#or because biden looks best against an unattractive man who's sundowning too badly not to quote hitler in front of the media

[nokingsonlyfooles]

No Tagbacksies...

But I want to talk about this part:

Conservatives argue that Section 3 could apply to Vice President Kamala Harris, for example — it was used to block from office even those who donated small sums to individual Confederates. Couldn’t it be used against Harris, they say, because she raised money for those arrested in the unrest after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020?

I got sucked into info-dumping about needing to look at intent and results along with method yesterday, and this is why that's so freaking important. "No u" is not just for arguing with strangers on the internet, it's for political action.

The above is a threat, an attempt to make Democrats back down from invalidating Trump off the ballot. Specifically Democrats, because if they don't play nice with Republicans, Republicans won't play nice with them. (Ha-ha, sure wish I knew why Dems are always so willing to believe the GOP will play nice!) Will they actually back down because of this? I don't know. Will Republicans actually follow through on it whether they back down or not? I don't know that either!

But I do know that this is only a viable threat because we're looking at method over results and intent. If we oversimplify to the point that we're willing to accept doing violence to resist the government is wrong, no matter who or why or how much, this is a perfectly cromulent argument. The January 6 "rioters" did violence to resist the government and so did the BLM "rioters." Insurrectionists! We'll have to bar everyone associated from office! Wow, but that's a lot of people. Maybe we're all being a little overzealous about this "insurrection" thing, eh?

Okay, say it with me so you don't forget: Violence in support of a wannabe dictator does not equal violence in support of people who keep getting murdered by police. And if you've got room for a little extra credit: Property damage does not equal showing up with a scaffold and demanding to hang the Vice President.

I've mentioned the Machine that Dispenses Justice before.

It's a unicorn because it's not real. We can't build a legislative structure that coughs up justice every time without any human imperfection to guide, interfere with or mitigate it. The complex interplay between method, results and intent is only part of why.

Neoliberals (among others who buy their rhetoric) really want that that Justice Machine. The messiness and conditionality of real justice bothers them. Conservatives DGAF, but they're willing to pretend in order to get Democrats to shoot themselves in the foot. See above. Oh noes! The Justice Machine won't work every time if you add a piece that requires a human being to detect nuance! Violence is always wrong, isn't it? Maybe, if we just agree that the threat of violence was overblown in this case, we can leave this broken gear aside and get back to building the machine for real? (As soon as it's politically expedient, we're going after that Black woman, aren't we? Oh, yeah. Totally.)

While we're gearing up to blame voter apathy, poor white trash and privileged Progressives for whatever the election might bring, the folks in the Room Where It Happens are busy making deals that will bypass the voters altogether. Does the current Machine that Dispenses Justice (justice pending) say a man who wants to end democracy is allowed to run in a (theoretically) free and fair democratic election? I don't know yet, but your input will not be required for this aspect of our "democracy." Don't call us (or do, we have plenty of volunteers and form letters for dealing with you!), we'll call you when it's time to pick a candidate. NO! DON'T VOTE THIRD PARTY! ARE YOU MAD?!?

But with Republicans willing to forgive people who want to hang them for the sake of winning a few more elections, and Democrats elevating compromise above self-preservation, even if Biden wins, you might not get that peaceful transfer of power you want. You might not get that safety you want. We have yet to generate consequences that will take Trump (or another man like him) out of the game, although we swear up and down that the system we've built is meant to do that. The Machine that Dispenses Justice (justice pending) just can't process someone with that level of power and privilege. And that's not justice... or democracy. That's a fucking emergency, we are about to have a fucking election, but I don't hear any candidates willing to admit it yet.

So what are we fighting for?

I know you have an answer. You're a human being with a human brain; you can think when you want to. But, no matter what your answer is, are you sure that's what the folks on your ballot are fighting for too?

#us news #politics #justice #the machine that dispenses justice #i like unicorns too but i'm not willing to put trump on the ballot because republicans might give me one #or because biden looks best against an unattractive man who's sundowning too badly not to quote hitler in front of the media