by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
It is clear to me now that for my Traditionalists relatives their red line when it comes to the rise of tyranny is when things become personal. They are so absolutely fixated on being “canceled” just for being conservative that they are willing to embrace the policies of MAGA to the point that we become autocracy. They don’t see it in those terms, of course. They just think I’m being “hysterical” to even broach the idea that there will come a point when their very vocal anti-MAGA relative may run afoul of the autocrat and have his head knocked in
.
This is because, of course, they don’t like the implication that the policies that they support are, well, bad. And they are bad. They’re tyrannical and cruel. But for them, again, I’m being “hysterical.” There’s no way that my fears of ICE (or whomever) snatching me off the street could possibly happen should another Republican become president.
They laugh at my notion that by definition, any Republican who becomes POTUS from here on out will be an autocrat and do everything in his — or her — power to strangle Lady Liberty one way or another. They support MAGA’s “cruelty is the point” policies and, as such, they’re willing to burn our democracy to the ground — for them we’re not even a democracy. We’re a “constitutional republic,” you know.
The obvious implication of all of this is, not until whatever the autocrat does effects them, personally, will they sit up and take notice. Otherwise, everything is an abstract. To put it another way — they would be the people who absolutely support Roe V. Wade being overturned….until their 15 year-old-granddaughter gets pregnant and suddenly her life is ruined because her parents can’t afford to spirit her out of the country to get a safe, legal abortion in Canada.
THEN they sit up and take notice.
The same with me. I’m a loudmouth crank. I say whatever the fuck I want. I never do the right thing. I don’t even know what the right thing is, sometimes. (All of this is within reason, of course.) What I mean is — whatever the consequences are of me calling President Pompeo a fat fuck while drunk at a bar in 2027 are, I’m willing to suffer.
My relatives love me, but it won’t be until they are face-to-face with tyranny on a personal level when I get snatched off the street by ICE that they will begin to re-think their support of “cruelty is the point” policies that the autocrat has instituted.
So, for me, all this talk of illiberal democracy or autocratic America is not an abstract. This is my life we’re talking about. I’m willing to ride this particular free speech pony to the bottom. I keep telling my Traditionalist relatives that I will never shut up and for them to know that when they inevitable pull me aside and try to tell me, “For the sake of the family, I suggest you shut up.”
Fuck that. Not going to do it. If they had made common cause with me against MAGA at the start of this clusterfuck, they wouldn’t be put in that type of position. Because of their failure to do that, we’re all just going to have to suffer at the hands of autocrat.
If you want to call that my own implementation of “cruelty is the point,” the so be it. But I’m never fucking shutting up. Free speech is my American birthright and if I want to call President Pompeo a fat fuck, I’m going to do it. Damn the consequences to me or my family.
Of course, my Traditionalist family members can’t process that as even being a possibility. They think that’s just my usual crazy talk. The only reason why I’m so adamant about this particular situation is that this is not an abstract to me. You can be scared of brown people all you want to, be willing to give up all of the implied freedoms associated with living in a democracy to prevent them from taking political power from you, but in the end I’m still going to be dead in a ditch because you didn’t make common cause with me when you had the opportunity.
And any assurances I might get that they will help me out if the worst happens ring hollow. They’re just saying whatever necessary to shut me up by that point. Why do things have to get that bad? Why can’t we all unite against MAGA to defend our democracy that is found within our constitutional republic? But no. Cancel culture and woke culture that hurts their fee-fees is too important to them.
They never take me seriously, anyway, even when I’m proven right! Probably because they just dismiss me as a well meaning crank, just like everyone else does.
Anyway. I know what I believe and I know what I’m willing to suffer for in the real life. Which is better than a lot of people out there.
