As always, all pieces linked to in Ordinary World are for discussion and consideration, not endorsements by Ordinary Times.
[OW1] Bernie Sanders Isn’t Scared of Fox News. Why Is the Democratic Party? by Alex Shephard: “The debate over whether Democrats should engage with Fox is a microcosm of the broader debate within the Democratic Party about engaging with Trump voters. Just as many Democrats believe that appearing anywhere on Fox legitimizes the network’s most offensive bloviators, many believe that courting Trump voters will require legitimizing the president’s views. Both fears are understandable, but quite overblown. If Democrats want to win back white voters—and that’s a big “if”—they need to meet those voters where they are.”
[OW2] Democrats, Don’t Follow Republicans’ Efforts to Undermine American Institutions by Sarah Quinlan: “Republicans forfeited the ability to advocate for preserving norms and institutions in the future without being hypocrites. They willingly gave away the moral high ground. When progressive politicians disregard norms to advance their agendas, Democrats can now point to a litany of instances of Republicans doing the same, rendering criticisms from the GOP impotent. I hoped Democrats would learn from our mistakes rather than repeat them. I hoped they would stand up to any extremists in their own party. I hoped they would refuse to follow down the path of delegitimizing American institutions for their own temporary electoral benefit. Unfortunately, for some, that does not seem to be the case.”
[OW3] The Mormon Church Tries to Create a Little More Space for LGBTQ Families by Emma Green: “The new policy will create space for LGBTQ Mormons and their families to engage more comfortably in their Church communities, and many hope it means they will find greater welcome there. The former policy “caused a lot of pain and turmoil to people that I love,” Christofferson said. “I know a number of folks for whom that was a breaking point.” Although Christofferson openly identifies as gay and left the Church for a number of years while he was in a relationship with another man, he has since rejoined the Church. For other LGBTQ Mormons, “my hope is, now that [the policy has] changed, they will consider rejoining and worshipping with us and help us to keep moving forward,” he said. For many current and former Mormons, however, the consequences of the 2015 policy cannot be undone. Their relationships—with the Church, with their families, and with God—have been irreparably damaged.”
[OW4] ‘Beto’ and Other Names in Politics and Life by Jay Nordlinger: “As a rule, people have a right to the name of their choice, I believe. They also have a right to the pronunciation of their choice. Again, this is a rule: We could think of exceptions, as to almost any rule. Incidentally, O’Rourke pronounces his name “Bet-o” rather than “Bait-o.” It rhymes with “falsetto” rather than “Plato.” I hope you don’t mind a quick George Bush story — this is Bush 41. A speechwriter placed a quotation by Demosthenes — or was it Thucydides? — in some speech. Not wanting to stumble over pronunciation, the president said, simply, “Plato.” Probably no one was the wiser.”
[OW5] Beto & Buttigieg: Skepticism of the Mainstream Media Darlings by Lauren Elizabeth: “When pausing to consider both of these candidates, it really isn’t all that surprising why they are so loved by the mainstream media. They are exactly what they search for in a Democratic candidate. They are young, rising democratic stars who they see as the next Barack Obama. These men walk a thin, careful line when asked about their policies as democrats, in the mainstream media’s view, should. They’re not here to ruffle any feathers, unlike Justice Democrats such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They are here simply to be a new, young face of the same old party.”
[OW6] How Past Bombshell Reports Paved The Way For The Mueller Report by Paul Blumenthal: “Past fights over disclosure of Washington reports do not provide a roadmap to how the Mueller report clash will play out. Each disclosure fight has played out under its own set of rules, in its own political environment and with its own group of actors. The fight over the Mueller Report will play out under a set of regulations that hasn’t previously spurred this kind of clash. What the history of these fights over official reports does show is that, when tested by scandal, law-breaking or tragedy, the legitimacy of democratic government rests on the broadest disclosure possible.”
OW2 – There was a quote from Bo Winegard that I read recently that seems applicable here:
It feels weird to me that anyone would think Progressives would resist the urge to blow up institutions. That’s kind of their thing.Report
Which institutions are conservatives trying to preserve?
Social Security? Medicare? The New Deal banking laws? The American aspiration of welcoming immigrants?
Isn’t the whole premise of the Intellectual Dark Web and “classical liberalism” the free expression of the individual in defiance of social norms of behavior?
And wasn’t Trump’s entire campaign based on burning down the entire edifice of The Elites, The (((Globalists))) and The Swamp?
Isn’t that also the impetus behind Brexit and the Yellow Vests, the idea that the existing institutions are corrupted and rotting, and need to be destroyed in order to be rebuilt correctly?Report
@chip
Our conversations would be more productive if you didn’t challenge every critique of the Left with a what-about-the-Right statement.
The IDW is really just about being able to challenge mainstream ideas. The reasons why most SJ Liberals don’t like it because the IDW is primary challenging regressive ideas on that side of the aisle.Report
I am literally challenging your very quote from Bo Weingard, that conservatives are trying to preserve tradition while liberals want to destroy it.
There is no single “tradition” that can be preserved. “Tradition” includes defenses of chattel slavery, and universal suffrage. It includes vicious xenophobia and tolerance of strangers.
To assert a generalized defense of “tradition” as Winegard does is nonsense on stilts.Report
Policies and institutions are not the same as traditions. American never had a tradition of slavery. It was a (terrible) policy in some of our colonies. Tradition transcends those things. It’s broader ideals like ‘America welcomes immigrants’ and ‘all Americans own public land’ and those values enshrined in the Bill of Rights.Report
I suspect this statement is false.Report
“Broader ideals” can also include horrible ideals, and traditions can include horrible traditions.
Slavery was based on a very broad ideal of ethnic superiority. The idea that Europeans were somehow superior to all other ethnicities wasn’t some one-off, some quirky aberration to their beliefs. It was central to their ideals and a tradition for centuries.Report
I’m not going to get into the entire history of slavery, which literally goes back millenia and changed frequently, but I think you are grossly over-simplifying.
Regardless, the quote I referenced also talks about Centrists, which is where I fall, so I’m not really looking to defend conservatism here. I think the point is, conservatives get hung up on tradition, progressives think nothing is sacred.Report
Isn’t one of the biggest criticisms of SJWs that they are priggish moralizers, latter day Puritans who scold and police language and behavior?
This was actually one of criticisms back when I was a conservative, that the liberal who wants to smash the sacred icon actually has a sacred icon of his own that he very much wants to preserve.
Which is still my point, that there is no single “tradition” to which we can appeal. There are multiple traditions and ideals which are sometimes honored, sometimes ignored, sometimes applied to this group or that.
What we are usually fighting over is who gets protected by what ideal.Report
I think the argument would be that the SJL has become a religion more in the way it is structured and the way it functions, not so much regarding the actual ideals it upholds.Report
“Which institutions are conservatives trying to preserve?”
Freedom of speach, freedom of religion, due process, you know, stuff that is in the consitution.Report
It’s trivially easy to find conservatives working to undermine those very things. You can, of course, dismiss those cases using “no true Scottsman” style reasoning, but that will only undermine your honesty and credibility.Report
That was a bit of a stretch before conservatives made Trump president; now it’s a sick joke.Report