It's perfectly fine to offer words of encouragement upon learning that someone has been attacked and hospitalized. What's important is to not rush to blame.
I find it odd that you didn’t include Elliot Page’s response when they went on Colbert’s show and received standing applause for their segment.
Watch that segment. And keep in mind how bizarre it is watching Elliot blame Pence for holding views that Clinton and Obama held as recently as 2008. The liberals have weaponized our discourse while absolving themselves from any blame. Should Clinton be blamed for pushing against same sex marriage? Should Obama? 2 out of the last 3 Democratic nominees for president were against same sex marriage. But now when a hate crime happens it’s literally celebrated when blame is placed on Mike Pence.
I agree with your overall point but the push back exists because liberals have successfully weaponized our discourse. Now there is a reward for blaming Mike Pence for a hate crime based on his views that even Clinton held in 2008. It’s probably frustrating for people to see how the GOP is demonized and the Dems are 100% absolved from any wrong doing.
Just like the madness of calling everybody evil who contributed to people being against abortion…while conveniently ignoring that the Dems literally had an anti-choice VP on the ticket in 2016. Most liberals probably don’t even know that Tim Kaine is anti-choice.
No doubt the GOP has polluted our political discourse but the liberals have made it toxic on their own. We’re in a bizarro world where nothing matters anymore. Clinton/Obama/Biden get hailed as LGBT heroes and Trump/Pence gets called a monster. The liberal playbook spells it out clearly that making people like Jussie a hero is good optics for their political gain. Don’t be surprised when it backfires.
Hi, Youdidntvote (I don't understand your screen name, but I did vote in 2020... and 2018... and 2016... and 2014... and 2012... and 2010; the last election I missed was in 2008 when there was a mix-up with my voter registration), thanks for the comment.
Let's go through your points:
1. I specifically write, "There's a lot to criticize about the way some people and organizations responded to Smollett's attack." I go on to write, "Many people and a handful of news organizations amplified the more salacious details, with some people outright blaming then-President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence for the attack. Criticizing those would be fair game, especially in light of everything we’ve learned since that day."
Why would I have lumped in what Elliot Page said 2 days later on Colbert with a viral screenshot of Dem politicians (and Joy Reid, for some reason, bizarrely)? One falls into the category of jumping to conclusions and the others are just words of sympathy shared when there was every reason to believe that Smollett had been beaten.
But beyond that, watching the clip of Page on Colbert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec12JKkrhOo), the applause from the crowd came in response to an otherwise moving and emotional speech from him that, for the most part, was not about Smollett, but about anti-LGBTQ sentiment coming from the government, generally. But in either case, I still do not know what your point is when bringing that up. That didn't have anything to do with Biden or Harris or Booker or even Trump offering sympathetic words. You really can't go, "Well, you see, this one actor said something that wasn't correct and therefore it was bad for politicians to put out their version of 'thoughts and prayers' as that story was breaking." That doesn't make sense.
2. That clip wasn't filmed in 2008, it was filmed in 2019. "Huh, funny that you criticize politicians who currently hold this horrific view but don't criticize the ones who no longer hold that view and have since used their positions of power to advance LGBTQ rights" really is not the gotcha you think it is. And while I know that Page mentioned marriage during his Colbert segment, you do understand that LGBTQ rights doesn't just = marriage, right? The Trump administration was 4 years of anti-LGBTQ policy and judicial appointments. To create the illusion that it wasn't anti-LGBTQ, it hollowed out an Obama-era initiative aimed at pressuring other countries to improve their human rights laws (including LGBTQ rights) and rebranded it a "campaign to decriminalize homosexuality around the world." But turns out that the Trump-era program was just PR. Whoops! Trump and Pence think that it should be perfectly legal to fire people for being gay. Trump and Pence think it should be totally fine to make trans people out themselves and use incorrect bathrooms, putting them in physical and social danger. Trump and Pence think it should be legal for emergency room doctors to deny life-saving care from someone brought in with a gunshot wound if that person turned out to be LGBTQ. Trump and Pence successfully implemented a ban on trans people in the military even though there wasn't actually a cost/cohesiveness/readiness reasoning behind it.
3. You sound like a fool when you say that "when a hate crime happens it's literally celebrated." Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Find me a single example of a national politician (or hell, even a celebrity) who was like, "Hell yeah! Wooo! Yeah hate crime! Wooooo!" You can't. Because that didn't happen.
4. "...conveniently ignoring that the Dems literally had an anti-choice VP on the ticket in 2016." That's just not true. Kaine is pro-choice but personally anti-abortion. You can disagree with things without insisting that your personal beliefs be turned into the law of the land, which is exactly what Kaine does.
Kaine during a June 2016 Meet the Press interview: "They're moral decisions for individuals to make for themselves. And the last thing we need is government intruding into those personal decisions. So I've taken a position which is quite common among Catholics. I've got a personal feeling about abortion, but the right role for government is to let women make their own decisions."
Kaine in an interview with ABC News in July 2008: "When asked if he'd like to see the Supreme Court overturn Roe the Governor answered, 'I don't think the Supreme Court should.' He continued, 'Roe vs. Wade is ultimately about saying that there is a realm of personal liberty for people to make this decision.'"
Kaine on his 2005 campaign site for his run for VA governor (here's the closest he came to being "anti-choice," and it's certainly understandable that abortion rights advocates would disapprove — but those were his views in 2005, which still didn't rise to a ban on abortion, not the views he had consistently since then): "I have a faith-based opposition to abortion. As governor, I will work in good faith to reduce abortions by: 1. Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial-birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother; 2. Fighting teen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education; 3. Ensuring women’s access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity; and 4. Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies."
5. "We’re in a bizarro world where nothing matters anymore. Clinton/Obama/Biden get hailed as LGBT heroes and Trump/Pence gets called a monster."
Once again, this almost makes sense... if you think "LGBTQ rights" are synonymous with marriage equality. But they're not. Marriage equality is a single component of LGBTQ rights.
Pence and Trump still broadly oppose LGBTQ rights. If you can name a single way that the Trump/Pence administration *advanced* LGBTQ rights during their administration (I can list a LOT of ways they rolled them back) that isn't "well, the CDC under them decided to shorten... but not eliminate... the length of time a gay man has to be celibate before he can donate blood," then you'll at least have some sort of argument. Clinton (are we talking Bill or Hillary here? Ah, let's do both) — Bill Clinton isn't "hailed as [an] LGBT[Q] "hero." He implemented Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, two anti-LGBTQ policies. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton changed the process that trans people need to take in order to update their passports, making it significantly easier. It was done with very little fanfare because if the Obama administration made a big deal about it, the GOP would have had a meltdown and then we'd be debating whether or not trans people should be able to have accurate passports, doing the same thing where they invent a slippery slope that would never come true. Instead, trans people have been able to update their passports for years, and... nothing. No problems. Just like with nearly all pro-LGBTQ moves. Obama and Biden have both publicly supported legislation that would enshrine nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people into law. "Yes, but YEARS AGO..." Again, even before they supported marriage equality, Obama, Biden, and Hillary Clinton both staked out positions on legal protections for LGBTQ individuals that still go far beyond where Trump, Pence, and the rest of the GOP *currently* are. Don't play dumb with me on this. You understand these are not the same, so don't try to pull that.
6. "The liberal playbook spells it out clearly that making people like Jussie a hero is good optics for their political gain. Don't be surprised when it backfires." Who made him a "hero?" In the examples this post was about, people thought he had been brutally attacked and offered sympathy. That's what normal people do.
Appreciate the reply. Sorry about the username I was just being a jackass. Shouldn’t have done that.
My point with Tim Kaine wasn’t that I think he’s politically anti-choice but politics is about priorities and it’s very tough for me to believe when push comes to shove somebody who has his personal views will fight hard enough when it matters.
Honestly it’s not that I think Pence and the GOP don’t deserve to be called monsters and such. They are. I’ve just reached a boiling point with liberals being toothless when it counts and I’m sick of them. You know they could very well secure LGBTQ rights but they don’t care to prioritize it. Now that I think about it my username choice here really does make me a jackass because the post about not voting if Dems aren’t going to hold their promises is the one I support. I was just piling on because of my unrelated frustration about how I think your writing is really good but I wish you would stop focusing on analyzing the GOP. They’re a lost cause now and focusing on their evilness is low hanging fruit. My (unwelcomed and unasked) suggestion is to turn your focus on the liberals. Use your talent to analyze media but shift away from Fox and Tucker and instead focus more on why MSNBC CNN are mouthpieces for liberals instead of progressives. Don’t go full Glenn Greenwald but you should be pissing off liberals/centrists more. Don’t back down when liberals ask you to pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party. You know liberals are shit. I know you need to grow the newsletter and it’s hard to piss off liberals and keep the subscriber numbers growing. But I would kill to have your platform with as many potential people you can reach via your Twitter followers. I could do a takedown of MSNBC bringing on liberals who are squashing the progressive agenda but I have no platform so I’d be screaming into the void. You do have a huge platform and not to go all “with great power comes great responsibility” … but if you want to make true change I think that’s the avenue where your talents would be most effective.
Instead of responding to my ridiculous username with proof that you do vote. I’d rather you tell me to fuck off and continue to push that Dems do need to hold their promises or they really don’t deserve our votes.
TLDR; You’re a talented writer that should ignore the trolls (the irony isn’t lost on me calling somebody a troll) and aim your media gift towards analyzing why liberals are such shit and why progressives are the ones that should be supported. People who read your work already hate Tucker and they’re not voting GOP anyway. The real change you can make with your platform is to convince some of your readers to get out of the centrist pool of shit and come to the left. You’re going to piss off a lot of insane centrists who will repeat stuff like “you didn’t vote” but if you stand up instead of trying to placate them you have an opportunity to do great work that might change how some primaries go. Don’t go full Glenn Greenwald but ask yourself are you fighting for liberals or progressives. Unfortunately in this climate it’s liberals vs progressives vs the whole GOP. It’s not liberals + progressives vs the GOP. Glenn is fighting against the liberals and defends the GOP because of it. You’re fighting against the GOP and defend the liberals because of it. Meanwhile nobody is fighting for progressives. You and Glenn probably hate each other but the progressive cause would probably benefit from each of you learning a bit from one another.
Hey, totally. I hear you. It's sometimes hard to tell. And yeah, it's been extremely frustrating to watch as the Democratic Party just sort of sits there as the GOP continues to set itself up for long-term one-party rule.
I was honestly mad that the Equality Act didn't (and, who are we kidding... it won't) get a vote in the Senate. Same goes for voting rights legislation. And then when it comes to the things Biden can do, he's either not doing them (see: following through on his student loan cancellation stuff — I can't remember what the dollar amount he said he was on board for... was it $10k? In any case, that would help a lot of people, but he hasn't taken the executive action needed), they're getting knocked down by the extremely Trumpy courts (see: deportation moratorium, vaccine mandate, etc.), or are only placeholders that can be easily swapped out when the next administration takes power.
I'm horrified by Republicans for obvious reasons. I'm disappointed with Democrats a lot of the time because... well, this kind of stuff where things don't get done or they waffle on their promises. I wish I felt optimistic about the future, but I don't.
Pence supported sadistic anti gay “conversion therapy” in the 2016 GOP platform. He fucked up his state’s hiv care so badly that it caused a mini outbreak. I’ll stop calling him a monster when he stops being a fucking monster
so many times i think, i would like to offer a different take on this situation, and then you do it parker, so no need!
Thanks so much for reading, Matthew. I really appreciate it.
I find it odd that you didn’t include Elliot Page’s response when they went on Colbert’s show and received standing applause for their segment.
Watch that segment. And keep in mind how bizarre it is watching Elliot blame Pence for holding views that Clinton and Obama held as recently as 2008. The liberals have weaponized our discourse while absolving themselves from any blame. Should Clinton be blamed for pushing against same sex marriage? Should Obama? 2 out of the last 3 Democratic nominees for president were against same sex marriage. But now when a hate crime happens it’s literally celebrated when blame is placed on Mike Pence.
I agree with your overall point but the push back exists because liberals have successfully weaponized our discourse. Now there is a reward for blaming Mike Pence for a hate crime based on his views that even Clinton held in 2008. It’s probably frustrating for people to see how the GOP is demonized and the Dems are 100% absolved from any wrong doing.
Just like the madness of calling everybody evil who contributed to people being against abortion…while conveniently ignoring that the Dems literally had an anti-choice VP on the ticket in 2016. Most liberals probably don’t even know that Tim Kaine is anti-choice.
No doubt the GOP has polluted our political discourse but the liberals have made it toxic on their own. We’re in a bizarro world where nothing matters anymore. Clinton/Obama/Biden get hailed as LGBT heroes and Trump/Pence gets called a monster. The liberal playbook spells it out clearly that making people like Jussie a hero is good optics for their political gain. Don’t be surprised when it backfires.
Hi, Youdidntvote (I don't understand your screen name, but I did vote in 2020... and 2018... and 2016... and 2014... and 2012... and 2010; the last election I missed was in 2008 when there was a mix-up with my voter registration), thanks for the comment.
Let's go through your points:
1. I specifically write, "There's a lot to criticize about the way some people and organizations responded to Smollett's attack." I go on to write, "Many people and a handful of news organizations amplified the more salacious details, with some people outright blaming then-President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence for the attack. Criticizing those would be fair game, especially in light of everything we’ve learned since that day."
Why would I have lumped in what Elliot Page said 2 days later on Colbert with a viral screenshot of Dem politicians (and Joy Reid, for some reason, bizarrely)? One falls into the category of jumping to conclusions and the others are just words of sympathy shared when there was every reason to believe that Smollett had been beaten.
But beyond that, watching the clip of Page on Colbert (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec12JKkrhOo), the applause from the crowd came in response to an otherwise moving and emotional speech from him that, for the most part, was not about Smollett, but about anti-LGBTQ sentiment coming from the government, generally. But in either case, I still do not know what your point is when bringing that up. That didn't have anything to do with Biden or Harris or Booker or even Trump offering sympathetic words. You really can't go, "Well, you see, this one actor said something that wasn't correct and therefore it was bad for politicians to put out their version of 'thoughts and prayers' as that story was breaking." That doesn't make sense.
2. That clip wasn't filmed in 2008, it was filmed in 2019. "Huh, funny that you criticize politicians who currently hold this horrific view but don't criticize the ones who no longer hold that view and have since used their positions of power to advance LGBTQ rights" really is not the gotcha you think it is. And while I know that Page mentioned marriage during his Colbert segment, you do understand that LGBTQ rights doesn't just = marriage, right? The Trump administration was 4 years of anti-LGBTQ policy and judicial appointments. To create the illusion that it wasn't anti-LGBTQ, it hollowed out an Obama-era initiative aimed at pressuring other countries to improve their human rights laws (including LGBTQ rights) and rebranded it a "campaign to decriminalize homosexuality around the world." But turns out that the Trump-era program was just PR. Whoops! Trump and Pence think that it should be perfectly legal to fire people for being gay. Trump and Pence think it should be totally fine to make trans people out themselves and use incorrect bathrooms, putting them in physical and social danger. Trump and Pence think it should be legal for emergency room doctors to deny life-saving care from someone brought in with a gunshot wound if that person turned out to be LGBTQ. Trump and Pence successfully implemented a ban on trans people in the military even though there wasn't actually a cost/cohesiveness/readiness reasoning behind it.
3. You sound like a fool when you say that "when a hate crime happens it's literally celebrated." Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Find me a single example of a national politician (or hell, even a celebrity) who was like, "Hell yeah! Wooo! Yeah hate crime! Wooooo!" You can't. Because that didn't happen.
4. "...conveniently ignoring that the Dems literally had an anti-choice VP on the ticket in 2016." That's just not true. Kaine is pro-choice but personally anti-abortion. You can disagree with things without insisting that your personal beliefs be turned into the law of the land, which is exactly what Kaine does.
Kaine during a June 2016 Meet the Press interview: "They're moral decisions for individuals to make for themselves. And the last thing we need is government intruding into those personal decisions. So I've taken a position which is quite common among Catholics. I've got a personal feeling about abortion, but the right role for government is to let women make their own decisions."
Kaine in an interview with ABC News in July 2008: "When asked if he'd like to see the Supreme Court overturn Roe the Governor answered, 'I don't think the Supreme Court should.' He continued, 'Roe vs. Wade is ultimately about saying that there is a realm of personal liberty for people to make this decision.'"
Kaine on his 2005 campaign site for his run for VA governor (here's the closest he came to being "anti-choice," and it's certainly understandable that abortion rights advocates would disapprove — but those were his views in 2005, which still didn't rise to a ban on abortion, not the views he had consistently since then): "I have a faith-based opposition to abortion. As governor, I will work in good faith to reduce abortions by: 1. Enforcing the current Virginia restrictions on abortion and passing an enforceable ban on partial-birth abortion that protects the life and health of the mother; 2. Fighting teen pregnancy through abstinence-focused education; 3. Ensuring women’s access to health care (including legal contraception) and economic opportunity; and 4. Promoting adoption as an alternative for women facing unwanted pregnancies."
5. "We’re in a bizarro world where nothing matters anymore. Clinton/Obama/Biden get hailed as LGBT heroes and Trump/Pence gets called a monster."
Once again, this almost makes sense... if you think "LGBTQ rights" are synonymous with marriage equality. But they're not. Marriage equality is a single component of LGBTQ rights.
Pence and Trump still broadly oppose LGBTQ rights. If you can name a single way that the Trump/Pence administration *advanced* LGBTQ rights during their administration (I can list a LOT of ways they rolled them back) that isn't "well, the CDC under them decided to shorten... but not eliminate... the length of time a gay man has to be celibate before he can donate blood," then you'll at least have some sort of argument. Clinton (are we talking Bill or Hillary here? Ah, let's do both) — Bill Clinton isn't "hailed as [an] LGBT[Q] "hero." He implemented Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, two anti-LGBTQ policies. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton changed the process that trans people need to take in order to update their passports, making it significantly easier. It was done with very little fanfare because if the Obama administration made a big deal about it, the GOP would have had a meltdown and then we'd be debating whether or not trans people should be able to have accurate passports, doing the same thing where they invent a slippery slope that would never come true. Instead, trans people have been able to update their passports for years, and... nothing. No problems. Just like with nearly all pro-LGBTQ moves. Obama and Biden have both publicly supported legislation that would enshrine nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people into law. "Yes, but YEARS AGO..." Again, even before they supported marriage equality, Obama, Biden, and Hillary Clinton both staked out positions on legal protections for LGBTQ individuals that still go far beyond where Trump, Pence, and the rest of the GOP *currently* are. Don't play dumb with me on this. You understand these are not the same, so don't try to pull that.
6. "The liberal playbook spells it out clearly that making people like Jussie a hero is good optics for their political gain. Don't be surprised when it backfires." Who made him a "hero?" In the examples this post was about, people thought he had been brutally attacked and offered sympathy. That's what normal people do.
Appreciate the reply. Sorry about the username I was just being a jackass. Shouldn’t have done that.
My point with Tim Kaine wasn’t that I think he’s politically anti-choice but politics is about priorities and it’s very tough for me to believe when push comes to shove somebody who has his personal views will fight hard enough when it matters.
Honestly it’s not that I think Pence and the GOP don’t deserve to be called monsters and such. They are. I’ve just reached a boiling point with liberals being toothless when it counts and I’m sick of them. You know they could very well secure LGBTQ rights but they don’t care to prioritize it. Now that I think about it my username choice here really does make me a jackass because the post about not voting if Dems aren’t going to hold their promises is the one I support. I was just piling on because of my unrelated frustration about how I think your writing is really good but I wish you would stop focusing on analyzing the GOP. They’re a lost cause now and focusing on their evilness is low hanging fruit. My (unwelcomed and unasked) suggestion is to turn your focus on the liberals. Use your talent to analyze media but shift away from Fox and Tucker and instead focus more on why MSNBC CNN are mouthpieces for liberals instead of progressives. Don’t go full Glenn Greenwald but you should be pissing off liberals/centrists more. Don’t back down when liberals ask you to pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party. You know liberals are shit. I know you need to grow the newsletter and it’s hard to piss off liberals and keep the subscriber numbers growing. But I would kill to have your platform with as many potential people you can reach via your Twitter followers. I could do a takedown of MSNBC bringing on liberals who are squashing the progressive agenda but I have no platform so I’d be screaming into the void. You do have a huge platform and not to go all “with great power comes great responsibility” … but if you want to make true change I think that’s the avenue where your talents would be most effective.
Instead of responding to my ridiculous username with proof that you do vote. I’d rather you tell me to fuck off and continue to push that Dems do need to hold their promises or they really don’t deserve our votes.
TLDR; You’re a talented writer that should ignore the trolls (the irony isn’t lost on me calling somebody a troll) and aim your media gift towards analyzing why liberals are such shit and why progressives are the ones that should be supported. People who read your work already hate Tucker and they’re not voting GOP anyway. The real change you can make with your platform is to convince some of your readers to get out of the centrist pool of shit and come to the left. You’re going to piss off a lot of insane centrists who will repeat stuff like “you didn’t vote” but if you stand up instead of trying to placate them you have an opportunity to do great work that might change how some primaries go. Don’t go full Glenn Greenwald but ask yourself are you fighting for liberals or progressives. Unfortunately in this climate it’s liberals vs progressives vs the whole GOP. It’s not liberals + progressives vs the GOP. Glenn is fighting against the liberals and defends the GOP because of it. You’re fighting against the GOP and defend the liberals because of it. Meanwhile nobody is fighting for progressives. You and Glenn probably hate each other but the progressive cause would probably benefit from each of you learning a bit from one another.
Hey, totally. I hear you. It's sometimes hard to tell. And yeah, it's been extremely frustrating to watch as the Democratic Party just sort of sits there as the GOP continues to set itself up for long-term one-party rule.
I was honestly mad that the Equality Act didn't (and, who are we kidding... it won't) get a vote in the Senate. Same goes for voting rights legislation. And then when it comes to the things Biden can do, he's either not doing them (see: following through on his student loan cancellation stuff — I can't remember what the dollar amount he said he was on board for... was it $10k? In any case, that would help a lot of people, but he hasn't taken the executive action needed), they're getting knocked down by the extremely Trumpy courts (see: deportation moratorium, vaccine mandate, etc.), or are only placeholders that can be easily swapped out when the next administration takes power.
I'm horrified by Republicans for obvious reasons. I'm disappointed with Democrats a lot of the time because... well, this kind of stuff where things don't get done or they waffle on their promises. I wish I felt optimistic about the future, but I don't.
Pence supported sadistic anti gay “conversion therapy” in the 2016 GOP platform. He fucked up his state’s hiv care so badly that it caused a mini outbreak. I’ll stop calling him a monster when he stops being a fucking monster