It's always upsetting to watch intelligent people fighting against each other, tearing at their vulnerable spots, pulling them further apart, in many cases just trying to prove how right or pure they are by besmirching others or, worse yet, gloating as they see people deprived of their livelihood. This serves the real enemy well and, believe me, they know how to use it to further weaken any movement against them. The real enemy is the Trump & Company Republican Party today, which aims to stifle free speech completely and take away all the freedoms these people claim to be fighting about. In their petty wars, real racism gets ignored or, worse yet, equated on a level playing field with BLM. And so the issues get blurred. And so while people are having their rights trampled on by a neo-fascist Trump & Co. Republican government, which puts troops into our cities and kidnaps people without a warrant and later drops charges ala Nazi Germany, we see and hear about "Cancel Culture" versus free speech (by Trump? by Steven Miller? By Soros-haters?) Morality has lost its place, unfortunately, and false equivalents rise to the surface.
I agree with this so much. Honestly the left supporting and defending using fear of public humiliation to silence dissent is a gift for Trump and the GOP.
It's a tactic that divides people but weak compared to an armed star wars type ICE policeman with face mask and helmet standing in front of you and bashing you on the head and hauling you off to an unknown location, or stashing you back in jail again because you won't agree to give up your right to write a book. That said, it's not always bad or wrong. The fact that it divides people and is used by the Right Wing propagandists is what makes it dangerous at this time. But an old colleague of mine used to say, "Democrats? It's like herding cats." And letting the Miller's and Ted Yoho's of the world unleash their hatred and spreading it around is not something you want to let go unchecked. By the way by making it personal AOC got her message across to all the mothers and daughters out there, so don't for the sake of a rant or article chastise her for it. She's not in it for herself alone, and it comes across.
Well I am not chastising her for it. I want everyone to be aware that the kind of abuse she suffered, which should never be said out loud to any woman IMO, but especially not in congress, is good for her brand but coming from the left it is hypocritical considering that we've become such bullies across the board -- to everyone, even those on our own side. She had a chance to stand up to that but rather than take that stand she instead denied there was even a problem. I can't respect that. I also don't like that she makes such extreme proclamations on Twitter that reveal a lack of understanding of history. She is a living breathing Twitter account -- and while that leads to "likes" and support I wish that her focus was instead on doing the job she was elected to do. She's a born leader, smart and gifted but playing to Twitter will always make her extremely divisive.
Moreover, the gaslighting of the press on the Portland protests is astonishing. DHS should not be there but downplaying WHY they were there amounts to lying to the public. Threatening to set fire to the police station and actually setting fire to the federal building should not be ignored at the very least and should be reported on by the left as well as the right, but it isn't. This leads to yet more distrust by people who will be seeking some kind of balanced reporting.
I have been waiting for the press to do some serious investigation about who is behind the real damage to property, whether it is left-leaning or anarchic groups or right-wing groups pretending to be antifa or a mxture of the two, but so far that is an empty space. My suspicion is that it is such a small segment compared to the peaceful demonstrators, but that's only opinion, and also my opinion is that Trump&Co. are using the slightest incident to try to begin to impose martial law. "Defending Federal property" is a slim excuse for moving in the troops - again, it's my opinion not fact (I know that). The media by omitting such information does slant it toward the locals, the more liberal population, and makes it easier for the Right to blame those terrible disruptive leftwingers who want to destroy our civilization.
Twitter helped get her the publicity she needs to do her job. Sorry about that. Otherwise (you fail to recognize that because you're overly critical of everything) she'd be the nerdy unknown rep from the Bronx in her first term, totally forgotten. She knows how to use it and YouTube to make herself powerful enough to reach the MSM, and you ignore that. The fact that she's far left opens her up to the same syndrome: Yeah, some of what she does is OK but mainly she's too "this" or "that". She has a radical agenda and the rankles too many people like her antagonist Ted Yoho.
With all due respect you don't know me. You have no idea what I think about AOC other than what I've written here. And I have not insulted you. Please don't do the same to me. I write what I'm critical of. I am not a virtue signaler. So you have no idea what I'm not critical of - you are likely a male, I'm guessing, because only men tell women they don't know their own minds. I know why she's famous. I know why she got elected. I know why she's a firebrand. And I know why she will doom the left. But if you support her - great. I would if she would not say stupid shit on Twitter and would instead focus on doing the work.
Don't put me in that "male" vs. "female" category, ever. I have the greatest respect for "people" and can disagree with a "male" or a "female" without prejudice. Pulling that gender card is too easy, Sasha. About AOL I support some of what she does, and I don't support other things she does. I am not single-minded about anybody and believe there are many shades of grey inbetween black and white. The newest on the scene are always pointed out as "dooming" everyone else because they threaten the norm. In my opinion AOL is a healthy reaction to the "traditional" Democratic complacency that led to Hillary's defeat and to the current inaction and inability to think outside the "ask for funds and try to elect Democrats". If an army ever gave up after a single try the way the Democrats did when impeaching Trump, they would surely be said to be defeated. I'm for attempt after attempt, until they finally succeed. And I'm certainly not for letting other parties like the Lincoln Project do all of their dirty work for them.
It's always upsetting to watch intelligent people fighting against each other, tearing at their vulnerable spots, pulling them further apart, in many cases just trying to prove how right or pure they are by besmirching others or, worse yet, gloating as they see people deprived of their livelihood. This serves the real enemy well and, believe me, they know how to use it to further weaken any movement against them. The real enemy is the Trump & Company Republican Party today, which aims to stifle free speech completely and take away all the freedoms these people claim to be fighting about. In their petty wars, real racism gets ignored or, worse yet, equated on a level playing field with BLM. And so the issues get blurred. And so while people are having their rights trampled on by a neo-fascist Trump & Co. Republican government, which puts troops into our cities and kidnaps people without a warrant and later drops charges ala Nazi Germany, we see and hear about "Cancel Culture" versus free speech (by Trump? by Steven Miller? By Soros-haters?) Morality has lost its place, unfortunately, and false equivalents rise to the surface.
I agree with this so much. Honestly the left supporting and defending using fear of public humiliation to silence dissent is a gift for Trump and the GOP.
It's a tactic that divides people but weak compared to an armed star wars type ICE policeman with face mask and helmet standing in front of you and bashing you on the head and hauling you off to an unknown location, or stashing you back in jail again because you won't agree to give up your right to write a book. That said, it's not always bad or wrong. The fact that it divides people and is used by the Right Wing propagandists is what makes it dangerous at this time. But an old colleague of mine used to say, "Democrats? It's like herding cats." And letting the Miller's and Ted Yoho's of the world unleash their hatred and spreading it around is not something you want to let go unchecked. By the way by making it personal AOC got her message across to all the mothers and daughters out there, so don't for the sake of a rant or article chastise her for it. She's not in it for herself alone, and it comes across.
Well I am not chastising her for it. I want everyone to be aware that the kind of abuse she suffered, which should never be said out loud to any woman IMO, but especially not in congress, is good for her brand but coming from the left it is hypocritical considering that we've become such bullies across the board -- to everyone, even those on our own side. She had a chance to stand up to that but rather than take that stand she instead denied there was even a problem. I can't respect that. I also don't like that she makes such extreme proclamations on Twitter that reveal a lack of understanding of history. She is a living breathing Twitter account -- and while that leads to "likes" and support I wish that her focus was instead on doing the job she was elected to do. She's a born leader, smart and gifted but playing to Twitter will always make her extremely divisive.
Moreover, the gaslighting of the press on the Portland protests is astonishing. DHS should not be there but downplaying WHY they were there amounts to lying to the public. Threatening to set fire to the police station and actually setting fire to the federal building should not be ignored at the very least and should be reported on by the left as well as the right, but it isn't. This leads to yet more distrust by people who will be seeking some kind of balanced reporting.
I have been waiting for the press to do some serious investigation about who is behind the real damage to property, whether it is left-leaning or anarchic groups or right-wing groups pretending to be antifa or a mxture of the two, but so far that is an empty space. My suspicion is that it is such a small segment compared to the peaceful demonstrators, but that's only opinion, and also my opinion is that Trump&Co. are using the slightest incident to try to begin to impose martial law. "Defending Federal property" is a slim excuse for moving in the troops - again, it's my opinion not fact (I know that). The media by omitting such information does slant it toward the locals, the more liberal population, and makes it easier for the Right to blame those terrible disruptive leftwingers who want to destroy our civilization.
Twitter helped get her the publicity she needs to do her job. Sorry about that. Otherwise (you fail to recognize that because you're overly critical of everything) she'd be the nerdy unknown rep from the Bronx in her first term, totally forgotten. She knows how to use it and YouTube to make herself powerful enough to reach the MSM, and you ignore that. The fact that she's far left opens her up to the same syndrome: Yeah, some of what she does is OK but mainly she's too "this" or "that". She has a radical agenda and the rankles too many people like her antagonist Ted Yoho.
With all due respect you don't know me. You have no idea what I think about AOC other than what I've written here. And I have not insulted you. Please don't do the same to me. I write what I'm critical of. I am not a virtue signaler. So you have no idea what I'm not critical of - you are likely a male, I'm guessing, because only men tell women they don't know their own minds. I know why she's famous. I know why she got elected. I know why she's a firebrand. And I know why she will doom the left. But if you support her - great. I would if she would not say stupid shit on Twitter and would instead focus on doing the work.
oh oh, here it comes. Not totally unexpected. Laughter is a good cure, however, and I am old enough to remember the wonderful columns by Art Buchwald to wonder why the hell someone else isn't doing columns like that anymore. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/24/homestylefamilyrecipescom-will-not-cave-cancel-culture/
The message from AOC certainly got across https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=288130852437416
Don't put me in that "male" vs. "female" category, ever. I have the greatest respect for "people" and can disagree with a "male" or a "female" without prejudice. Pulling that gender card is too easy, Sasha. About AOL I support some of what she does, and I don't support other things she does. I am not single-minded about anybody and believe there are many shades of grey inbetween black and white. The newest on the scene are always pointed out as "dooming" everyone else because they threaten the norm. In my opinion AOL is a healthy reaction to the "traditional" Democratic complacency that led to Hillary's defeat and to the current inaction and inability to think outside the "ask for funds and try to elect Democrats". If an army ever gave up after a single try the way the Democrats did when impeaching Trump, they would surely be said to be defeated. I'm for attempt after attempt, until they finally succeed. And I'm certainly not for letting other parties like the Lincoln Project do all of their dirty work for them.