So the thing about Garrison Keillor saying we should "let the culture war rest" and focus on policy... the "culture war" exists because for the GOP it's a means towards their policy ends. You can't separate them.

Like, even getting past the very privileged point that his idea of letting states "outlaw LGBTQ and then deal with the consequences" means making human people in those states criminals for existing, even getting past that... his idea doesn't work. It doesn't add up.

He's talking about "let's feed our people" LIKE THAT ISN'T A CULTURAL ISSUE THE GOP IS WILLING TO GO TO WAR OVER. Like it's somehow different than all the other policy disputes where the GOP has claimed a moral basis for perpetuating massive structural evils.

They have made taking basic, simple, common-sense precautions backed up by science to mitigate a deadly pandemic into a "culture war" issue, because they don't wanna. Because they need to be the side people listen to.

I don't want to focus strictly on the functional, utilitarian problem that it doesn't work when even if it did work it would not be acceptable to just sacrifice other people and their rights for his comfort.

But. It doesn't work. As per usual, the morally bad idea is a bad idea.