The election has been over for weeks and, frankly, the reaction to it is getting boring. So, let’s jump to that column.
It’s good that people are out there blocking each other on social media or cutting each other off in real life as we head into the holidays with the Trump administration.
More than that, it makes sense, and I support it. Also, people throw X, formerly known as Twitter, has been around for a long time. They are not rushing to the dreaded “safe spaces”. They are running for peace. Conservatives have been doing that for years.
But I’ll get to that later.
Discussions surrounding the 2024 elections are deeper than ‘politics’
The most important lie people are telling is that this discussion is about “politics.” Imagine that. Imagine blocking and ignoring someone for something so passé as “politics.”
We have not agreed on political issues for generations. It is the basis of our system of government and votes. One side thinks we need less taxes, for example, and the other is good with taxes if they help improve lives. Or what. Do we disagree on economics? Cool. Controversy about whether we need gun control? Fine. These are the usual “politics” and have always made family gatherings worth attending.
Concepts: Are you surprised Trump likes RFK Jr. health management? The Republicans voted for it.
This is not the case.
This, my friends, is a strong belief we all hold close and dear to our nature. This is about what each side believes people can do in their lives. This is about who can attend and where they are allowed to attend. This is what our children will be taught in schools. This is about whether a woman and her doctor have influence over their health care decisions.
This is deeper than the shallow political differences most of us secretly love. It’s more than just aggressive social media URL sharing that we’ve done since the inception of the internet.
People like me are the ones you want to mass deport
Let me put it another way. I am one generation from family members who came to America from Mexico. My family is here because of the guest worker program that today’s political climate will never allow, especially because of the Republicans.
I grew up, went to school and lived my life with many of the very people you think should be part of Donald Trump’s deportation by the military. I am them. That’s me. We are the one you voted for.
Concepts: Gen Z voters are the most disillusioned with the election. Why did we fail?
Why should I sit at the same table and pass things with the voters on Thanksgiving?
I’m not judging or dismissing the people who voted for that. It makes sense to me that people who have no connection to that community would follow Trumpian fear tactics and vote for that. It is done honestly. It’s easy to dismiss members of a community you don’t know. Now, it doesn’t make sense for people from that community to vote for themselves, but everyone had a choice to make.
But I’m not breaking bread with it. No chance.
Let’s be honest. Republicans have done it for years.
Now, carry that thought process to social media, where many people are finally leaving X, formerly known as Twitter, for Bluesky, which recently hit 20 million users.
I can tell you from experience that many of the people who abandon Elon Musk’s view of “free speech” are doing so to find a moment of peace from the incessant bickering and chaos that social media has become. It doesn’t come from sitting at X and watching Musk spout all that nonsense.
Indeed, progressives are licking their wounds from the loss of Vice President Kamala Harris. But tell me this. How is that different from what the Republicans have done throughout Joe Biden’s presidency?
Should we ignore the list of social media safe sites? Are we just pretending that Gab, Rumble and Truth Social don’t exist? I’m not even going to name them all. Wait, hasn’t someone made a safe dating app?
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And, I guess, that means we’re ignoring the lucrative domestic industry of conservative media that dominates the Republican message meant to create and feed islands of political opinion.
Fox News, Breitbart, Daily Caller and One America News Network don’t exist, do they?
Conservatives didn’t spend years huddling in their safe digital spaces and whining, did they?
Wait, no. They absolutely did. Progressives seem to be waking up to the idea that they can do the same. Let’s not even get into the “patriots” who, motivated by Trump’s loss in 2020, stormed the US Capitol.
Like it or not, we are in an American political climate where debates are no longer about traditional Republican and Democratic politics. Anyone who believes that they can share a turkey dish in the current situation may not have anything at stake for their existence.
If so, enjoy the debate. Some of us may not hear them.
Louie Villalobos is Gannett’s director of opinion. If you feel compelled to get outside, try Bluesky. Honestly, who still uses Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s called?
You can read different opinions from USA TODAY writers and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion letter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boycott Thanksgiving? It’s okay to ignore the family over Trump | The view