A Whore doing God’s work, or a God doing Whores’ work: The stories we tell ourselves
No one can live in America without an opinion these days. You can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train, as our friend Howard Zinn once said. An author who saw the horrors of war firsthand and spoke out against them. I’m not sure he could fathom this America, and I wonder what he and Vonnegut would make of it.
My preference is to afford grace to the people with whom I have disagreements. People who, at best, are driven by virtues I hold little stock in, and at worst, are ill-informed. Taoism defines evil as a lack of awareness, ignorance. And I think that’s right, I don’t believe in the concept of evil but then again, I’ve never fought in a war or investigated a murder. I don’t know what that word is truly capable of.
There is a common refrain: You would support this if Biden or Obama were doing it. It’s the irony of all ironies that they wouldn’t. But I appreciate the question, and it is the correct instinct. How would they feel if Obama encouraged federal agents to murder Tea Party protesters? But let me guess, that would be different somehow, but how exactly? How would I feel about this if someone else were doing it? I can say for myself, there were plenty of Obama policies I disagreed with, immigration being one of them. But I don’t deify my politicians; they are there by the will of the people to do a job. Their job, in my estimation, is to do the best they can for their constituents, the ones who voted for them and the ones who didn’t. They are not ordained by God.
Voting, what a novel concept. How long will it exist, meaningfully, in this great nation of ours? When it’s gone, who will clamor for it? And who will mimic the regime's talking points, actually, we’ve always been a Republic, voting is no longer needed. It never really was. Or maybe they’ll just cite the originalists, only white land owners can vote now, it’s ok, it’s what the founding fathers and Jesus wanted. Poor people are too dumb to vote; don’t you get that? Or are you dumb? Maybe this leftist asshole needs to go to jail and figure it out. We are closer to that than we’ve been in America for as long as my memory goes back, and if my liberal California education was good for anything, it would seem we’re as close as we’ve been since the Civil War.
I believe the grievances on the right are more fantasy than material. They’re taking our guns, turning our kids gay, there are men in girls' bathrooms, and the immigrants are taking our jobs. Take. Take, take, take. Sure. I live in Los Angeles, well, L.A. adjacent, and none of these things have ever been front of mind, in the place that should be ground zero, for these worries. But these don’t seem to exist in any substantial way, from what I can tell. To the contrary, grievances on the left have always felt real but quite futile. A living wage, affordable healthcare, public education, child care, things that, you know, would help human beings. Things that would divorce the corporate world from the real world. Those problems feel material, important; we are fighting the good fight.
But in telling this story, I must acknowledge the story that I am telling myself. We are the righteous, we are the moral, we are virtuous. Our fight is against the real enemy; their fight is against Mickey fucking Mouse, figuratively speaking.
I’ve seen more or less two replies from the right in response to the killing of American citizens in Minneapolis by agents of the federal government. They were liberal pigs who deserved to die. An honest, albeit abhorrent response. And the, well actually crowd. Well, actually, Renee Nicole Good drove leisurely in the fast lane and didn’t use her turn signals. Well, actually, Alex Pretti never picked up after his dog when he shit on the sidewalk. Well, actually. This is the J.D. Vance wing of the national fascist party of America, parroting whatever talking point they last heard. Reaching, however awkwardly, for a justification that will, haltingly betray their own eyes. The first group, for all of their faults are at least honest, and whatever virtue can be found in honesty when weighed against other virtues, this group has it in spades. The second group can’t even be honest with themselves, and that strikes me as a far greater sin.
But these are the stories we must tell ourselves. The stories where our hero is either a whore doing God’s work, or a God doing whores’ work. Because that is our truth, and in a world where truth is no longer governed by facts, we’re left with our own reality. A perfectly curated algorithm, designed by our emotions, but if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Because, well, actually, it’s a goddamn tragedy what’s happening in our country, and well, actually, this administration has not only allowed these things to happen, they’re cheerleading them. And well, actually, there is no acceptable justification for this current administration and their policies, and well, actually, the world will be a better place when they are gone.
