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It is absolutely critical that we understand the insurrection at the Capitol on Wednesday as the continuation of police and far-right auxiliary violence from over the summer.
One, there were a reportedly a number of off-duty cops among the people who stormed the Capitol Building. Thatâs allegedly how they were able to gain access in the first place.
https://t.co/XFFeW7dxoq
Two, many of the other protestors were âBack the Blueâ/âBlue Lives Matterâ types who have very specific ideas about what the police are for⊠like this woman. https://t.co/4a1VfIoepf
Three, prominent police officials across the country â like the head of the Chicago police union here â endorsed the insurrectionists.
Four, right-wing pundits and commentators are suggesting that this now somehow evens the score with BLM and left-wing violence. I'm not going to link but there are many, many examples on this platform.
One, there were a reportedly a number of off-duty cops among the people who stormed the Capitol Building. Thatâs allegedly how they were able to gain access in the first place.
https://t.co/XFFeW7dxoq
Two, many of the other protestors were âBack the Blueâ/âBlue Lives Matterâ types who have very specific ideas about what the police are for⊠like this woman. https://t.co/4a1VfIoepf
Three, prominent police officials across the country â like the head of the Chicago police union here â endorsed the insurrectionists.
Four, right-wing pundits and commentators are suggesting that this now somehow evens the score with BLM and left-wing violence. I'm not going to link but there are many, many examples on this platform.
politicians always do the politically convenient thing pretty much...1
people in general act out of self interest and in line with their community expectations. Republicans are horrible because they're collectively horrible, and their political incentives are all to be horrible. 2
individuals are accountable for their evil, obviously. but Republican incentives and communities actively encourage people to embrace their absolute cruelest and worst impulses, sometimes even over actual self preservation. 3
all of which is to sayâthe goal of our politics right now is to change those incentives, as much as we can.
the best way to do that is by defeating republicans over and over again until they have to stop being so horrible to win votes.4
butâCheney and other republicans seeing their incentives shifting is good, and we should encourage that if we can. 5
republicans are doing the right thing when its most politically convenient for them. a thing they were not willing to do when evidence of corruption and criminality was obvious, when thousands were dying and being harmed. their vote is welcomed but they get no praise.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 12, 2021
people in general act out of self interest and in line with their community expectations. Republicans are horrible because they're collectively horrible, and their political incentives are all to be horrible. 2
individuals are accountable for their evil, obviously. but Republican incentives and communities actively encourage people to embrace their absolute cruelest and worst impulses, sometimes even over actual self preservation. 3
all of which is to sayâthe goal of our politics right now is to change those incentives, as much as we can.
the best way to do that is by defeating republicans over and over again until they have to stop being so horrible to win votes.4
butâCheney and other republicans seeing their incentives shifting is good, and we should encourage that if we can. 5
This truth! "I donât know how to convince someone how to experience the basic human emotion of empathy. I cannot have one more conversation with someone who is content to see millions of people suffer needlessly in exchange for a tax cut that statistically theyâll never see..."
This is why, fundamentally, we can't "come together." The left and the right in America really do fundamentally disagree on what it means to live in a society. There is no calm and fruitful debate that can bridge that gap. You either give a damn about other people or you don't.
To make matters worse, so many of our constitutional and legislative structures make much easier to do evil than to do good. Think about how onerous a lift it's been to get anything close to universal healthcare or to save the environment and how easily Trump has savaged both.
Trump has freely abused immigrants, rolled over human rights compacts, the Hatch Act, the Emoluments Clause and the separation of powers, even stealing money from military schools to put towards his dumb wall and our representatives in congress are seemingly helpless to stop him.
On his way out the door, Trump is charging up the electric chair, reinstating firing squads and turning over Native lands to developers with a Thanos snap while we all sit here and watch. Voter disenfranchisement? Easy! All it took was a 5-4 SCOTUS ruling in Shelby v Holder.
I think about this headline every single day on this site https://t.co/RotTCU4yCm
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) November 27, 2020
This is why, fundamentally, we can't "come together." The left and the right in America really do fundamentally disagree on what it means to live in a society. There is no calm and fruitful debate that can bridge that gap. You either give a damn about other people or you don't.
To make matters worse, so many of our constitutional and legislative structures make much easier to do evil than to do good. Think about how onerous a lift it's been to get anything close to universal healthcare or to save the environment and how easily Trump has savaged both.
Trump has freely abused immigrants, rolled over human rights compacts, the Hatch Act, the Emoluments Clause and the separation of powers, even stealing money from military schools to put towards his dumb wall and our representatives in congress are seemingly helpless to stop him.
On his way out the door, Trump is charging up the electric chair, reinstating firing squads and turning over Native lands to developers with a Thanos snap while we all sit here and watch. Voter disenfranchisement? Easy! All it took was a 5-4 SCOTUS ruling in Shelby v Holder.
