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Let's look at history first. In the secession crisis of 1860-61 in the US, South Carolina left the Union and the United States left a Military Fort in the jurisdiction of South Carolina. It was Fort Sumter. The Confederates warned the Union troops they would fire; when diplomacy failed, the Confederates fired for 34 hours on April 12, 1861 on Fort Sumter. The Union lost Fort Sumter and it took Four years (and a lot of critics from the Democratic party) but President Lincoln won back the territory and saved the Union (can I get an Amen?).
Now let me introduce to a quote from one of my heroes, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill:
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During the Tea Party Protests, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper made fun of the protesters, and so did MSNBC and a few other outlets.
Two months later, on June 1st, Playboy Online had an article about hate F**king women of the Right (sounds like rape to me -- where was NOW?). Playboy took the article down (but did not fire the writer), but the Politico left the article online for a little longer.
This week was an explosion of news: David Letterman made a misogynistic joke about Governor Palin and her daughters (and NOW finally got involved today and said he was wrong) and someone with with a hatred of Former President Bush and Jews tried to shoot up the Holocaust Museum and the Weekly Standard offices.
And for over a year, I have been discussing in the Valley the love of the Left and Anti-Semites and their shared hatred of Bush. Chickens....coming home to roost, but no one on the Left ever wants to admit being wrong here. There are no modern William F. Buckley's in today's Left.
After the shooting, the partisans on the Left (and their allies in the media) immediately blamed all of the Right (and then added "The DHS report was right,"). Two Establishment writers in the media, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, and Paul Krugman of the New York Times, both men well known for their hatred of President Bush and Republicans, said Conservatives, Fox news and Republicans are to blame. Hypocrite, thy name is Robinson and Krugman.
Tonight, my friend Donald Douglas, has a post that has been on all the lips of the Right: Is there a coming Civil war? Not between North and South, but between Right and Left.
Remember the Churchill quote? Since January 20, 2009 (heck since December 12, 2000), no Democrat has ever shown Bi-partisanship, post-partisanship or magnanimity. As the examples above show too, even the media shows a lack of understanding and respect for the Conservative and Republican side of the equation.
Now this is my message to everyone on the Left, Democrats, Progressives and
media friends:
Ever read Langston Hughes, A Dream Deferred? With no sign of the promised post-partisanship, or magnanimity from President Obama or any his partisans or friends in the media, it is causing some of us to literally, explode.
Do you want to stop the separation between Right and Left? Republicans and Conservatives lost the last election, but unlike the Left for last 8 years, we are not whining about it. In fact, speak to any True Conservative or Republican and we will agree that it is a great day for America that we have our first African American president and family in the White House. But, when you have Evan Thomas, editor of Newsweek, calling him a demi-G-d, we on the Right have a duty to ask: What the fuck?
Heck, in Churchill's quote: In defeat, defiance. Is dissent now un-patriotic after the loose talk of the last 8 years? Until the members of the Press and the Left realize how ung-dly they were to other Americans who disagreed with them, you have stoked an upcoming fire. History did not begin on 1/20/09 and nothing we have seen since then proves that you do anything but hate our guts.
I have a test for all Liberal Trolls on other Blogs: I ask, name 3 policies of the past two Presidents (Bush II and Clinton, Obama and Bush II after his term) that you support. No one on the Left can perform this easy task. Anywhere. Anytime. I can and do.
Throughout the Valley, I have at theory that the Left needs an American Emmanuel Goldstein -- I have yet to be disproven of this theory. You want Conservatives and Republicans "to calm down," well here is a hint: Stop turning our people into Emmanuel Goldsteins. There is no step back from this.
And if you deny us magnanimity, post-partisanship and a place to be heard (which is why Fox and talk radio do well), where do people go when they feel the System in all it's Establishment is against them? The last time the New York Times endorsed any Republican was President Eisenhower. Again, deny us our dignity.
Democrats and Liberals, you own the Establishment. You call us "racists," for disagreeing with President Obama, and you forget that we on the Right love our First Amendment Rights and our Second Amendment Rights. Change your tune or Fort Sumter might come sooner then you think. We hear you, but we need you to hear us.
And my question, what are you doing to stop the next American Civil War?
As someone on the Left, I can and will give you 3 policies that I fully supported George w. Bush on:
ReplyDelete1. His expanded foreign aid to combat AIDS, especially in Africa. Long overdue.
2.The original war in Afghanistan and the use of the coalition he created. After all, the Taliban harbored bin Laden. It is too bad it wasn't finished and the focus soon switched to Iraq.
3. The establishment of the world's largest maritime sanctuary in the Pacific.
All those were, and are policies I support. Now onto other comments. It seems to me that both the Right and Left need their own versions of Emmanuel Goldstein to rally and ratchet up their bases. In an earlier question on Linkedin, you made mention of some of the targets on the right that the left loves to attack.
The Right also has its share, a partial list follows:
Hillary and Bill Clinton
Mario Cuomo
Nancy Pelosi
Harry Reid (whom I dislike)
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
Keith Olbermann
Ted Kennedy
George McGovern
Jimmy Carter
I think that the problem lies in the fact that the way our political system of primaries and also funding makes it almost necessary for the parties to reach out to the true believers on both sides of the spectrum and energize them. the best way to do this is to declare the other side the enemy and attack. It is a rhetorical device that seeks to inflame and thus mobilize those who are the most likely to act.
There is no true debate anymore on political ideals. It is all based on sound bites and anyone who knows true debating knows that it is very hard to sensationalize a true philosophical discussion. Even you must admit, there is a huge difference in between William F. Buckley and some of the leaders of the Conservative movement today
Even though I call myself a Progressive, there are many things that at it's core I respect about the Conservative philosophy and at a later time and in another discussion we can talk about those.
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your good and concise answer. Much appreciated and it shows why I respect your opinions in any forum.
I always am willing to debate on a higher plane, but it is hard after seeing feces flung at us for 8 years (and still today, as the examples I cited).
Also, an Anonymous comment came in. The rule here in the Valley, don't hide behind insulting fake names or being anonymous (especially if you have a Blog).
As far as you complaints, if you look back in this Blog, I cite examples of Assasination porn (plays, books and movies) against President Bush. How was that not TREASONOUS?
And if your complaining about what is cited here, prove me wrong. Also, among your compalaints, you showed neither the magnaminity or post-partisanship you folks campaigned on.
Game, set, match.
Lead by example or not all.
I always am willing to debate on a higher plane, but it is hard after seeing feces flung at us for 8 years (and still today, as the examples I cited).
ReplyDeleteThe trick, my friend, is to let go of the "group" mindset--the one that says, because some on the left flung feces, you should be on your guard against all on the left, responding to Peter (or to Bob, or James-->me... Nice to meet you both, btw)--for the sins of Paul--and to instead treat each person, left, right, or otherwise, as individuals. There's always time to react to poor behavior AFTER it's happened, but silly & a waste of time to do so beforehand, because it just might not happen at all...
Bob's right... Pretty much everything that happens among some on the left, happens among some on the right, as well. Either we can endlessly point fingers at each other's political side as a whole, or we can condemn (or at least argue about) the *individuals* who misbehave, whichever party they're from, and not hold the whole (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican--take your pick) gang responsible for their worst behaving individual members.
As far as "assassination porn," it's not treason, it's free speech, in all it's ugliness. If everyone was making pretty and universally accepted statements, there'd be no need for the first amendment. I'm not saying that it's not disgusting or offensive, but only that it probably isn't treason, legally or even morally.
(To be fair, I couldn't find your previous mentions of assassination porn on this blog. I searched the phrase, as well as each word separately, and then tried the phrase "kill Bush." Nothin'. I do recall hearing about one movie somewhere several years ago that showed an assassination of a guy some claim was supposed to be Bush, but thought that was a foreign film... Which is to say, I'm only reacting to what I know, and to what I believe, in general... Maybe you do have an example so bad it goes beyond free speech and creative license, but if so, I'd have to see it to judge for myself.))
you showed neither the magnaminity or post-partisanship you folks campaigned on.
Again... Can you really hold some anonymous (or indeed ANY) person on the internet responsible for the promises made by a campaign that most of us weren't even a part of? I mean, it's one thing if s/he SAID s/he was a magnanimous post-partisan, or chided you for not being one, but otherwise, it's quite possible that s/he's one of those poor behaving idiots I mentioned earlier, who don't represent the campaign, the party, or liberalism in general, any more than some rude anonymous righ twing--(yeah, I left it that way intentionally... The phrase appealed to my strange sense o' humor, almost the same way "cow orker" does.)--moron found on the internet would represent your whole party or political belief system,
Just my two bits.
(& by the by, I just gave you credit for your well-mannered way of treating those with whom you disagree, over at Donald's place. Please don't make me out to be a liar anytime soon... My poor heart wouldn't be able to take it... 8>)
[Define the verification word meme}:
humstai - a small town in Liechtenstein, famous for their bratwurst.
Repsac,
ReplyDeleteYou treated my issues with respect, you commented on here, not by hiding behind an insulting name or being anonymous, you respected my ground rules -- how can I not respect you?
If you want to find the "Assasination Porn," I talk about, look up the Two Minute hate post I did last Jan. (actually, I did it twice).
As far as the assasination porn, when I was a democrat, I was taught not to engage in that type of rhetoric -- yet, when it was indulged, no Democrat (Democrats can shut up Democrats, the same on the other side) stood up and said it wrong. What I learned from the past 8 years, scorched earth tactics work.
If it worked for 06 and 08, why shouldn't I indulge in it too?
Look at the Churchill quote, this is beyond just what Obama campaigned on (and he did talk of change and post-partisanship). It is how individual members of the Left treat their electoral equals.
No magnimity, and hate and assasination porn for the last 8. It burned one of the last guys who would have said "Stop," at scorched earth. But now, no more.
Thanks for commenting. Keep on coming back.
Visited (& commented on) the Two Minute Hate post from last January. As you will see when you read my thoughts, I had issues.
ReplyDelete"If it worked for 06 and 08, why shouldn't I indulge in it too?"
I suppose that depends on which part of your thinkin' is stronger; your belief that it's wrong, or your desire to win.
One thing's for certain; you can't simultaneously call it The Two Minute Hate when (certain) Democrats do it AND justify doing it yourself, without looking like a hypocrite (& perhaps a little foolish, as well).
If I might suggest something else, I think that you're falling into the news trap (or "No Good News from Iraq" syndrome), a little...
When one reads the paper/internet news sites (or listens to, watches the news), one might get the impression that the world sucks. Virtually nothing but murder, war, & other examples of people mistreating each other in ways large & small. Of course that isn't true in real life. On any given day, most people out there are neither the victims or the perpetrators of any crime.
The problem is, not being a victim or a perp isn't newsworthy. The headline is always "2 People Die in Late Night Building Fire" not "98 People Survive Late Night Building Fire" or "Millions of People Sleep Peacefully; No Late Night Fire." The one soldier who is killed in Iraq on a Monday will always get more press than all the soldiers who didn't die that same day.
This relates as follows... It'll always be the outlandish statements (made by Democrats --or Republicans) that gets the column inches, rather than the average statements, where folks are trying to work together and play nice.
I think that you're doing what news folks do, & only focusing on the bad (& if I may, the bad of only one party, when individuals of both do bad) and ignoring the good, not to mention the average.
There are magnanimous Democrats, who don't engage in such tactics and, even if they don't go out of their way to be extra-super-sweet, treat those with whom they disagree politically with common decency--even if that means just saying nothing. Those Democrats are just less newsworthy...
["Define the verification word" meme]:
dulphteg - A children's game played in Humstai, a small town in Liechtenstein.