I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm rather conflicted about civility in encounters with the magahats and their ilk - this is because my blood boils very quickly at injustice and lies and I react before thinking at times. It is perhaps for this aspect of my personality that I enjoy seeing people like Gaetz and MTG shut down i…
I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm rather conflicted about civility in encounters with the magahats and their ilk - this is because my blood boils very quickly at injustice and lies and I react before thinking at times. It is perhaps for this aspect of my personality that I enjoy seeing people like Gaetz and MTG shut down in public.
However, your point about the same thing happening to AOC hits home. I have tremendous respect for the work she and the Squad are doing in Congress and am often appalled (if not surprised) at the reactions of the right-wing to her very articulate speeches. I am also appalled (and surprised) by the reactions against the Squad within the ranks of the left, in particular from Democratic women who are resisting the progressive efforts of younger Congresswomen.
I don't think it unfair to consider a number of our elected representatives as purveyors of death as well as misinformation. When challenging their messages, I am in favor of vigorous protest.
'More recently Taylor Green compared the Biden administrations door-to-door vaccine push to the Nazi paramilitary wing Sturmabteilung, colloquially referred to as “brownshirts.”
“People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations," Greene wrote in early July. “You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment." (Yahoo News, 7/26/21)
'Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Fauci an 'enemy to our nation' and says he should be indicted' (Yahoo News, 7/21/21)
'Florida Rep Matt Gaetz refused to say whether he has been vaccinated against Covid-19 as the House reinstates a mask mandate to combat the spread of coronavirus.' (AP)
“I’m not in favour of it,” Mr Gaetz told The Independent.
'In Wednesday’s session, the majority of House Republicans could be seen wearing masks inside the chamber, along with all Democrats. But a cluster of maskless Republicans sat in a back center aisle in defiance, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), Mary Miller (R., Ill.) and others.' (Wall St. Journal) 7/28/21
Yet, I wonder how good at distinguishing various types of speech people who seem uncomfortable with confrontation are. This is what is fascinating about this discussion for me. I think we all agree that the messages of the right need to be fought. The fitness of using a rape whistle to shut down Matt Gaetz is probably lost on just about everyone who didn't know that was what the whistle was designed for. And I do think there is a clear difference between name-calling - which the right indulges in toward outspoken progressive women vociferously - and loud, articulate, pointed protest. I see a difference, you see a difference - whereas some herein see only rudeness and incivility on both sides. As long as we are ALL doing our parts to fight the right, does it matter our methods? I think that, just as not all of us have the same learning style, neither do we all have the same style of doing good trouble. This fight needs ALL of us.
I agree with you that limits need to be applied to methods of protest. In my opinion, the protest we have been discussing did not reach that limit. No physical harm to others must be agreed upon. Some members of extreme, far right-wing are not just people we disagree with; they are literally poisoning people mentally and physically. To make another point, the selfishness and ignorance of many Americans is horrendous and we all pay for it.
I've been reading this thread with interest. I'm rather conflicted about civility in encounters with the magahats and their ilk - this is because my blood boils very quickly at injustice and lies and I react before thinking at times. It is perhaps for this aspect of my personality that I enjoy seeing people like Gaetz and MTG shut down in public.
However, your point about the same thing happening to AOC hits home. I have tremendous respect for the work she and the Squad are doing in Congress and am often appalled (if not surprised) at the reactions of the right-wing to her very articulate speeches. I am also appalled (and surprised) by the reactions against the Squad within the ranks of the left, in particular from Democratic women who are resisting the progressive efforts of younger Congresswomen.
Thank you for the food for thought, Christopher.
I don't think it unfair to consider a number of our elected representatives as purveyors of death as well as misinformation. When challenging their messages, I am in favor of vigorous protest.
'More recently Taylor Green compared the Biden administrations door-to-door vaccine push to the Nazi paramilitary wing Sturmabteilung, colloquially referred to as “brownshirts.”
“People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations," Greene wrote in early July. “You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment." (Yahoo News, 7/26/21)
'Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Fauci an 'enemy to our nation' and says he should be indicted' (Yahoo News, 7/21/21)
'Florida Rep Matt Gaetz refused to say whether he has been vaccinated against Covid-19 as the House reinstates a mask mandate to combat the spread of coronavirus.' (AP)
“I’m not in favour of it,” Mr Gaetz told The Independent.
'In Wednesday’s session, the majority of House Republicans could be seen wearing masks inside the chamber, along with all Democrats. But a cluster of maskless Republicans sat in a back center aisle in defiance, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), Mary Miller (R., Ill.) and others.' (Wall St. Journal) 7/28/21
Total agreement!
Yet, I wonder how good at distinguishing various types of speech people who seem uncomfortable with confrontation are. This is what is fascinating about this discussion for me. I think we all agree that the messages of the right need to be fought. The fitness of using a rape whistle to shut down Matt Gaetz is probably lost on just about everyone who didn't know that was what the whistle was designed for. And I do think there is a clear difference between name-calling - which the right indulges in toward outspoken progressive women vociferously - and loud, articulate, pointed protest. I see a difference, you see a difference - whereas some herein see only rudeness and incivility on both sides. As long as we are ALL doing our parts to fight the right, does it matter our methods? I think that, just as not all of us have the same learning style, neither do we all have the same style of doing good trouble. This fight needs ALL of us.
I agree with you that limits need to be applied to methods of protest. In my opinion, the protest we have been discussing did not reach that limit. No physical harm to others must be agreed upon. Some members of extreme, far right-wing are not just people we disagree with; they are literally poisoning people mentally and physically. To make another point, the selfishness and ignorance of many Americans is horrendous and we all pay for it.