The Bothsides Argument Will Kill Us All
By: Rick Wilson
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rick WilsonApr 09, 2024200Share this postCopy linkFacebookEmailNoteOther57Share
I'm seeing a lot of traditional, DC "bothsides" reporting lately, arguing that this is at some level a "normal" election between a center-left Democratic party and a center-right Republican party.
This morning, Axios published a piece by Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei titled "Behind the Curtain: America's reality distortion machine," which caused a stir in political media circles.
It leads out with a question: "Here's a wild thought experiment: What if we've been deceived into thinking we're more divided, more dysfunctional, and more defeated than we actually are?" and proceeds to make some pretty good arguments about why we're not a dystopian hellscape. I think they missed the big point, and this piece will stand out as a Washington Normalcy Bias exemplar for a long time.
My friend Molly Jong-Fast lit them up on Morning Joe,
She had precisely the right response: "But you understand that the conventional framing elevates the autocrat."
No, not every American — in fact, not even a majority — is locked in the day to day of political struggle. Yes, there are silos. Yes, the algorithmic hypnosis of social media is real.
I cede all those points. America is a nation filled with hundreds of millions of people who aren't partisan jihadis, left or right. There really is a desire for basic decency, decoupled from political rage, induced or not.
They're not wrong to make these points, and the America they describe is one we should crave—not being involved in politics every moment of the day is a luxury only present in stable democracies.
But they ignore the existential issue underpinning this all.
We aren't in a nation where the sensible center will survive if Donald Trump wins.
Only one side of the political argument wants their president to govern like a dictator. Only one side believes that the President is above the law — if his name is Donald Trump. Only one side of the political equation mounted an armed attack on the United States Capitol.
Only one side has welcomed the "no enemies to our right" philosophy, which means their party winks and nods at the alt-reich, the white nationalists, and the rest of the Daily Stormer crowd. Only one side is banning books, diving deeply into the seas of culture war cruelty and persecution.
Only one side backs America's enemies abroad and promises to hand Europe over to Vladimir Putin on a plate. I could recite the Bill of Condemnation all day, but you understand the point.
The political movement that embraces the aforementioned horrors is MAGA, and its sole leader is Donald Trump.
Once again, the world is playing chess, and Donald Trump is eating the pieces and crapping on the board, and instead of horror, the reaction is a shrug.
This isn't a regular election with typical outcomes.
Ordinary people living ordinary lives who think politics doesn't matter and that the world will go on as it has can't grapple with what happens in a post-American Presidency. It seems a lot of Washington reporters can't either.
Normalcy bias is the best friend of authoritarians. If you think the algo-driven bubble on social media is robust, nothing tops normalcy bias. This cognitive bias can play into the hands of authoritarian regimes or leaders in a few ways:
It plays to the natural tendency for people to underestimate the possibility of a disaster, dictator, or disruptive event coming to the fore. It lets people assume that things will continue as normal because they've always been that way. (Berlin, 1936, anyone?)
It lulls people into complacency: they assume things will continue as they always have, and like frogs boiling in a slow pot, they may fail to recognize creeping authoritarianism and the erosion of democratic norms and civil liberties until it's too late.
It makes people—even people reporting on it professionally—miss clear signals that a movement or regime is becoming more authoritarian, even when its leaders lay out their plans in broad daylight.
Once you say, "It can't happen here," there's a high likelihood it's already happening.
The normalcy bias makes people slow to react and resist authoritarian encroachments because they don't perceive the seriousness of the threat until it's too late.
Normalcy bias also rears its ugly head after the damage is done. Authoritarian actions are emergencies, you see. "The Caravan! Antifa! Transing the kids!" demand temporary measures lulling citizens into acceptance of the worst…and the temporary measures seem to last forever.
People convinced that the current system is immutable are less likely to make contingency plans or organize resistance against potential authoritarianism taking root. Trust me, the Never Trump folks screaming into the void for the last decade can tell you all about this one.
It's tempting to hope that societal inertia in the center will overcome the energy and danger on the MAGA flank.
It hasn't, and it won't.
I sense a tremendous lack of urgency.
We live in a degraded country.
Normally the main problem is that too many people think party über alles. Nothing matters to them (ultimately, and regardless of their protestations to the contrary) other than the party of the candidate.
That is in effect now. But we ALSO have MAGA cultism. There are millions, it would seem, that would follow Trump anywhere. They are not partisans, they are delusional cultists.
First sign of a Trump cultist is belief that the 2020 election was stolen. Second sign is belief that Trump has done nothing wrong. Third sign is belief that Trump cares about them more than himself (or, really, that he gives a shit about them). Fourth sign is belief that Trump is competent.
Yeah, at this point, party über alles would be an improvement. From a purely basic policy standpoint, many Republicans - who aren’t incompetent, criminal assholes - could replace Trump. But the Trump supporters have made it clear that they aren’t interested in that option.
First sign of a Trump cultist is belief that the 2020 election was stolen. Second sign is belief that Trump has done nothing wrong. Third sign is belief that Trump cares about them more than himself (or, really, that he gives a shit about them). Fourth sign is belief that Trump is competent.
I could not agree more with these four points.
That being said, I still think that Biden is the wrong person to be president and will not be voting for him (or Trump) in November of this year. I will be voting and when I figure out for sure who I will vote for I will share the news.
My position is that neither Biden nor Trump should be running for the presidency, but between those two, Trump is unacceptable to the point of it being irrational, irresponsible and unpatriotic to vote for him.
Which is why both sides- ism is detrimental to the desired outcome
Of course. I have no complaint with calling out both sides-ism when one is trying to argue that both sides are equivalent.
But I do object to calling out both sides-ism when one is merely making a comparison — especially if the comparison shows clear inequality.
There is an unknown number of voters who will say "if both sides are equally bad we might as well vote for trump". It is quite possible this can be enough in number to get trump elected.
IMO, anyone who thinks Biden is equally as bad as Trump is beyond reason or has a superficial understanding of political reality.
There are far too many of both types.
That makes no sense. Why would they say they might as well vote for Trump instead of Biden unless there were real reasons for them?
Ahhhh, so your starting to get a little concerned?
In that case, there is no reason to always qualify, excuse or explain your support for the reelection of President Joe Biden...
Do so wholeheartedly, or just be quiet!
Anything else ultimately favors Trump.
You too?..
i am just saying why bothsidesism is ill advised
Damn Right!
Donald Trump is a traitor. Maybe one day you will realize that
And I agreed with that.
The world is not binary. My opinions are not binary. And my participation on a social forum will not be hobbled.
The best way to operate is with objective honesty. You will be hard pressed to convince me otherwise.
Completely agree but many here are set on a black-white world.
Do so wholeheartedly, or just be quiet
And people claim trump supporters are in a cult…
If you support Trump then do so proudly...
Okay. But that doesn't answer the question to your strange hypothetical.
That's cute, I bet the Biden one has velcro instead of buttons... am I right?
You're welcome...
Those who believe Trump and think that he is looking after them are most definitely in a cult.
Working class people that believe Biden and think he is looking out for them are also most definitely in a cult.
Are you then going to cast your vote for Trump?
Demanding wholehearted fealty to Biden and that he not be criticized is what cults do. You are conflating that with simply being wrong.
But that does not make Biden an acceptable choice.
John
It is not "both sides -ism" but rather "neither sides ism" for me and millions of other voters who will vote for neither Biden or Trump in November.
You are starting to reuse your memes, must be nearing a total loss for words on the issues, eh?
Just kidding
While that is surely true there should be many that say ""if both sides are equally bad we might as well vote for Biden". What makes you think more will go Trumps way?
Biden's policies are detrimental to our democracy, freedoms, and way of life, and it is irrational, irresponsible and unpatriotic to vote for him.
Your comment is the peak of bothsidesism.
Trump is a traitor, you know it , I know it, and we all know it. America's honor and national character is at stake. If we throw it away now we may never get it back.
Do more than simply make claims. Mere claims are no different than bullshit.
Make an actual argument.
And then show how electing a vindictive, loose-cannon, narcissistic traitor who is the only PotUS in US history to try to steal a presidential election through coercion, lying, fraud, and incitement is rational, responsible or patriotic.
Who is saying Trump and Biden are equally bad? Anyone who believes that has glossed over reality so much that it would simply be a blur to them.
No, it makes him the lesser of two evils. And, from my perspective, the lesser by an order of magnitude.
This game of deflection from Trump defenders is beyond old.
Those who believe Trump and think that he is looking after them are most definitely in a cult. By definition.
The people that JR is talking about in 3.1.3.
Anyone who believes that has glossed over reality so much that it would simply be a blur to them.
Seems both candidates are bad for different reasons (and even a few of the same). I can see many intelligent critical thinkers that see the shortcomings of both people, decide the severity of each shortcoming for themselves, and make decisions if either one is deserving of their vote or if they will vote for what they consider "the lesser of two evils".
They are perfectly capable of doing so without being called names, ignorant, unpatriotic or any other labels some on the left want to bully them with.
The idea seems to be there is only one side and that if you don't agree with the Biden side you should just shut up. As we all know silencing one side from even being heard is what keeps Democracy going. S/
That really doesn't answer the question or have anything to do with my comment but Kudos on taking the opportunity to insult anyone that that doesn't agree with your assessment.
Of course that is ridiculous. Pure partisan politics is a phenomenon of both major parties. To pretend that it is just the Ds that do it is itself partisan.
What it does is include the part of my comment that you excluded.
Once again you are missing the point and trying to put words into my mouth that I never said or meant.
So it has nothing to do with my comment(which you have never really responded to, but that is OK, it was originally a question to JR) but with your comment. Thanks for the comment.
Donald Trump sat watching TV coverage of the Capitol riot/insurrection for three hours without doing anything at all to try and end it , or protect the Capitol police or the members of Congress. The reason that he did nothing is because he wanted the riot/insurrection to succeed in delaying or preventing the counting of the electoral votes that afternoon.
In and of itself this fact should prevent Donald Trump from ever holding office in the United States again.
But there is much more -Trump attempted to subvert the electoral count on January 6th and prior to that day he attempted to subvert the election results within individual states. These actions should also disqualify him for holding office in the United States for the rest of his life.
People who would still support Trump even in the light of these facts deserve to have their patriotism questioned.
Your comment stated "seems to be there is only one side". You focused on the Ds and excluded the Rs from doing the same thing.
Given this is a phenomenon that applies to both major parties, your comment is wrong. The focus on one side suggests partisan bias.
Further, even if your comment was balanced and acknowledged that both major parties engage in (outrageous) partisanship, that would simply be a boring observation of the obvious.
No. You're just repeating the same thing and substituting Biden. Not true. Quite lame.
TiG never does that so you are wrong.
You're not funny.
Throwing away your vote is nothing to be proud of.
Yet you loathe the former 'president' turd and will vote for it.
Once again you are missing the point and trying to put words into my mouth that I never said or meant.
Question away. I am confident they are thinking something similar about Biden for different reasons. I am also confident they are ignoring having someone question their patriotism
.... is a bullshit retort used to deflect in lieu of an actual rebuttal.
People say that, and I think that’s a perfectly reasonable position to have. But when they could have voted for Nikki Haley, or Chris Christie, or even Ron DeSantis, they didn’t. Instead they voted for Trump - a man who encouraged violence and anger in his supporters based on the lie that the election was fraudulent, and then did nothing to stop the violence.
If this were truly about policy or competence, almost any other choice would have been better.
For emphasis.
[deleted][✘]
[✘]
T
I am hilarious
Throwing away your vote is nothing to be proud of.
Voting for someone that you truly believe is not right for a position is ignorance, voting one's conscience is something to be proud of no matter how much derision is thrown one's way.
I appreciate voting one's conscience. In fact, I fully support voting for a person that you feel is best for the nation. And that includes accepting the fact that no candidate will ever be perfect.
I also appreciate your position that neither candidate in 2024 should be PotUS and thus your refusal to vote for either. My position has been that if Trump did not have a chance at the presidency, that I would also vote for who I believe might be best for the nation; knowing fully that my candidate would not have a chance to actually win.
But that is not an option for me. Trump definitely could be elected PotUS. Given the fact that if Biden is not reelected then Trump will be PotUS, I will use my vote as effectively as possible to help keep him away from the presidency. That is because Trump is, in my judgment, entirely unacceptable — an order of magnitude worse for the nation than Biden.
You call that ignorance. I would like to see your argument that my well reasoned, informed choice qualifies as ignorance.
A related, but IMO even worse belief, is that he has done wrong things, but it doesn't matter. That’s how we end up with a mob of people storming the Capitol, assaulting cops, and threatening members of Congress. Because no action is unacceptable if it means their idol wins.
Tacos!
You ae correct
Is there Anything Joe Biden can do that, in your mind, allows him to be criticized?
Only if he loses to Trump Nov 5th! (not likely)
Thank you for proving my point.
we have to stop calling current leftists liberals, the blatantly authoritarian successor ideology bears little relationship to the traditional liberalism we grew up with, or even the more pro labor version of it.
Stop hoping Trump gets elected president before it's too late.
The "mature middle" is the home of Neither Side ism"