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Bette Midler made a mistake last week. In her initial frustration over U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin's announcement that he would not support Build Back Better, she tweeted that Manchin "wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out." Midler said West Virginia moves backward, rather than forward.
To be fair, she later apologized "to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I'm just seeing red." One can't help but wonder whether her apology was genuine, but no matter.
Midler became the poster child for a mistake made by too many who believe they know better than the folks around them.
Rather than taking a minute to think about whether her words would do more damage to her cause than good, Midler gave in to her need to viciously tell the world "I think I'm right, and I think I'm better than you." Belittling Mountain State residents was more important to her than making a statement that might genuinely have advanced the cause she says she cares about.
It happens all the time, often to the detriment of some truly good causes. Those who champion the change are more interested in telling everyone how "right" they are, and how "wrong" their opponents are than in actually thinking about the best way to get the job done.
Hint: It's not by insulting those who think about it differently.
Use Midler as a cautionary tale, folks. Though she seems to honestly believe the change she expected from Build Back Better is necessary, she all but guaranteed the people of West Virginia and other parts of the country like it will have difficulty supporting anything that resembles it in the future, because, in part, of the language she chose.
Rather than give West Virginia politicians a starting point to think about why the state does, indeed, face myriad challenges, Midler gave them an excuse to not think about it at all as they instead leapt to the defense of their home state. (And rightly so.)
Midler is not alone in this kind of shoot-yourself-in-the-foot attack, but she should serve as a reminder. No matter the ideology, it is never a good idea to hurl insults at the people whose minds you say you want to change.