Selena Robinson Should Resign
Published at 13:04 on 5 February 2024
Update: She resigned, probably because she was told that she could either resign or be fired.
If she doesn’t resign, she should be fired.
Free speech is a thing, and as such she had the right to say what she did. If she had been a member of the US Republican Party, her words would have helped her reputation within her party. But she is not a member of a proto-fascist right-wing party. She is a member of a social-democratic government. Social democracy has generally been critical of imperialism.
As a minister in such a government, she had to watch her words, as should any minister in any government. If she didn’t like that, she shouldn’t have gone into politics.
Her apology said almost all of the right words. It’s just that two critically important words — “I resign” — are missing. If she was really as concerned about her previously unquestioned beliefs as she claims to be, she would want to step back from power for a while to reexamine those beliefs.
But she did not do so. As such, the so-called “apology” comes across as just that: the insincere words of someone desperately trying to cling to her position of political power.
It is a general principle of politics, going back to the time of Plato, that they who most desire power for power’s sake are those least worthy of holding it.
To reiterate: Selena Robinson should resign. If she doesn’t resign, she should be fired.