The past three decades have been a Right-Wing wet dream for America. The Republicans have gotten their way on virtually every single issue while the Democrats have meekly rolled over.
Which raises a question. Why are the Republicans so angry these days? And why are the Democrats so goddamn happy?
What do the Republicans have to be angry about, anyway? During most of the past three decades, they've controlled all the levers of power. And even when they didn't control the White House, they might as well as have, with Bill Clinton's "Republican Lite" policies.
The Republicans have gotten pretty much everything they've wanted: their tax cuts for the rich, their sweeping deregulation, their dismantling of the social safety net, their gutting of labor unions, their blood-for-oil wars, their shredding of the Constitution: you name it.
What's more, they blatantly stole the past two presidential elections (and got away with it). And they're the ones who are seething with anger these days?
And yet if you tune into Fox News or talk radio or the Right-Wing blogs these days, you encounter the most incredible seething anger and passion. Tune into just the first five minutes of unhinged Right-Wing nutcase Mark Levin's radio program sometime and you'll encounter more anger than a year's worth of reading Mother Jones or The Nation.
All I've got to say is: where can we on the Left get some of that anger to fire up our base?
After being screwed for 30 years by the New Right, you'd think the Left in this country would finally have built up some anger and passion. But instead, there seems to be way too much humor, fun and frivolity on our side these days. Even Mike Malloy's once incendiary radio program has mellowed out in recent months.
The Left could really use a few lessons from the the Republicans these days. The GOP is a master of rallying the troops by adopting a "take-no-prisoners" hard-line approach to politics. They're also good at rallying the base with a constant "siege mentality" that would have their supporters believe that the Left is on the verge of destroying America (ironic, when you consider who's really done all the damage to our nation in recent decades).
Democrats ought to enter a street fight with the GOP with the appropriate tools: a switchblade, a .38-caliber pistol, and a pair of brass knuckles. Instead, they bring nothing to the fight but good manners and a promise to fight fairly and by the rules. In a street fight, that approach loses every f*cking time---but the Dems appear to be incapable of grasping this basic fact.
Take Obama's current campaign strategy. He's vowed to take the high road and run a polite, dignified, no-slime campaign. McCain, on the other hand, is throwing everything he has at Obama. Day after day, McCain essentially calls Obama a traitor.
And McCain's slime is working. Obama's lead in the polls is now dangerously thin. And if recent U.S. election history repeats itself, Obama looks to be in real trouble by November.
Aren't Democrats angry about all this? Nope. While the GOP is using angry fire-and-brimstone "All Liberals Are Traitors" rhetoric to fire up the troops, we're once again acting polite, sipping our tea, and minding our manners, smug in the belief that the nation couldn't possibly be so stupid as to vote for a third term of George W. Bush.
One thing I will give the Republicans credit for: they are angry, passionate and willing to fight tooth-and-claw for what they believe in. They fight dirty and even steal elections if they have to. And do you think they lose one second's worth of sleep over it? Don't bet on it.
And meanwhile, the Dems are smug, arrogant, and way, way too goddamn polite these days. We need to get angry for a change and start fighting fire with fire.
The creator of the progressive site, BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com, Marc McDonald is an award-winning journalist who worked for 15 years for several Texas newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, before he quit his day job and set up shop in cyberspace in 1995. McDonald's articles have appeared in a number of popular progressive Web sites, including OpEdNews.com, BuzzFlash.com, Crooks and Liars, Salon.com, Progressive Daily Beacon, The Neil Rogers Show and The Raw Story. McDonald's Web articles have also been featured and reviewed by various national and international media, including CNN Headline News, the BBC, the Washington Post, USA Today and many more.
The Republicans fear massive arrests and executions for crimes against humanity and murder. Three preemptive wars have killed over six millions Asians and tens of thousands of Americans. Ironically, the Republicans have constructed an 'injustice' system geared to put them to death without trial.
Democratic officials are largely aboard this sinking Ship of Fools. They accepted bribes at similar watering holes. They stood by while the FBI sold our nuclear secrets to Muslim powers. They joined the bankers in the looting of America. They voted to fund the three wars and supported the perpetrators when they were discovered.
The Patriot and Military Commisions Acts can define the majority of Democrats as enemy combatants. As such, they can rot in prison without trial with the Republicans totally f**ked.
Unfortunately, this concept is beyond the Pale for most brain washed Americans. They will muddle through until the backlash from one of their preemptive wars puts them out of their misery.
by
Jason Paz (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 80 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 4:55:56 AM
Misery always makes Republicans rich. They know us better than we know ourselves. Just because we have been to school and have read some books doesn't make us special, especially if we have failed to pick up some useful rules of thumb along the way. (All rules of thumb are dumb prejudices in liberal world.) The crooks know that anger and fear are humbling and disabling. Liberals are afraid of saying something stupid (terrible crime) especially when they are angry. And liberals are the first to walk out of the room when a discussion turns into an argument (could lose some of those sophistication brownie points). (They have never learned the fine art of afflicting the crooks and suckers, while comforting the rest.) And, what about black hatred? Oh know! Black hatred is the worst of evils. Surely somebody like Jesus or Gandhi told us so. (The world is divided into crooks (the rich), the suckers (middle class), and the lazy cowards (stuck with the work).
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1373 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 9:28:00 AM
The simple answer to the question is, I think, summed up in a phrase like 'full spectrum indoctrination'. It's been going on for quite awhile, and the dividends are paying well. There are those of us who have escaped one way or another, but that makes little difference, as we are effectively, and quite easily, marginalized - as someone understood long ago, you don't have to fool all the people all the time, just enough of them every few years when the rulers let them 'elect' someone. More here for those looking to get out of the box - They're Building a Box - and You're In It - http://www.rudemacedon.ca/dlp/box/box-intro.html . First we take back our brains, then we take back the country.
by
siamdave (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 76 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 12:25:26 PM
Republicans are angry because a WOMAN is in charge of the House. For a republican to have to answer to a woman is the crime of the century. Women are NOT supposed to tell MEN what to do or when. Women are supposed to OBEY men. It doesn't matter that the particular "woman in charge" has an agenda closer to their own than they think.
As far as the left goes, including Obama, they just think they have it all locked up and don't have to care about the voters any more. Obama thinks that once he got all those delegates that was the end of it. He could pander to the right wing religious nut jobs and give his BASE a kick in the teeth. That's okay, he thought, they're MINE no matter what. Nancy Pelosi is so stupid that she doesn't even understand that the REASON congress has such a LOW approval rating is NOT because of the BS that the republicans speal every day, it's BECAUSE SHE spit in the eye of every law abiding citizen the first day when she declared "Impeachment is OFF the table." She stated a couple weeks ago on "The View" that if there were proof that Bush or Cheney or anyone in that administration had committed a CRIME, she would ALLOW hearings to take place. Well has her head been buried in the sand for so long she can't see or hear or feel or anything else? Read the proof for crying out loud. Let the truth be known for once. Otherwise, get out of the way and let the law work for the people.
She could shut the GOP up in 5 minutes. 1, make it known that if "Life begins at conception" then insurance companies will have to fork over trillions of dollars each day for all women with insurance who have a miscarriage. A life is lost, so insurance will have to pay the full cost of a life.
2, agree to new leases for oil drilling, but ONLY to companies that do not already HOLD leases that are not used. AND, take away all subsidies that are already being given to those companies that now hold leases they are not using and give those to the NEW companies.
3, make a law that specifically makes it a crime to spout off proven lies and mistakes over and over. Make political ads subject to libel laws calling for absolute proof that what they say is true BEFOR it can be put on the air or printed or posted on line.
4, stop caving in on everything the republicans start a fight about. They are fighting for the RIGHT to break the law, lie, cheat, steal, enrich their friends, torture and kill those who disagree with them, those who fight for their OWN rights.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. If Democrats DON'T get tough, they'll get run over AGAIN.
by
weslen1 (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 47 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 12:47:17 PM
It's the working definition of idiocy or insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. The GOP has been doing nothing less than dismantling the country, and the dems just dither in the background, apparently lacking the testicles and backbone to come out swinging and to label the mess for what it is. The "high road" nonsense is just that - it sounds good ("just ignore the bully" - remember that crap?) to a certain crowd. Problem is, that crowd has little to do with how the majority of this country lives. We're talking about a nation of people who watch WWF, Saturday night Fights, American Gladiator, cage matches, pay-per-view boxing, monster truck rallies, and tough man contests.
Do you want to know what the "high road" looks like to these folks? It looks like "wimp" and "pussy". It not not respected in the least. This is our current reality. It's one that the consultants and wheelers-n-dealers are clueless about. If they ever cared to leave the DC beltway and actually visit and talk with a few of these 80% of Americans they would grasp this. But they won't, so they don't.
And in four years, they'll try the exact same strategies. But by then, there won't be much of a country or a planet left - even assuming that we're not embroiled in WWIII at that point.
by
annavanz (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 26 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 3:18:59 PM
With all the name calling from the right wing nut case Rovian neocons, we have become numb. It's termed emotional abuse and in my research and studies, these neocon tactics fall totally under "emotional abuse". However, some Liberals like me don't let ourselves get too conjested from the verbiage. They really make such as ass of themself--especially these talk radio creeps. I guess that is why Liberals like me are laughing. :D
I direct my anger in beneficial ways. Maybe Dems exercise more and release their anger. If you really analyze Ann Coulter's smears and verbiage about Liberals, ya hafta think she is shallow as all hell. What a little world all those sheeple neocon followers must live in. What a little "God" they have. Actually, they convince me not to believe in one every time they slander someone for a health condition or a tragedy. For instance, the "Jersey ladies, Michael J Fox, autistic children, Muslims, hispanics et al.
I've never seen so much hatred in this country as coming from the right wing sheeple and leaders. I do think racism is worse now than EVER in our country. My own relative HATES Muslims--hates mexicans--hates hates hates. So much hate coming from the American right that claim they are here on earth showering god blessings. Sure. Hey, ya wanna stuff envelopes and earn $1000 a week? Heh heh.
by
shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 369 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 4:58:00 PM
The right is neck deep in its own outpourings. Incapable of self assessment they simply mouth louder their own talking points. The more insecure in their own beliefs, the bigger the mess they make the louder they talk. Laugh at them, it will kill them.
by
kwalsh (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 217 comments)
on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 5:39:06 PM
7 comments
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