Good Canvass Yesterday

Progressives have GOT to stop calling people with whom they don’t agree “crazy”. It does not help the cause, makes the right/left divide more un-bridgeable, and is a mirror of the worst behavior that we supposedly reject. We bristle when someone calls us “communists”, but then we call them “crazy”. How does that move us any closer to being politically functional? Rather than have a conversation or debate, we just yell insults. Mutual respect is where it’s at – no one is all right, no one is all wrong. Unless we want to wipe out everyone that doesn’t see things our way, we should think about how to open up a constructive pathway that values all opinions.—AND be aware that all of us, all sides, are to some degree being manipulated into our stubborn corners. With us all at each others’ throats, the powerful elites are free to continue tearing down what we are all trying to save in our different ways.

…and OFA is a net negative, in my opinion. They suck up money and energy from the local level, where real “change” is actually possible.

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Shad’s right. The operative word is mutual, a word that if it hasn’t been banned from the conservative lexicon, it was an oversight. Conversation and debate were the tools of very different kinds of conservatives. (One of our canvassers is a Republican who no longer recognizes his own party.)

The hard right admires the rich and despises the poor; they worship winners and loathe losers. And worrying about how you play the game is for losers. That’s why Dick Armey considers bipartisanship the equivalent of date rape: if you’re so weak-kneed as to compromise with an opponent, you just let yourself be screwed. Loser.

You’ll see the right go into spasms of ritual rage and calls for an immediate apology over some imagined offense by their opponents. After which, having succeeded in intimidating their opponent into giving one, they leave the view of the cameras and double over laughing. Anyone so weak as to have caved to their intimidation doesn’t deserve their respect. (Ask Dick Durbin.)

It’s why you’ll rarely see someone like G. W. Bush admit to making mistakes. Admitting mistakes (like compromising) means you’re unfit to be the alpha dog. They know it, and what’s more, they know their own followers believe it. Exhibiting any sign of weakness means you’re fit to be picked off by another member of the pack.

As I wrote elsewhere, “much of the high-caliber rhetoric from the far right flank is simply about establishing dominance. Alpha dog displays in Congress and on the talking heads shows are about dominating the political battle space. The goal is sometimes just to snarl fiercely enough to make opponents roll over on their backs and pee in the air.”

Case in point — Michael Ledeen: ‘Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.’ See: Shock and Awe.

The strong survive. The weak perish. Strength is what they respect. I’m not thinking that playing nice is any way to earn respect from such people. Ask Obama how that’s working for him.

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Shel Silverstein (the Jewish children’s book writer, ironically) got the conservative world view exactly right in one of his songs. It was a big hit you might recognize from a country music icon:

“Son, this world is rough and if
a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn’t be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said ‘Goodbye’.
I knew you’d have to get tough or die. And it’s
that name that helped to make you strong.”

Not good. Not wise. Not educated. Not productive. Not a good parent. Not a good citizen. Just strong.

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Here’s a few more verifiable crazies:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-dumbest-shirts-at-the-glenn-beck-rally

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Tom- Here’s a link about manufacturing for you.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/08/its_hard_to_save_an_industry_w.html

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