What About
The great trend of “whataboutism” has essentially become one side dismissing a valid argument when the other points out that side has similar issues. It can also be that a side with problems that refuses to deal with those problems deflects by pointing out the other side has those problems.
Sometimes, however, it is very, very valid to point out the comparables on the other side to highlight a lack of intellectual honesty. Sometimes asking “what about” is justified and relevant.
Having had my say on Marjorie Taylor Greene, it is absolutely appropriate now to ask the Democrats about their own side.
They gave Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez a pass on justifying riots.
"I believe injustice is a threat to the safety of all people. Because once you have a group that is marginalized and marginalize and marginalized...once someone doesn't have access to clean water, they have no choice but to riot. And it doesn't have to be that way. I'm not even taking about Palestinians. I'm talking about communities in poverty in the United States; I'm talking about Latin America; I'm talking about all over the world," she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also inspired a man to attack an immigration facility after claiming the United States was running concentration camps at the border. Notice how, after 2018, the kids in detainment facilities were still there, but the shrill rhetoric of concentration camps disappeared.
The media and Democrats gave her a pass on her rhetoric inspiring a violent attack. “But Trump,” they scream.
Maxine Waters encouraged protestors to harass and chase Republicans from restaurants and show up at people’s homes. That very thing happened and the rebuke from the Democratic Party was quite mild. Though multiple news outlets did have to talk about it and push back after President Trump made a stink, the Democrats themselves did nothing.
Democrats ran ads and mail pieces showing Paul Ryan throwing a grandmother off a cliff as they attacked Republican healthcare efforts. Their shrill rhetoric inspired James Hodgkinson to attempt a mass assassination of Republican members of Congress.
No Democrat was censured for their rhetoric. None were stripped of committee assignments. Nancy Pelosi remained as Speaker.
I think the GOP needs to clean up its own house. I think it needs to deal with people like Marjorie Taylor Greene.
But I absolutely understand the reluctance of Republicans to do so. Time and time again the Democrats and media give Democrats a pass on similar things. Yes, in fact, an attack on an ICE facility based on Ocasio-Cortez’s rhetoric is comparable to the mob storming the Capitol. So too is an an attempted mass assassination of Republicans inspired by Democrat rhetoric.
Those of you who decry the GOP and Marjorie Taylor Greene are going to be hard pressed to get a lot of us to care if you demand we clean up our house and make excuses for your own side. This cannot be a one way street or it will be no street at all.
Add in the latest revelations about John Weaver and the Lincoln Project. It turns out John Weaver’s abusive behavior toward young men was well known. Despite this, Democrats and the press used John Weaver to attack Republicans and advance candidates like John Kasich. On MSNBC, even after allegations surfaced, no one bothered to ask Lincoln Project members about it. They gave cover for their friends and allies.
Karl Rove raised the Weaver allegations decades ago and even then the media circled the wagons on Weaver and accused Rove of a smear. They protected Weaver until now, when he is no longer useful.
Sorry folks, but while I may try to be vocal on my own side’s problems, I totally get why a lot don’t bother. There is a recognizable double standard and a lot of people are not interested in constantly dealing with their own side when the other side gets a pass.
So yes, what about the Democrats? It is relevant and Democrats screaming “whataboutism” are just showing they don’t think they have to deal with their own crazy.
I totally agree with you, Erick. I see the problem as Republicans were so dang tired of being beaten up by the left....politicians, media, big tech....and resentful of being labeled as racists, homophobes, haters, deplorables, and any other horrible adjective you can think of. Our representatives sat there and never fought back. With Trump we FINALLY had someone who would fight for us and now our country is splitting apart. I could just KICK the asses of the fools who stormed the Capitol....it just gave a very dangerous group of people license to change this country forever.
Last week, a group called “CuomoWatch” took a rant of Maxine Waters, encouraging Democrats to harass members of the Trump administration in public, copied it word for word, changing only “Trump” to “Cuomo”, and posted it on Twitter. The condemnation from NY politicians came hard and fast...with multiple people demanding that Twitter ban the group that posted it, multiple politicians claiming it was despicable, unacceptable, “hate speech”, incitement to violence, etc...
When confronted with the indisputable fact (by posting the video of her rant), that those were the words of “Auntie Maxine”, many of those tweets were immediately deleted. But, not before screenshots had captured their tweets, and the mockery intensified. Not one was willing to acknowledge that “their side” had been guilty of the exact same speech they were denouncing. The few who did respond had nothing better to say than “That’s different, because...Trump”.
Nothing has better exemplified the double standard and refusal of Democrats to condemn incitement to violence within their own party. I had to wonder, though, how those Democrats were totally unaware of the origination of that rant...has the bias bubble become so strong that they were genuinely unaware of it?
The Capitol riots played right into the Democrats hands, and I can understand why so many conservatives refused to believe they were Trump supporters...because it violated every tenet of their own beliefs, and they couldn’t believe anyone could be that stupid as to give them such a political gift.