Thread by @drvolts

This Schmeck guy (the "let's go Brandon" guy) offers another good chance to think about RW whataboutism. This is a textbook case.

So, righties are now saying, in response to criticism of Schmeck, "well, liberals said 'fck Trump' for years! Whatabout that?"

If you're enough of a sucker to respond (hi), there are 3 levels of response.

First is to point out that, even at face value, the comparison doesn't hold. Random tweeters saying "fck Trump" is obviously different than saying "fck you" to the president's face ...

... when he's literally calling you to give your kids a holiday surprise! No elected D said "fck Trump" in public but practically every R elected is giggling about & echoing "let's go Brandon." More to the point, the RW has been organized around *contempt* for opponents ...

... for years, w/ no parallel on the left. Watch RW media for a while -- the primary through-line is contempt, the notion that Ds are so evil & stupid & awful that they aren't even worth talking to. This attitude has now gone all the way up to direct interactions w the president.

So yeah, level 1 is: the comparison is bogus on its own terms.

Level 2 is: so what? Saying "fck you" to the president's face is either bad or it isn't. Whether some other person said some other thing in some other circumstance is not relevant to that determination.

If you think about it, whataboutism isn't a *defense* at all. It's not trying to claim the act in question is morally ok. That's not the point. The point is, "someone else did something bad so you *can't single us out*." The point is to avoid any responsibility or accountability.

The point is to say, "we're all bad, we're all hypocrites, no one really has any values, so anything is permitted." It shows that the right doesn't not even *aspire* to be good or decent. It just aspires not to held accountable, to create a permission structure.

The third level is: everyone knows all this. The meta-point is just to jerk libs around, to frustrate them & force them to respond (like I'm doing here). Libs can't help *arguing*, even when there's no real argument happening & no one's participating in good faith.

It's just, poke the nerds & watch them get worked up. Watch them get angry. Watch them make their elaborate arguments. Keep poking them & they'll go on forever; they can't help it; they take principles seriously. For the right it's just trolling, just a game.

All of the above is basically true of all whataboutism -- which has become the only "moral" argument the right even attempts to offer any more. I don't have any solution to it. I mean, it works. If you don't acknowledge any principles above partisanship ... it's empowering!

The fact is, the right will continue escalating -- that's where all the incentives are. They'll escalate & escalate right up to organized political violence, stealing elections, & beyond. And at every stage, they'll justify it (ie, give themselves permission) with whatabutism.

By way of concluding, I'll just say: if you say "fck you" to the face of a decent old man who's trying to do something nice for your kids, you're an asshole. And if you cheer it on & justify it & celebrate it...you're an asshole. No matter what anybody else did. </fin>

They literally can't help it. It is the beginning & end of their moral imagination.

Two final things. One is, look at all the RWers in the thread (sent over by the baseball crank dipshit). Their responses are ... 100% whataboutism! In a thread about it! Not a single attempt to justify the behavior on its own merits. They have *nothing else*. It's remarkable.

Second, @tomscocca has this dynamic right--push a little farther, prompt overreaction, use overreaction to go even farther. It's all a joke, a game, until it isn't. You're a silly chump for getting upset about it...right up until it's too late to stop it. indignity.substack.com/p/indignity-vo…

@tomscocca A nice little coda to this thread. Same gutless asshole who said he "meant no disrespect" when he said fuck-you to the president -- & who whined about being persecute & canceled -- shows a very different face to his fellow wingnuts.

https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/1475540698233511938