Once upon a time I used to be a Liberal Democrat from New York City. The rules of politics I learned were from the Old School;
Never attack an opponent in 3 places:
A) The Sickbed
B) The Deathbed
C) The Water's Edge
I will touch on the first two, the last one deserves it's own post.
During the Bush Administration, the Dean Democrats (as I've called them after 2004) created many places for themselves to be heard: The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and MoveOn, etc, etc.
But these Dean Democrats never learned the old rules -- they delighted in the harm or death of an American opponent (note I did not say enemy, that is the way Democrats think). There was joy in people's suffering.
Examples? Sure: This is Tony Snow. He just died and because he worked for President Bush, he was attacked, even in his Death bed.
Here is Senator Jesse Helms' death as done by Kos. If Senator Helms was not given redemption by the Democrats, why should Senator Byrd (D-WV) receive any redemption for his time with the Ku Klux Klan?
And the sickbed? As Tony Snow was diagnosed with cancer, the Democratic Underground decided to figure out how long he had to live.
What does that mean for the Valley?
1) Unless Democrats said anything kind about President Bush and his policies, you are guilty until proven innocent -- it is the power of the Google that can show the truth. Ironically, Jason (who also helped fixing my Blog) did end up saying something nice via the Poli-sci-fi meme. if Jason was able to, the rest of you Democrats, Liberals and Progressives better have proven the same.
2) I used to be a Liberal Democrat; Recently, I worked for Hollywood Democrats -- when push came to shove and I had a problem, they did not care. When I worked for Republicans and Conservatives in New York and DC, they actually gave a damn. The thing is, Democrats care about the Public Sphere but do not care about individual People. Quote me.
If you say, "Republicans are Evil/Stupid, etc." I will dismiss you. I have actual Life Experience with Dean Democrats closed-mindedness and uncaring, prove me wrong.
3) Today, there was news about a usenet server where Liberals, Democrats and Journalists talked on issues. Spare me the Bull about how working for Conservative owners means Conservative slants in the News -- it isn't there. Political people are some of the most well-read people in the world. When the Newspapers attack half their audience all the time, well expect some failure. I'm speaking to you Seattle Post-Intellegencer. If you have a source has not supported Republicans when times were hard (i.e 2004- 2008), I will not accept them as a source. That means Andrew Sullivan is not a legitimate source.
4) Democrats own the Governement. Democrats are The Man. After Inauguration day, you can stop blaming President Bush and Republicans in Congress (they haven't been in power since 2006) and tell us why President Obama is right in his decisions. You get no points attacking Republicans -- that's how this post got here.
Welcome to the Revolution!
I have long been of the opinion that politics seems to have two different standards. One for conservatives and one for liberals. An example of that is what went on with Sarah Pallin's vice presidential run. No one would have dare said anything about Hillary Clinton, but Sarah was fair game for all kinds of things. Liberals seem to think that their standards are the only ones that matter and they want to be treated far better than they treat conservatives. I think that civility should be part of all political interactions and these rules should be common sense. I have been really disappointed with where US politics has been going for quite some time now. This is a nice example of why.
ReplyDeleteWow, you worked for Hollyweird Democrats? And survived. Wo. I mean that is wholly impressive.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, you cleaned my clock in that blog battle! Welcome back to the blogosphere. One political post in and I'm already slightly annoyed, so you're doing something right.
ReplyDeleteLet's talk about generalizations. I make generalizations all the time, but as a political humorist, it's my job. It was a conservative masked avenger who said that once you've realized it's all a joke, being the comedian is the only thing that makes any sense. But when you're a serious political writer making generalizations (and then taking issue with the other side making generalizations), it's kind of hacky. Assholes come in every stripe, as do good people. These kind of generalizations without the context of humor are a disservice to humanity. Then again, the whole damn political game is a disservice to humanity. What point am I trying to make here? Oh yeah, good to see you back.
JSF, your post was very thought provoking. I formulated a post on my blog that expresses my thoughts on the subject. by the by welcome back.
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