- Mar 11, 2015
- 77,890
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It would be nice if republicans cut this out. Not just on this issue, but all others.
Republicans use black woman, Jewish man to gaslight Congress on threat of white nationalism
It is often easy to get caught up in the outrage cycle generated by the behavior of President Trump and the people in his administration. The daily barrage of lies, followed by gaslighting from his supporters is only upstaged by his flouting of decorum, undermining of institutions and the cruelty of his policies.
It is essential to remember, however, that Trump has merely perfected the craft of “triggering the libs” that the political party he commandeered in 2016 has been developing for decades. Republicans’ masterful troll of a House hearing on the growing dangers of white supremacist violence on Tuesday serves as perhaps the aptest reminder that the GOP is willing to deny America a sober conversation about anything based on facts.
When Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee decided to hold a hearing on white nationalism, Republicans immediately set out to derail it. Following their longstanding pattern of inviting disreputable witnesses to testify before Congress, Republicans invited black conservative pundit Candace Owens and Mort Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America, to downplay the threat of white nationalism. Democrats on the committee, for their part, asked representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, Equal Justice Society, and the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — as well as officials from Facebook and Google — to testify at Tuesday’s hearing.
What could have been a fruitful opportunity to address rampant white nationalism online and its rising body count in the real world, to hold tech giants accountable, and to ferret out best practices on deradicalization in a meaningful way that perhaps saves lives was “hijacked,” in the words of Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. Instead of addressing the threat of white nationalism in the United States and around the world, Republicans sought to claim that Democrats only pretend to care about anti-Semitism and racism as a cudgel against conservatives. From their witness list to their questions to their sustained attack on a colleague and Democrats, Republicans deliberately tried to evade the issue of growing white supremacist violence and trivialized the hearing. And based on the pervasive coverage, it appears that they were successful.
What do you do when bad faith comes from the top?
Republicans use black woman, Jewish man to gaslight Congress on threat of white nationalism
Republicans use black woman, Jewish man to gaslight Congress on threat of white nationalism
It is often easy to get caught up in the outrage cycle generated by the behavior of President Trump and the people in his administration. The daily barrage of lies, followed by gaslighting from his supporters is only upstaged by his flouting of decorum, undermining of institutions and the cruelty of his policies.
It is essential to remember, however, that Trump has merely perfected the craft of “triggering the libs” that the political party he commandeered in 2016 has been developing for decades. Republicans’ masterful troll of a House hearing on the growing dangers of white supremacist violence on Tuesday serves as perhaps the aptest reminder that the GOP is willing to deny America a sober conversation about anything based on facts.
When Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee decided to hold a hearing on white nationalism, Republicans immediately set out to derail it. Following their longstanding pattern of inviting disreputable witnesses to testify before Congress, Republicans invited black conservative pundit Candace Owens and Mort Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America, to downplay the threat of white nationalism. Democrats on the committee, for their part, asked representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, Equal Justice Society, and the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — as well as officials from Facebook and Google — to testify at Tuesday’s hearing.
What could have been a fruitful opportunity to address rampant white nationalism online and its rising body count in the real world, to hold tech giants accountable, and to ferret out best practices on deradicalization in a meaningful way that perhaps saves lives was “hijacked,” in the words of Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I. Instead of addressing the threat of white nationalism in the United States and around the world, Republicans sought to claim that Democrats only pretend to care about anti-Semitism and racism as a cudgel against conservatives. From their witness list to their questions to their sustained attack on a colleague and Democrats, Republicans deliberately tried to evade the issue of growing white supremacist violence and trivialized the hearing. And based on the pervasive coverage, it appears that they were successful.
What do you do when bad faith comes from the top?
Republicans use black woman, Jewish man to gaslight Congress on threat of white nationalism
Feel free to call me a Racist and a Bigot and a Fascist I do NOT care, it's ALL compliments compliments.
