Oh Please...

Both sides do it has been changed to both sides would do it. So at least they've recognized a little bit of the bullshit.

And yes, it's bullshit. 

First it's bullshit because no, both sides don't do it. There is a marked difference between what the two sides do. One side tends to wring their hands and worry about fairness and what people will think. The other side changes terms and moves goal posts and explains why it's totally different when anyone not wanting to be willfully ignorant can see that it's not. 

Second it's bullshit because it's a nonsense argument. It's not one parents accept from children, "Susie did it." Who cares? You aren't Susie and I'm not Susie's mother so you are still grounded. It's not something we would accept from a spouse, "Everyone cheats." It's not something we should use to justify our own hypocrisy. 

So stop it. It's a bullshit argument. What you mean is I do what I do and fuck you for expecting anything else.

And now...

Democratic Party Members, I'm speaking to you...

Stop expecting the Republicans to play by any sort of fair play rules. It's not going to happen. 

I've talked about this being one of the most frustrating parts of the Obama presidency for me. The man kept thinking that Republicans were honorable in their intention. They weren't. They never intended on being that way. They only wanted to shut him down. Lucy and the football. 

Republicans will use what ever levers of power they have at their disposal to make things work for them. 

Democrats need to do the same. 

Stop being concerned about how it looks. Or is it fair. Or it's not the right way to do it. 

If in the next election a giant blue wave comes (and I hope it does) and Congress and the White House are all blue then you need to move on those laws like a bitch. Grab them by the legislature and make some changes. Don't wait to ask. Just pop that tic tac and go for it. And if you have all the levers, and you do your research first, they'll have to let you because you have the power. 

When they go low we go high is a great aspiration that leaves you sitting at the top of a tree while someone cuts it out from under you.

Stop worrying about a game being played fairly when the people you think you are playing against are not playing that game. 

Republicans gerrymandered their districts so hard that they are now beholden to the most conservative wing of their party. They know if they try to go moderate they will be primaried out. They did it to themselves. It's why you get national polling on things like sensible gun laws but a Congress who won't vote for them. They know that it doesn't matter if the majority of people (Republicans and Democrats) want the laws, what matters is their extremists are the ones that turn out for primaries. They will do the same with Roe v. Wade, with LGBTQ+ rights, with regulations, with tax cuts, the most extreme parts of the party are the ones electing them. They will not get more moderate. 

Stop expecting them to.

Progressives need to progress. We need to move forward. We need to get some actual protections in place written by sound legal minds so they can't be overturned by an increasingly ultra conservative judiciary. And the next time progressives hold all the levers we need to stop worrying about how it looks and pull those son's of bitches!

I'm honestly in fear for the continuation of our country as we know it, even if the way we know it right now isn't great it's better than it could get. 

I don't know what happens in November.

I think it will be bad no matter which way it goes.

But for fuck's sake, vote blue and let's at least give saving it a try!