"We're talking about people who..."
Erik and I had a good discussion this past week. It started after I commented on the harassment that Senator Sinema was receiving from members of her own party. His response was, "Were you this bothered by the harassment Mitt Romney received in the airport?" The answer: not really. Didn\"t even remember it. Besides, Mitt Romney is a posturing, self-admiring, big-government, silk-stocking Republican. And there\"s the rub. That is the problem. I am part of the problem.
Over the next couple of hours I was able to actively name ways, just in the last handful of years, that people on the Left and people on the Right both exhibited the same repugnant behavior all the while pointing at the others as the epitome of "real" guilt of that exact thing. (Or, conversely claiming themselves to be the “real” defenders of a certain virtue. Like, “How can they say they support women when they defend the ability of a man to dress up and steal their victories, walk into their bathrooms, and pummel them in combat sports?” Or “How can they say they support the police when their people attacked them on January 6th?” ) Law enforcement harassment, election tampering schemes, taking aim at people\"s livelihoods for their opinions, the convenient oscillation between elevating minority voices and pointing to majority voices as the final word... Extremely mirrorable. You could argue about size and scope (and I would), but it was still amazingly reciprocal. If you find you are not coming to the same result, that is where the news source of your opposite leaning comes in to play. (Both Erik and my dad have communicated to me recently that they think I see right-wing news as more pure and deserving. To clarify my own position, I only find it to be better in the case of scrutinizing Left-wing activity. Same with Libertarian news scrutinizing Authoritarian activity. I recognize libertarian and right-wing news is insufficient and not inherently better, but I also believe it not nearly widely-enough seen and unfairly labeled as worse. That is why I push it.)
I walked away with a commitment to be better than I have been at self-justification. To escape the derisive thoughts and phrases that begin with "these are the people who..." knowing how easy it would be for someone to do the same to me. To acknowledge that it is imperative to disavow the worst in your own party - even when you are convinced that "they" don\"t or won\"t. Otherwise, things will only get worse.
On another note, I had a long conversation with my dad a couple of weeks ago. It was productive and helpful in terms of witnessing someone else\"s thought processes who you know you disagree with on certain things, but being able to respect how they get to their conclusions.
Finally, I think I might be Amish 😜 The love of hard work, the rejection of popular culture, the distrust of government, the furniture making and dress sewing,… oh yeah, and the reaction to Covid in the context of the meaning of life.
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