Great episode this week! I felt that John was a bit pedantic when reflecting on the effects of the events on January 6th. I think Glenn summed it up pretty well. However, I do not think the criticism of Trump and his active role in normalizing illiberal activities amongst republican lawmakers went far enough. Equating Trump to Stacy Abram is a bit much seeing as one actively tried to and still attempts to undermine the foundations of democratic processes while the other was just a sore loser at the time. I agree that how the media on the left depicts Jan 6th is overdramatic. It wasn't a coup attempt by any means ( at least not a competently orchestrated one). It was, however, an international embarrassment and a civilization-defining moment. America is the model for modern democracy and displays of Jan 6th hurt our moral authority on the matters of democracy. Events like that day only serve to strengthen the hand of Russia and China, who are staging their own illiberal activities in Ukraine and Taiwan/Hong Kong.
As for black heterodox women, I would not consider Carol Swain among them. Her insistence on staying a strong uncritical supporter of Trump is disqualifying. Perhaps a concrete definition of the term "heterodox black voice" is in order. Kimi Katiti is a great black woman, who, much like Carol Swain is rooted in a Christian foundation. She is from Zimbabwe and lives in LA, but has lived all over the world, giving her a global context that is important for Black America. Brittany Talissa King is another heterodox voice who is especially interesting, given her early involvement in the BLM movement post-Michael Brown. Both have sizable Youtube followings.
To be frank, I can't take seriously the idea that Trump needs to be punished for "inciting" the Capitol riots. The entire spring of 2020, Democratic politicians everywhere were encouraging the race riots taking place in major cities across the country. Here in Wisconsin, the two major cities, Madison and Milwaukee, were both hit hard, and when Jacob Blake made the news, before the public had any more information than that the cops had shot a black man and that he was hospitalized, our governor released a public statement condemning the officers and touting how he stood with BLM. He made it clear that it was the position of the governor's office that the cops were in the wrong without anyone even knowing the circumstances. They were cops and Blake was black and that was all the information anyone should need. And partly fueled by that approval from on high, Kenosha burned, Kyle Rittenhouse was attacked and he killed 2 men and those rumbles are still being felt today, in racial tension, in elevated crime rates, in our discourse at all levels. The fact that our elected leaders would not say "no" to violence has hurt us all, and to single out Trump is absurd. I'll accept the argument that Trump is responsible for the damage in DC... but I will only accept it if the person leveling that charge accepts that Democratic politicians are responsible for the much more serious damage nationwide. And forgive me if I'm skeptical of any left-leaning folk taking that position.
Great episode this week! I felt that John was a bit pedantic when reflecting on the effects of the events on January 6th. I think Glenn summed it up pretty well. However, I do not think the criticism of Trump and his active role in normalizing illiberal activities amongst republican lawmakers went far enough. Equating Trump to Stacy Abram is a bit much seeing as one actively tried to and still attempts to undermine the foundations of democratic processes while the other was just a sore loser at the time. I agree that how the media on the left depicts Jan 6th is overdramatic. It wasn't a coup attempt by any means ( at least not a competently orchestrated one). It was, however, an international embarrassment and a civilization-defining moment. America is the model for modern democracy and displays of Jan 6th hurt our moral authority on the matters of democracy. Events like that day only serve to strengthen the hand of Russia and China, who are staging their own illiberal activities in Ukraine and Taiwan/Hong Kong.
As for black heterodox women, I would not consider Carol Swain among them. Her insistence on staying a strong uncritical supporter of Trump is disqualifying. Perhaps a concrete definition of the term "heterodox black voice" is in order. Kimi Katiti is a great black woman, who, much like Carol Swain is rooted in a Christian foundation. She is from Zimbabwe and lives in LA, but has lived all over the world, giving her a global context that is important for Black America. Brittany Talissa King is another heterodox voice who is especially interesting, given her early involvement in the BLM movement post-Michael Brown. Both have sizable Youtube followings.
To be frank, I can't take seriously the idea that Trump needs to be punished for "inciting" the Capitol riots. The entire spring of 2020, Democratic politicians everywhere were encouraging the race riots taking place in major cities across the country. Here in Wisconsin, the two major cities, Madison and Milwaukee, were both hit hard, and when Jacob Blake made the news, before the public had any more information than that the cops had shot a black man and that he was hospitalized, our governor released a public statement condemning the officers and touting how he stood with BLM. He made it clear that it was the position of the governor's office that the cops were in the wrong without anyone even knowing the circumstances. They were cops and Blake was black and that was all the information anyone should need. And partly fueled by that approval from on high, Kenosha burned, Kyle Rittenhouse was attacked and he killed 2 men and those rumbles are still being felt today, in racial tension, in elevated crime rates, in our discourse at all levels. The fact that our elected leaders would not say "no" to violence has hurt us all, and to single out Trump is absurd. I'll accept the argument that Trump is responsible for the damage in DC... but I will only accept it if the person leveling that charge accepts that Democratic politicians are responsible for the much more serious damage nationwide. And forgive me if I'm skeptical of any left-leaning folk taking that position.