ALERT! Hypocrisy on the Left: Activists petition to prevent MTG from participating in the Jan. 6 Investigating Committee

 

Common Cause sent out mailers asking people to sign a petition to prevent Marjorie Taylor Green from being on the Jan. 6 Investigating Committee. Why? If anybody needs to see the footage of the violence that day, it’s her.

Common Cause is engaging in hypocrisy if they think it’s appropriate to prevent any committee member nominated by the other party from participating. They should welcome her. Democrats should want to share with her the facts they have. They should be eager to educate her.

Let her listen to the committee’s shockingly rational and thoughtful attempt to understand the truth. Note her demeanor as one piece of evidence after the other puts the lie to her absurd claims. Show her how dangerous her thinking is, what it led to, and why it can’t be tolerated.

We can’t unite our country by refusing to have a dialogue with people with whom we don’t identify. We must be willing both to have a conversation and to assume each of us has valid reasons for our thinking. Those reasons may be based on ignorance, lies, or emotional reactions to difficult circumstances, but there is still a reason for what people believe—whether we agree with it or not. This is the meaning of dialogue. It is a respectful interchange of thoughts or ideas.

The Magic of Dialogue: Transforming Conflict into Cooperation is the best book I’ve read on conflict management and/or communication. I recently sent a copy of that book to every Republican in the Senate. All of them were mailed in the same packaging on the same day so they’d all get them together. I really thought the gesture would send a message. I guess that proves in middle age (yes, I plan to live to 124), I can still be naïve.

The point is: it’s okay to respond to a negative act with censure; it’s not okay to censure someone for your idea of who they are. If MTG is out of order at any point during the meetings, then the appropriate party can respond appropriately. But don’t avoid her. If it looks like running; it is running. Don’t run!

As Suze Orman is fond of saying “You have to face it to erase it.” If we want to unite this country and put the Big Lie to rest, we must deal with it, not ignore it. We should welcome every opportunity to show everyone possible that we are committed to understanding what happened and why—and we’re not letting anyone stop us.