Ask harder political questions to go on 'narrative offense'

People used to be reality-based. Here, we're going back to the phrase "reality-based community" that arose during the Bush administration.

Trump, says Anand Giridharadas yesterday on the Ink, "filled the giant gaping void left by the reality-based community’s factualness, respectfulness, and decorum by ascribing the [airplane] crash to...DEI." Are we "being governed by a manosphere podcast"? Maybe.

"We don't know what caused the [airplane] crash. But the crash should be cause for reflection about the project of disemboweling the state.

The crash should cause us to remember that government matters. That staffing at agencies matters. That public goods matter. That competent leadership at the Pentagon matters, instead of hegsethian vapidity. That it’s dangerous to email millions of government workers, trying to trick them into quitting their jobs.

In short, there is much one can say in a moment like that while still being factual, still being classy, still being decorous. But refusing to be in the void-excavation business."

Stop digging the hole. Stop expanding the void.

Hey, a couple rules from Giridharadas:

"The first rule is not to leave the void. Don’t wait for meaning to make itself. It won’t.

The second rule: find ways of reacting that don’t end up being unconscious hyping.

When Trump attributes plane crashes to DEI, you don’t have to consent to having a conversation about DEI and plane crashes. You don’t have to do the newspaper thing of calling the statement controversial or reporting it and citing a 'lack of evidence.'"

Karen Attiah says we should reply to him by saying: "Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?"

I actually wish the media would stop using "DEI" and "diversity hiring" and just get to the essence of the thing and ask: "Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?" And see what happens.

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— Karen Attiah (@karenattiah.bsky.social) January 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM

"The remedy," Giridharadas says, "is not to avoid reacting to Trump. He is, like, the president. The remedy, rather, is to live in more than mere reaction to him. It is to go on narrative offense."