Cling to guns, religion, and tribe

Since the election I have withdrawn from reading most news (including gay news) blogs. I do listen to NPR, but I’m quick to turn it off when they let a Republican talk. A great deal of that withdrawal is because so much of the political news is so discouraging. A part of me wants to say you voted for him, you reap the consequences. Perhaps next time you’ll listen to what the Dems have to offer, even if it is a woman.

Blogger Dallas Taylor wants to knock that idea out of my head. In a post written just before the election (you should know by now that some things can stick in my browser tabs for a long time) he wrote (and I didn’t edit for purple language):

The problem, aside from the damage done and the many, many steps backward that will entail, is that human nature doesn’t work that way. A progressive society is contingent on prosperity. When people ain’t got shit, they start looking out for them and theirs, and fuck everybody else. They cling to their guns and their religion and their tribe harder than ever, because if there ain’t enough to go around then they’ll make damn sure they and theirs get what they need first, and the rest can go hang.
…
You know why shit’s so dysfunctional? Because the goddamned Republicans put party before country, and have sabotaged and vandalized and obstructed every fucking thing that might make things better. They have to, because their whole thing is that government can’t work and is never the solution and if you elect them they’ll prove it to you, as they fucking have for decades now.