Unity

[Siderite]

A while back I was involved in a discussion with JI about unity in America. It was charged that Biden hasn’t done enough to unify the country. I disagreed saying that many Republicans are simply not interested in unity. This is exactly what I mean:

A stark contrast in the excerpts released by the White House for President Biden and the Republican response from Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Excerpts are only a portion of remarks, of course. Biden emphasizing bipartisanship. Sanders talking about Biden admin "woke fantasies." pic.twitter.com/4wND2y6es4

— Tamara Keith (@tamarakeithNPR) February 7, 2023

Biden making a statement urging bipartisanship, Huckabee Sanders portraying Democrats as an enemy. How does Biden create unity with that? Huckabee Sanders and her ilk are simply not interested in any sort of compromise, and those with this mindset make up a large chunk of Republican support now. Their idea of unity is to acquiesce to their demands, no matter how unreasonable, which is unreasonable to expect of Biden. It takes two for unity and it’s clear many on the American right don’t want it, not really, unless it means Democrats surrendering to their whims. No matter what Democrat voters want, their concerns are invalid compared to the Republicans’. It doesn’t matter that Democrats won more votes, did better than expected in midterms, they are expected to do everything to satisfy Republicans, to the detriment of what their own voters expected of them, according to some. That’s not workable.

I suggest to Republicans who are unhappy that they analyse why they aren’t doing so well, get over the fact that they lost the presidency in 2020 (as some can’t even accept they did), and address the concerns why so many Americans are animated to vote against them. We always hear about what Democrats need to do to win over disgruntled Republicans, even if they wouldn’t be won over anyway, it’s time we heard about what the Republicans need to do to regain trust among millions of real Americans (not some metropolitan liberal elite fantasy – unless they think more liberal elitists exist than salt of the Earth common men, who all vote Republican, of course).

And, no, before Bucks or anyone shows up to tell me I think the Democrats are perfect, I don’t. I shouldn’t need to qualify arguments against one side with both sides waffle and false equivalence fallacies. It’s irrelevant to this specific point.

[Iron-awe]

Anybody studying American politics, particularly over the last seven or eight years, should have the nous to realise the Republican Party are in a real mess and are more interested in tearing each other apart then doing what is best for their country. You even had MTG standing up and calling Biden a liar in his speech last night when he stated Senator Rick Scott had proposed a change in social reform that would have made millions of Americans much worse off in their living standards and medical care. It’s not even a topic a lot of moderate Republicans would argue with Biden about but the extreme right keep pushing their poison to the American people and some of the American people appear very gullible to right wing propaganda in the extreme. Sad to see such a powerful country struggling with basic principles of integrity and reason in their politics.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Gurnelista, Deereyme66

[Just Iron]

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[Siderite]

I would add that I wasn’t using this story to get at you, if that’s the worry. I just happened to stumble across this, it rejigged a memory of that past debate and I thought I would share my thoughts arising from this.

[Deereyme66]

Just Iron wrote:

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Lol, what’s that symbolise JI?

[Heath]

One of his best posts?

[Siderite]

I usually find JI’s posts quite interesting, even if I don’t agree.

[Iron-awe]

I think even JI would find it hard to disagree about the state of the Republican Party right now.

[Siderite]

Sorry for sharing the odious DDN, but here is another reason why proposed unity isn’t always a virtue:

BREAKING: Starmer Tells Left to Leave & Corbyn Won't Stand:

"This reveals Starmer as dishonest because he promised unity, knowing he'd get rid of the left, and personal treachery: he stood alongside Jeremy Corbyn knowing he was going to put a dagger in his back."

– Ken Loach pic.twitter.com/twnLYiZGJw

— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) February 15, 2023

Just like with intransigent Republicans the only way to get Loach and co to accept a unity with the rest of Labour is to say that anti-Semitism claims and such are a smear and Saint Jeremy is a great humans rights campaigner we should all follow as an example. Obviously this is impossible for a Labour Party which respects the results of the EHRC. However, it’s what the commentators on this part of the left, who try and present themselves as reasonable in the face of mainstream malice, would only accept for unity. Just as with many Republicans and their demands for unity. Neither Starmer or Biden should go that far to appease the opposition as to lose their intended purpose, alienate their own voter base or accept racism, and if that brings a lack of unity, then maybe it’s not them to blame.

There is an argument here about how Starmer sold himself, but it’s the lesser evil than accepting anti-Semitism or anti-Semites.

[Author]

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