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Home  /  Politics  /  Dear Fellow Liberals: Knock it Off. You’re Embarrassing Us.
26 June 2018

Dear Fellow Liberals: Knock it Off. You’re Embarrassing Us.

Written by Michael Bihovsky
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I am seeing such disgusting and vitriolic rhetoric from dozens of people whom I consider to be my political allies that I am compelled to say something.

In the fight against the Trump administration and everything it stands for, there are factors which, if lost, will render us liberals just as guilty and unworthy as the other side. Those factors are Truth and Decency.

If you write some ridiculous claim or post some ludicrous “article” without thinking it through and properly fact-checking, congratulations: now you know what it’s like to be a Breitbarter. (Seriously: I’ve spent a LOT of time on that website, and what some of you are saying and doing is no different in terms of ignorance and falsehood.)

And if you banish an entire group of people to a decree of sub-humanity without recognizing that there is nuance and individuality in every single person, then maybe you should think more carefully about your daily use of Nazi comparisons (which are merited sometimes, but not always), and reflect on how you yourself are turning into everything you hate.

Even if acting this way were to help us win elections (it won’t), we will have done so at the cost of our moral integrity and the actual values we claim to be fighting for. And then what are we?

And on a more practical note: these kind of despicable tactics WON’T help us win. This may surprise you, but people’s minds are not generally changed by shutting them up or kicking them out of restaurants. It will only convince them – perhaps rightfully so – that your ideas exist only to victimize and shame. Change is made by engaging with people as human beings, recognizing our commonality, and then making a logical argument to support what you stand for rather than releasing a tirade of vitriol to banish what you’re against, and becoming it in the process.

So everyone, please: calm down. You’re making us look bad, and you’re hurting the cause. Be kind, be responsible, and then get to work.

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Michael Bihovsky
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Michael Bihovsky is a musical theater composer and performer, and an “invisible illness” advocate. He is best known for his viral YouTube video “One Grain More,” an award-winning musical parody of Les Miserables about the plight of the food allergy community. Michael has written the music, lyrics, and book for four original musicals, including the semi-autobiographical “Fresh!” which was presented Off-Broadway as a finalist in the “Scene It: New York” competition. Michael’s musicals, plays, and screenplays often revolve around themes relating to physical and mental illness. He has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), and facilitates EDS support groups in Philadelphia and New York City. Michael is also a recurring columnist for the Stanford Medical Journal’s SCOPE Project, and is currently writing a book titled “Live Because: The Philosophy of the Broken, and the Journey Toward Wholeness.”

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