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It’s crazy how we all shrug when Trump insults everyone he comes across but when Pelosi gets in a dig we have to dissect it and analyze how wrong she was to do it. It’s a microcosm of the left/right divide.
Right wingers cosplay as the most persecuted group when in reality they get to ignore the same standards of decency they use in bad faith as a cudgel to tear down Democrats. And, as an added benefit, people left of Republicans help them engage in it.
Right wingers never admit that anyone on their side was ever wrong about anything even when it’s obvious, and they refuse to hold anyone on their side accountable. That’s from top to bottom, from the WH to my Facebook timeline. And it’s effective.
When they have a united front, as we saw with impeachment, Rs can write off any criticism as partisan bickering, and uncareful observers may be convinced that’s all there is to it, because from what they can see no Rs have a problem with it and only Dems do.
People to the left of Rs, meanwhile, tend to hold everyone to the same standard, so when Rs criticize someone like Pelosi for doing something they wouldn’t criticize Trump for, typically they can at least get some Dems to agree with their criticism.
So when a Dem does something wrong, there’s the appearance of a bipartisan consensus against it, whereas if an R does the same thing, it can be written off as bipartisan bickering (as long as very few conservatives break rank).
This dynamic is why Pelosi calling Trump fat is inevitably going to be criticized from people all over the political spectrum while Trump’s constant insults are ignored. No R is going to agree it’s wrong and Dems look dumb for bringing up something that’s old news.
I don’t know what the solution is. I’d prefer to live in a world where all politicians are held to the same standard, and I like that Dems do that for the most part, but at the same time behaving hypocritically clearly has tangible political benefits for Republicans.
But I guess this is the inevitable outcome when one political movement is based on fact-based solutions to problems and the other is about rationalizing kneejerk reactions in the face of all evidence
