Lil Jon Said it Best---Turn down for WHAT

I had a boss years ago who, after a staff meeting speech, gave a thermostat to every person on the team. The message was, be a thermostat—the one making the change.

I thought about this seeing the calls for democrats to ‘turn down’ the temperature and stop with the violent rhetoric that led to the shots fired in the direction of former president creamsicle.

Turn down the violent rhetoric? Now to take us back to 2021 Twitter for a minute i just have to say—

👆🏾 This you?

But really though, the people bent on vitriol who clamored to hang the Vice President are talking about violence?

I’m also old enough to remember when president carrot skin posted videos of his supporters trying to run VP Harris off the road, or pictures and videos of President Biden tied up on the back of a truck, or idk all the attacks they like to use to paint anyone who isn’t a straight white christian male as a threat to society.

We know all of that— we also know numerous violent offenders, or potential violent offenders, have used the words of president pumpkin skin to invoke threats and violence.

I feel bad about what happened. No one should be subject to violence or shootings or anything.

But can we keep that same energy when it is not mr tang? What about kids being shot? What about people trying to go to church? What about all the Black people being killed by police or the children being bombed right now?

Violence is not just a random dude with a gun trying to become a legend on his own accord.

Also— thinking back to Jan 6th and this assassination attempt why is it so loud when there is a narrative about marginalized groups being violent or democrats violently coming at republicans (rare) —but extreme acts by white republican dudes (see: Pennsylvania Trump, Jan 6, school shootings, etc) we just move along and try to play it down? THAT IS POLITICAL VIOLENCE.

Political violence is the choices that have been made to oppress people for generations. Political violence is the rhetoric that has created distrust in the process of democracy to the benefit of authoritarian figures. Political violence is the fact that when I see police my heart rate triples. It’s the feeling and acknowledgement that no matter what, the courts, the economy, everything that exists is operating against you? That is violence. All of that is fueled in large part by the words and actions of the same people trying to shift a narrative when one of their own went after them.

But seriously though— when these are your leaders, what do you think you are teaching:

I say again—this you?

It is imperative that we don’t allow what happened to lull people into a feeling that we have to be overly kind and afraid to point out the actual threat some people are to our existence. You don’t get to play a one sided game and call foul just because you don’t like it— or use a tragedy to push a false narrative. These people and these issues still deserve all the fight that we can bring to them, because it is that important.

To lessen the violent rhetoric the chastising should target those doing the …idk violent rhetoric.

So keep on doing what you’re doing. Actually do more. Say more. Be STRONGER. In the immortal words of Jonathan H. Smith—Turn down for what?

Our boss gave us the thermostats and said we could be thermometers that just tell you the temp, or thermostats that actually change it. Dems for too long have been thermometers, time to change some things too.