"Big picture what you are seeing in Ukraine — and maybe Taiwan too — is a conflict between people who believe in words, gestures, the blue check left wing journos of the world and people who believe in raw, physical power. The left wing of the Democratic party is anti-masculinity," conservative radio host Clay Travis commented. Conservative commentator Matt Walsh took the opportunity to mock military diversity and inclusion initiatives. One of the idiotic implications here is that Russia's actions in Ukraine could somehow be stemmed if Americans didn't care so much about things like gay rights, race, or gender. As if Russian President Vladimir Putin's imperial ambitions could've been checked if "blue check left wing journos" just got more serious. As if Russian warmongers really care about what pronouns you do or don't use. I mean, talk about narcissistic idiocy—to think that the U.S. culture war or domestic policy has any bearing on this at all. The other frightening implication is that Russian-style shows of aggression and "raw, physical power" are traits the U.S. should want to emulate. But being big bullies who don't respect international law and international sovereignty—or individual rights and tolerance within our own borders—wouldn't make Russia less likely to invade. It would just lose the U.S. any claims to moral high ground or a chance to show that there's a better way. In any event, the culture war isn't the only out-of-place issue that pundits want to wind into war discussions. Author Laurie Garrett wondered if Putin's actions weren't inspired by long COVID. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry worried about the effect of the Russian invasion on greenhouse gas emissions and public attention to climate change. At the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday, Turning Point USA Director Charlie Kirk said that "the southern border is a lot more important than the Ukraine border." Comments like all of those above seem so transparently self-promotional (look, look, here's how a war across the globe is really about the thing I'm always talking about already!) and beyond gross. Now is not the time for petty culture war grievances and personal grifts. Yes, life—and news—in America goes on, but maybe the day Russia starts bombing Ukraine isn't the time for your critical race theory rant or your masculinity-crisis paranoia, you know? And it certainly isn't the time for you to try and tie whatever you would be on about anyway into the war news cycle. I promise, the culture war and all its brave keyboard warriors will still be there next week. So will COVID-19, and climate change, and border battles. Just let it go for a minute.
Show some respect, empathy, and perspective. If you're tempted to post things like: Russia is doing this because Americans use too many pronouns! At least Putin isn't woke! How will the murder of Ukrainian civilians affect gas prices? Stop. Go outside for a walk. Call a loved one. Cuddle a pet. Do anything real and good and tangible while counting your blessings that you will very likely never know the fear and pain of having your country invaded by a warmongering dictator. This isn't about us. Stop making it about us. More Reason coverage of Ukraine: |
No comments:
Post a Comment