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Cognitive Dissonance and the Fetterman Kerfuffle [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-27

Before writing this post, I looked up the definition of cognitive dissonance (CD), and I am still not completely sure I understand it. But somehow the phrase seems apt, so I will stay with it for the moment.

First, let me say that I like John Fetterman. Still, I am not jealous of PA for electing him, because my own state has the Schoolmarm from Heaven (or Hell, if you are facing her in a Senate hearing), Senator Elizabeth Warren. She takes idiots to task with facts and figures, and has a way of demolishing even the most polished corporate executives and financial whiz kids. And she does it with a calmness and aplomb that usually leaves them stuttering.

Fetterman is the opposite side of the coin. He also knows bullshit when he sees it, and just, well, calls it for what it is. I particularly liked his description of attempts to impeach Biden as “a right-wing circle jerk”. What an evocative way of putting it. He is the plainspoken Everyman to Warren's Professor. Both are accomplishing the same thing, pointing out the CD apparent in almost every statement from the GOP side of the aisle, the clash between what they say and what they are actually trying to do.

Leaving aside the attempts by the GOP-(un)controlled House to defend the indefensible (Trump and Jan. 6th), there is the more pervasive and sinister defense of the NRA’s efforts to prevent even a modicum of gun control, particularly automatic and semi-automatic weapons, by the GOP. It’s not just the crazies, either. This is a party-wide effort, and it has been remarkably successful so far.

If the sight of Fetterman’s bare legs causes them distress, why doesn’t the preventable slaughter of children by weapons of war? A simple first step would be to require that gun manufacturers implement the same kind of electronic user identification and GPS locators for guns that are present on any iPhone. If it isn’t your gun, you can’t use it. If it is your gun, and you use it to do evil, you might be stopped by a locator and a remote shutoff.

The GOP is quick to defend fetuses, but apparently their profound love for children doesn’t extend past the womb. If that isn’t cognitive dissonance, then I still don’t understand the definition. So I am waiting for Fetterman to stand in the halls of Congress and say something to the effect of “All you defenders of the right to arm every crazy person with weapons of war? Go fuck yourselves. You want to end abortion, but it’s okay to blow away kids in the streets and schools? Fuck you and the elephant you rode in on”. Or something to that effect. I am sure he would get the wording better than me.

Note added in proof:

Before flagging this story for the use of "fuck" instead of "f**k", please consider the difference between a harmless arrangement of four letters versus the horror of the daily killings of children and young people on the streets of our cities, schools and parks. At some point, outrage must outweigh propriety. Also please consider the contradiction evident in a dispassionate Tribune or Globe report of yet another killing of some 17-year old Black kid on the streets of Chicago or Boston, but those same newspapers will print "f**k" to avoid fluttering the hearts of sensitive readers. "Fuck you" is a to-the-point way of expressing outrage, and I am outraged.



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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/27/2195917/-Cognitive-Dissonance-and-the-Fetterman-Kerfuffle

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