MSNBC’s Joy Reid boomeranged herself in the face this week in an ill-conceived attack on Republicans.
The way she puts it, Democrats are the party of government, while Republicans are the party of “do whatever you want.” Remember, this is supposed to be a criticism.
“Democrats are the government party,” the MSNBC anchor said this week. “If you’re mad at the government, you’re generally mad at Democrats because they’re the ones who are actually governing. So when government irritates you and things about the government irritates you, that’s the Democrats.”
Should this be considered an in-kind donation to the GOP?
“And they’re also the party that’s telling you, ‘You know, you really shouldn’t cut all those trees down. It’s ruining the environment. You know, you really should wear your mask when you’re walking around because of COVID,'” she continued. “They’re like the parents that you think of as mean because they’re like, ‘You really should go to bed at the right time.’”
Few things in life are as unsettling as the person who sees the government, a collection of detached yet overbearing and increasingly unaccountable rulers, as a stand-in for parents.
“Republicans, what they do, while it is fascism-curious in many ways, is also — it’s more attractive in some ways,” Reid said. “They’re the permission party. They’re saying, ‘Go on, tell that racist joke, that’s OK. Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to wear your mask.’”
Republicans are fascists who also have no rules and believe you should be able to do what you want. Do these people ever consider reviewing what they say before they say it?
“’Don’t worry about COVID,’” Reid concluded. “’I know 700,000 people died. That’s not your problem.’ They are the party that’s basically permitting you to do what you want.”
Funny enough, Reid is clearly too dimwitted to realize her attack on the GOP is a backhanded slap at Democrats. If Republicans are the party of freedom by another name, then Democrats are — what? The party of control and micromanagement? Who is “fascism-curious” now?
More seriously, Reid praising the Democratic Party as the “parent” party reminds me of something my accounting professor once said. In an aside during one of his classes, he explained why one should never want or count on the government to serve as a surrogate parent. The government, he argued, lacks two key elements inherent in most family units: genuine concern and complete knowledge.
The government will never care about you the way your parents do, precisely because it is not your parent. Likewise, the government will never know you the way your parents do. Seeking or even yearning for some sort of father-child relationship with the government is for fools.
Looking at you, Joy Reid.
