Thanks for the update. Now I suspect that this “Italian” restaurant puts garlic in their Carbonara!
3 Likes
It seems to me this tactic relies on tacit cooperation by restaurant staff, most of whom earn minimum wage. Somehow I don’t see it going the other way.
3 Likes
The Woolworth lunch counter, and every other business that, for decades, had zero problems telling people “we don’t serve your kind here”, with the force of the mob and the law behind them.
That is no longer “normal” in America. Let’s not roll back the clock.
False equivalence. The oppression at that time was segregation at the lunch counter. Ted Fucking Cruz is not being oppressed. He’s a Senator being addressed by his constituents for the redress of grievances as specifically called out in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. If he doesn’t like the heat, get out of politics. It’s not a game for the thin skinned.
13 Likes
Um… Ted Cruz is not a discriminated against minority. He’s a political radical with a misogynistic and religious exclusionary agenda.
Also, JINX @DukeTrout
9 Likes
Don’t focus on “we’re right and they’re wrong.” You’ll get no argument from me.
Focus instead on what is sustainable in the long term. If we make this tactic the “new normal”, for whatever reason, we are going to see our adversaries turn around and do the very same thing in spades, as they’ve gleefully, massively done before.
If we’re going to shift the norms on what is and isn’t acceptable, it is eminently foolish to normalize a tactic that the other side can do way better than us.
Citation required.
Just in terms of numbers, the fascists are massively outclassed. The GOP is supported by about 1/4 of the population.
7 Likes
What you seem to be arguing is only a slight modification of the call for showing courtesy to tyrants. “Let’s be civil!” towards people who put toddlers in camps and who are rushing to get a sexually-violent drunk on the Supreme Court.
No, I’d prefer not to.
ETA: There’s a reason this is happening now. In the past, there were really shitty things done by presidents, administrations, both R and D. But what we’re witnessing right now is so far across the line, you can’t see the line from here. The end game is clear. Republicans can see where demographics in the US are headed, and they only survive that change by drastically reshaping how the government is structured, run, and “elected” to the point where they can hold power with a small minority of voters.
7 Likes
Let’s not get distracted by a strawman “civility” argument.
This is a matter of handing the other side a tactic that plays to their strength: there is nothing the American right enjoys more than excluding “those people” (for whatever value of “those” is currently the scapegoat) from businesses and public spaces.
There are plenty of effective tactics that play to our strength. Let’s focus on those, rather than just picking fights we can’t win merely for the short-term emotional catharsis of it.
As I pointed out, it’s a winnable tactic. You do know the demographics of the service industry, right? It’s not the Republicans’ turf.
What straw man? Unless I’m wildly misreading you, your point can be summed up as “don’t be mean to Ted Cruz at restaurants because then the Charlottesville Nazis will be mean to Bernie Sanders at restaurants.” I disagree. The restaurant manager/owner will kick the Charlottesville Nazis out on their ass, and Bernie will finish his meal in peace.
5 Likes
In the mouths of certain politicians, “civility” is nothing more than code for “how dare you disgusting little people have the temerity to challenge your betters; shut up, don’t fight, obey our every whim.”
Ideally, yes, there should be some sort of respect and decorum in politics. But ideally, politicians should be our best and brightest, not limited to those who are richest and best-connected. Ideally, politicians should be focused on how to serve their constituents and the country as a whole, and not those whose greed and lust for power drive them to benefit only themselves. Ideally, politicians should obey the laws, not act like they are above every law and standard of decency, exempt from any form of accountability.
Far too many politicians these days have no intention of serving as this country’s ideals demand. Since they are unwilling to grant any form of respect or decorum to anyone, they are unworthy of any respect or decorum in return.
Screw their idea of "civility."
12 Likes
6 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
