By now it’s an overused trope: The conservative pundit or politician who rants the most about the evils of homosexuality will turn out to be either gay or bisexual. It’s happened so many times that you can rely on it being brought up in response to most homophobic rants, and it goes far, far beyond just that one issue. Likewise, the people who have been pushing us toward the genocide of trans people in the United States by claiming they’re “groomers” all seem to have a record of things like advocating for shit like child marriage, supporting people with a record of preying on children, or themselves being involved in the assault of children, or in covering up said assault.
When I was a kid, a classmate did a science fair presentation on the dangers of smoking. I didn’t know it at the time, but at that point she had been smoking cigarettes for a year or two already. I’m often struck by the immaturity of thought among conservatives, and this is no exception. They accuse others of their own crimes, because they think it helps hide said crimes. What’s worse, is that conservative “followers” seem to fall for the lie every single time. I don’t know of a way around this problem, short of just building the power we need to win, because it honestly seems that these people are incapable of learning this lesson.
I’m sure some of them genuinely care about children, in their reflexive, unthinking way, but when they participate in these moral panics, they fill the air with so much bullshit, it acts to obscure the real harm being done. Why is this energy not being aimed at, for example, those known to have associated with Jeffrey Epstein?
It seems like their hatred outweighs whatever actual concern they have, and they’re willing to hurt children if it also means hurting the people they hate.
It is similar to Russia. Whenever the Russian representatives accuse the “West” or Ukraine of something bad, one should be on alert if they are not in actually just preparing the ground for doing it themselves.
Addendum:
Yep, yep, yep. It’s the non-stop lies they tell that gets me more than anything. If these people had to speak truth . . . but then, they don’t know how to.
This video on propaganda during WW1 is, I think, a useful perspective to have when thinking about wartime messaging.
https://youtu.be/sBODfLEZfWg
@moonslicer – yeah, the constant lying is exhausting sometimes.
Oh hey – here’s another one!
Phil Godlewski, a leader of the “Q-anon” movement, is himself a groomer.
The TL:DW is that he was a coach at a high school, and took advantage of at least one underage girl.
The pattern, in case you missed it, is the same as with most sexual assault: The victim and the attacker know each other, and the perpetrator is a straight dude.
Basically, it’s the inverse of what conservatives claim is the “real problem”.