Post by @volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy

This was an extremely unpopular tweet, partially because people misunderstood the intent & partially because Bluesky is a tiny homegenous hothouse filled with libs who establish their relative status by using the most heated & extreme rhetoric. Notheless, let me explain what was on my mind.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:twjze4qqf6fgxz33ct52wlnl/post/3mzlqjvdbuk2t

Bluesky Social

David Roberts (@volts.wtf)

I would just beg everyone, very much including elected Dems, to vigorously reject the words "retribution" & "revenge." Do not say them. Object when others say them. That's not what's happening here. The words you want are "accountability" & "rule of law."

David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 3 days ago

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David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 1 hr. ago

"Corruption" is a tricky issue and, like so many issues, is *not* symmetrical in its meaning or its effect.

The party that is purely out for tribal advantage & does not actually give a shit about rule of law does not need to convince voters that it is law-abiding or honest. That's too big a lift.

David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 1 hr. ago

Instead, it just needs to convince voters that *nobody* gives a shit about rule of law, that everyone's just out for themselves, that everyone bends & breaks the rules to their own advantage, that only silly, unsavvy, naive fools believe that it could be otherwise.

AKA: "Everyone does it."

David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 1 hr. ago

This weary sense among voters that everyone's lying & bullshitting & cheating *serves the reactionary party*. They want the zone flooded with bullshit, they want everyone feeling cynical & confused. Cynicism serves their goals. It helps them. They deliberately cultivate it.

David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 1 hr. ago

So the thing reactionaries do -- always, in every context, large & small -- is a) cheat and b) accuse the other side of cheating. If anyone uncovers or criticizes the cheating, you can just respond with whataboutism. Everyone does it. Don't be naive, don't be a fool, everyone is in on it.

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David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 1 hr. ago

The mainstream press, for tediously well-documented reasons, helps the reactionaries do this. Because reactionaries have been accusing them of bias for years (cheat, accuse your opponents of cheating), they are utterly cowed, utterly terrified to do any coverage that seems asymmetrical.

David Roberts

@volts.wtf@bsky.brid.gy 59 min. ago

The political press is *also* served by this weary cynicism. It relieves them of their duty of discernment. "Oh everyone does it" sounds world-weary and savvy and, best of all, it requires no thought, no work, no judgment. So they chase every fake scandal the reactionaries gin up for them.