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Re:Google won't donate to members of Congress who voted agai... by dahfizz on Tuesday January 26, 2021 @12:02PM (#25918227)
I don't think that is a very charitable reading of this conversation.

The topic of the post is career / financial implication of voting against the certification of elections. I think fleshing out exactly what that means is an important part of the "debate", as you say.

I don't think pointing out that Democrats voted against certification in 2004 is a defense of what Trump and the Republicans did in any way. I think its an important clarifying point in deciding how we want to treat voting against certification.

Crying whataboutism is a very tempting way to avoid nuance. I see a lot of people propose dramatic, sweeping action. When the consequences and implications of those actions are brought up, everyone cries whataboutism.

> We should defund all politicians who vote against certification

> Voting against certification is a normal thing that people from both parties have done, maybe we should come up with better criteria?

> How dare you bring up $PartyA, I only want to talk about $PartyB

Re:Google won't donate to members of Congress who voted agai... by carapace on Tuesday January 26, 2021 @01:25PM (#25919381)
FWIW I think the overall conversation is well worth having, I was tone-policing a specific comment.

> I think its an important clarifying point in deciding how we want to treat voting against certification.

> Crying whataboutism is a very tempting way to avoid nuance. I see a lot of people propose dramatic, sweeping action. When the consequences and implications of those actions are brought up, everyone cries whataboutism.

Two things: #1) I pretty much agree with you. #2) Aren't you avoiding nuance when you employ rhetorical devices like "everyone cries".

(FWIW, I'm not decrying "whataboutism" above, I'm tone-policing. It's also an odious practice, and I feel a little low and preachy doing it, but WTF, let's go ahead and try to have the nuanced and informed conversion if we can, eh, yo?)

I feel like it's on all of us to take a deep breath and step back from the drama. We have shared values and common ground. Instead of shouting on Twitter and in the streets, let's talk.

FWIW I know of a few formal methods for communication that seem to hold promise, I'll mention NVC ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_Communication ) and E-Prime ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime ).