Newly elected House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claims he does not remember “some of” the many, many anti-LGBTQ+ comments he’s made over the course of his career.
Johnson’s history of opposing LGBTQ+ rights has been well documented and stretches back to the early 2000s, when he worked as a senior attorney and national media spokesman for anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom (then called the Alliance Defense Fund). Between 2003 and 2005, Johnson also wrote several editorials for Shreveport, Louisiana, paper The Times, criticizing the Supreme Court for striking down anti-sodomy laws, opposing same-sex marriage, and arguing against non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.
Nah, I don’t want the pretending. At least when they are open about it it’s easy to see and call out.
It’s the death of a euphemism when that happens and it’s rarely good. I want him speaking in euphemisms because it means he catches flak for outright saying what he wants.
Gotta disagree, because it’s always seemed to me that the death of a euphemism theory is a bit off, in that it’s mistaking a road sign for an actual turn.
Yes, when that happens it portends bad things, but I’d argue the act of mask-dropping isn’t a catalyst but a high water mark. Normally when fascists drop the mask, it’s because they believe public sentiment is already so far in their favour that they no longer need to maintain appearances.
If they do it too early, they may lose their populist tide, which imo should be encouraged. Delaying it only pushes the peanut farther, allowing them to brainwash more people. eta: The problem will have to be dealt with eventually; best do it before they’re confident in their support.
(I think I’ve got most common metaphors out of my system now.)
When they’re pretending it means they’re willing to acknowledge the shame of their immoral stance. It’s when they stop pretending that they openly go after these things and dare anyone to try to stop them. Normalizing their hatred and bigotry really isn’t preferable, it’s a step toward enabling even worse behavior on their part.
It’s not shame that’s been slowing them down, though, it’s fear their base isn’t sufficiently radicalised to accept full fascism. Some percentage of their base would vote them out if they dropped the mask.
At least we’ll find out whether that’s true if they stop pussyfooting about.
I get the argument, but there’s plenty of hard evidence. Calling it out is important when it can weaken them - such as near election time. Otherwise, their silence and denial is better than normalizing further backsliding to the general public, imo