Politics is not a f'ing game, you utter thimblehead. Democrats want to spend billions addressing poverty & homelessness. Republicans want to spend nothing. That difference swamps a few token food-bank donations.
Better oligarchs, please.
Better oligarchs, please.
https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1326952915504951300
There are *millions* of people like this in America, who just want all the political fighting & squabbling to stop so we can move on and [DO THINGS DEMOCRATS ARE ADVOCATING FOR AND REPUBLICANS ARE FIGHTING].
I think all the time about this great interview with singer/songwriter @TheBrandyClark on @SwitchedOnPop. Clark is a close, insightful observer of human foibles -- her songs are soaked in empathy & compassion. She's just a good person. But on politics ...
switchedonpop.com/episodes/brand…
switchedonpop.com/episodes/brand…
... she doesn't want to take a side. She doesn't want to get involved in the constant furious partisan warfare. She finds it all exhausting & degrading. She shares this feeling with millions of other Americans! But THEN, when probed a little closer, she starts to reveal ...
... her core values. She believes black people should be treated equally, not wantonly killed by police. She believes we should attend to society's weakest & most vulnerable. She views these values as apolitical, as *deeper* than politics, something everyone should agree on.
And yes, in a sane world, we *would* all agree on those principles, they *would* be deeper than politics. They would be fixed & foundational, beyond the reach of partisanship.
But in this world? ONE PARTY AGREES AND THE OTHER DOESN'T.
But in this world? ONE PARTY AGREES AND THE OTHER DOESN'T.
The values Clark believes should transcend partisanship ... don't. In their words & actions, Republicans make clear that they disagree.
This is the situation average Americans don't understand: basic values they take as beyond politics have become political.
This is the situation average Americans don't understand: basic values they take as beyond politics have become political.
If you believe that all Americans, no matter color, creed, or sexual orientation, should be treated fairly & with compassion, guess what? *You're on a side.* You might not like it, you might not like the aesthetics of constant fighting, you might not like "politics" ...
... but you're on a side. One side is fighting for your values & the other is fighting against them.
And what's more, if the great masses of Americans who share those values don't recognize that they've become partisan & under threat, don't *take their own side* ...
And what's more, if the great masses of Americans who share those values don't recognize that they've become partisan & under threat, don't *take their own side* ...
... then that side's gonna lose! We just barely dodged a racist authoritarian takeover & it absolutely won't be the last attempt.
We need people like Clark -- decent, ordinary, "non-political" people -- to realize what's going on & start fighting for their own side.
We need people like Clark -- decent, ordinary, "non-political" people -- to realize what's going on & start fighting for their own side.
Which is precisely why sentiments like Cuban's are so toxic. They reinforce the notion that simple decency toward the vulnerable is separate from politics, that it transcends politics. It doesn't. One side is for it. One is against it. The side that's for it is gonna lose ...
... if people like Clark & Cuban (& millions of others) don't wake up to the fact that the values they take for granted are contested & in serious peril. We've got to make all these non-political normies realize that, whether they like it or not, they're already on a side. </fin>
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