Last week Chappell Roan (forgive me if I misspelled their name, I’ve heard it and read it but did not block brain-space to confirm that spelling) made news for statements regarding voting and not endorsing and…. I struggled with some of what they said.
I have a problem with “Fuck the policies on the right, but FUCK some of the policies on the left!” – this screams of some “both sidism” which is…. God, this drives me CRAZY. Let’s pretend two people show up in the ER. The one in front has a broken leg. The other has been shot three times. Should they be treated in order of arrival? Are they equivalent or the same? NO. NOT AT ALL. Even implying that the sins of the left are equivalent to the literal evils from the right is wrong.
And don’t get me wrong – the democratic party has a cancer. There are insidious problems with lobbying (both sides!), with insider trading (both sides!), tax evasion (both sides!), and more. I don’t agree with every policy from the democratic party. Until this year, I didn’t agree with their (lack of a real) immigration platform – because Biden either didn’t have one or did a really shitty job selling it (perennial problem of the democratic party – they are terrible at selling their ideas). I think they have 30 years of struggling to formulate (or at least communicate!) a clear international platform (vacillating between barely-hawkish and conciliatory) – I personally think Harris’s is only better than Trump’s because she doesn’t like dictators… which is pretty fucking important.
There is absolutely a pattern of communication failures I lay on the Democratic party. They suck at it. There might be valid reasons for some of that failure, but it still drives me nuts.
And yes, I said literal evils for Republicans. Mass deportation is something I would expect to see in a dark fantasy like the Purge. Not even to mention Trump’s idea to allow the fucking police essentially a Purge Day…. because THAT wouldn’t be FUCKING EVIL?? Stripping abortion rights even for rape and incest. Discussion of revoking the marriages of millions of same-sex couples. The statements from “rising republican” and “better than MLKJr” Robinson in NC that we should bring back slavery and take voting rights from women. And if you want to say this is some kind edge case…. there are more and more edges to this disgusting brownie pie. Karri Lake (not looking up how to spell her name either). JD fucking Vance. Marjorie Taylor Green. Whats-her-face-911-denier Trump took to a 911 memorial THIS YEAR (2024). Lot of edge cases…. and not just some goop-ball in a local seat… national stage people.
I can pick on policies which the democrats have proposed. There are democrats who should not be in office (dude from NJ caught with gold bars from Egypt in his closet) but that party actually deals with them. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not perfectly. But better than nothing. It’s better than lifting up crazy voices like MTG and Robinson and Lake….
Roan then said she “can’t endorse with her whole project.” Ok. Fine. My opinion is that “endorsement” does mean “I support this candidate with my time, my money, and actively encourage others as well.” I assume what Roan means is that at least two of these are not stances they are willing to take. Sure.
The fact Roan (the audio I heard) sounds angry to be asked about who they are voting for confuses me a little. And let me be clear. Every report I read or heard talks about the fact Roan is struggling with fame. So I wonder if some of this anger is because there is a fear and sensitivity I’m not grasping.
Years and years ago, my sister gave me an excellent image of “sensitive topics” for people. Imagine someone flicking your arm. Just a little flick. Not super hard, but noticeable. One flick might not hurt. A few dozen might not hurt. But thousands? Hitting the same spot over and over and over. What starts as relatively painless turns into a bruise and then injury and then trauma… and even the lightest touch makes you want to scream in agony.
Is this what is going on with Roan? I have no idea. To be generous, I am going to assume it is. Subjects which has always felt personal and private are suddenly topics peppering Roan – love life, food, politics and religion… and maybe this anger is that protective response to fearing another painful flick. I don’t know, but that is the assumption I am going to make.
I encourage people to do their research. In past elections, I’ve laid out Georgia ballot initiatives. I always approach it with a multi-faceted approach: the text. Commentary from both/multiple perspectives and what they are saying/proposing. Finally, my own perspective. I put effort into includes references and links. And it IS a lot of work. Because I don’t just want to tell people what to think. I want to help them follow my process and only at the last put out my conclusion. This post doesn’t even follow that model because I’m too exhausted… I will try in the coming weeks to start my research and process on ballot measures in Georgia.
Dream by Day 