Truth and reconciliation? Not quite

A few days after the election last week, when things were still a bit murky (not that they’ve cleared up all that much in the interim), I made an offhand remark to some friends about what kind of hat I should crochet for the march that would be taking place the day after Joe Biden’s anticipated inauguration.

The friends did not disappoint. One said that I should make myself a giant breast to represent the government teat from which we will all now be sucking. One said that I should fashion a hat in the shape of Hunter Biden’s laptop. One said that I might want to put together a hat that resembles an erect middle finger. One said I could crochet a hat that looks like the bus that Kamala Harris took to school as a child. One said that I could whip up a hat that looked like a Cheetah (yes, let it sink in. There, you got it). And it went on from there, delightful suggestions that had me laughing for hours.

Of course, we won’t be needing any hats. There will be no throngs of women parading down the avenues of big cities like D.C., New York and Philadelphia. That is so 2016, that super-spreader therapy session for pre- and post-menopausal liberal women, because the ladies are happy, happy, happy!

As an American, I will call Joe Biden my president, even though I will spend the next four years fighting tooth and nail against most of what I expect will be his policies. But he will be my president, because I am an American citizen, and he will be its leader.

I am not one of those people who embrace their victimization in that passive-aggressive way that ends up victimizing other people, namely, the people who disagree with me.

And that’s the point of this column. In the days following the election, as the numbers and margins changed and morphed with each passing hour, Democrats separated into two distinct camps. On the one side were those who sought harmony, peace, conciliation and kumbaya. Biden and his running mate placed themselves on that side of the blue line in the sand.

But it’s the other camp that interests me more, the one that has no problem being open and in-your-face about its agenda. On Twitter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez led the charge by suggesting the left should make up lists of those who had supported Donald Trump, in order to make sure that history did not forget what they had done and to ensure that they were no longer in a position to cause “harm” to others. That sentiment was echoed by others on the left, including once respected public figures like former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who said that there should be a “Truth and Reconciliation” commission similar to the one established in South Africa after Apartheid ended. The obvious implication was that supporters and “enablers” of Donald Trump should be held accountable for their alleged crimes.

You might say that anyone who either worked for, or assisted Trump is fair game in the business and political world. A Washington Post reporter wrote a snarky article about how former Trump allies might want to update their resumes to make them more palatable for future employers (suggestion: never seek work again). You might even think that the public harassment engaged in by those who listened to Rep. Maxine Waters is hunky dory. Having been born below the Mason Dixon line I will take a phrase from my southern ancestors (I must have some) and say, “Bless Your Heart.”

But what you cannot legitimately do is support the compilation of lists, the establishment of “commissions,” the creation of task forces and the doxxing of private individuals who legitimately believed that they were advancing political goals that - let’s be honest - were supported and shared by a large plurality of the American public. You cannot do that and pretend to be Americans. And if you are capable of deluding yourself into feeling virtuous while persecuting others, I’m thinking you were that kind of person well before Donald Trump descended that escalator six years ago.

So to those who are seeking reconciliation, good luck with that. And to those who are seeking Truth and Reconciliation commissions, you got a good look at what the #resistance looks like when you were marching with those genitalia hats on your heads. This time, though, the #resistance will be much better dressed.