We’re Better Than This: Why Quid Pro Quo Won’t Help #TheResistance

I saw that the top trending topic on Twitter this morning was “Kathy Griffin.”

Oh boy, I thought… what catty, searing burn has ol’ Kathy served up the Trumpster today?

And then I see this:

Oh, fuck.

And THEN I see this:

*sigh*

Look, you guys: it’s sooooo satisfying to point out hypocrisy in conservatives and bigots. If I had a favorite past time other than hiking and napping, it would probably be this.

And really, it’s sooooo easy to do! You barely have to put any effort into the argument that Republicans are pro-birth but not pro-life, or the gaping moral chasm between Evangelicals supporting anti-refugee policies and their professed Christian values.

And with a few tweets or Facebook comments, we’re rewarded with that liberal high: you know what I’m talking about…that hot glow of moral outrage and certainty that our shared dream of a world full of inclusivity, environmental stewardship, and compassion for our fellow humans is Good.

That we are fighting for what is Good.

I know. I know.

But if we’re going to claim the high road over the self-serving pettiness of the Right, we need to walk the walk.

There’s a line.

And cheering on a photographer for creating a portrait of a comedian holding a bloody severed head in effigy of a sitting president (even an illegitimately placed, non-popular-vote getting one) is over that line.

It’s along the same lines as the tired old twitter-bot chestnut: “We had to go through eight years of Obama. Get used to it.”

No.

No, we’re not going to get used to it. We’re not going to get over it, and we’re not going to give back what you’ve given us.

You know why? We’re better than that.

And if you’re using an Obama lynching effigy as an excuse to portray a Trump beheading, you’re no better than @JustinPlainName.

Friends, have you forgotten what Our First Lady reminded us in the speech that left salty liberal tears in our eyes and the fire of progressive inspiration in our hearts?

“When they go low, WE GO HIGH.”

If you’re finding joy and rubbing conservative noses in this image, you’ve stooped BELOW their level and have proven them right: we ARE a bunch of smug, sore loser, tantrum-throwing hypocrites.

Let’s not allow our adversaries to define us. Because once we do that, all is lost. There’s nothing left to fight for.

Go high, y’all. Continue to call out hypocrisy and injustice: even when it’s our adversary that is the victim. Let’s show our adversaries what integrity looks like. And integrity NEVER looks like that.