(OK, I'm a lurker, and I'm not even an American, so that's two counts on which I should probably butt the hell out, but ...)
Felber's blog post is a jape, and a very understandable reaction to the fact that the other side has been, for years, remorselessly calumnizing the urban "blue" parts of the country. Or did nobody notice? As usual, it appears that the moment liberals fire back, even in jest, a certain number of their friends stand ready to dump on them from a great height for being wickedly unfair. --PNH
I know it sucks -- royally -- but you've got to be better than the other side. You've got to rise above the temptation to call them names every bit as horrible as the ones they call you. You've got to be better -- otherwise when you do win it won't mean a thing, 'cos you'll have turned into them. It's the exact same reason Abu Ghraib, Camp X-Ray and the Patriot Act aren't the way to win the "War on Terror" -- the difference is of degree, not kind. Expose their lies, engage them on the issues, but don't resort to their sort of mudslinging. Raise, don't lower, the level of the debate. Be better, 'cos you are.
And I sincerely believe there's cause for hope. To my mind, the key phrase to come out of this election cycle is "reality-based community". That's who was defeated on Tuesday, the entire reality-based community -- the people who turned out and gave the election to Bush are the sort of people who are so disconnected from empirical reality that they think science textbooks should be based on the first book of the Bible, and foreign policy on the last. Sooner or later the reality-based Republicans are going to wake up -- how long will small-government types put up with people who want it big enough to extend into every bedroom in the land? -- and there'll be a showdown within their party. Consider that Arnie, who got to Sacramento on a huge share of the vote, would never have made it onto the ballot if he'd had to go through a Republican primary, 'cos he's *horrors!* pro-choice.
Heck, the cracks are already starting to appear -- look at all the conservative endorsements of Kerry on Shrillblog. If the reality-based wing wins, you can go back to having an opposition with whom you profoundly disagree on almost everything, but can at least respect for, you know, actually living in the real world. And if the disconnected-from-reality side wins, they'll have rendered themselves unelectable for a generation -- unless you piss off the sane group so much that they still think those guys are closer to them than you. You've got to be better.
"Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you. Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."
(Richard Nixon said that. Richard F***ing Nixon. I feel like the guys in this week's Doonesbury.)
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch my West Wing DVDs on a continuous loop for the next four years, only skipping the credits each time so I can tell myself it's a documentary.
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