Your response is exactly why this is an issue. And it is very easy to show why.
You make it sound like beginning your defection is some mountain moving effort. It is not. He could have easily said “I am no longer going to be in the party who ‘Executes People in the Street’”. But instead he knows exactly how to play you.
He had no issue when they started handing out the playbook on how they will destroy the country. He had no issue when ICE came to his state and started rounding up all the black and brown people. He had no issue when they started violating the rights of actual US citizens because ICE didn’t give a shit who they round up. He had no issue when they shot Renee Good in the head. He had no issue when they started using children as bait. He had no issue when they executed Alex Pretti in the street.
It was only when he read the room and realized that he could not win the governorship that he finally took pause. He crafts a tweet and sprinkles in a comment about his daughter because he knew it would pull at the heart strings of naive people like yourself. He has no issue being in the party who Executes People in the Street. He just realized that losing in a landslide will destroy his career.
How hard is it to say I am no longer going to be in the party who Executes People in the Street?
It is a mountain moving effort, though. Humans are deeply social creatures. Every thing that surrounds this guy has incentivized him to believe and behave in a way that keeps him part of the tribe. It’s safe to stay in line.
We do not know that he had no issue with the terrible things that happened. But we do know that the whole of American conservatism is set up to squash those doubts as soon as they come up. To keep everyone in line or face being ostracized.
He has not done enough, yet. But there is a huge difference between telling someone “yes, good, you’re starting to get it” and “fuck you, dude, you’re irredeemable.” There is certainly a core of shitheads that is irredeemable. But most people caught up in this think they’re doing the right thing.
Obviously they’re not doing the right thing. But they want to. Imposing day one ideological purity tests does not make it easier for them to change their minds about what the right thing is.
Yes, deprogramming yourself does take a lot of effort. But what we are seeing is exactly what you’d expect from someone who isn’t in that process. His response was a way of distancing himself while saving face. Its making sure he doesn’t go down with the ship. There is no condemnation, just self preservation.
Everyone acts like this hasn’t been in the process for the last 50 years. Like its some fly by night cabal that just showed up. We have been not only seeing this destruction coming but we’ve been yelling about it for years. So to get any kind of acknowledgment of change you need to show you have defected. Because time after time what we end up seeing is this exact “Oh I can’t be a part of this because everyone hates it, right?” Once enough conservatives start getting angry and loud again these politicians all fall back in line. If Trump’s ratings suddenly skyrocket you know this guy would be back out there running again and Trump would be promoting him to get rid of the “Evil Tim Walz”. This is formulaic, sitcom writing level story line.
You say they want to change, why would you think that? The natural reactions of empathy has been lost on many of these people for decades. A normal person would see someone being executed in the streets and cry out “OMG WTF?!?!”. A normal person struggles to wrap their head around such brutality. It is jarring. Now you’re telling me he is some how going deprogram himself without empathy. What would be his motivation outside of losing his livelihood? Because decades of voting to make the poor even more poor, the voiceless even more silenced, and those seeking help getting kicked in the teeth why on earth would you think this guy suddenly “feels bad”? Once being a shit person comes back in style why wouldn’t he just go back to his following?
Your response is exactly why this is an issue. And it is very easy to show why.
You make it sound like beginning your defection is some mountain moving effort. It is not. He could have easily said “I am no longer going to be in the party who ‘Executes People in the Street’”. But instead he knows exactly how to play you.
He had no issue when they started handing out the playbook on how they will destroy the country. He had no issue when ICE came to his state and started rounding up all the black and brown people. He had no issue when they started violating the rights of actual US citizens because ICE didn’t give a shit who they round up. He had no issue when they shot Renee Good in the head. He had no issue when they started using children as bait. He had no issue when they executed Alex Pretti in the street.
It was only when he read the room and realized that he could not win the governorship that he finally took pause. He crafts a tweet and sprinkles in a comment about his daughter because he knew it would pull at the heart strings of naive people like yourself. He has no issue being in the party who Executes People in the Street. He just realized that losing in a landslide will destroy his career.
How hard is it to say I am no longer going to be in the party who Executes People in the Street?
It is a mountain moving effort, though. Humans are deeply social creatures. Every thing that surrounds this guy has incentivized him to believe and behave in a way that keeps him part of the tribe. It’s safe to stay in line.
We do not know that he had no issue with the terrible things that happened. But we do know that the whole of American conservatism is set up to squash those doubts as soon as they come up. To keep everyone in line or face being ostracized.
He has not done enough, yet. But there is a huge difference between telling someone “yes, good, you’re starting to get it” and “fuck you, dude, you’re irredeemable.” There is certainly a core of shitheads that is irredeemable. But most people caught up in this think they’re doing the right thing.
Obviously they’re not doing the right thing. But they want to. Imposing day one ideological purity tests does not make it easier for them to change their minds about what the right thing is.
Yes, deprogramming yourself does take a lot of effort. But what we are seeing is exactly what you’d expect from someone who isn’t in that process. His response was a way of distancing himself while saving face. Its making sure he doesn’t go down with the ship. There is no condemnation, just self preservation.
Everyone acts like this hasn’t been in the process for the last 50 years. Like its some fly by night cabal that just showed up. We have been not only seeing this destruction coming but we’ve been yelling about it for years. So to get any kind of acknowledgment of change you need to show you have defected. Because time after time what we end up seeing is this exact “Oh I can’t be a part of this because everyone hates it, right?” Once enough conservatives start getting angry and loud again these politicians all fall back in line. If Trump’s ratings suddenly skyrocket you know this guy would be back out there running again and Trump would be promoting him to get rid of the “Evil Tim Walz”. This is formulaic, sitcom writing level story line.
You say they want to change, why would you think that? The natural reactions of empathy has been lost on many of these people for decades. A normal person would see someone being executed in the streets and cry out “OMG WTF?!?!”. A normal person struggles to wrap their head around such brutality. It is jarring. Now you’re telling me he is some how going deprogram himself without empathy. What would be his motivation outside of losing his livelihood? Because decades of voting to make the poor even more poor, the voiceless even more silenced, and those seeking help getting kicked in the teeth why on earth would you think this guy suddenly “feels bad”? Once being a shit person comes back in style why wouldn’t he just go back to his following?