The Political Silly Season

The other day, I saw a list of states ranked by their "safety" for LGBTQ+ persons. Predictably, the red states were all given D or F grades, but since it was a meme, there was no supporting information as to what made them "unsafe." My curiosity piqued, I decided to track the information down, and found this site that reviewed the methodology.

While the grades include a "hate crime" component, the site does not provide any hard numbers in that regard. What it does offer in detail is how it judges another component: state level laws affecting LGBTQ+ persons. After perusing that, I started to question the term "safety." What the "law" component measures is friendliness, not safety. Without delving into the increasingly incongruous conflation of gays and lesbians with transgender persons, or the growing body of data that argues against transitioning minors, or the farcical “science” behind allowing born-male athletes to compete in sports against other women, I can still raise an eyebrow at the notion that "religious refusal" laws make people unsafe. While I don't agree with the baker who wouldn't bake the gay wedding cake, and would shop elsewhere (long-time readers might recall I was arguing in favor of gay marriage when and before Obama was saying "man and woman,” have always supported gays’ right to adopt, and so on), I also believe in freedom of association, and believe that market mechanisms are the best means of sorting things out.

Point is, it's a mighty big stretch to call such a safety matter.

But, we are entering the silly season.

With the concerted and coordinated efforts between the Democratic Party apparatchiks, the legacy media, and deeply partisan prosecutors to derail a second Trump presidency backfiring, the pounding of the table is getting louder.

The usual suspects have already informed us, time and again, that "democracy itself is at stake" in this election. In other words, if Trump gets elected, he will anoint himself god-emperor and turn the country into a dictatorship. Exactly how, no one seems to have an answer for. But, silly details like that are not allowed to get in the way of a good slogan, so many very earnest people repeat that bit of hyperbole with wide eyes and furrowed brows (go ahead, look in the mirror and see if you can do both at once).

That's been around for a few months now, and since it hasn't managed to knock Trump down in the polls, the time to go to eleven appears upon us. Behold, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) voicing her fear that, if elected, Trump will just throw her in jail. How or based on what, again, aren't relevant - the assertion of fear is all that matters.

The Babylon Bee provides a useful and serendipitous (it literally appeared on my Facebook feed as I typed this) headline:

Merrick Garland Threatens To Arrest Anyone Who Says His DOJ Is Corrupt

For those living under a rock, the Bee is a satire site, and a very good one. The Bee headline points at the "accuse others of what you would do yourself if you could" nature of the anti-Trump fear-mongering. The Democrats have been the ones waging war on democracy, with their lawfare, their phony dossiers, their endless investigations, and their outright lies. That on top of the "executive order" Presidency and the massive, unaccountable administrative state. It's also their* President, not Trump, who appears to have actual ties to foreign business interests and malign influencers.

As for anti-LGBTQ attitudes, yes, indeed, there are many on the Right who still oppose gay marriage and equal treatment of gays under the law, and who view gay relationships as wrong or sinful. I've no use for any of that, and think that the various complaints about Pride Month are also largely wrong-headed, but to the Left, I say "first, look in the mirror." It's quite apparent to me that Jews are at greater personal risk from the Left today than gays are from the Right.

The latest absurdity in that vein is found in the criticisms about Israel’s rescue of four hostages, along with a continued unquestioning repetition of whatever claims Hamas makes, no matter how improbable or impossible, and no matter how many past claims proved false.

Many are predicting violent protest at the Democratic National Convention in August. Violent protest not from right-wing reactionaries, racists or bigots, but from the Left's pro-Hamas faction. Here it is worth again pointing out that someone who supports Hamas is someone who also supports the subjugation of women and the imprisonment or murder of gays. So, once again, the “fear” the Democrats are spreading is psychological projection.

Want more silly season? Ponder the widespread accusations of "genocide" by Israel against the Gazans, accusations that not only fall apart, but are utterly risible under any rational assessment.

Alas, it's only going to get worse. Chicken Littles only squawk louder when they are not heeded, and gadflies like AOC only know one way to argue for their side. There are 145 days until the election, and possibly weeks after that before we know the final outcome, if it's a squeaker of one, and the nuttiness will only ratchet upward across these next few months.