Monday, June 25, 2018

"WE ARE ALREADY ON THE SLIPPERY SLOPE!" - DAVID ROBERTS - VOX

"If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." -Karl Popper - "The Open Society and Its Enemies" 

Cool new trend: Shaming and Shunning Folks who espouse, promote, implement, apologize for, and/ or defend abhorrent, anti-human policies. Shame a Racist, Shun a Fascist today! We will all feel better! Have A Nice Day!

Of course this must all be peaceful. But we can stand and be heard. We must organize, evangelize, be smart, be united, for a better day, against HATE. We must speak up, march, and WE MUST VOTE. Every American with a conscience needs to vote for the Democrats this November. No excuses. We must take our country back from the Deplorables.

Yes. I can get behind this new trend in DC where folks are Shunning and Shaming Trump Administration members. I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's necessary. When is deplorable shit just totally deplorable? This Administration is hurtling towards "fascism." We can not stand around and wring our hands. We must raise our voices and declare this is not normal. This is not tolerable! We out-number these people.

 If you espouse hatred and division, you should be called out. Shame on you! Remember shame?!

 This Tweet-Storm from David Roberts of Vox is quite the beautiful thing (be sure to click over and read the whole thing), I highly endorse, here are some select highlights:




  1. The salient fact about US politics is that the right has been going steadily more crazy for decades -- breaking the law, disregarding norms, sinking into a hermetically sealed media bubble filled with paranoid conspiracy theories, seeking to disenfranchise opponents, etc.
    55 replies1,157 retweets5,510 likes








  2.  17 hours ago
    3. At every stage, it gets worse. Norms & values we thought inviolate are crapped on, lawlessness becomes more brazen, ugly prejudices we thought buried, or at least suppressed, roar back to the surface. And with every increment, the question re-presents itself:
    4 replies703 retweets3,958 likes








  3.  17 hours ago
    4. What should the rest of us do? The ~25% of Americans who believe & want horrible, illiberal shit ("deplorables," you might call them) have taken over the GOP. They are driving it toward fascism as fast as the system will allow them. What's the right response?
    32 replies839 retweets4,214 likes








  4.  17 hours ago
    5. For years, lefties have been warning about this devolution of the GOP, going back to Reagan. They have bene dismissed as crazy partisan hippies, condemned as "uncivil," told they are part of the problem, because being mad about illiberalism is just like illiberalism.

    When lefties have tried to draw a line, create a moment, force a reckoning, the establishment has united in a single voice to say: calm down. Let's be civil & work together. Let's not raise our voices or be shrill. Both sides do it. We're still in Normal Politics.





      1.  10. Now here we are with a president who very openly pines for tyranny, explicitly disregards laws & norms, is nakedly racist, lies as often as he breathes, and oh yeah, is now JAILING TODDLERS TO DETER LEGAL IMMIGRATION.
        19 replies1,363 retweets5,469 likes








      2.  16 hours ago
        11. By jailing toddlers, Trump has potentially made a mistake. Instead of incremental illiberalism, this seems like a jump, something to shock the conscience. It is yet another opportunity for a Moment, a time for the rest of us to say: no. This is not normal. It's not ok.
        24 replies1,107 retweets4,847 likes








      3.  16 hours ago
        12. That what's the owner of the Red Hen was doing by refusing to serve Sanders: saying, No. This is not just a normal political dispute that can remain confined to the political sphere. You cannot support this & still expect to be treated like a normal, decent person.
        33 replies1,816 retweets7,820 likes








      4.  16 hours ago
        13. The owner was trying to draw a line, disrupt the normal daily patterns of civility & accommodation, create a Moment around which people can rally to echo the message: No. This is not normal, not "just politics." We must stop pretending it is; we must snap out of hypnosis.
        16 replies998 retweets5,283 likes








      5.  16 hours ago
        14. And so, right on cue, the Very Serious People ride to the rescue of the aspiring tyrants, saying, yet again: Calm Down. Let's not get crazy here. Let's not be RUDE. Heavens no. We must retain our decorum at all costs.
        30 replies961 retweets4,656 likes








      6.  16 hours ago
        15. WaPo editors say that accepting incivility (gasp) is a "slippery slope." But that gets it exactly wrong. WE ARE ALREADY ON THE SLIPPERY SLOPE. It's a slope that leads to illiberalism, violence, & collapse. It's a slope greased accommodation & civility.
        33 replies1,414 retweets5,772 likes








      7.  16 hours ago
        16. What the Red Hen owner (& others) are trying to do is jerk us awake, push of OFF the slippery slope. They're trying desperately to draw a line, to cease the slide. And every time they try -- even now, even to this day, even with toddlers in cages -- the MSM scolds them.
        23 replies1,129 retweets4,782 likes








      8.  16 hours ago
        17. The Very Serious People who serve as tone police in DC need to decide what they value more: democracy or civility. Because we're just sliding, sliding, sliding down this slope, pretending all the while that things are still Normal. To get off the slide ...
        25 replies1,027 retweets4,256 likes








      9.  16 hours ago
        18. ... will, almost by definition, require a break with Normal. It will require some sand in the gears, some raised voices, some violations of decorum and precedent. I dunno if restaurant service is the right mechanism, or even a good one. No one knows.
        16 replies565 retweets3,303 likes








      10.  16 hours ago
        19. The WaPo editorial board, like the MSM establishment more generally, has been utterly fucking useless in slowing our slide to illiberalism. They've done nothing but obscure what's happening behind a veneer of Normal. They have failed. But for the luvagod ...
        25 replies928 retweets4,451 likes








      11.  16 hours ago
        20. ... the very least they can do is refrain from concern trolling citizens who are (RIGHTLY) in a panic about the loss of their country. Maybe the agents of this cruelty, the ones lying on its behalf, should feel a little discomfort. There are worse things in the world.
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