I don't think I'm one of them either. I'm one of mine.

Category: US Politics (Page 2 of 2)

One of many reasons why I’m grudgingly pro-Ukraine…

… is that Russian culture-warrior bullshit has gotten out of hand over the past decade or so. The Russian legislature—dominated by Putin’s neoconservative United Russia party—is coming very close to banning legal recognition and surgery for trans people, even though laws allowing transition have been in place for over twenty years.

We have politicians like this in America, too, but at least they don’t have an iron grip on Congress (and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the levers of power).

Do I think a Ukrainian victory will force Russia to have better policies? Maybe not. But reducing Putin’s sphere of influence may make his policies less popular. Remember that it’s not just Ukrainians Putin is mistreating; it’s also his fellow Russians.

 

Cancelling “America” is a gift to Trump and other right-wingers

There’s a movement afoot on the woke left to “cancel” the name America. This is asinine performative bullshit, just like land acknowledgments and #KyivNotKiev.

A lot of the objection comes from Latin Americans who do not live in the United States. The last I checked, the inhabitants of a country get to decide what they want to be called in their own language. In this country, people call themselves Americans. Mexicans and Bolivians can call us estadounidenses all they want. I don’t give a shit. But that doesn’t give them the right to dictate what people in this country call themselves in English.

Instead of “America,” the cancellers use “US,” “USian,” and other constructions. But they don’t have the same effect on the reader.

“US” sounds cold, sterile, like a government form. “America” conjures up images of apple pie, baseball, the Stars and Stripes, the valiant troops fighting the Nazis and the colonial British overlords. “Captain United States” wouldn’t have the same ring to it, would it? “Make the US Great Again” wouldn’t stand a chance as a political slogan. It’s too bureaucratic.

I can just imagine Trump making hay of it at one of his fascistic rallies: “Look, everyone. Many people are saying that the woke left is trying to cancel the word America, OK? They say, ‘Sir, they’re telling us not to say America, that it’s not politically correct.’ And I will say this, folks, they’re trying to cancel our entire country. Very sad. But with Trump, you’ll Make America Great Again.”

I’m not an American chauvinist or nationalist fanatic; in fact, I’m a fierce critic of American imperialism, especially in the name of “democracy promotion.” But that criticism can happen without this kind of performative bullshit (see a theme?).

Sad!

 

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