Quote:
Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower
You are correct. Whether it was my rabid COVID denialism, my insistence that Roe v. Wade would never be overturned, or my continuing and ever-more-absurd assertions that Trump never represented a threat to democracy, my inability to understand what was happening in American politics was matched only by my arrogant belief that I, and I alone, was able to assess these issues free of bias and rampant emotionalism. I did not simply agree to disagree with you all on these issues — I derisively mocked you for taking a contrary position. If you said Roe v. Wade would be overturned, you were not just wrong. You were a hysterical (like a woman!), hair-on-fire liberal. If you said COVID was a serious threat that needed to be aggressively addressed early on, you were a scared sheep, engaging in performative acts of virtue signaling. I called you naive fools and emotional little children, even when, again and again, my sneering certitudes turned out to be … how shall I put this … inaccurate prognostications. But I now understand that corrupt institutions not only need active evil-doers in order to succeed — almost more so, they need the deniers and the apologists. The ones who tut tut and roll their eyes at those sounding the alarms, contemptuously superior in their ridiculous but unwavering belief that they are the only ones who can see through smoke and pronounce The Truth to the masses who have let themselves become consumed by childish emotion. I now realize that I was wrong, time and time again, and that I, in fact, was the useful idiot. I am sorry.
|
I was not a Covid denier. I wore masks and got vaxxed asap. Arguments over Covid were probably about degree of vigilance. I thought some people went nuts. And some are still nuts. I thought lockdowns were nuts after a certain point, and unrealistic, and I was right. If you doubt that, consider China over the past few months versus the United States.
Trump did not and still doesn't represent a serious threat to democracy. If Jan 6 hearings have exposed anything its that despite his insane level of effort to overthrow the election, in the end, He Never Had a Chance. The system held. The best he could was start a riot among dead enders that, although disgusting and unforgivable, never had a chance. And now he's sinking his own party's chances like a stone. DeSantis would walk away with it in 2024 the way things are going right now. But not if Trump kneecaps him.
Where I was wrong - dead wrong - is on Roe. I simply cannot fathom that the GOP has decided to trip this wire. Yes, I sneered about this being impossible. Because, well, to sane people it was fucking impossible. The party hierarchy of the GOP that I'd known observed a rule with these fucking evangelicals. Take their vote, but don't actually give them what they want.
I believed it would hold. I believed in "elites" that apparently no longer exist within the GOP. I thought that rational actors would prevail. And like so many economists who get markets and macro issues wrong every day, I missed the irrational actors. I missed the Federalist Society and the apparent degenerate vein of Catholic extremists within it.
I was a useful idiot to the extent that a band of nuts within the fringe right wing did something counterproductive, suicidal. My predictions don't count for shit, so I won't predict, but how the fuck do you see the flipping of Roe helping the GOP going forward? Look at the demographics. The GOP already has all the votes its going to have. Whatever inroads it is making with Latinos and Asians is now netted against an equivalent loss in suburban women.
It's also caused a huge loss of votes among moderate Rs. This isn't the only chat board or thread any of us use. How many Rs have now said this is a step too far and they are done with the party? The golf course Rs I've spoken to are all aghast. And yeah, they're fucking clueless. But the sentiment is, "How in the fuck did the trailer park class take over the party?"
I voted D most of the time anyway, but for the same reasons I could not vote and did not for Trump, I'm now compelled to vote straight D across the board, even if I detest the candidate.
But yeah, you're right. I didn't realize I was dealing with suicide bombers and perjuring SCOTUS justices. I thought sanity prevailed on issues of such grave cultural importance... that as it had despite Trump's efforts to flip the election, the systems would hold, the precedent would hold. So when you call me a useful idiot in this instance, I happily own it. It means it I simply wasn't acquainted enough with crazy to see this is as possible. And that's an odd thing coming from me.
