FAR-LEFTIST RAGE

The Far Left has seen their ideology resoundingly rejected by the American populace. While it may well be that a majority of Americans have grown weary and disgusted with the Iraq War and willing to punish the Republicans for our failures there, in fact, socialism and socialism-lite, ie the European model, have been found wanting by the voters. This is partially recognized by the fact that the Democrats routinely eschew calling themselves liberals and focus on the language of their politics rather than the ideological beliefs that underpin their policies. The recent unearthing of the memo from the early 90s suggesting achieving universal government run health care in stages, by stealth (re: the S-CHIP debate), is another example of the Democratic perception that a straightforward approach to their goals of increased government control over the economy is a losing proposition.

When one's ideas are rejected, especially when those ideas form an important part of one's self-image, it is a personal injury. People respond to personal injury with pain and anger. When the anger is internalized, the risk of depression and despair becomes significant. Many find it more tolerable to eject the anger, ie defense known as projection, and are then drawn into all the psychological problems that flow from that. One's opponents then become evil, rather than wrong, misguided or simply in disagreement, and every reverse simply fuels the rage burning inside. Such a cycle would appear as follows:

Anger -> Projection -> Attribution of unacceptable impulses to the "enemy" -> Fear of the projected/disowned anger being returned (retaliation) -> Overt paranoia -> Further rejection -> Intensified anger

Under the influence of such rage, encapsulated by the feeling that one is manifestly correct and no other possible interpretations of others' behavior are tenable, reason is lost. We see this rather graphically in the imbroglio over Rush Limbaugh and his supposed anti-military comments. I rarely listen to Rush and have not read a transcript, however, on the face of it, the charges against him are risible. No one with any sense is going to believe Rush is anti-military and people like Harry Reid and Tom Harkin are pro-military in comparison. Even the Far Left should be well aware that this is a losing argument. Yet they convince themselves they have a winning argument and only the weakness of their champions in the Senate and House prevent them from beating Rush and getting him off the air. Jane Hamsher, the proprietor of a major website on the Left, (see Siggy for a rather witty and biting appellation) can barely contain herself:

Is That A Fat Lady I Hear Singing? Pills Limbaugh just keeps diggin' and diggin'. I've been delighted to see that it's been all over cable news today, and Wes Clark has been promoting the move to get Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio Network.

She goes on to approvingly quote Digby:

Newtie's now irrelevant. Delay is gone. Only Rush remains and he is probably the biggest prize. On a purely practical, hardball political basis, the Democrats should have been working to take him out for years. Now is their chance to turn the Republicans' patented hissy kabuki back on them and hoist an avowed political enemy with his own poisonous petard at the same time. There are many others who will happily take his place, no doubt about it. But his voice is uniquely associated with the radical wingnuts, and it is an important symbolic message to the country if they can finally make an example of him.

I have become extremely reluctant to link to any Left wing sites because when visitors come here from their sites they come armed with invective and rarely read and understand what I write. For any visitors from the Left, I am not here commenting on your ideology; I have no problem with your distaste for Rush and I have no reason to support him. Beyond the fact that he hardly needs my help, I rarely listen to him, preferring NPR when I am interested in gaining any depth on issues (despite the fact that I so rarely agree with NPR's point of view.) I am suggesting that your tactics and strategy involved in going after Rush Limbaugh suggest an inability to adequately appreciate how your attacks are being and will be perceived. Your anger is blinding you and confusing you. As for the Democrats, ultimately, unless they can find a way to repudiate the most angry within their party, they will find themselves irredeemably tarred with all the worst aspects of the Far Left.

More here

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ELSEWHERE

Tories crow, as Brown loses his bottle: "BRITAIN'S Gordon Brown is facing the gravest crisis of his brief prime ministership after a Conservative surge in opinion polls forced him to scrap plans for an early election to win his own mandate from voters. After two months of letting speculation run that he would call a poll in the autumn, Mr Brown told the BBC yesterday that there would be no election because he wanted time to show Britons his "vision" rather than merely his "competence". But as some cabinet members privately expressed disquiet over Mr Brown's handling of the issue, an elated Conservative leader, David Cameron, said the Prime Minister had "shown great weakness and indecision". [For non-Brits, the Cockney term "bottle" translates roughly as "courage"]

Christianism Alert! Presidential Candidate Preaches From Church Pulpit, Says Faith "Plays Every Role In Life": "I am sure the media, Democratic presidential candidates and Andrew Sullivan will be all over this outrageous violation of the separation of Church and State. Except the won't. Why? Because the Christianist in question is none other than the Obamessiah himself. Obama told the congregation at Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville Church, South Carolina, "I can be an instrument of God they same way all of you are." An instrument of God as President? Of the United States? Oh my. Funny, for all the media reports of Bush being a daffy Christian who talks to God, I don't remember seeing him actually preaching from the pulpit of a church."

Syria: where 1930s Germany meets Borat: "The Jews did 9/11. They control the mass media, international banking, the UN, and Washington. The Holocaust never happened, or if it did, the Jews orchestrated it to exploit public sympathy for their "entity" in Palestine. Welcome to Syria, best described as 1930s Germany meets Borat, a land of paranoia where everyone is being watched. And that includes you. It is easy to miss this if, like most foreigners, you study Arabic at the university and your contact with locals is limited. But leave campus, speak only Arabic, immerse yourself in the society, and a totally different picture emerges. When I first arrived, a lot of people told me: "We are not against Jews, we are only against Zionists." But cross the language threshold and the extent and ferocity of the antisemitism hits you like a slap in the face. The guy who ran the corner shop near my flat refused to sell Coca-Cola because: "It is a Jewish corporation. Everyone knows that!" Walk into any Damascus bookshop and you will find all the classics, from Mein Kampf to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I once found a book entitled Jews of Damascus. Just don't ask why all the photos are black and white."

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

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"Why should the German be interested in the liberation of the Jew, if the Jew is not interested in the liberation of the German?... We recognize in Judaism, therefore, a general anti-social element of the present time... In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.... Indeed, in North America, the practical domination of Judaism over the Christian world has achieved as its unambiguous and normal expression that the preaching of the Gospel itself and the Christian ministry have become articles of trade... Money is the jealous god of Israel, in face of which no other god may exist". Who said that? Hitler? No. It was Karl Marx. See also here and here and here.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party".

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