writes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u201cThe Ex-Careerist\u201d<\/a>\u00a0column on Substack where she unleashes her unvarnished views about the intersection of work, life, and politics. A former lawyer, she was an opinion columnist at Bloomberg Law and The American Lawyer. Subscribe to her Substack by clicking here:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/viviachen.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"286\" height=\"72\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/02\/Vivia-Chen-Ex-Careerist.png?resize=286%2C72&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1152282\" title=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ed. note: Please welcome Vivia Chen back to the pages of Above the Law. Subscribe to her Substack, \u201cThe Ex-Careerist,\u201d\u00a0here. WHEN I GET TOGETHER FOR DRINKS with my depressed liberal friends, we play a little game. It goes like this: If someone unwittingly displays an elite tendency \u2013 like wincing at the idea of eating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":132485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Vivia-Chen-Ex-Careerist-mCy1YB.png?fit=286%2C72&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}