I coach high school Constitution Team, and occasionally we get questions about "polarization". This piece encapsulates exactly what I teach the kids. I've had pushback from judges and other coaches on all these points, and it frustrates me to no frickin end.
Now that the current political situation is looking analogous to that of pre Civil War, and we live in Portland OR, and apparently many judges and coaches read Heather Cox Richardson, I've noticed way fewer challenges to these arguments.
I take comfort that at least some people find it awkward to blame the Civil War on the abolitionists.
This all comes back to the idea of the banality of evil. By all accounts, everyday Germans who supported Hitler were "nice" people, all of whom chose to look the other way when people were getting rounded up and sent to death camps. Fetterman is illustrating the same principle, i.e. if my family voted for Trump, they are not Nazis. It's pathetic and disgusting.
I was a pretty big fan of Ezra Klein up until his book Why We're Polarized came out. It's a straightforward chronicle of how bipartisanship in the 20th century was a function of white supremacy, the Republican party generates polarization to bolster their unpopular agenda, and how focusing on the degree of polarization obfuscates the actual goals of political actors. Somehow, though, he does not come to the conclusion that removing the Republican party from power, repudiating their ideas, and eliminating white nationalism as a valid position in American politics is a good goal. Reactionary liberals seem to crave the approval of their opponents over the success of their policies, every time.
I think “polarization” lets some otherwise smart, well-meaning people avoid facing the fact that so many Americans have chosen hatefulness over the lives of their family and neighbors. We’re in an abusive relationship. Some of us cling to the belief that we can adjust our tone and not “provoke” them by naming the abuse. If there’s blame on both sides, that would mean we at least have *some* agency. The unbearable alternative is accepting that there is nothing we can do to reach them, that we live with people who just enjoy hurting us, and maybe always did.
RE: "Jonathan Bernstein, in contrast, believes that the right has been trying to destroy the VRA for decades..."
MY COMMENT: Living in the American South, I remember fairly sophisticated right-wing complaints in legal circles about the Voting Rights Act (especially the Section 5 preclearance requirement for most southern states) in the early 1980s.
The arguments against the preclearance requirement at this time had a very Federalist Society tenor.
I suspect some of the hostility to the VRA is partly a product of the 1971 Lewis Powell Memorandum.
"Many people have Trump supporters who they love, or who they see as part of their community. They do not want to see those people as fascists; they do not want to think about what it means that those they love or care for have embraced violent racism and hate."
Every white family has at least one racist fuckwad that gets shielded from any accountability or criticism because "They're FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMBLY!!!!!!!1!!11!111!!!!!!!!"🙄
Or in some families the fash virus takes over almost entirely. I'm stuck with the latter.
Condolences! My family is all Democrats. My husband's family, on the other hand is all Republicans. Fortunately my husband is the black sheep Democrat in his family.
Me and one of my 3 cousins are the only adults who aren't rabid trump cultists.
I don't count the kids among the cultists, but…well…😣
We live in MN, so the state sanctioned murders earlier this year were the last straw for my cousin who stopped coming to family gatherings. This, of course, caused a round of complaints from other people in the family about how “we used to be able to disagree, but still get along😡”
I managed not to shoot my mouth off and get myself kicked out of the house, or just shot, but goddamn it was close.
I coach high school Constitution Team, and occasionally we get questions about "polarization". This piece encapsulates exactly what I teach the kids. I've had pushback from judges and other coaches on all these points, and it frustrates me to no frickin end.
Now that the current political situation is looking analogous to that of pre Civil War, and we live in Portland OR, and apparently many judges and coaches read Heather Cox Richardson, I've noticed way fewer challenges to these arguments.
I take comfort that at least some people find it awkward to blame the Civil War on the abolitionists.
that’s amazing! I wish someone in high school had made this clear to me…
This all comes back to the idea of the banality of evil. By all accounts, everyday Germans who supported Hitler were "nice" people, all of whom chose to look the other way when people were getting rounded up and sent to death camps. Fetterman is illustrating the same principle, i.e. if my family voted for Trump, they are not Nazis. It's pathetic and disgusting.
I was a pretty big fan of Ezra Klein up until his book Why We're Polarized came out. It's a straightforward chronicle of how bipartisanship in the 20th century was a function of white supremacy, the Republican party generates polarization to bolster their unpopular agenda, and how focusing on the degree of polarization obfuscates the actual goals of political actors. Somehow, though, he does not come to the conclusion that removing the Republican party from power, repudiating their ideas, and eliminating white nationalism as a valid position in American politics is a good goal. Reactionary liberals seem to crave the approval of their opponents over the success of their policies, every time.
Excellent thanks so much!
I think “polarization” lets some otherwise smart, well-meaning people avoid facing the fact that so many Americans have chosen hatefulness over the lives of their family and neighbors. We’re in an abusive relationship. Some of us cling to the belief that we can adjust our tone and not “provoke” them by naming the abuse. If there’s blame on both sides, that would mean we at least have *some* agency. The unbearable alternative is accepting that there is nothing we can do to reach them, that we live with people who just enjoy hurting us, and maybe always did.
RE: "Jonathan Bernstein, in contrast, believes that the right has been trying to destroy the VRA for decades..."
MY COMMENT: Living in the American South, I remember fairly sophisticated right-wing complaints in legal circles about the Voting Rights Act (especially the Section 5 preclearance requirement for most southern states) in the early 1980s.
The arguments against the preclearance requirement at this time had a very Federalist Society tenor.
I suspect some of the hostility to the VRA is partly a product of the 1971 Lewis Powell Memorandum.
"Many people have Trump supporters who they love, or who they see as part of their community. They do not want to see those people as fascists; they do not want to think about what it means that those they love or care for have embraced violent racism and hate."
Every white family has at least one racist fuckwad that gets shielded from any accountability or criticism because "They're FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMBLY!!!!!!!1!!11!111!!!!!!!!"🙄
Or in some families the fash virus takes over almost entirely. I'm stuck with the latter.
Condolences! My family is all Democrats. My husband's family, on the other hand is all Republicans. Fortunately my husband is the black sheep Democrat in his family.
Me and one of my 3 cousins are the only adults who aren't rabid trump cultists.
I don't count the kids among the cultists, but…well…😣
We live in MN, so the state sanctioned murders earlier this year were the last straw for my cousin who stopped coming to family gatherings. This, of course, caused a round of complaints from other people in the family about how “we used to be able to disagree, but still get along😡”
I managed not to shoot my mouth off and get myself kicked out of the house, or just shot, but goddamn it was close.