I recently published this tweet
Graham’s Tweet compared the 10 Republicans who put Country over Party and voted to impeach Leader Dearest note to Judas betraying Jesus. This implies, indirectly, that Leader Dearest shares the same elevated status as Christ Jesus.
And so I tweeted.
And then I began to regret it. Not for any publicity or blowback this caused, because there wasn’t any. One person liked it; I doubt anyone else saw it. My regret comes from questioning my own beliefs about violence that, while generally are against violence for any reason, are beginning to change. I am afraid I am falling into an emotional trap that convinces me that the only way the insurrectionists will change their hearts is to commit acts of violence against them.
They are, after all, a violent lot. BLM never erected a gallows with the Vice President’s name on it. The Women’s March in 2017 didn’t break windows. The insurrectionists seem to understand nothing but violence. There was a quote in 2019 from a True Believer who was put in a hard spot because of the President’s shutdowns and said that Leader Dearest was “hurting the wrong people”. I suspect that woman still believes in Leader Dearest. But the idea that maybe not hurting people doesn’t seem to be an option in their thought processes.
I suspect that the insurrectionists who attacked the capitol will believe they are in the right all the way through their arrests, trials, and incarcerations. I believe that if they are shown one ounce of clemency or if the judicial system fails through mistrials they will remain convinced of their cause and try it again.
The armchair historians on Twitter have been pointing out that Hitler was arrested for the Beer Hall Putsch but released early and within a decade he had risen to power and mislead millions into death and destruction.
I don’t expect Leader Dearest to live for that much longer, but his children will be around, his enablers will still be around, and they’ll be looking for someone to make them feel the way Leader Dearest made them feel. They’ll want someone to lie to them and tell them their financial insecurity isn’t because Walmart came in to town and replaced all the local businesses with shit wage shit jobs, but because that “dark skinned fella, who probably doesn’t even speak English”, will work for less money than the wealthiest family in the country pays their employees, and it’s only that high because of minimum wage laws.
I do not want to be a violent person. I’ve never really been violent. My cruelty comes out as sarcasm and gossip and holding grudges, all of which are bad habits I have intended to end in the past. The bad times in my head come out when I imagine myself physically hurting someone on purpose. I’ve had a few instances of unintentionally hurting others, when I was kid. I was bullied and teased a lot by the students and teachers, so I do have a base feeling that society is inherently violent and cruel. The result of me trying to fit in hurt others, even when I didn’t mean to.
I view people like Graham to be purveyors of hate, not the Gospel of Christ. They twist words around to keep themselves is the center, not God, which was what Jesus was all about. Jesus says “give your money to the poor”; Graham says “give your money to me”. Graham believes in criminalizing human beings. Graham refuses to accept the charge Jesus makes on all His follows to love your neighbor.
I regret my tweet and I am sorry for it.
But I am still afraid it’s the only way Graham will learn how wrong he his.
Notes:
- I use the term “Leader Dearest” as a multifaceted attack. We know the 45th President of the United States adores dictators like North Korea’s Kim dynasty, and wishes for the same public adoration. However, his leadership is more akin to the parenting skills in the fictional portrayal of Joan Crawford in the 1981 film, so the word order is deliberate.