Brianna Keilar interviewed David French, for some reason, and he bloviated about how we can't keep being "divided." Tell that to the GOP.
September 22, 2020

Awwww.

David French is a white male conservative attorney who has written a book asking us all to just get along now that conservative Republicans have destroyed the republic. Isn't that precious?

He joined Brianna Keilar to make his case. She asked in light of what is sure to be a brutal nomination fight that racist, misogynistic, fascist white supremacists will win for the Supreme Court seat, does the "cracking" French sees in our society likely end in a civil war? French assures her, in his most weasly, gentle channeling of Susan Collins' concerned voice that no...nothing that serious...but maybe just a divorce.

FRENCH: No, I don't think -- in my book I don't write that we're on the verge of a civil war. What I'm more worried about is if we keep hating each other, and if we keep increasing the polarization it is something more like a strained and fractured marriage that could end in divorce. And what I point out in my book is we are now in a place where a lot of Americans live clustered in like-minded communities, and then when like-minded communities gather together, they often get more extreme. And all the data is out there about the increasing hatred and enmity that Americans have for people across the ideological lines, and you see that spill out in politics, you see it spill out sometimes in the streets, and we're we're going to see it spill out in the intensity of this judicial nomination fight, and every side escalates. Every time we have an opportunity to choose, do we de-escalate or or do we escalate? We are escalating continually, and I want people to realize you cannot keep growing apart as a country and presume that everything's going to be okay.

Wait, let me sit down from this groundbreaking line of thought. We have NEVER EVER had a white man breeze in to opine on how people who have been systemically oppressed by white men who look JUST LIKE HIM should just give him a chance after he has torn their communities apart with their genocidal policies! THIS IS BRAND NEW, PEOPLE!!!

Truly, where has this man been in all our darkest days? If only marginalized folks would be willing to move into the richer, well-funded, all-white communities populated by cis-het Christian pale people, things would get so much better! Why haven't Black people thought to TRY this? Why don't immigrants move directly to Park Avenue? Why aren't gay families moving in droves to small towns in Montana? This is genius, and I cannot believe these marginalized groups have never thought to integrate themselves! Surely, they'd be welcomed with open arms and zero barriers, right? Especially not legal barriers! He obviously only watches Fox News, where it's a rainbow of skin shades and nationalities, not to mention a welcoming atmosphere for a variety of viewpoints and a bastion of civility!

But wait! There's more! Brianna Keilar asked him how our nation's standing with the rest of the world has suffered as a result of our impending "divorce."

FRENCH: Obviously if you look at the scenes in American streets, if you look the rhetoric in American politics, if we saw that in another country we would say that's a country in distress, that is a country that is unacceptably divided, that's a country in at least some degree of danger. But we've grown increasingly accustomed to this punch them in the mouth style of politics without really understanding what that's doing to us as a people and one of the reasons why I wrote the book is I want people to say, wait a minute, maybe winning, throwing that next partisan punch is not worth the cost to the country.
[...]
And that is especially, I come from, I'm a conservative, I grew up in red America and this is a dynamic that I see on the right side of the aisle all around me and any attempt at reconciliation is scorned as weakness and the punch is applauded as strength and if we keep going in that cycle that's terrible consequences for our culture and country.

You know what, Frenchie? I couldn't give a hemorrhoid on a rat's ass what Europe would think of us if we liberals punched your sorry faces into the pavement. The ones who matter would applaud. Talk to YOUR side of the aisle. Talk to Tucker Carlson. Talk to Sean Hannity. Talk to Laura Ingraham. The ones who think a woman has no right to determine if she has sex or gets or stays pregnant. The ones who believe Black people are inferior, and that police are right to target them from the time they're in pre-school. The ones who think businesses have a religious right to refuse service to gay people, and our government should cage children. THEY are the ones who need to make amends. THEY are the ones who need to reconcile. THEY are the ones punching down. Not us.

Sometimes, divorce is in the best interest of everyone involved. Especially the children.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon