He sought traces of her online, but her presence was political, not personal. So were most of her friendships, based on a footing of impersonal small talk she could have offered a cabdriver. She was a political person. The personal is not political. It can become political when abstracted and generalized, stripped of identifying markers. The political subject is a depersonalized subject: This could be you. This could be you being lied to, spied on, shot at, searched without warrant, convicted without trial, executed without appeal. Could be, but isn’t. When it turns personal, it’s too late.
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