Paul Gosar is a pro-life, climate change denying, medical and recreational marijuana opposing Congressman from Arizona. He believes that the tragic events that conspired in Charlottesville at the Unite the Right rally were orchestrated by liberals to undermine Trump, that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and that Native Americans are “wards of the government”.
I am therefore not too surprised that six of his own siblings collaborated with his Democratic opponent to create an attack ad against him in hopes that the people in his district strongly reconsider re-electing him.
When I saw this ad on Twitter, I was intrigued. How vile do you have to be for six of your own siblings to not only roast you to the public but to do so while simultaneously trying to give your job to someone else?
I looked further into the situation by seeing what the Congressman had to say about it:
Whereas his siblings told reporters they participated in the ad because they felt like it was their moral duty to call their brother out, the Congressman’s retort to me is just plain childish.
We are in an age where anyone can call attention to any issue using platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and others. I think one of the best utilizations of this power is when people call out evil where they see it and take action against it. In this case, members of the Gosar family saw evil within their brother and decided to take action against it. At first look, this situation is very weird and almost sad– it seems like a family is publicly deteriorating. Yet, I think the fact that this family is holding their sibling accountable for his poisonous ideology is a step in the right direction. I think the idea that you shouldn’t hold someone accountable for their actions simply because you’re related to them is counterintuitive; if anything, we take criticism from our family and loved ones more seriously than criticism from anyone else. If anyone could change the way I think, it would be someone I trust.
“Hey, Nush, you’re kind of turning into a racist bigot,”
“Thanks Mom. You always know how to keep me in check!”
Sure, this family could have sat down and talked privately about these matters, but I think the stakes are too high for that to have been a viable option considering the Congressional election is about a month away and there are voters who might not be aware of the way Gosar thinks or, worse yet, didn’t even plan on coming out to vote.
I hope to see more stories like this– people coming together to stand up for what they believe in. I am a firm believer that not taking action against bigotry is just as bad as being a bigot.
I also hope Paul Gosar comes to realize his siblings probably just want him to be less of an asshole for his own sake and that there is no bad blood between them.
Worst in Politics 
I agree with a lot of what you said, I do think the Gosar family could have taken a better approach in trying to correct their sibling. Publicly shaming him with his opponent seems a little harsh. However, the fact that they stood up against their brother and shed light on what he should be doing to help is admirable.
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I don’t really see this ad as public shaming per se. It’s just a congressional ad that happens to be against one family member. To me, this makes it seem worse than it actually is. All in all, I agree that this was a step in the right direction as it may have opened eyes for many, as Nush stated.
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I really enjoyed how you discussed this ad in the context of family dynamics, rather than as a political power play, I think this added an interesting layer to your analysis. In fact, I would have put that even more front and center by giving a specific example (as opposed to a more general one) about family stepping in, albeit not in such a public way, in order to rein in a member who has lost sight of morality or good practices.
That said, I think this was a very strong first post, and if you are able to continue to take a piece of news and relate it to the average person, while also unpacking the implications of the event like you did here, you are going to have a pretty amazing blog on your hands.
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I agree with your overall point of view, I think there should be some type of political responsibility for politicians who support irrational causes, such as Obama being from Kenya, or denying climate change. As part of American culture, the family unit takes an important role in the election of politicians. Most often candidates represent themselves as perfect as possible, this gives the illusion of stability, a quality sought after in a leader. Therefore, I believe that by filming this video, this candidate will lose a strong amount of voters, and by including this on your blog you elucidated your point very clearly.
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