1/ Muslim Americans were in the GOP crosshairs from 9/11 to 2017. Remember Sharia law bans? Calling Obama as a Muslim as a slur? The McCain town hall where some woman rants "HE'S AN ARAB!" and McCain says "no he's a good man."
2/ Are you old enough to remember the "Ground Zero Mosque"? A Muslim wanted to build a community center in NYC, and the right-wingers lost their goddamn mind:
(from @attackerman.bsky.social book "Reign of Terror")
4/ Islamophobia peaks in 2016, Trump says vile shit about Muslims the entire campaign. Muslim visa ban drops on week 1, finally Dems have some backbone.
2 years later we have Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and Keith Ellison is AG of MN. 4 years later, Biden appoints the first Muslim federal judge.
5/ There was no grand strategy for Dems to cede the argument until the GOP got so racist/hateful it became unacceptable. But that's sort of what happened.
To the extent this is relevant to trans rights, it was so obvious the venn diagram overlap of
From a strategic standpoint, refusing to engage in their bullshit is probably the smartest play. Making it clear that you vehemently disagree with them and acting like a normal person while your opposition puts on a clown show has a history of doing more good than public outrage.
Respectability politics works. It worked for civil rights. It worked for gay rights. Being seen as “normal” and “respectable” by the broader public is a vastly underestimated strategy.
They're certainly wrong in one respect, which is they seem to think I believe she shouldn't have fought it. In fact I don't have much of an opinion on that, as I say in the post. My only opinion is that people should avoid losing their shit over this stuff
Everyone wants to fight fascism while simultaneously calling everything the democrats do a betrayal. Unless we're planning on planting bombs, I'd like to know what exactly the strategy is here.
I’m gonna have to go ahead and agree with whoever this is. Sorry you’re not as much of a John Brown stan as you think you are. Trans lives are on the line right now.
Comments
2014 Bill Maher segment with the zeitgeist:
https://youtu.be/vln9D81eO60?si=GpGYjV2s4DDF0_9F
(from @attackerman.bsky.social book "Reign of Terror")
2 years later we have Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and Keith Ellison is AG of MN. 4 years later, Biden appoints the first Muslim federal judge.
To the extent this is relevant to trans rights, it was so obvious the venn diagram overlap of
Just like "those just concerned with women's sports" and "those who want to execute trans people" is the same 95% overlap.
But it does seem to be a pattern that Dem cowardice