#85 'Angels In America,' Lindsey Graham, And 'Clout' with Evan Stern Part 2

This is the final act of my Angels in America discussion with Evan Stern from the Certain Thoughts Substack. Tony Kushner’s Roy Cohn has a lot in common with politicians whose animating philosophy is the pursuit of power. The late Lindsey Graham is a sobering example, despite the curious tributes to him by Democrats who should know better. Of course, as Belize says about the dead Cohn: “He was a terrible person. He died a hard death. So maybe . . . A queen can forgive her vanquished foe. It isn’t easy, it doesn’t count if it’s easy, it’s the hardest thing. Forgiveness. Which is maybe where love and justice finally meet. Peace, at least.”

Yet, forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. The latter is an insult to the injured. After Louis and Ethel Rosenberg’s ghost deliver a Kaddish over Cohn’s body, they say with justified disgust, “You son of a bitch.” I would’ve supported any Graham tribute that ended similarly.

In Part 2, you will hear:

• Examples such as Clarence Thomas and Lindsey Graham using positions of power against marginalized people, even though they are (or could be perceived as being) part of that marginalized community, because they see the power as greater than their connection to that community - HOWEVER… that is also a distraction and what we need to be focused on is the substance of what they are doing to harm the people and not the media circus surrounding their private lives
• Relationship closeness between a political party and its voters tends to impact how politicians are criticized because Republican voters see themselves as SAME to their politicians and therefore any criticism of the politician also feels like a criticism of self - Democratic voters do not typically have that same sense of closeness to their politicians (i.e., people tend to say whatever they want to them without worrying about stepping on toes)
• Trump coming into office didn’t make Lindsey Graham a terrible person; he just gave him permission to be the terrible person he has always been out loud
• Why you can’t just have a “difference of opinion” when it comes to things like fundamental human rights - Maybe it is time to do a little more dehumanizing evil people and calling them out
• And more!

Links:  

Evan’s Substack: https://substack.com/@therealevanstern/notes

Evan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealevanstern/

Evan’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/certainthoughts.substack.com

Stephen’s Substack Episode: https://www.playtyperguy.com/p/angels-in-america-lindsey-graham

Play Typer Guy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0S-b-rReeY 

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