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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Angry right's secret playbook: How it uses a good story to peddle an agenda America hates |
| 2015-01-16 |
| The author is another writer that came up through the left's farm league. A writer, Harry Maddox, associated with The Gateway Pundit does a takedown of the writer. This recent midterm election was my first real setback since I became a committed liberal (after years on the other side), and what I don't understand is why so many well-meaning liberals refuse to fight dirty. Sure, some Democratic politicians "sling mud," but the "professional left" (as they are often derisively called) spend too much time debating the exactitude of certain issues and not enough time shutting down the bad ideas of the opposition. It might speak well to one's character, but it's an ineffective way to do battle. There is a place for self-examination, but it's not on the battlefield. Sometimes the proper reaction to cruelty or stupid ideas is disgust or even a well-timed insult. For many on the left this art is sadly as dead as the late hero of mine quoted above. I got married, dropped out of college, joined the military and became a father all before I was 21 years old, and I spent the next 20 years dealing with my early missteps. It was a painful climb, but one benefit of the circuitous route I took is that I understand the angry, white and rural right wing of America better than most. It’s a group that grows ever more desperate and irrational no matter which way the electoral winds blow. As a member of the frothing right wing, I always spouted nonsense, even when I wasn't sure I believed it. Sometimes I would throw out really crazy stuff just to see how it fit the big picture and sometimes to get a rise from the opposition. Rhetorical bomb throwing is well respected on the right, and it's not always a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with trying out ideas, letting them roll off the tongue to see how they sound. I'm always playing with ideas, most of which get discarded before I let myself believe them or write them down. There is one caveat to this and that's the racist, hateful and homophobic rants that have become too common among the worst of the Tea Party. This ugly side of conservative rage is one of the major factors that drove me (and many others) away from right-wing politics. More at the link... |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #6 That was a waste of time and space--my time and Salon's space. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-01-16 14:55 |
| #5 It's called 'projection', right? the angry, rainbow coalition of lefty liberals As a member of the frothing Yeah, that seems to fit. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2015-01-16 13:14 |
| #4 The three pillars of the left are autocracy, government forced redistribution of wealth, and anti-Christian bigotry. If those are your three core principles how can you accurately be described as not fighting dirty? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2015-01-16 10:36 |
| #3 refuse to fight dirty Nothing like getting sealed divorce papers release in a Senatorial election to take out the Trunk candidate too late in the election cycle to stop your community organizer. Shall we start with the list of a thousand cuts? Or are you just jealous that they finally decided to play the same game? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-01-16 09:54 |
| #2 Ah. Reassuring noises to the Salon readership to keep them from considering that they may be mistaken. "No, no. Those are just a bunch of angry hateful rubes. You're so much better than them. Go back to sleep and keep donating and voting Democrat Transnational Socialist." |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2015-01-16 08:29 |
| #1 Bull. Liberals refuse to fight dirty? Okay that one line invalidates anything that this buffoon has to say. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-01-16 08:01 |