I’ve said it before, will doubtless say it again: These folks are going to be permanently resentful because they’re seeking political power as a substitute for cultural power, and it’s never going to give them what they actually want.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2024-11-15T04:53:32.853Z

I genuinely think this is sort of the crux of our political dysfunction, and has been for at least a couple decades now. Listen, if you can stomach it, to a random MAGA grievance rant & ask yourself “how much of what they’re most upset about is something public policy can realistically address?”

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2024-11-15T16:37:44.762Z

Even when there’s a policy hook, it’s almost a meaningless symbolic proxy for the underlying issue they really want to address but can’t. Think about the insane amount of energy devoted to fretting about queer books in public or school libraries.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2024-11-15T16:50:23.540Z

It’s 2024. In the unlikely event your semiliterate tween wants to crack a book, let alone one about gender identity or sexuality, pulling it from the local library is comically pointless as an access limitation. It’s just an impotent shriek of disapproval that these things are culturally accepted.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) 2024-11-15T16:53:21.093Z