Thursday, May 27, 2021
PMT: Ignore the bullies
According to the New York Times, the first major debate between the Republican mayoral candidates in New York was a real doozy. Curtis Sliwa (above left) and Fernando Mateo got so heated that they both spent a lot of the time muted, and could just be seen pointing fingers at each other. And, yes, I tried to find video of this mess, but failed.
Mateo called Sliwa a "compulsive liar."
Sliwa accused Mateo of not riding the subway.
Mateo then, confusingly, accused Sliwa of actually RIDING the subway (which he does).
Mateo eventually pulled out a prop, "Trumpy Bear," and accused Sliwa of living in "a 320-square-foot apartment with 13 cats." Which, it turns out, is true (except it is 15 cats).
Neither will ever be mayor of New York; the Republican party there is on life support. But the dynamic of two bullies turning on each other is kind of fascinating.
Meanwhile, media elsewhere seem to be falling all over themselves to give other bullies exactly what they want: attention. I was saddened to see that most of the front page of CNN's web site recently was about Marjorie Taylor Green, the uber-bully of the moment on Capital Hill. Her schtick is to attack people, create messes, and keep the attention on herself by whatever means she can find. She has been removed from committees, where the real work is done, and yet as the least powerful person in Congress manages to still be the most-watched.
The way to subdue bullies, of course, is to ignore them. It drives them nuts, and deprives them of the real power they have, which is our attention. Some people say that Marjorie Taylor Green is kind of the right-wing AOC, but there is a key difference: AOC almost always talks about policy. Yes, her policy idea are loved by some and hated by others, but she is usually about that, unlike Green. Of course, for other reasons AOC gets way more attention than her actual power or influence would seem to warrant.
Like some other Republicans, Green's appeal to her constituents is that she "owns the libs," and when CNN obsesses over her it just makes that true. Ignore her! What she says and does really doesn't impact our governance.
Of course, if you really want to see someone interesting in the House who verges on bullying in a pretty fascinating way, I'd recommend former law professor Katie Porter:
