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What happens when a COS endorser and LGBTQ activist get together for coffee?
| They say common sense isn’t so common anymore. But neither is common courtesy. One of Convention of States’ core values is to “Be Kind,” and in today’s world, it may be the most difficult to implement. The beloved Ginny Rapini, COS senior vice president of grassroots and mentoring, described being kind as “simply having enough respect for other people to treat them the way you want to be treated.” But how do we extend that grace to our political opponents? In our modern heated political climate, kindness is more than just rare; it’s actively discouraged. In politics, especially, people take pride in being obnoxious, uncharitable, and cruel. It’s a badge of honor. Blind party loyalty and groupthink are required, while those who differ from accepted party doctrine are demonized as “evil America-hating Democrats” or “threats to Democracy.” To make matters worse, this same refractory attitude often eventually turns inward, cannibalizing coalitions and complicating unity even amongst “friends.” Notice, for example, how Laura Loomer, the self-appointed arbiter of MAGA, describes unsatisfactory members of the Trump administration in the most unhinged terms: Dr. Vinay Prasad, for example, “is generally considered liberal, though he bucked COVID orthodoxy and criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci during the pandemic, winning him much praise from the Right and those in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement,” according to //The Daily Wire//. Considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a key Trump ally, is himself a liberal, Prasad’s position at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes sense. The “loyalty enforcer,” however, strongly disagrees. “We have a crisis at the FDA!” Loomer wrote on X. “A wolf in sheep’s clothing is sabotaging President Trump’s bold ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (MAHA) agenda!” “This is no mere bureaucratic misstep,” she continued. “It’s a catastrophic vetting failure that threatens to derail the America First healthcare revolution. Prasad’s anti-Trump rhetoric, radical left-wing ideology, and deliberate actions to obstruct our President’s deregulatory mission prove he’s a dangerous misfit. The time to act is NOW—Prasad must be REMOVED before he destroys Trump’s vision for a healthier America!” The point of this article is not to defend Prasad’s appointment (if anything, shouldn’t Kennedy, the MAHA head, be held to the same standards?) but to spotlight the prevalence of assuming the worst about those who fall short of groundless standards. It was not enough for Loomer merely to call for Prasad’s removal; she had to employ melodramatic, zero-sum language about how he allegedly threatens the entire MAHA agenda. For further proof of the splintering nightmare this cannibalizing spirit can cause, consider a vicious spat with another MAGA provocateur. “Laura Loomer has ZERO respect or reverence for even the most heroic people in America,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote in response to Loomer’s attack against a Medal of Honor recipient. “Shut up Laura,” she added. Loomer fired back, attacking Greene’s physical appearance and claiming her late father “is rolling over in his grave about what a lying, low life degenerate his daughter has become.” So, it begins with the “enemy” on the other side of the aisle; then, it turns to one’s own “inadequate” allies. But it doesn’t stop there. Rampant political distrust eventually bleeds over into “real life.” Kindness is in short supply on X and in coffee shops alike. Jaded by a decade inaugurated in the worst possible way imaginable — a global pandemic, the death of George Floyd, a summer of protests, and a traumatic presidential election — we have become deeply cynical, not just about government institutions and the media and public health, but also about each other. As The New York Times reported on March 5, 2025, “Five years after the pandemic began, Donald Trump is president again, but he’s presiding over a very different country now. America is a harsher place, more self-interested and nakedly transactional. We barely trust one another and are less sure that we owe our fellow Americans anything — let alone the rest of the world.” It’s a stinging diagnosis. If we’re living in a winner-takes-all scrimmage, so much as a friendly conversation with a stranger at the grocery store may be misconstrued as hobnobbing with the enemy. We may take pride in our cold-hearted ability to throw insults, barbs, and punches — to tell it like it is, to ruthlessly smack down those who “deserve” to be set straight — but why don’t we also take pride in showing kindness? Perhaps there is more virtue in extending goodwill towards your aunt who voted for Biden or your nephew who posts insane right-wing agitprop on X than in constantly rankling them for their viewpoints. To this end, Foster’s Outriders, a charity dedicated to the memory of the late Foster Friess, is sponsoring an initiative this September 24-26 called the Coffee Challenge, encouraging participants to invite someone they disagree with out for coffee. Why? To best them in debate? Change their mind? Proselytize them? No. Simply to have a good conversation — “No agenda, no specific questions to ask, no talking points — just talking to a fellow human.” Amazingly, a prominent COS endorser and an LGBTQ activist inspired this challenge. “In early 2015, Register columnist Rekha Basu wrote about an unlikely friendship that had sprung up between [LGBTQ champion Donna Red Wing] and Bob Vander Plaats, executive director of the conservative Christian organization The Family Leader,” the Des Moines Register reported. “The two political opponents began meeting for coffee and pastries every couple of months. For a long time, no one knew about these meetings. They pledged to listen respectfully to one another. Neither had any intention of trying to change the other’s mind. But I like to think that in meeting like this, they were engaging in a different kind of social activism: performing routine maintenance on the civic structure that makes free speech and the free exchange of ideas possible.” Watch: Are you willing to participate in the 2025 Coffee Challenge? Are you even capable of meeting with an opponent, without bringing up politics, without making snide remarks, without lecturing? Doesn’t mean you must condone everything you hear, but perhaps there is some wisdom in Thumper’s sage advice: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” Common courtesy may feel like one of the “weaker” virtues, but it’s much needed, nevertheless. We have no shortage of voices willing to make known their version of “truth.” What we need now is not another voice, but an example of kindness. Learn more about Convention of States’ core values here. |
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| Created: | 2025-08-12 14:55 GMT |
| Updated: | 2025-08-19 07:00 GMT |
| Published: | 2025-08-12 16:00 GMT |
| Converted: | 2025-11-11 12:06 GMT |
| Change Author: | Jakob Fay |
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