Swalwell: "Just say Black Lives Matter!"

[John Dule]

On the floor of the House, Eric Swalwell asked "any of [his] Republican colleagues" to come out and say that black lives matter. Matt Gaetz responded by saying "Of course black lives matter. All lives matter," to which Swalwell shook his head.

Look, I hate Matt Gaetz just as much as I hate Eric Swalwell. But there is something about this kind of political grandstanding that I find simply repugnant. By coercing your opponent into making a self-evident statement like this, you are attempting to imply that your opponent does not actually believe in the statement. Swalwell knows this. He is deliberately creating a no-win scenario for the Republicans by pestering them into saying a slogan. What Gaetz should've said was "Sorry, but I don't speak bumper-sticker."

97% of people killed by police are male. Over 90% of America's incarcerated population is male. But you will not see me or anyone else pressuring someone into saying "Male Lives Matter," because we are willing to believe that the other person is honest and empathetic until proven otherwise. The implication here would be that you don't think men matter, and until you say that, it's reasonable to believe that you're a closeted sexist. That is an unfair implication.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just predisposed to dislike Swalwell and to dislike compelled speech. But this strikes me as petty, shallow, and pointless even by his standards.

[John Dule]

you have to say "Black Lives Matter" in such a way as to signify support for a movement that calls itself that, not to say that literal black lives matter.

"I wonder if my esteemed colleague would come to the floor right now and state, unequivocally, that water is wet."

"... That's incredibly stupid."

"It appears that my colleague does not believe that water is wet."

"No, I just don't want to be coerced into saying a self-evident statement--"

"Until he publicly agrees with me and says that I'm right, let the record show that my colleague believes water to be dry."