On Limits Pushing

I'm of the lefter political persuasion in my home country of the United States. And I have some friends who are righter. And we have spirited debates about the current state of affairs.

I think I use it as an opportunity to try to understand exactly what the heck people are thinking. And I think they use it as an opportunity to show how much more right the Right is. So... win-win. I guess.

And to say there are differences is certainly an understatement.

One of these is "delight in how Trump pushes the boundaries of our democracy and Constitution". Allow me to illustrate with the following sentence, that I think both red and blue would agree is true.

Trump is like a velociraptor testing the fences.

To team red, this is a good thing. Trump is strong. The country feels hemmed in by all the dangerous Mexicans/Trans/Liberals/etc., and Trump is going to push back and deliver some much-needed breathing room. "Dictator for a day?" Hell yeah!

To team blue, this is a terrifying thing. I mean, it's a fucking velociraptor and it's going to eat you! The only thing more to be said from blue's perspective is, "Who are you rooting for, here? 'Cause it seems like you're the one who's gonna be on the losing end of this exchange."

As a more blue person, let me put it another way. When I fly from Houston to Miami, do I want the pilot to "test the fences" and see what the plane is capable of? To flip that puppy over in loops and rolls to see if he can break it? No. I want him to straighten up and fly right in the most conservative way possible. Yes, the boat can be rocked, but that doesn't mean it's not dangerous to test your luck.

Here's a quote from Senator Kevin Cramer, North Dakota (and I'll leave it up to you to guess his leaning):

This is Donald Trump. He throws hand grenades in the middle of the room, and then cleans it up afterwards. I just think the guy's a genius.

To team red, this is a good thing. Stir up the pot and get rid of all those pencil-pushing Liberal bureaucrats!

To team blue, this is a terrifying thing. What the hell are you doing setting off grenades in the same room you, we, and our beloved Constitution are all in? We don't approve of setting off grenades on airplanes no matter how well you clean up the mess; we certainly don't approve of you doing it to the entire country!

So maybe not such a "genius" from blue's perspective.

But we can definitely agree he's pushing boundaries and testing fences. Where we disagree is how much we appreciate it.

───────────