Bridget Phetasy: What American Politics Can Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous

The podcaster and comedian offers a 12-step plan for political independence and recovery.

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Bridget Phetasy: What American Politics Can Learn From Alcoholics Anonymous

"Democracy doesn't die in the darkness," writes Bridget Phetasy, "it dies when politics become team sports, in full view of a bloodthirsty, cheering electorate."

Phetasy is a popular podcaster, comedian, and writer who a year ago penned a great column titled "The battle cry of the politically homeless." She followed it up just a few days ago with an equally powerful piece called "Why I won't vote," which channels the frustration felt by the 41-percent plurality of us who are political independents. "This is the best we've got," she says of presidential contenders Joe Biden and Donald Trump. "Do I poke out my left eye? Or my right eye?"

Nick Gillespie speaks with Phetasy about what she thinks has to happen for politics to improve. A former heroin addict and recovering alcoholic, she says that Democratic and Republican hyper-partisans would benefit from some of the lessons about personal responsibility and optimism taught by Alcohol Anonymous; she even offers her own 12-step program for electoral independence and recovery. She also talks about whether Generation Z is completely post-gender, how new platforms continue to create new ways for creators and audiences to circumvent legacy media, and why things are generally getting much better culturally even if politics are getting much worse.

Comments

[Longtobefree]

So politics is somehow disconnected from culture?
I'll pass on this one.

[John]

Phessey mostly sells naked pictures of herself to her patron subscribers. It is an honest living and she is smoking hot. But, I am not really sure how that qualifies her as a "comedian" or makes her opinion valuable enough to give her a magazine interview.

[Eddy]

Gillespie likes to interview the hot chicks. Just interviews them, no funny business. No-one gets hurt. Not that I'm going to listen to the interview.

[Chipper Morning Wood---------------------]

Hey, everyone has different preferences. Gillespie likes women to call him "pappy" in the bedroom, and Eddy prefers that they call him "papist."

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[Gray_Jay]

"...and she is smoking hot."

Not in that picture, though I appreciate the fanservice from Gillespie.

Duckduckgo can get... surprisingly obscene in its image searching. We'll agree to disagree. Good on her for mining simps. Somebody has to do it, might as well be a Libertarian.

[John]

She has a great body. The face is okay.

[Chipper Morning Wood---------------------]

Dude, this is John. He is well know around these parts as a chubby-chaser.

[Nardz]

4/10

New high score for eunuch!

[End Child Unemployment]

I'd call her a bargain bin Allison Brie

[Dillinger]

most chicks are a bargain bin Allison Brie

[Deelerious]

Smoking hot? I think that's over stating things. But everyone has a type.

She is certainly attractive but not jaw dropping. She comes across as intelligent and that is an amplifier for me...A solid 7+

[Dillinger]

a nice ass in a bikini goes a long way.

[John]

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2020/09/02/portland-rioter-allegedly-stabs-two-to-death-just-one-week-after-d-a-dropped-other-charges-against-him-n879131

Portland rioter stabs two people. He is being held without bond, otherwise the Joe Biden campaign would have already bailed him out. It is nice that they are at least pretending to prosecute this guy. They can hold him in jail until after the election and then let him walk with a plea to a lesser charge and time served.

Does anyone actually think this guy is going to get fully prosecuted for murder and get anything like a just sentence? From a Democratic DA? I think it is 50 50 he has a speaking spot at the 2024 Democratic Convention, although he just stabbed two people to death instead of kidnapping and torturing his victim, which this year at least is the standard to get a speaking slot at the DNC convention.

[Commenter_XY]

Give that asshole the needle. Or Old Sparky.

[John]

Ten bucks says he walks. They have this guy on film murdering the Trump supporter and he still hasn't been questioned much less arrested. He won't be.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/09/man-suspected-of-killing-trump-supporter-in-portland-identifies-self-as-100-antifa/

If you live in a place with a Democrat for a DA, Antifa has a license to kill. The only people getting prosecuted is you if you try and defend yourself.

[Gray_Jay]

Jeez. And didn't Reinfohl (sp?) have a felony record too? In addition to all the vehicle charges he got popped for with his kid awhile ago. Pick him up on felon in possession then at least.

As to Mr. Stabby, it looks like he didn't want to leave the building he was squatting in, and killed two guys in relation to such.

Again, it would be nice if the Portland D.A., could hold onto these guys a little longer than it takes the arresting cop to fill out all of the arrest paperwork. Aside, I'm told that's a bit of a rite of passage for beat cops in a metropolitan area, watching the guy walk out the sally port RoR or the like, while the cop is still typing out why s/he had to hit him with a stick during the arrest...

[Nardz]

In addition, the pp murderer clearly has an accomplice who rolls up right behind him when he shoots and picks up the shell casings.
Both should hang.
Oh, and antifa was trying to find out what cell kyle was being held in (none at the moment) so they could hit him in jail

[Commenter_XY]

Yeah...no bet, John. Heh, heh. That would be the easiest 10 bucks you ever won.

[The White Knight]

They haven’t arrested him because he went into hiding and they are trying to find him:

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/police-hunting-for-antifa-member-murderer-who-killed-trump-supporter/

[John]

I am sure they are looking real hard. Lol.

[Jerry B.]

I expect that the Portland DA is delaying because he's afraid that if he files charges and arrests the guy, his Antifa buddies will show up at his doorstep with Molotov cocktails, and the Portland police will all call in sick.

[KillAllRednecks]

I don't get conservatives who support the death penalty. "Govt can't do anything right or is corrupt, but let's allow it to murder people."
We don't have all the facts in theses shootings yet, but screw the people who show up carrying loaded weapons to these places. It's just asking for trouble. Kyle Rittenhouse parents need to be investigated. What kind of incompetent or inbred parents let there 17 year old son take an assault rifle to protest/riot/civil disturbance. Why does a 17 year old have a gun like that? Before I turned 18 the guns that had been given to me were kept by my grandfather because my family realized a 17 year old shouldn't have access to guns whenever they want. It turns out a lot of these "responsible gun owners" aren't responsible after all.
Was the shooter in Portland carrying openly? I still think it's a terrible idea to bring guns to these places, but I don't blame some of the protestors doing it when the alt right kooks come down from incestcouver armed for war. They aren't there "protecting property or businesses" no one fucking asked them too. They're there cuz they wanna be provoked into shooting someone. Sociopathic fucks.
I love how righties are claiming Rittenhouse was self defense, but the inconclusive video of the Portland shooter means he needs to die. Conservatives are fucking so dumb it's scary.

[John]

A white post excusing murder. The guy murdered an unarmed man because of his politics. And you try to change the subject and excuse it. There are two types of leftists; those who murder and loot and those who lie and excuse it.

Fuck off

[m4019597]

It wasn’t an assault rifle or illegal to carry in WI. Moron. We expect teens to be helpful, this one was helpful. We expect teens to be safe and defend themselves if attacked. He did. You are a moron.

[KillAllRednecks]

For a bunch of so called "libertarians" people here love to complain about lack of bail. Considering the amount of arrests because of protests, and Covid it would make sense to have reduced bail. Even during normal times the multnomah county jail would get too full and have emergency releases. I'm against bail for non violent crimes. It also appears the stabbing wasn't connected to the protests, so why does it matter if he was arrested at a protest a week before. I know you Trump lovers wanna make Portland look like a fiery shithole, but you're gonna have to do better. Portland actually has a low homicide rate compared to similar sized cities.

[John]

He is a dangerous violent criminal who was caught attacking police and let out of jail and now murdered two people. And he murdered the two people whose property he was squatting on. So yeah, it was all about the protests and looting

Don’t worry, they will never prosecute him. I am sure he already has a Biden Harris funded defense team and will walk with time served as soon as the election is over

[Judith Chips]

12 - step programs are BS without any statistical success. Doubtful a heroin brain can produce anything useful. Probably had her clothes off.

[KillAllRednecks]

Meth can cause permanent brain damage, but it doesn't always. Heroin doesn't damage the brain long term. I'd trust a junkie over certain sober people(mormons). 12 step meeting shouldn't be required for people on probation or parole because it's unconstitutional. I personally don't like em, but it works for some people. We need to end the war on drugs. If a junkie or meth head steals prosecute them for stealing. What people put in their own bodies is not the govt business. Heck many opiods and amphetamines are legal and prescribed glto kids for Christ sake.

[KillAllRednecks]

If 12 step programs work for some people that's great. Forcing people to go as part of probation or parole should be unconstitutional. They may not endorse a specific religion, but they sure as shit ain't secular. If I went to 12 step meetings I wouldn't want people who had no interest in going being forced to be there. Seems counter productive. Its anecdotal but God damn mormons seemed to love encouraging people to go to 12 step meetings. They have zero insight into the issue and should shut up. It's also kinda funny that Utah is one of the drug treatment center capitals of the world. It's partly cuz the Mormon theocracy passes laws friendly to that industry and mormons are terrible people who know what's best for everybody. There needs to be mormon 12 step meetings. Steps 1-12 kill mormons.

[Truthfulness]

Your bigotry is noted and reported.

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[Fist of Etiquette]

Say whatever else, Gillespie does good interviews.

[Latin American Meat Packing Glitterati]

Did 5 years in AA. Wouldn't recommend it, unless someone was pre-disposed to a rigorous religious mindset. Pretty anti-libertarian; huge importance on the collective over the individual, 4th & 5th step is essentially a struggle session with your sponsor, 9th step a struggle session with others, etc. I got into the service aspect of AA as well, attending regional conferences and such. I can't say I didn't learn anything during my 5 years, and there are a few random bits of knowledge that I gained when I was in that I still retain. But for the most part I look back on it pretty grimly.

The whole "lack of formal organization"/upside-down triangle form of organization smacks of BLM and like BLM it uses this de-centralized approach to ward off its critics, i.e. "there is no president of AA". It's genius if you think about it. I left AA in '12 so this is kind of a random observation, just listening to the podcast made me make this modern day comparison.

It's overtly religious and the biggest shame is how society has co-opted it into the courts and other mainstream institutions. Every time AA attendance is mandated by a judge there should be a lawsuit pressed. It relies on 1930s religious thinking AND 1930s science and hasn't updated its approach or thesis since, despite a ton of further research. I'm glad I got out.

Other than that, I enjoyed this podcast.

[Eddy]

If I absolutely had to guess, then I would speculate that if an addict wants to change and gets together with some other recovering addicts for mutual encouragement, this would be more useful than the specific *form* which the mutual encouragement takes.

If the incentive to change is just to keep out of prison because a judge wants them to attend meetings, I don't know what the success rate would be. Maybe not as high as one might think.

[Eddy]

Of course, if the person realizes that "wow, a relapse means I go to prison," then maybe the desire to keep out of prison can supply the needed motive. But not every criminal necessarily is inspired by the same desire for reform.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I'll drink to that.

[Truthfulness]

What would you say to those who's had over positive results from AA?

[Abigail_Ava]

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[Kitab Mimpi]

Hora mudeng yu...

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

and why things are generally getting much better culturally

Jury is out on that.

[Roberta]

Oh, bullshit, you physically cannot stop drinking once you started. If you fell asleep, would you drink? If there were no more booze, would you cease to exist after you drank what there was? The muscles involved in lifting the cup are all under voluntary control.

[rajpe]

Conversely, the current situation does have a positive side.

It says that the USA with its Constitution is robust and strong.

Even with miserable Presidents like Clinton, Obama, and Trump the nation will survive - given that citizens owe their allegiance to the Constitution and NOT to any President.

[abeFroman]

Not sure about all that political mumbo-jumbo, but Bridget has a rockin' caboose!

[Longtobefree]

Will SOMEBODY fix Google translate?

PLEASE?!

[Formerly Cynical Asshole]

The bots are still more coherent than anything that's come out of Joe Biden's mouth in years.

[Fats of Fury]

janifer is Biden's head speech writer.

[The White Knight]

Was it the other day that Biden went off rambling about windmills: “I never understood wind, you know I know windmills very much. I've studied it better than anybody."

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[Nardz]

You just make yourself look worse with every post