Failure to Think, Episode 1

Like it says on the tin, I think about stuff. Also, I get unreasonably irritated when people with whom I might otherwise agree fail to do so. Today's exhibit, therefore, is entitled "How to Be Smarter than Marjorie Taylor Greene." 

Greene has been in the news lately because she's facing a hearing, in which various activists are trying to get her disqualified from running for Congress again. I've heard various people, including some NPR folks who ought to know better, who sound like they're practically salivating at the the thought.

I yield to nobody in my distaste for Marjorie Taylor Greene. But . . . let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that the highly improbable has happened. Greene has lost the case, she's lost the appeals, she's been thrown out of office, she can never run for federal office again. Liberals get everything they dreamed of and more.

Now what?

What about the 229,827 voters who supported her in 2020? Are they suddenly going to see the light? Will we find them holding hands with Black Lives Matter activists, singing "Kumbaya" and peacing out on weed?

No. We will not.

If Marjorie Taylor Greene's supporters can't vote for her, they'll vote for someone else just like her. And if they can't vote for someone else just like her, they'll vote for someone worse. By getting rid of Greene, you have accomplished precisely one thing: you've confirmed her supporters in their strongest (and most destructive) beliefs. 

The problem isn't Greene. The problem isn't even that 229,827 people voted for Greene. The problem is that nobody is making any effort to provide those 229,827 people with an affirmative reason not to vote for Greene. Democrats seem to think they can just go in front of those voters and say "See? You're wrong about everything!" and then We will win and They will lose and everything will be OK again. 

Uh-huh. Sure. 

Let me know when the magic sparkly unicorns come flying down, too.

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P.S. I will continue to point out that my own record as a prognosticator isn't bad.

 

Remember Me?

No, of course you don't. That's the problem, really.

Of all my character defects--I can provide lists, with references--one of the most vexing is this: I lose enthusiasm for things. It's not just this blog; it's all of my hobbies. The culpa is definitely mea.

Having said that, the fact is that nobody reads this blog. I mean actually, literally, nobody. So, no, you don't remember me. The Internet, remarkably enough, seems to have survived my several-years' hiatus unscathed.

On the other hand, I said when I started that this was, basically, a way to be obscure on a larger and more permanent platform. Yes, the Internet has survived this far, but why risk it?

So here I am. As proof of life, I offer photographic evidence containing my wife Robin, our emergency backup cat Biscuit, and a small fraction of our books. (Robin is the one wearing glasses.)