Sarsour, Griffin, and Left-Wing Goals

I don't think Linda Sarsour is stupid, in fact I think the opposite. She's a really smart, capable person, who took a leading role in the Women's March on January 21st. She was smart enough, as someone who didn't like Hillary Clinton, to essentially "box out" the first female Democratic nominee, so I know she's politically savvy enough as an operator. She knows what she's doing, and why she's doing it, when she does it. Things aren't accidental- including her recent call for a "jihad" against the Trump Administration at a Muslim conference. Does the word "jihad" have several interpretations? Yes. Do I think Sarsour wants people to be violent? No. Do I think she deliberately used that word for dramatic effect? Yes.

Kathy Griffin isn't some rookie comedian. She's also not stupid, Kathy Griffin has been around long enough to know that jokes about political figures constantly walk a fine line.When Kathy Griffin sent out a picture of her holding what appears to be Donald Trump's severed head (seen above), Griffin certainly should have known this was a stupid idea, regardless of the reprehensible nature of her joke's target.

If people who go over the top aren't stupid, then why do they do things that don't help their cause? To be clear, these types of actions do not help actual Democrats win actual elections- and yet these things will continue to happen. While these actions may be viewed positive by members of the Democratic Party that hate Trump, that's not a big enough cross-section of America to win elections. Calling for a "Jihad," or joking about harming the President actually probably helps the Republican Party because it puts an extremist face on all Democrats. It's really stupid, if you're goal is to win elections. The goal of every Democrat should be to win elections, so that you can govern, so that you can carry out the policies you ran on, so that you can help the people you promised to help. Anything not in that chain of goals shouldn't be done.

In Kathy Griffin's case it's easy to figure out why she did this- she's a comedian, and comedians want to make money. If 10% of America loves her, she makes money, and she can be quite happy. So yeah, of course she did this. Democrats should have been quick to condemn her, to the extent that she even matters. Obviously her goals and our goals don't cross paths too often.

What about Linda Sarsour? Her calling for a "Jihad" plays into every right-wing stereotype and fear that exists, regardless of how the rest of us "know better." Sarsour is smart enough to know that. The truth is, I don't think Sarsour's goal is Democratic wins in 2017 and 2018. Her goal is a political revolution. She wants to lead a movement, not worry about the mechanics of winning elections.

Why did they do this? Well, I don't think they really share these goals. Griffin is a professional comedian, she wants to make money. Sarsour knew that saying "Jihad" would not be helpful in the short term, but her goal is a "political" revolution, not winning and governing now- in fact, arguably, not winning is helpful for her goals. For both of them, these events help them get to their goal. Their goals are not necessarily the goals of us in the actual political process.