A New GOP Comes Out Swinging (?)
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I do not understand what's going on.
I'm pretty sure, however, that my previous self would have only read about one side of the story.
I'm also pretty sure that there is another side--that the account being pushed by the (admittedly?) progressive / very-much-left-leaning media is biased.
I really just want to know what's what. I have no interest in defending Trump overmuch. But I think everyone ought to be able to admit that, thus far, progressive anti-Trumpism has been slapped down hard and justifiably at most points in this trajectory. Ukrainegate seems like, to at least some extent, a kind of continuation of Russiagate. I believe it's reasonable to think that this is an ongoing effort to torpedo Trump, and that every time one torpedo turns out to be a dud, another is loaded up and loosed. (Counterpoint: Trump himself seems to be manufacturing the torpedoes...)
When it becomes nearly impossible for an ordinary person to understand the details of each new assault, I believe it becomes more rational to look at the overall pattern and take that into account.
I'm inclined to think that what Trump was initially reported to have said was prima facie of great concern (at least to non-experts). But, as per usual, it's turned out that the initial story contained lies and other inaccuracies--e.g. the absolutely indefensible editing of the Ukrainian phone-call transcript. And progressives seem to be sticking to those falsehoods even after they've been clearly revealed to be such.
I remain extremely concerned about Trump. Extremely. But facts matter. And, more and more, I'm inclined to take seriously the charge that much of what we're seeing is the progressive cultural superstructure refusing to accept the outcome of the 2016 election. (There's a sense in which I can't blame them--but that only goes so far.)
That's of enough of a concern on its own. It becomes a matter of even greater concern given that the contemporary Democratic party has lurched hard to the left. I believe it's saying things and taking positions that are (as it were) so far out in left field that they make Trump's horrifying outlandishness seem almost acceptable by comparison. To repeat myself: the Green New Deal alone is so divorced from anything resembling reality--and dishonest--that it basically makes any party that has accepted it an unviable option. And that's merely one of several extremely radical and completely unacceptable planks in their emerging platform. When any party has lurched so hard to either side, one should expect that it will become untenable.
I don't see a winning move for our republic in all of this. Our only option at this point, I believe, is to minimize the likely damage. I hope that changes in the next year. But I don't see how we can expect it to.
For now, I'm just trying to take up something like an objective position from which to view and assess Ukrainegate. Speaking for myself, however, I feel overwhelmed by it and don't really understand it.
I do not understand what's going on.
I'm pretty sure, however, that my previous self would have only read about one side of the story.
I'm also pretty sure that there is another side--that the account being pushed by the (admittedly?) progressive / very-much-left-leaning media is biased.
I really just want to know what's what. I have no interest in defending Trump overmuch. But I think everyone ought to be able to admit that, thus far, progressive anti-Trumpism has been slapped down hard and justifiably at most points in this trajectory. Ukrainegate seems like, to at least some extent, a kind of continuation of Russiagate. I believe it's reasonable to think that this is an ongoing effort to torpedo Trump, and that every time one torpedo turns out to be a dud, another is loaded up and loosed. (Counterpoint: Trump himself seems to be manufacturing the torpedoes...)
When it becomes nearly impossible for an ordinary person to understand the details of each new assault, I believe it becomes more rational to look at the overall pattern and take that into account.
I'm inclined to think that what Trump was initially reported to have said was prima facie of great concern (at least to non-experts). But, as per usual, it's turned out that the initial story contained lies and other inaccuracies--e.g. the absolutely indefensible editing of the Ukrainian phone-call transcript. And progressives seem to be sticking to those falsehoods even after they've been clearly revealed to be such.
I remain extremely concerned about Trump. Extremely. But facts matter. And, more and more, I'm inclined to take seriously the charge that much of what we're seeing is the progressive cultural superstructure refusing to accept the outcome of the 2016 election. (There's a sense in which I can't blame them--but that only goes so far.)
That's of enough of a concern on its own. It becomes a matter of even greater concern given that the contemporary Democratic party has lurched hard to the left. I believe it's saying things and taking positions that are (as it were) so far out in left field that they make Trump's horrifying outlandishness seem almost acceptable by comparison. To repeat myself: the Green New Deal alone is so divorced from anything resembling reality--and dishonest--that it basically makes any party that has accepted it an unviable option. And that's merely one of several extremely radical and completely unacceptable planks in their emerging platform. When any party has lurched so hard to either side, one should expect that it will become untenable.
I don't see a winning move for our republic in all of this. Our only option at this point, I believe, is to minimize the likely damage. I hope that changes in the next year. But I don't see how we can expect it to.
For now, I'm just trying to take up something like an objective position from which to view and assess Ukrainegate. Speaking for myself, however, I feel overwhelmed by it and don't really understand it.
posted by Winston Smith at
1:42 PM
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