The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Reading the news reports and analysis of the Tucson rampage has made one fact abundantly clear: the left still does not understand the tea party.
To the left, the logical progression of tea party thinking, which is angry and radical and involves guns (!), ultimately leads to violence. In their narrative, Jared Loughner brought their reasoning full circle. Thus the shooting in Arizona, more than any other political event of the past twelve months, has given the left another excuse, a cover, to tear the tea party apart. Watching them do so, it's obvious that after all these months, they are still totally clueless about the tea party.
Consider this column by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, pictured above, which came to me via a tweet today that said (rhetorical question cue!): "Did the anti-government, pro-gun, xenophobic populism of the Tea Party make the Giffords shooting more likely?"
Weisberg writes:
At the core of the far right's culpability is its ongoing attack on the legitimacy of U.S. government—a venomous campaign not so different from the backdrop to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Then it was focused on "government bureaucrats" and the ATF. This time it has been more about Obama's birth certificate and health care reform. In either case, it expresses the dangerous idea that the federal government lacks valid authority. It is this, rather than violent rhetoric per se, that is the most dangerous aspect of right-wing extremism.
See, now, if Weisberg actually understood the tea party, he would know that tea partiers are not arguing that the federal government has no authority--how could they be, when a key part of their philosophical platform is returning to the Constitution, which includes a vital and vibrant role for the federal government?
Weisberg then goes on to say that to the tea party, "if government is illegitimate, rebellion is an appropriate response." He of course means violent rebellion. But wait a minute. There's another kind of rebellion that our political process is known for and in fact distinguished by: the rebellion that takes place at the ballot box on election day, when you vote--a very peaceful kind of rebellion that the tea party proved itself quite capable of on Nov 4, 2010.
But Weisberg is unrelenting:
First you rile up psychotics with inflammatory language about tyranny, betrayal, and taking back the country. Then you make easy for them to get guns. But if you really want trouble, you should also make it hard for them to get treatment for mental illness. I don't know if Loughner had health insurance, but he falls into a pool of people who often go uninsured—not young enough to be covered by parents (until the health-care bill's coverage of twentysomethings kicked in a few months ago), not old enough for Medicare, not poor enough for Medicaid.
But, don't get Weisberg wrong: "Again, none of this says that Tea Party caused the Tucson tragedy."
Ah. The mind of a liberal. What a thing to behold.
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Isn't is apparent by now that the Left has no interest or intention of ever 'getting' the Tea Party? All they want is carte blanche power and to eliminate anybody or anything that stands in the way of it.
Why do people on the right continue to write as if this is not the deliberate smear campaign that it is?
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
nordman: Isn't is apparent by now that the Left has no interest or intention of ever 'getting' the Tea Party? All they want is carte blanche power and to eliminate anybody or anything that stands in the way of it.
Why do people on the right continue to write as if this is not the deliberate smear campaign that it is? · Jan 11 at 7:40am
I don't think anyone is disputing that it's a smear campaign.
Oct '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
I have nothing to add to nordman. He has said it well.
Jan '11
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Weisberg isn't talking to a general audience. He's pandering to the self-adoring, self-appointed elites who need some evidence that they're superior to others. Lacking evidence that will stand up to scrutiny, Weisberg offers the mythical straw-man of the Tea Party for the elites to compare themselves against.
This is just a sycophantic rain dance by a Yes Man, assuring those who need assurance that the rest of the world is filled with hicks and rubes.
Jul '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Emily Esfahani Smith, Ed. :
Ah. The mind of a liberal. What a thing to behold. ·
I'm sorry Emily but I must dispute your premise.
To behold something, it must exist.
I'm often told that I'm a product of 'Right Wing Brainwashing' when peole learn of my conservative leanings. But, in truth, a friend of ours walked into our home in 1992 and said to me in exasperation, "Hey John, there's a guy on the radio who talks just like you do. I couldn't believe it."
He was referring to Rush Limbaugh.
In other words my world view existed, and was counter to the prevailing attitudes, BEFORE I ever heard of Rush.
But the left view was so pervasive, and to some extent just as vitriolic back then, that I was beginning to beleive I must have been from Mars or someting because I was so out of step with the entire world.
As time has marched on, I've noticed that leftists don't really think through what they say, they just say it with the absolute expectation that everyone else believes it. They are, in fact, running on some sort of instinct, not thought.
Dec '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Emily Esfahani Smith, Ed. :
But Weisberg is unrelenting:
Ah. The mind of a liberal. What a thing to behold. ·
See! Obamacare could have prevented this tragedy!
The mind of that liberal is obsessive compulsive.
Dec '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Jaydee_007
I'm often told that I'm a product of 'Right Wing Brainwashing' when peole learn of my conservative leanings. But, in truth, a friend of ours walked into our home in 1992 and said to me in exasperation, "Hey John, there's a guy on the radio who talks just like you do. I couldn't believe it."
He was referring to Rush Limbaugh.
In other words my world view existed, and was counter to the prevailing attitudes, BEFORE I ever heard of Rush.
That was similar to my experience and introduction to Rush.
I arrived at my views long before I ever heard a word Rush muttered. Living in a liberal bastion all my life, for me Rush revealed there were many other people who thought like me. That was a welcome bit of knowledge
However, my days of listening to Rush on a regular basis ended long ago. Though still a great political analyst, he was more entertaining 15 years ago. Also, while he is at his best when analyzing the propaganda, behavior, and machinations of Left and the Dems, when he wanders from that he's not as good and sometimes sounds foolish.
May '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
This asymmetry--that the Right understands the Left, but the Left doesn't understand the Right--is fascinating. What are the reasons for it?
It could be caused by the reverse provincialism that results from mass media (i.e., that folks in Peoria consume news and entertainment produced by people in Manhattan and Hollywood, and never vice versa) which makes seemingly cosmopolitan urban centers into loci of ignorance.
I'll bet there are other causes for this asymmetry. I can think of at least one more.
Jul '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Fredösphere: This asymmetry--that the Right understands the Left, but the Left doesn't understand the Right--is fascinating. What are the reasons for it?
It could be caused by the reverse provincialism that results from mass media (i.e., that folks in Peoria consume news and entertainment produced by people in Manhattan and Hollywood, and never vice versa) which makes seemingly cosmopolitan urban centers into loci of ignorance.
I'll bet there are other causes for this asymmetry. I can think of at least one more. · Jan 11 at 9:40am
Simply stated, it is what I call Fishbowling.
The left lives in a Fishbowl in which they associate with the left. The right has to live with access to the left full time.
Never forget the famous quote when Nixon won the 72 Election, "How could McGovern lose? Everyone I know voted for him."
Unfortunatly the left sees views of the right as if they are a virus that you can catch, so while they want to shut the right up, they don't really want to engage them actively.
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 11:20amNov '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
I think you can go back to the old Krathammer quote "The key to understanding American politics is that the Right thinks the Left is stupid, the Left thinks the Right is evil."
Really, I think most of us believe that most lefties are are well meaning people with poorly considered ideas. Unfortunately the seems to think most us are blood sucking monsters out to eat their souls. It's not possible we've reached different conclusions, the Right must be actively wishing harm to those who are not us. That seems to be the only way most Lefties make sense of Righties.
May '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Months ago, I noticed a liberal friend repeat some mockery of the Tea Party movement. I emailed her to explain my surprise. Weeks before, she had raved to me about a documentary called Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa. Didn't she understand, I asked, that the Tea Party movement is driven by precisely the same idea -- that American citizens can and should live with little government interference?
My friend never responded. And that says it all.
This divide between the Left and Right isn't a thoughtful debate between neighbors. We're like two sides of a family after one side disowned the other. Our side is struggling to keep the family together and losing patience as we're constantly rebuffed. Their side stopped listening long ago. They just wants us to leave, to abandon all claim; and they grow angrier every moment without control.
America is no longer one people. The only question is how messy the formal divorce will be.
Sep '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
May '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
RPD
I think you can go back to the old Krathammer quote "The key to understanding American politics is that the Right thinks the Left is stupid, the Left thinks the Right is evil."
Really, I think most of us believe that most lefties are are well meaning people with poorly considered ideas.[snip] · Jan 11 at 2:00pm
Yes, I'm completely with you on that. And that explains another fascinating asymmetry of politics: that those to one's right seem scary, while those to one's left seem silly.
May '10
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Aaron Miller: Months ago, I noticed a liberal friend repeat some mockery of the Tea Party movement. I emailed her to explain my surprise. Weeks before, she had raved to me about a documentary called Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa. Didn't she understand, I asked, that the Tea Party movement is driven by precisely the same idea -- that American citizens can and should live with little government interference?
My friend never responded. And that says it all.
This divide between the Left and Right isn't a thoughtful debate between neighbors. We're like two sides of a family after one side disowned the other. [snip] · Jan 11 at 2:10pm
Great anecdote! Wonderful!
And your Great Divorce analogy is nowhere more paradoxically true than in the UK. There, the Tories are the Party of the Union, while voters in the appendages--Wales & Scotland--vote overwhelmingly for Labor, and demand a constant flow of subsidies as bribes to keep them from leaving. The Tories would win every election if only they cut the Celts loose; I think I heard the Tories won the English vote in every election throughout the Blair-Brown era.
Jan '11
Re: The Left Still Doesn't Understand the Tea Party
Looking at their actions, I can only think that the left has responded to this tragedy with great joy.
Yes, I said joy. Some dirtbags are happy that this happened.
Markos Moulitsas didn't even wait for the bodies to hit the ground before he was saying "YES!!! Something I can USE!" and posting his asinine tweet. All the cretins on MSNBC and most on CNN, as well as one on FOX are gleefully tying the death of a nine year old girl to anyone who engages in any normal campaign speech from the right. These people make me sick.