There was a popular story posted the other day in which the writer “cancelled” Bill Maher for various sins against liberal orthodoxy. I’ve waited a couple days to post this when I could be around for a couple hours of beat down.
Even before “Real Time” aired on Friday night I was getting increasingly bugged that much of the reaction against the shootings involved ensuring that the crimes fit within the legal definition and news narrative as a hate crime against Asians. While the causes are clearly multilayered, it seemed likely that the tragic events had more to do with the suspect’s overly zealous religiosity and self-loathing with the force multiplier of readily available guns. Even as a hate crime I’d guess that it was more of an anti-woman than anti-Asian. None of that takes away from the fact that anti-Asian hate crimes are clearly way up and caused in large measure by a deliberate strategy by Donald L. Trump* to put Asians in the crosshairs of public rage for political purposes.
The alleged killer was known in high school as the kid who always carried a Bible, who led pre-schoolday prayer sessions. Who, not long before the shootings, told his roomate he was afraid he had fallen from God’s grace. Who went to a religion-based sex addiction program. The (alleged) killer’s reported statements to police that the killings weren’t motivated by anti-Asian sentiments but by trying to remove temptation have been sneered at by many talking heads as trying to make himself look better (really? I can’t stop going to massage parlors without killing people makes you look better?) or trying to lower his legal jeopardy (I guess to only 8 life sentences).
Understandably, this incident adds to Asians’ fear of violence and is rightfully part of the call for more protection and public support. However, letting the central player of religion off the hook for the hellbound sexual shame that it promotes prevents us from understanding key factors that led to this sad, horrific incident in a fully rational, open-eyed way.
Bill Maher was right to push back against a likely false narrative in this incident. And, to make sure I get all the sh*t to which I am entitled for insufficient wokeness, I agree with Maher in large measure for regularly pointing out how our side undercuts ourself with annoying, condescending terms like “woke,” and by being nagging hypersensitive scolds who disqualify people — including our own — for not being perfect in everything we have ever said and done over the course of our lives. That’s another topic for another day but I believe it’s part of the reason, along with use of wonky terms like “voter suppression” instead of “vote theft”, why Democratic policy positions are far more popular than us Democrats who propose them.
Let’s keep it real with clear-eyed understanding of how we can make the world a substantially better place without taking things too far. I am a proud Democrat and want us to become the super-majority party our hearts, heads and accomplishments have earned.
* L. is for Loser