My critical contribution to this debate is to note that it’s a tough call, and that basically all the options look very fraught at best and potentially disastrous at worst, because our political system is in the midst of a long not-so-slow decline.Lately I find myself increasingly pushing back at anyone who thinks it's an easy call, and argues with vehemence appropriate to that judgment.
I feel like people on Twitter have been snapping at each other all the time lately. Everyone is on edge. We're in a situation that is completely untenable, that cannot be allowed to continue, but that absolutely will continue until (at least) January 20, 2021. Trump has to be removed; Trump will not be removed.
And so we're all in a shitty mood and getting inordinately pissed off at people with whom we agree on 80-90% of everything, over an issue where we mostly just disagree on the timing.
Trump is just so fucking exhausting.
Sorry, I know I sound almost as cheerful as Steve here. But the point isn't that the situation is shitty (it is) and isn't going to change for a while (it won't). The point is the toll this shitty situation is taking.
And maybe it would be a good idea to recognize that toll when we interact with each other. To understand that we're all stressed and anxious right now; to understand especially that the people most vulnerable under Trump (i.e., everyone except white guys) are stressed and anxious to a degree the rest of us can only imagine. To treat each other with kindness and patience, and to refuse to let small differences escalate into acrimony.
Because we're all in this together unless we aren't. And if we aren't, the enemy will go on winning long after January 2021.
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