Extremist politicians aren't a "both sides" issue -- it's strictly a GOP phenomenon

[Nevilledog]

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Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
Axios has been running piece about "extremism" on "both sides" and equating politicians like Ted Cruz and AOC. This is not just idiotic, but dangerous. There's no equivalent between the radical GOP and the normal politicians of the Democratic party.

salon.com
Extremist politicians aren't a "both sides" issue — it's strictly a GOP phenomenon
Republicans want to overturn elections and spread disease — while progressive Dems just want better social programs
11:23 AM · Jan 25, 2022

https://www.salon.com/2022/01/25/extremist-politicians-arent-a-both-sides-issue--its-strictly-a-phenomenon/

Could there be two politicians more different than Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

Cruz not only voted for Donald Trump's coup but continues to use conspiracy theories to support it. Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, is a progressive who is both honest and committed to using democratic systems to advance a forward-looking agenda. Cruz is a notorious online troll who deliberately provokes liberals with lies and culture war nonsense. Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly spoken out about the toxicity of such trolling behavior, and how it leads all too often to real life threats of violence, including against her.

So comparing these two is a little like comparing Audrey Hepburn and Ted Bundy simply because both have Netflix documentaries about them. Yet that's exactly what Axios did on Tuesday morning, with an article headlined "America can't quit polarizing politicians."

Axios writers Neal Rothschild and Sara Fischer draw a false equivalence between Ocasio-Cortez and Cruz because both "garner the most attention online" to point to American politics as "a breeding ground for more extreme politicians to run — and sometimes win — elections."

It's only been a year since a Republican president attempted to overthrow democracy to install himself illegally as president, summoning a violent mob to the Capitol to help with the task. And even though Trump's entire party continues to support his coup and is engaging in what amounts to a national effort to make sure the next one succeeds, far too much of the mainstream media has reverted back to the comfy bothsiderism that treats the two parties as moral equivalents. And so Ocasio-Cortez and Cruz are treated as one and the same, even though the latter is a wholly destructive force who deliberately stokes chaos, radicalizes his followers, and works against democracy — while the former is trying to be a positive force standing against all of that grotesque behavior.

*snip*

[dchill]

1. Unquestionably true. Except to blightheads who follow...

... FoxNews and Q.