This is partly what makes it impossible to have a constructive conversation nowadays. The stubborn refusal to accept that opposition to Trumpism and GOP nationalism is about more than simply holding different beliefs about things in and of itself. 👇

It's fine for people to hold different beliefs. But that doesn't mean all beliefs deserve equal treatment or tolerance and it doesn't mean intolerance of some beliefs makes a person intolerant of every belief which they don't share.
So if I said I don't think Trumpism deserves to be tolerated because it's just a fresh 21st century coat of cheap paint on a failed, dangerous 20th century ideology (fascism) that doesn't mean I'm intolerant of all beliefs with which I disagree. You'd think this would be obvious.
Another important facet. People who support fascist movements tend to give what they think are valid reasons for supporting them. That doesn't mean anyone is obliged to tolerate fascism or accept their proffered excuse.

https://t.co/57wBdw8DBY
Say you joined a neighborhood group that sets up community gardens and does roadside beautification projects. All good, right? Say one day you're having a meeting and you notice the President and exec board of this group are saying some bizarre things about certain neighbors.
You're focused on getting tomato yields up and deciding which color pansies look the best in the median strip but the President has some weird hangup about a family he notices speaking a different language to each other at home and he's not sure if they mean to harm the gardens.
You suppose that technically his concern has to do with the purpose of the group and, after all, you worked hard on those gardens and you want to protect them. Meanwhile you notice other group members nodding more frequently when the President discusses the immigrant family.
Weeks later you're mulching and the President, the exec board, and the majority of your fellow garden club members come by to tell you they're forming a garden security task force because they are alarmed at the lack of assimilation by the immigrant family.
It then dawns on you that everyone seems to be primarily focused on the immigrant family lately rather than increasing crop yields, planning the farmer's market, or really any of the things you thought the club was supposed to do. You're focused but it's like you and two others.
There's a write-up in the small local paper about the club forming this security team and the leadership's bizarre fixation on things that have nothing to do with gardening. Most of your community is put off by the direction in which the club has been heading.
You just wanted to grow tomatoes for folks and make the community pretty. That's all good. But things changed and while the name of the club is still the Garden Club, it's not really about gardening anymore -- not for the rest anyway.
You arrive at a crossroads. You need to decide whether planting tomatoes and pansies is so important that you must continue to support and participate in this group. Yes you have a good reason for joining initially but the group has changed since then.
To make this decision I'd say you ought to consider the following: how important is gardening? Is this the only group capable of gardening? Do I want to be associated with nativists even though I'm not one and just want to garden? Is nativism that bad anyway?
The moral of the story is that if you make excuses for why you're willing to tolerate fascism and nativism in your group, don't be surprised when folks outside the group lump you in with the fascists and nativists who dominate your group.

More from Politics

Handy guide for Dominic Raab and other Brexiteers, and for anyone keen to replace our EU trade with trade with the rest of the world on WTO terms...


You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea


But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster


And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical


Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot
I told you they’d bring this up


I was wondering why that tweet had so many stupid replies. And now I see


Seriously, this was “the night before.” If you’re at the march where they’re changing “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and soil,” you’re not a “very fine person.” Full stop.


There are 3 important moments in that transcript.

1.) When someone asked Trump about a statement *he had already made* about there being blame on “both sides,” he said the “fine people” line.


2. Trump does clarify! “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists — because they should be condemned totally “

Okay!

Then adds that there were “many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists.”

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