the civility question isn't about civility. everything is about social dominance.

[unblock]

donnie is trying to establish a strict social hierarchy with men over women, whites over blacks, straights over homosexuals, etc.

*everything he does and says* (aside from the personal grifting) is about imposing this strict hierarchy and everything he says and does needs to be seen through this lens *and countered* in that frame.


fact-checking and fine points of decorum are making the classic general's mistake of fighting the last war.

in *this* war, we are fighting for our dignity and our respect and our proper treatment as equal human beings.


so when donnie says we should be more civil, what he's really saying is "as a white man, i am the ultimate determinant of proper behavior by inferior beings like woman and black people. you will heed to my decree."

objecting to the decree or debating its finer points is to surrender to the main point that donnie is the one who gets to tell us how to behave.



the proper response needs to reassert our own position as equal beings and emphasize that he is wrong to put himself, white people, or men, over others.


so, for example, "you are *not* in a position to give lectures about civility! you discredit yourself on a daily basis with your own lack of civility and have no credibility or authority over us to tell us how to behave!"

[Cha]

1. Good analysis, unblock.. here's a great article on the "decorum" thing..

"The Red Hen owner is right. Stop defending decorum and do something about Donald Trump".

snip//

As Donald Trump lies and his anti-immigrant smears turn into child abuse, you can act like it's normal or, like the owner of the Red Hen, you can do something about it.

snip//

This near perfect example of misguided rage from the president’s backers has not stopped the civility police from leaping to the defense of our precious decorum. Nor has another pointed Trump attack on a private business, or his near daily Twitter missiles aimed at due process, the rule of law and special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation

snip//

The problem is these critics are doing exactly what Trump’s fans did. They're attacking those with no power for trying to make their voices heard amid the shrill screams of the biggest demagogue ever to sit in the Oval Office. They're aiming their rhetorical eggs in the wrong direction.

snip//

The fear of giving Trump exactly what he wants and thus empowering him into even greater horrors is often used as a cudgel. Critics use it to bash almost anyone who makes the brave decision to risk rebuke from the most powerful man in the world — a man who wields that power the way a 2-year-old wields a rattle — and his rabid fans.

These lecturers imagine that a measured, monotone Jeb Bush-like response to the Trump administration will make this all stop somehow.

More..
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/06/25/red-hen-owner-right-forget-decorum-stop-donald-trump-column/731475002/

[mcar]

2. K&R

[Solly Mack]

3. Yep. He's not saying be civil - he is saying Behave! Obey me!

[canetoad]

4. Good post K&R

I would add, the 'haves' over the 'have nots'.

[betsuni]

5. K&R

[ProudLib72]

6. Sounds to me like more controlling the narrative

With the addition of assumed supremacy as grounds to do so.

[Garrett78]

7. Bingo. And that fabricated social hierarchy is precisely what motivates the Republican base.

This is why I can't even begin to tell you how infuriating it was/is to read/hear the "economic anxiety/white working class" argument.

[JHan]

8. K&r