The party of “personal responsibility” sure has an impressive knack for dodging accountability, don’t they? As someone who follows a wealth of brilliant Substack writers, including the ever-scathing The Opinionated Ogre, I’ve found my frustrations eloquently mirrored.
This isn’t just about policies or political differences—it’s about a pervasive refusal among Republican voters to own the consequences of their choices, no matter how damaging and hateful they are.
Take a recent conversation I had with an old-school Reagan conservative. When discussing MAGA supporters’ lack of understanding of basic economic concepts like tariffs, I was told—wait for it—that the Democratic Party was to blame.
According to this person, Democrats should’ve educated the public more effectively, perhaps with some Schoolhouse Rock-style explainer videos. Never mind that Republicans laugh at such “liberal nonsense” while actively undermining education and dismissing experts. Apparently, ignorance is only inexcusable when it’s not their own.
When I pointed out the blatant hypocrisy—this same person often preaches that “ignorance is no excuse in the internet age”—they backpedaled faster than a cat caught knocking over a vase.
Somehow, the responsibility for Republican voters’ ignorance still wasn’t theirs but ours.
This is where I draw the line. It’s time for liberals, progressives, and marginalized voters to stop extending olive branches to those who weaponize their votes to harm us.
The Real Costs of Their Votes
The Opinionated Ogre tackled this head-on with the assertion: Dear Trump Voters: You're All Fucking Guilty, where he broke down an excellent article from ABCs Jessica Wolfendale, Are Trump voters morally responsible for the harm caused by his policies?
The answer, of course, is an unequivocal yes. As Ogre put it:
“Like other forms of individual participation in a collective act, the act of voting communicates a voter’s values: the policies and beliefs they support, the policies and beliefs they are willing to tolerate, and how they view the welfare of those who are likely to be affected by a candidate’s policies.”
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In 2016, many Trump voters feigned ignorance, claiming they were just voting “against Hillary” or acting out of “economic anxiety.” That excuse no longer holds water. By 2020, they’d seen firsthand Trump’s cruelty, corruption, and incompetence. Yet even more of them turned out to support him. These voters weren’t fooled—they were complicit.
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“For the potential victims of these policies, therefore, there is no real moral difference between voters who wanted those policies to be enacted and voters who were ‘only’ willing to have them enacted.” - Jessica Wolfendale
The Weaponization of “Civility”
Let’s not ignore the weaponization of civility by these same voters. They insist on “respect” and “understanding” while gleefully mocking and undermining the very communities their policies harm.
This hypocrisy was perfectly summarized by Ogre in his post Fuck You, WaPo, I Do NOT Have To "Understand" Trump Voters:
“MAGAland is filled with racists, fascists, misogynists, and every last one of them is an asshole. They have made it clear that they are cruel, violent, and in love with evil. They are not good people. They will never BE good people. Don’t fucking tell me I have to meet them halfway or compromise with them.” — The Opinionated Ogre
There’s no compromise with people who vote for concentration camps, bans on gender-affirming care, or the systematic erosion of democratic norms. We cannot—and should not—befriend or align with those who weaponize their votes to destroy our communities.
Legacy Media’s Complicity
A significant contributor to this problem is the mainstream media’s reluctance to hold Republican voters accountable. After every election, the narrative shifts to “understanding their rage” while completely ignoring the devastation their rage leaves in its wake.
The Washington Post’s post-2020 editorial infamously urged Americans to “keep an open mind” about Trump’s second term, as if four years of chaos weren’t enough to form an opinion.
This refusal to call out fascism for what it is emboldens Republican voters to double down. Why wouldn’t they? If there are no consequences for their actions—if the press keeps coddling them with puff pieces about their “economic concerns” and “disdain for elites”—why would they change?
Why Accountability Matters
We’ve seen this cycle play out repeatedly. Republican voters embraced Reaganomics despite its devastating effects on the middle class. They cheered Bush into endless wars and financial collapse. Then came the Tea Party, MAGA, and now whatever flavor of extremism is next. Each iteration gets more dangerous because they’re never held accountable.
It’s time for that to change. As Ogre reminds us:
“If 9 people and 1 Nazi are sitting at a table and eating together willingly, you have a table with 10 Nazis.”
Accountability isn’t optional. It’s a moral imperative. If Republican
voters refuse to take responsibility for their choices, then it falls
on us to remind them—relentlessly—that their votes have consequences. votes have consequences.
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