Politics

Faced with the unceasing cruelty and degradation of the Trump presidency, liberals have not taken to marching around in public with assault weapons and threatening civil war. I know of no left-wing publication that has followed the example of the right-wing Federalist and run quasi-pornographic fantasies about murdering political enemies. (“Close your eyes and imagine holding someone’s scalp in your hands,” began a recent Federalist article.) Unlike Trump, no Democratic politician I’m aware of has urged his or her followers to beat up opposing demonstrators.

Instead, some progressive celebrities have said some bad words, and some people have treated administration officials with the sort of public opprobrium due members of any other white nationalist organization. Liberals are using their cultural power against the right because it’s the only power they have left, and people have a desperate need to say, and to hear others say, that what is happening in this country is intolerable.

— Michelle Goldberg,  We Have a Crisis of Democracy, Not Manners 

There are only so many official channels for enforcing moral standards in American public life. One is elections, which happen pretty rarely, and, thanks to gerrymanders and the electoral college, frequently reward popular vote losers. Another is the law, where courts are increasingly stacked against the majority. Under those circumstances, shame is a potent weapon, and it’s little surprise that people invested in the status quo want those who can wield it to unilaterally disarm.

— Brian Beutler, Shame the Trumpers

I absolutely stand behind those who shame and shun Trump’s supporters (whether that be his inner circle or the public). We as a people should be — and, I hope, can be, though I’m getting more and more cynical about that every day — so much better than we are right now, and shaming is a simple and effective way to deal with those who continue to work to bring us down.

Fuck Trump.

And if that upsets you, especially because I used such uncouth language, and we on the left must not stoop to such levels if we want to avoid alienating people, read this Twitter thread and re-think your outrage. (And if it didn’t upset you, read it anyway, because it’s a good thread.)

I haven’t been posting quite as much lately because I’ve been a little overwhelmed by all the absolute shit our country is in the middle of, much of which is deeply, sincerely morally reprehensible to me, and I haven’t known what to say about it.

So, right now, this is what I can say.

Fuck Trump (and everyone who supported him then, and supports him now).