"Both sides are the same!" is a dogmatic position immune from facts

[Whack-a-Mole]

This whole “whataboutism” is a fallacy that needs to stop because there is no end to it.

Whatabout Bork? Let’s say he was treated unfairly. Does that mean forevermore the consent process is stuck in the shit show it is now?

@Iggy

The demonization of opposition seems to have grown in recent years. There was a time when political opposition was recognized as a difference of opinion, even a heated difference. But at the end of the day the parties (both political parties and individual participants to a disagreement on a single issue) respected one another as decent, if misguided, persons of good intent.

Now it seems more and more that there is a presumption that a political opponent’s opposition means that political opponent is a bad person. Ill motives are easily implied and assuming the worst of others seem de rigueur. This attitude makes it harder to reach across the aisle and deal in a bipartisan manner on other issues.

The demonization is fair when the other side will not even agree to the facts. If one side says immigration is a real problem and immigrants are ruining this country we should look at the facts and decide how bad it is and how to best address it. But one side wants no part of the facts. They want to tell you that Mexicans are out there waiting to rape your wife or daughter.

Lower taxes? Who needs facts about how low taxes are? They just need to be lower and trickle down totally works.

You could make a laundry list of this stuff. You cannot have a debate if you can’t even agree on the premise and one side is studiously averse to actual facts that would establish the premise.