Pick a side. It seems to be implied. The narrative seems to be that "The Left" hates Trump, and nothing he does is good. This seems like a fake right-wing framing, especially in the "conservative" media. I think it's for people that are culturally Republican, who may find him appealing, even in his more unsavory aspects. If his opponents can be shown to be "unhinged," one doesn't have to have a reasoned defense for one's support; one can say, "Well, I'm not like those people." It's the fruit of emotivism in action. You can't really consider the justice of a $7.85 minimum wage relative to say, $12 in isolation. All you care to know is that the same people who call for higher wages, and higher government spending also favor abortion-on-demand until the moment of birth. Well, that settles it.
And you're done thinking. It must be nice.
Or maybe another group bears in mind the lessons real and imagined from largely 20th century experimentation with socialism and communism. Any advocacy for increased public spending of any kind smacks of "socialism" for these folks. They'll support any system of free exchange, as long as they're not poor, no matter how unjust. If I'm honest, I can barely tolerate conservative Catholic political thought now, because its brand of Catholic "fusionism" isn't terribly concerned with economic justice of any sort. And it comes to this: One can get away with almost any crime against the Earth, against immigrants and their families, Americans of color, the incarcerated, or neighbors in other lands, as long as one gets the sexual ethics right, as a "conservative" Catholic, or a politician seeking their support.
I grant that this may not be fair, or fair in every case. Yet I know that it names something real, something that militates against my comfort in abiding in former familiar ideological haunts.
Supposing I had been politically enculturated as a Democrat, I'd have a different set of complaints, especially regarding sexual ethics mentioned earlier. Perhaps there'd be other things as well I couldn't abide, as a doctrinaire Catholic.
I keep thinking about this pointed thought every time I see and hear Nancy Pelosi. You know, she says true things all the time. It's easier to notice when I haven't decided beforehand she's a person who is insane.
I had this pointed thought yesterday at Mass, of all places: If you dropped Bernie Sanders and his economic policies of today back into 1985, he's probably helping Speaker O'Neill with a budget proposal. Which is to say, he wouldn't be on the fringes of policy and political life. The Democrats have moved away from advocating for the poor, and lower middle class, to their shame.
In the end, it's easier to listen well when I don't have a "team," per se.
And you're done thinking. It must be nice.
Or maybe another group bears in mind the lessons real and imagined from largely 20th century experimentation with socialism and communism. Any advocacy for increased public spending of any kind smacks of "socialism" for these folks. They'll support any system of free exchange, as long as they're not poor, no matter how unjust. If I'm honest, I can barely tolerate conservative Catholic political thought now, because its brand of Catholic "fusionism" isn't terribly concerned with economic justice of any sort. And it comes to this: One can get away with almost any crime against the Earth, against immigrants and their families, Americans of color, the incarcerated, or neighbors in other lands, as long as one gets the sexual ethics right, as a "conservative" Catholic, or a politician seeking their support.
I grant that this may not be fair, or fair in every case. Yet I know that it names something real, something that militates against my comfort in abiding in former familiar ideological haunts.
Supposing I had been politically enculturated as a Democrat, I'd have a different set of complaints, especially regarding sexual ethics mentioned earlier. Perhaps there'd be other things as well I couldn't abide, as a doctrinaire Catholic.
I keep thinking about this pointed thought every time I see and hear Nancy Pelosi. You know, she says true things all the time. It's easier to notice when I haven't decided beforehand she's a person who is insane.
I had this pointed thought yesterday at Mass, of all places: If you dropped Bernie Sanders and his economic policies of today back into 1985, he's probably helping Speaker O'Neill with a budget proposal. Which is to say, he wouldn't be on the fringes of policy and political life. The Democrats have moved away from advocating for the poor, and lower middle class, to their shame.
In the end, it's easier to listen well when I don't have a "team," per se.
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