by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Jesus, this is a depressing topic. But here goes. We’ve all learned a lot about our fellow Americans over the last year. The key take away I’ve gotten from how our political system has — or hasn’t — processed January 6th is how shocking it is to me that even American democracy is seen through the lends of Blue and Red.
My Traditionalists relatives weren’t upset with the objects of Trump’s coup, they were upset with the violence. That’s it. They would have been fine if the coup was bloodless and simply a fucking with the law. Then they would shrug and say “the system worked” and shut up, libtard about “democracy,” the United States is a “constitutional republic.”
But they couldn’t stomach the violence. The actual goal of the event was a lulz to them.
In a way, I’m at peace now. I now know that for my Traditionalists relatives there is only one “red line” for Republicans that would make them sit up and take notice — if I, personally, ran afoul of the autocrat. That’s it, that’s the only red line they have. They’re willing to burn 240 years of American democratic tradition to the ground as long as they don’t have to worry about being “canceled” for being conservative.
And only if their center-Left relative is snatched off the street and “vanished” will they do anything about the United States becoming an autocracy. And, even then, it would be only for my specific instance. It’s not like they would become Molotov cocktail lobbing radicals. They just would want me safe. (Which is commendable, given how much of a clusterfuck everything else would be at that time.)
AS such, I know that there’s nothing I can possibly say to change my relatives minds. They have that one red line and that’s it. The end of American democracy will be barely a speed bump to them. Not until we’re a full fledged Russian-style autocracy and I get rounded by ICE will they notice or care. So, I’m wasting my breath to even talk politics with them.
