So Redstate published a list of things that should go away in 2018. www.redstate.com/… Surprisingly, for the most part I think we can agree.
1. Roy Moore-absolutely
2. Media Demanding Republicans react to Trump tweets
...the Congressman doesn’t necessarily support or agree with or even understand what Trump tweeted, but he’s still going to vote for the bill because it’s a Republican bill.
As good an admission of party over country as we are likely to ever see.
3. Useless hashtag activism-Sure, hashtags by themselves are useless, but as way to quickly publicize a concern, they have proven their worth. Exhibit A: #metoo (and I don’t even have a Twitter account).
4. “Open secrets” about sexual predators. I totally agree.
These situations remain “open secrets” for so long because the victims aren’t supported. The culture that allows these “open secrets” to fester tells victims not to be troublemakers and makes it difficult for them to find work if they dare to speak up:
… You want to support women? Join in TIME’s celebration of the “Silence Breakers”? Fight against the culture that allows such harassment and abuse to fester unchallenged for decades?
…Then make a real effort to hire and promote the women making these accusations.
Because until we stop punishing the victims, the predators will continue to attack.
5. Fidget spinners.
Kids don’t need fidget spinners. They need recess.
6. Democrats claiming that Republican legislation will kill people. Wait a minute—That was the GOP’s go-to strategy in the run-up to the passage of ACA. Did you guys forget about your “death panels?”
7. SWATting, which does actually kill people. I agree,
State legislatures should seriously consider passing bills to clarify that making SWATting calls is a felony, and hold SWATters legally responsible for the damages their callous acts cause.
8. Frivolous attacks on Trump family members
It’s no secret I’m not a fan of Trump...There are plenty of legitimate causes for concern with the Trump presidency. Imagining controversies about his family members is unproductive.
From xkcd
9. Richard Spencer. A loser, just like the alt-right, the confederacy and the Nazis.
10. People not understanding how the First Amendment works.
Great cartoon. Too bad the right did not see it that way when during the protests against certain “conservative” speakers. Too bad showing these “conservative” speakers the door requires extra-ordinary measures.
11. Hysteria about Hollywood scripts becoming reality.
The Handmaid’s Tale isn’t real. It’s not going to become real. The majority of voters in America are women, and they aren’t going to vote for it.
I don’t know about that. An awful lot of women voted for Trump and Moore.
12. Blaming the NRA for shootings
...the NRA gets vilified every time some criminal or mentally ill person does something terrible with a gun. Never mind that none of the mass shooters last year were connected to the NRA. … The false attacks lobbied at law-abiding gun owners are in direct contradiction to the facts.
I guess we couldn’t keep batting 1000. Look, no one is attacking law-abiding gun owners, and nobody claimed the mass shooters were connected to the NRA, but it cannot be denied that the NRA has become an enabler. That hideous othering NRA ad narrated by Dana Loesch proves it.
13. Steve Bannon-again absolutely. Please, go away, and take Stephen Miller with you.
14. Blaming climate change for natural disasters.
Do you know why Florida gets hit by hurricanes?
It’s not because Trump doesn’t want to be a part of the Paris Agreement.
It’s because the state has a subtropical and tropical climate and is surrounded by ocean on every side except the northern border. Those nice warm ocean waters are basically hurricane food, because the water’s temperature during hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) makes it easier for the water to evaporate and get pulled into the storm’s rotation and then recondense into clouds and rain.
Drive a Prius if you really want to, but don’t feel like you’re causing hurricanes if you don’t.
Well, that is one ginormous strawman. Yes, indeed the technical explanation for why Florida gets hit by hurricanes is correct, but because of climate change, there are more hurricanes and worse hurricanes than ever recorded. Climate change is intensifying the natural conditions that exist around Florida.
15. Republicans sucking at communications strategy.
The tax bill messaging was a convoluted mess.
No argument. The tax bill messaging was a convoluted mess because the tax bill itself is a convoluted mess. The GOP over the years has been far too effective at controlling the frame. It is a good thing they lost control of this frame and the American public was finally exposed to accurate messaging about the cynical agenda of the GOP tax bill.
16. The pro-life movement’s obsessive focus on judges.
We would save more babies than any judge’s ruling ever could if pro-life activists simply stood outside abortion clinics and offered to help pregnant women access the many charities and government benefits that can help provide a safe, healthy, and stable environment for them. Because no matter how we restrict abortion, even if it is one day outlawed, some women will still consider ending their pregnancies if they’re desperate enough.
Supporting women is the caring, conservative, and Christian answer to reducing the number of abortions.
Although expressed from a conservative point of view, I can go along with that. The GOP stealing a Supreme Court seat was much more corrosive to American democracy than some imagined ruling Gorsuch might make.
17. Hating people for having different political beliefs.
We are a politically divided country and are going to remain so for the foreseeable future. But each side condemning the other as harshly as we so often do threatens to undermine our ability to functionally govern ourselves.
I have harsh criticisms for Democrats in this article, and I’ll have many harsh criticisms of them in the future, I’m sure. That doesn’t mean that I believe all Democrats are trying to ruin America. It is possible to disagree with someone’s ideas and not accuse them of being evil or stupid, “libtards” … We aren’t going to convince the liberal die-hards with memes calling them snowflakes and terrorists, but we do risk turning off moderate Democrats and independents.
Maybe we have a lot more in common with the right than some of us want to admit. Personally, I had very few major criticisms of the list. What we have in common can serve as the foundation for coming together and functionally govern ourselves.
