The Incoherence of the Incoherent
- Posted by bfwebster on September 2nd, 2008 filed in 2008 Election, Main, Personal, US Politics
[with apologies to Averroes (aka Ab ‘l-Wald Muammad ibn Amad ibn Rushd)]
I have been a registered Democrat since turning 18 in 1971, though over the past 20 years, I have often wondered why. The best answer: every time I consider registering as a Republican, some major Republican (or group thereof) does something so profoundly stupid or appalling that I can’t bring myself to switch parties. My most recent reason has been the gutless, self-serving and self-defeating behavior of Congressional Republicans over the past 4 years.
But I digress. As a Democrat, I have over the past 16 years — since the nomination and election of Bill Clinton in 1992 — watched my own party define its ethical standards and behavior downward, committing virtually every bad act of which they constantly accuse conservatives (it’s called “projection“). I thought I had ceased to be surprised by both the viciousness and the sheer, rank hypocrisy of both Democratic leaders and much of the Left’s rank and file, not to mention their handmaiden, the mainstream media.
But this weekend has surprised even me.
The Democrats like to complain about “the politics of personal destruction”, even as they have mastered it (again, since Bill Clinton’s ascension in 1992). But the absolute frothing rage and vile, hypocritical and/or false attacks that have followed hard upon the announcement of Sarah Palin as the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate have left me appalled beyond words. The Left has shown once again that no one surpasses them at their willingness to utterly trash anyone — especially women and minorities — who defy or threaten them.
Here’s a simple thought experiement: suppose that Sarah Palin were a Democrat and had been chosen by Barack Obama as his VP candidate. Virutally everything that the Left is attacking Sarah Palin on right now would instead be touted as “real-world experience and understanding”, especially her time as mayor of a small town in Alaska. They would fiercly mock any criticism, however mild, of Bristol’s pregnancy; they would tout Sarah’s choice to keep Trig (their Down’s Syndrome child) as showing how much of a ‘big tent’ the Democratic party has; and they would shout to the heavens Palin’s reformist credentials, particularly her fight against corrupt Republicans in Alaskan government.
Sarah Palin’s only real sin is that she’s a Republican. And the sheer virulance of the Left’s reaction to her shows how utterly terrified they are of her. If she really were a poor choice, a desperate choice, a lightweight choice, the Democrats would rub their hands with glee and thank the political gods for such a dumb choice. They would simply let the GOP ticket fail on its own, taking the high road (assuming the Democrats even know any more what the “high road” is). But the vicious, over-the-top, incoherent rage of the incoherent Left shows that Palin is anything but a lightweight, anything but a poor choice. She is, they fear, a second Reagan, one shaped for the 21st Century. Their nightmare is that if McCain/Palin win in November, they may have lost the White House for the next 8 to 16 years.
So they have to destroy her, smear her name, build up a negative image of her and her family in the public’s mind, before anyone gets to know her. And this means passing the stupidest, most vile rumors; being profoundly (and hypocritically) anti-feminist and misogynist in their attacks against her and her family; and generally lowering their political ethics beyond even their usual Stygian depths.
I can no longer bear, in even a ‘DINO’ sort of way, to be associated with the Democratic Party; whatever hopes I had that Barack Obama may actually represent something new are gone, notwithstanding what I thought was an outstanding talk last week. And for all the stupidities of the Republican Party — past, present, and probably future — the selection and nomination of Sarah Palin gives me hope for the future of the GOP.
All this is why I’ve added a new ‘to do’ item to an already busy list for this week. I just downloaded a voter registration/change of information form, filled it out, and printed it; I’ll be mailing it to the Douglas County Clerk & Recorder tomorrow.
And for the first time in my life, after 37 years as a Democrat, I will be a Republican.
..bruce w..
[UPDATED 09/04/08 — 0654 MDT]
If you’re wondering, yes, I did mail off the updated voter registration yesterday; I’ll let y’all know when my new Republican voter registration card comes in.
In the meantime, enjoy this People’s Newswire Roundup regarding Sarah Palin. ..bruce w..
11 Responses to “The Incoherence of the Incoherent”
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September 2nd, 2008 at 10:27 pm
[…] Posted under Main, Personal, PoliticsI have a lengthy post on one of my other blogs as to why the Left’s vicious and hypocritical reaction to Sarah Palin’s nomination has led me to f… after 37 years: The Democrats like to complain about “the politics of personal destruction”, […]
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 am
Ignore the stuff about her children. The important questions are who you want to have a heartbeat away from being in charge. What’s her real exec experience? Sure, Alaska’s a state - with the population of most towns.
And - why did John McCain choose her so rapidly? Why didn’t he float the name much earlier so all this stuff could be thrashed out to find out if she’s really suited to it? Is that how you want your future president choosing people for very, very high office?
I’m not American, I can’t vote, but those seem like very important questions to me. Judge your future leaders not just for themselves, but who they choose to surround themselves with. (Maybe you want the Obama-McCain ticket? Or McCain-Obama.)
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:22 am
Hey, I not only consider Palin (as VP) to be more qualified for the Presidency than Obama (who is running for President), I consider Palin more qualified than McCain. Read the rest of my blog; I have been rather unhappy with the pair of presidential candidates we ended up with; I’d frankly be happier with a Palin/McCain ticket than the current one. ..bruce..
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:29 am
Charlesarthur, Alaska has more than 600,000 people. Kindly make a list of the towns with more than 600,000 people.
Thanks, you’re a mensch.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 am
Pray for a Repub victory and a heart attack, then!
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Ahh, I knew you had it in you. But how will I recognize you after such a life-altering change?
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
Ah, Charles, unlike many of the vocal members of my former party, I don’t pray (or call) for the death of those I disagree with. ..bruce..
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:43 am
to charles; just a couple points…
“why did John McCain choose her so rapidly? Why didn’t he float the name much earlier so all this stuff could be thrashed out to find out if she’s really suited to it?”
McCain did vet and research Palin before choosing her. Just because most people didn’t predict he’d go with Palin, didn’t mean he wasn’t researching and investigating her. He simply did it in a quiet manner (which ended up working out brilliantly when he announced her as the VP selection).
“I’m not American, I can’t vote, but those seem like very important questions to me. Judge your future leaders not just for themselves, but who they choose to surround themselves with”
I agree with everything you are saying. So far we’ve found that Obama has associated himself with former (and unapologetic) terrorist Bill Ayers, and controversial (read: anti-american) preacher Jeremiah Wright. Keeping that in mind, who do you think surrounds themselves with better people? Furthermore, on the couple occassions that members of McCain’s circle have been found to do something controversial, McCain has immediately denounced and separated himself from them. You can’t say the same or Obama who didn’t see anything terribly wrong with Wright’s statement until weeks after everyone was harping on about it.
As for Bruce…Congratulations on making that big step!! I don’t blame you for not doing it earlier, I myself as an up-and-coming conservative (I’m only 27) have often found myself being frustrated and embarrassed over numerous blunders by Republican representatives. However, it’s conservatives like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal (who made sure Gustav wouldn’t be a repeat of Katrina) who give me some hope and encouragement for the future of the party.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
[…] title above is from a comment on a previous post. The graphic below is from Suitably […]
September 13th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
[…] Again, the attacks on Sarah Palin about her gender have been so over-the-top, vile, and profoundly hypocritical from the part of the political spectrum that claims to champion women as to leave one astonished. In my case, they led me to leave the Democratic party after 37 years. […]
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:18 pm
[…] and perpetuate grossly-distorted depictions and unfair stereotypes of those on the Right (e.g., see the trashing of Sarah Palin), but they cannot endure to be mocked themselves. It is their fatal weakness, the one thing that […]