How Whataboutisms Are Taking Over Political Discourse
How Whataboutisms Are Taking Over Political Discourse
One of the easiest - and laziest - weapons in our public political discourse is the use of whataboutisms.
Generally speaking, they are no excuse for behavior that is subject to scrutiny - they simply justify it. Just because someone else has done something wrong does not give us license to do the same thing without accountability.
“What do you mean I shouldn’t drive home drunk? You did the same thing that one night after the club!”
“Why shouldn’t I lose my temper? You do it all the time!”
“You’re no better than me. I know you cheated on your last girlfriend!”
The terrible choices we’ve left ourselves for president, however, have rendered whataboutisms as the only arguments we have left at our disposal. Since both candidates have exercised such contemptible behavior, there is no longer any high ground to defend. The residue is either lying to deny your choice’s actions or playing a game of swatting the “What about your guy?” shuttlecock back and forth over the net.
The right has called attention to Biden’s age and mental decline for quite a while. As it became harder to ignore, the left’s response is now to point out similar issues with Trump. Does that excuse the obvious concerns about giving Biden 4 more years that he will almost certainly be unable to complete effectively, if at all?
They’re both too damn old.
The left has called attention to Trump’s characterization as a sexual abuser, pointing out the E. Jean Carroll and Stormy Daniels cases and asking Republicans how they can vote for somebody like that. The right counters with the stories of Ashley Biden, who supposedly wrote in her diary that she took showers at night as a child because she was afraid her father would come in with her; Tara Reade, a congressional aide who accused Biden of forcing himself upon her without her consent; and of numerous filmed instances of Biden acting weirdly handsy or otherwise inappropriately toward women and children. Does that excuse the stories about Trump?
They’re both creepy.
I’ve mentioned in a past article how both the right and left have called out Biden and Trump for mishandling classified documents. Trump’s people say “Well Biden did it longer, and kept them less secure!”, while Biden’s people say “But what about Trump? His were more sensitive, and he was less cooperative!”.
Can’t we just say the truth, that they’re both criminally responsible?
For years, Democrats have hammered Trump over his stance on personal income taxes. When charged by Hillary Clinton during their debates that he didn’t pay federal income taxes, he leaned into it and responded “That’s because I’m smart”. This drove them batty because they feel that the wealthy should pay a greater percentage than everyone else, what they refer to as “their fair share”.
Now Republicans say, “But what about Biden?”. He has pandered to his liberal base by demanding more from “high-income individuals who too often avoid paying their lawfully owed taxes” through tax breaks. And who “make their money in ways that are often taxed at lower rates than ordinary wage income, or sometimes not taxed at all, thanks to giant loopholes and tax preferences that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest taxpayers.” Except it has come to light that he and his wife have done the same thing for years, hiding their enormous income in S-corporations and doling the majority of it out as non-wage “distribution” not subject to the same taxes as wages are.
Neither position excuses the fact that they’re both rich men legally circumventing paying their “fair share”, though only Biden does so while railing against everyone else who does so.
Election interference is no different. The right minimizes January 6th, and the charges in Georgia that Trump conspired to change the election outcome. The left minimizes the Clinton campaign paying to have the Steele dossier created, the attempts to have Trump removed from state ballots, and the suppression of information about the Hunter Biden laptop which 79% of adults (Technometrica Institute of Policy and Politics survey) feel would have changed the election results.
They’ve both played fast and loose with our ability to decide who should represent us.
It’s pretty ironic that we have two candidates which represent polar opposite sides of the political spectrum, but who are somehow the same in so many (negative) ways. It has left whataboutisms as the only defense we have remaining.
We reap what we sow, and these are the choices we’ve left ourselves. This is how low we’ve stooped. And nobody wants to acknowledge it. If you think one is better than the other, you’re deluding yourself.
Saying “What about the other guy?” doesn’t absolve your guy’s behavior. That’s why there’s an old saying - You can’t point a finger at someone else without having three fingers pointed right back at yourself.
What about that?
Zephareth Ledbetter’s latest book, “A White Man’s Perspectives on Race and Racism - Rational Thoughts on an Irrational World”, is available cheap at smashwords.com/books/view/1184004
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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All true. But given they are our options one has to ignore their personal shortcomings and, now that we’ve lived through 4 years of each as president, ask themselves under whom was the US more prosperous, the world safest, and our quality of life higher. Anyone who objectively considers those things should have no problem deciding who to vote for. Unless of course you’re an “asylum seeker” in which case things are really looking up for you…
I get the perspective and don't want to sink morality and want to restore it. However, the examples used have very different moral underpinnings. A father showering with his daughter is not only creepy it transcends the boundaries between a father and child. That is far different from having sex with a woman. The accuser for Biden in the assault reported it right away and was brushed off. For Trump there wasn't a similar allegation to authorities yet the media has put brush on. It is the same with documents. Biden was a VP and Trump a president. One had authority - though possibly abused - and the other none. I gave money to Biden's campaign thinking he would be sane. I then received an earful from someone whose family is from a country near Ukraine. He told me of the corruption which proved to be true but has been buried by the media. At some point, if your child's teacher repeatedly condemns the conduct of your student while turning a blind eye to the conduct of another student, you will rightly complain.