His 'bill of particulars' on problems with the Trump Unity Statement needs to be shared. (I had just written my substack and now must tip my hat, multiple hats, to you on this essay. Here are the bills of particular, that I did not write about and should have:
1.BURDEN. It places the burden of healing the country on those not responsible for wounding it.
2. UNILATERAL DISARMAMENT. It asks well-meaning, earnest people to stop doing what they never were doing in the first place, while conceding that the people who are still doing it will not stop.
3. WEAK ON CRIME (if they are the defendants) It deplores crimes against the common good without being interested in perpetrators.
4. PAPER TIGER solutions. It substitutes a vague idea of “coming together” for the urgent and vital work of stopping an ongoing campaign of sowing hatred, disinformation, distrust, and enmity. As you wrote: " When you’re raising chickens, and they’re routinely being killed by hawks, you don’t need unity. "You need a scarecrow, maybe, and some mesh netting, and perhaps to hang up some flashy objects."
In conclusion. I, too, was looking for a way to deplore the history of political violence and call for a nobler, more dignified politics . Maybe I had the wrong timing. But Trump is the wrong candidate to be noble about; since his notion of America is a "war of all against all."
Anand wrote: "What the Unity Statement is attempting to reach for is worthy and righteous. But we must find a way to deplore political violence and call for a nobler, more dignified politics that doesn’t erase reality, deny causation, whitewash recent history, and give a free pass to those who have brought the American republic to this brink."
One evening, an elderly Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside each of us.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”
“The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”
Great effort at explaining my concerns over 'unity. Read this piece from Anand Giridharadas of The Ink on 'unity. . I hope it’s not paywalled.https://the.ink/p/against-unity?r=9e9e3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
More from Anand.https://the.ink/p/against-unity?r=9e9e3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
His 'bill of particulars' on problems with the Trump Unity Statement needs to be shared. (I had just written my substack and now must tip my hat, multiple hats, to you on this essay. Here are the bills of particular, that I did not write about and should have:
1.BURDEN. It places the burden of healing the country on those not responsible for wounding it.
2. UNILATERAL DISARMAMENT. It asks well-meaning, earnest people to stop doing what they never were doing in the first place, while conceding that the people who are still doing it will not stop.
3. WEAK ON CRIME (if they are the defendants) It deplores crimes against the common good without being interested in perpetrators.
4. PAPER TIGER solutions. It substitutes a vague idea of “coming together” for the urgent and vital work of stopping an ongoing campaign of sowing hatred, disinformation, distrust, and enmity. As you wrote: " When you’re raising chickens, and they’re routinely being killed by hawks, you don’t need unity. "You need a scarecrow, maybe, and some mesh netting, and perhaps to hang up some flashy objects."
In conclusion. I, too, was looking for a way to deplore the history of political violence and call for a nobler, more dignified politics . Maybe I had the wrong timing. But Trump is the wrong candidate to be noble about; since his notion of America is a "war of all against all."
After reading other substacks, like the INK, I am reconsidering my essay and slice of optimism. Strong perspectives on the Vileness of JC Vance . See Steve Schmidt' The Warming' .Also, today's Big Stuff with Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Youngman https://open.substack.com/pub/adamparkhomenko/p/todays-big-stuff-71524-president?r=9e9e3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Anand wrote: "What the Unity Statement is attempting to reach for is worthy and righteous. But we must find a way to deplore political violence and call for a nobler, more dignified politics that doesn’t erase reality, deny causation, whitewash recent history, and give a free pass to those who have brought the American republic to this brink."
Jay Kuo's column--Status Quo- may be instructive. Different tone than mine. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/gop-gaslighting-and-trumps-cycle?r=9e9e3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
One evening, an elderly Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside each of us.
He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”
“The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”
https://x.com/i/status/1812924512989815114