We are failing the Lindsay Clancy Test
Published on HivePostify by @meno · Mon Sep 07 2026
Impossible to avoid, I guess.
Even though I initially thought to myself, "There's no need for me to read about this." I've been bombarded by hot takes, as they call them, that are literally hurting my brain and my soul.
Between the ladies who show up at rallies, with their own children, mind you, defending Lindsay, some of them avoiding nuance completely, and the men who are using this horrible event to argue for regressive policies, including removing women from voting completely, this world seems more and more insane to me by the day.
Listen, I understand the nuanced argument, or at least I think I do. The idea is that if Lindsay Clancy was not of sound mind, she should not be tried in the same way as a sane person. I get that. That is hardly controversial. It is standard legal practice.
What I don't get is why this is becoming a social battleground.
There are people pointing out that men kill their families more often. They say this, and then demand outrage for the actions of those men too.
"Where is the outrage?" they scream.
Confusion and headaches follow, at least for me.
I don't see people defending these men. And, to be completely honest, if someone was defending a man who murdered his whole family, I would have no qualms about calling that defender a monster. At least if no nuance was offered, if the man was of sound mind, if the context elevated the tragedy to a pure act of evil.
It is not unreasonable to have a black and white principle here. As a matter of fact, I'm tempted to have it myself.
If you do the crime, you do the time.
But again, the state of mind of the person committing the crime is considered as context, so that the punishment can be administered correctly. There is a difference between justice and vengeance, and it hardly needs defending which one we should be striving for.
As with so many things that divide our culture these days, this is becoming less about justice and more about scoring points. Sadly, this reality keeps being strengthened by the system of incentives we've created, and by the ultra-connectedness of our online existence.
Everything is an opportunity to dunk on the other side.
Sad?
Yes.
Surprising?
Not even a little bit.
MenO
Tags: #politics#culturewars#clancy#social-commentary#polarization##MentalHealth##Politics##Polarization##SocialMedia##CultureWar##Outrage##Society