Politics with Paul

Approachable, nonpartisan, and nonideological analysis of various political topics by nonpartisan political analyst, writer, researcher, and speaker Paul Rader.

Blame, "Both Sides-ing," and Whataboutism: When Are These Appropriate? | Politics with Paul #84

E85 • Mar 17, 2026 • 61 mins

In political discussions, blame often gets thrown around. People get accused of "both sides-ing" an issue when they don't take a strong stance. Or accusations of wrongdoing are responded to with, "Yeah, but what about you?!" The vast majority of disputes in politics involve at least one of these rhetorical devices. Oftentimes, these tactics are destructive and unhelpful, making discourse worse. But are there times where blaming, accusing someone of "both sides-ing," or whataboutism are justified? Today's episode explores our penchant for engaging in these tactics, why they regularly happen, why the line for when these are acceptable is hard to draw, and what we should ask ourselves before we use these tactics. Quality discussions, and finding solutions to our most pressing problems, greatly depend on properly addressing these things.

Key Points

Blame, both sidesing, and whataboutism are prevalent in political discourse and often contribute to deepening the political divide rather than fostering solutions.
Blame can be useful when directed at legitimate sources of a problem, but overuse and bias-driven accusations hinder constructive dialogue and self-awareness.
Whataboutism deflects accountability and perpetuates cycles of retaliation, making it crucial to approach criticisms with self-awareness and a genuine intent to address issues.

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Speakers

Paul Rader

Host • 100%

Chapters

0:00	Intro: Blame, "Both Sides-ing," and Whataboutism in Politics
3:26	Blame Game: The Propensity for Pointing Fingers
9:48	When (If Ever) Should We Engage in Blaming Somebody?
16:08	Questions to Ask Yourself When it Comes to Blaming
21:25	What is "Both Sides-ing" and How Often Does it Happen?
28:09	When is an Accusation of "Both Sides-ing" Warranted?
35:35	Questions to Ask Yourself When it Comes to "Both Sides-ing"
39:47	Whataboutism: Responding to Accusations with Counter-Accusations
44:57	When (if Ever) Should We Engage in Whataboutism?
52:26	Questions to Ask Yourself When it Comes to Whataboutism
59:53	Closing and Links

Transcript

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