Yes, it doesn't have to be "toxic." But if you define the call for another vote to recall Sam as "toxic," for example, then the word has no meaning. I don't really think anything toxic has happened since the coup ended.

I don't want Sam out of the CSS because I dislike him as a person. I have no real opinion on him as a person. I get along fine with Belschaft when we're not engaged in politics. But when we're in the Assembly and debating about who should be in government, what policies we should have, how to address the post-coup reconstruction... I'm not going to trust Belschaft, because when it comes to these things we tend to have very different interests, and that in the past has included driving each other from the region. I'm not going to acquiesce to Sam being on the CSS, because I think it's a dumb move that does nothing but set a terrible precedent and delegitimizes an already fragile CSS that's already neared irrelevancy. If those fights include harsh words, that doesn't mean they're toxic.

It's one thing to say people are separate from their ideas. It's another thing to say it's wrong to consider the interests somebody has in arguing their ideas, and whether their trustworthiness means you can believe them when negotiating a compromise. There's purposeful ignorance just to avoid arguments, and then there's politics.


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