,
12 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
1. At the risk of shouting into the void of Twitter, I've seen too much nonsense re Israel, Netanyahu, and the congresswomen to go unanswered.
2. First, I share the opinion shared by virtually everyone I follow that banning the congresswomen is a stupid idea, needlessly antagonistic. Even if the decision will be reversed, this was utterly pointless and the diplomatic equivalent of the "Butt Fumble"
3. At the same time, it is by no means a "threat to democracy." As others have pointed out, other countries ban people for various reasons and no one complains.
4. The truth is every group - be it a nation/state, college, NGO, or community is going to have its boundaries for inclusion and exclusion. Every group has its own limits or range of appropriate dissent.
This is normal.
This is normal.
5. Any boycott of X validates the concept of a boycott of Y. The issue isn't the concept of a boycott, but what we think warrants one. The same is true for inclusion and exclusion. No one denies the theoretical need for boundaries, we're really arguing over the details.
6. This hits on a running theme of mine. We, as a whole, are profoundly dishonest. We argue, judge, condemn, and ridicule based using the rhetoric of universal principles, but we apply them with comical inconsistency.
Here's a list of over 70 examples:
Here's a list of over 70 examples:
7. It's not that we don't believe in universal principles, we just *really* like carving out exceptions to suit are needs.
8. This way we can pretend we have principles and give the impression we have a right to expect or coerce others to behave a certain way, but allow ourselves the freedom to make our own exceptions.
9. A more honest approach would be to say, "I think X should be included because Y" rather than invoke an unrealistic appeal to "inclusion." The same would be true for all other examples on my list.
10. Under these circumstances, I might even be able to live with some inconsistencies because one would have to work through the specifics each time.
11. My bigger problem is when we pretend to be noble and principled when we're actually as capricious as every other partisan.
This is what makes us frauds.
This is what makes us frauds.
*Our.
*grumble grumble edit button grumble*
*grumble grumble edit button grumble*
