Inside the GOP's either/or trap

Last week, I told you about a pattern of rightwing malice that, once citizens see it and recognize it for what it is, they can make choices without also getting trapped by the very same pattern of malice.

That pattern of malice is this: when bad things happen, rightwingers, who already hate people who exist on the margins of society, find a way to blame them for those bad things. In this case, it was the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. It fell because a freightliner weighing scores of thousands of tons ran into it. Rightwingers, who already hate Black people, found ways to blame it on “diversity.”

Once you recognize this pattern of malice – and that rightwing allegations have nothing to do with the reason and purpose of diversity, equity and inclusion programming (DEI) and everything to do with how much they already hate Black people – you can make choices without spending your resources debunking endless lies about DEI.

Today, I want to point out another pattern of malice.

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Call it the either/or trap.

The occasion was the Easter holiday. This year, it happened to land on International Transgender Day of Visibility. Initially organized by a group called Trans Student Educational Resources, it was first observed on March 31, 2009. Joe Biden supports transgender people. “I have your back,” he declared during the State of the Union. The Biden administration has recognized the importance of raising awareness of discrimination against trans youth in America and around the world.

“Extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families,” the president said in his proclamation recognizing the 15th anniversary of the designated day. Biden called on Americans “to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”

It was in keeping with the spirit of Easter and the resurrection of Christ, according to US Senator Raphael Warnock, who’s also a Baptist minister. “March 31 has been a day to lift up transgender people who endure violence and bigotry,” he told CNN over the weekend. “Jesus centered the marginalized. He centered the poor. And in a moment like this, we need voices – particularly voices of faith – who would use our faith not as a weapon … but as a bridge to bring all of us together.”

In other words, both/and.

Not only can two independent events occur at the same time. (As it happens, they occurred together by accident. Easter is set by the lunar calendar). They can also complement each other, politically and religiously. On the one hand, they were an opportunity to form democratic unity in the face of hatred, here and abroad. On the other, they were an opportunity for experiencing God’s universal love.

But both/and is impossible from the rightwing perspective.

We cannot venerate Easter on the same day we validate the existence of transgendered people. We cannot honor Christ’s resurrection on the same day we honor the natural rights of marginalized people to whom Jesus would have ministered. Indeed, from the rightwing view, Easter and International Transgender Day of Visibility are antipodes. They cannot complement each other, because they contrast each other so fundamentally we must choose between them or else.

Over the weekend, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote that the president had “betrayed the central tenet of Easter – which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. … Banning sacred truth and tradition – while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day’ – is outrageous and abhorrent.” Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene added to that, saying “there’s no length Biden and the Democrats won’t go to mock your faith and to thumb his nose at God.”

That’s the either/or trap.

And like all traps, it’s rooted in lies.

Biden didn’t rename Easter. He certainly didn’t rename it “Transgender Day.” Neither did he ban anything. (Johnson was referring to the rule at the White House Easter Egg Hunt prohibiting religious symbols on eggs, a recommendation of the American Egg Board, which is naturally invested in the universal appeal of eggs.) He didn’t mock anyone’s religion, much less his own. (He’s Catholic.) As for thumbing his nose at God, that’s true, I guess, if you believe trans people are affront to God.

The either/or trap is more recognizable when the subject is budgets. The Republicans want us to believe the United States government does not possess what Noah Berlatsky called “unique financial reserves,” namely the ability to print the world’s currency while also borrowing against it. This is why GOP lawmakers talk about raising the retirement age, but never about fully funding Social Security. If citizens believe the size of the pie is fixed, they won’t demand bigger slices. That benefits the Republicans and their very obscenely rich patrons.

But the either/or trap can be applied to virtually anything in order to circumscribe the democratic dream of a more just and humane future for all. When it comes to money, the Republicans tell us the pie is limited. There’s only so much to go around. Ditto with Easter (and that the International Transgender Day of Visibility occurred on the same day). God’s love is as limited as the budget. There’s only so much of it to go around. We must make choices – either God or trans people.

Don’t fall for it. There’s enough for everyone. Like blaming a bridge collapse on Black people, the either/or trap is another pattern of rightwing malice. Once you recognize it for what is, you can make choices – in this case, hope and democracy over hate and division.

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