artlung.

Observation on whataboutism

It’s always neat when I meet people who say “President N also did that in response to a criticism.” Sometimes it’s useful historical context. But often it’s a feckless way to divert criticism. The claim that every President is the same or every President is just like Trump is laughable and deserves ridicule. Moreover, the claim that nothing ever changes ever with government is also laughable. Rights to vote, rights to marry, treatment of gays, tax burden changes over the years, access to healthcare, access and quality of education. These things change. And pointing at Obama or FDR or Clinton or Reagan or Bush or whoever doesn’t negate the fact that the current President is hostile to good governance and good manners and is an affront to anyone with operating brain cells. The emperor has no clothes. Tell the truth about it without deflecting.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.