not to piggy back on this, but you can observe this phenomenon in a lot of conservative and fascist political priorities.
it’s not about actual pedophilia; your average right winger doesn’t even know what the first thing about addressing pedophilia looks like in the U.S. about how it has largely been turned into a diagnosis, and how our society manages the existence of pedophiles has largely turned into the domain of the field of mental health management. is this better for the safety of children than carceral justice, or worse? wrong question! because it’s literally not on the radar for most fascists. pedos are monsters, and so any undesirable you can associate with pedos can be similarly banished. it’s literally never been about actual pedophiles
the gamergate outrage was never about videogames
the trumpies have never actually cared about the logistics of legal immigration
the trans athlete ‘debate’ has never been about the sanctity of women’s basketball, or marathons, or whatever sport it is this week
the hillary truthers never cared about political integrity
anticommunist reactionary outrage has never been about positively righting the minutia of political hierarchy
reactionary outrage over minimum wage has never been about providing a logistically sound alternative to compensating the poor
the antiblack focus on ‘tough on crime’ politics has never been about actually mitigating crimes and keeping people safe because they don’t fucking care
every. last. one. of these conversations are proxy conversations. what’s actually being discussed? who gets to participate in society, and who doesn’t. fascist authorities will give any reason, no matter how ridiculous, and fascism enjoyers will parrot any party line, no matter how ridiculous, because no matter what is the Biggest Issue On Earth this week, what they’re actually saying is quite simpler: this is why we’re getting rid of minorities.
you cannot debate fascism, because it has never cared about the truth.