Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he isnât buying all that Democratic âjoyâ on display at this past weekâs Democratic National Convention in Chicago during a Sunday appearance with Jake Tapper on CNNâs State of the Union.
During their conversation, Tapper brought up the âdisciplinedâ and âwell-producedâ DNC this week that, as the journalist put it, âconveyed patriotism and unity.â Graham didnât see it that way.
âWell, I didnât see what you saw,â Graham told Tapper with a laugh. âIf youâre a Republican, you saw a hate fest. You saw a hate fest full of insults.â
âAmericans are not joyful when they go to the gas station and fill up their car,â he continued. âTheyâre not joyful when they make their mortgage payment. Theyâre not joyful when they go to the grocery store. People are hurting, and this whole joy love fest doesnât exist in the real world.â
To bolster his claim, Graham pointed to the gas prices, the state of the border, and inflation during Donald Trumpâs presidency when âthe world was not on fire.â
Heâs either lying or what he said gives us a look into his shitty perspective of the world. Either way such a miserable and pathetic existence.
I will tell you in advance: with that mindset, even if every issue you stated in the last paragraph is solved, you will still not be able to smile. People will still keep dying and suffering from injustice, just elsewhere or in different ways.
Try to celebrate every incremental step towards justice and use that energy towards the next step and so on.
Then Iâll continue to not smile. I refuse to pretend to be happy while people suffer. Itâs natural to feel empathy. You guys can ignore it if you need to for your mental health, but as an American with the power to change things, I will continue to protest.
If you have the power to change things, why havenât you done so?
We all are! And itâs changing! Pro Palestinian support is finally a thing! We just have to keep protesting while keeping up with the election.
Ever heard of âjoy in suffering?â
Generally, the more you have, the more miserable you can be. Itâs important to take time to appreciate the positive things in life even while grieving for those who donât currently get to experience them. Joy and grief arenât mutually exclusive feelings, and you donât need to ignore/suppress the grief to experience the joy.
Iâm happy in my free time. Iâm talking about politics and the way we show ourselves in public. Iâm talking about the way we influence people.
Johnny Cash is a good example. Of course he smiled, but he dressed in black and he died in black. Iâm fine doing the same.