Gates of Vienna is fortunate to have a select group of readers, a cozy set of like-minded people drawn from the ravening beasts on the neo-fascist right.
Or at least that’s the way that certain folks see us. Occasional visitors such as James Wolcott and his friends take a break from their usual activities and drop by here to curl their lips briefly before returning to their customary haunts.
That’s more than I do with respect to my political opposites. Charles Johnson and the lizardoids often shoulder the onerous burden of monitoring Daily Kos, the Democratic Underground, and all the other prominent leftist sites. But not me — I like to stay in amiable company.
So I was not aware of Al Franken and the Air America blog until referrals started showing up on our site meter the day after Thanksgiving. We got a link on Eric Hananoki’s blog:
| Actually, you may be surprised at the level of discontent on the right. Especially the FAR right. Here’s “Baron Bodissey” over at “the Gates of Vienna” who has some choice words in response to a GOP fundraising letter. Check it out. | |
| Contrary to the impression that is created by some of the right-wing trolls and dittoheads we frequently get here who are, for the most part, simply drones and pale echoes of blowhards like O’Reilly, Rush, et. al. who simply repeat the administration’s daily talking points, there is significant disatisfaction [sic] with Bush from within his own party. | |
| Schadenfreude… gotta love it. |
This pleased me no end, just as Mr. Wolcott’s little screed did a few weeks ago. It’s good to be noticed by one’s enemies. And just think — we’re far right! I always thought we were regular middle-of-the-road Americans, loving our country and wanting to defend our way of life. But no, apparently we’re reincarnations of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. We just have to face up to that unpleasant truth.
And it’s fun to be reminded of all the lefties who lurk here, doing reconnaissance for the good of the Cause. We’re under observation. Hi, Alistair! I love the Che shirt! And Olivia — good to see you! I notice you have a new Volvo…
But look at what commenter 2rarely noticed about us: “there is significant disatisfaction [sic] with Bush from within his own party.”
Some people would prefer that we hide this dissatisfaction in the interests of party unity. Revealing this dissent gives aid and comfort to the enemy, right? We’re feeding their schadenfreude, after all.
I say, let them enjoy their moment. One of the great strengths of the conservative coalition is that it can endure disagreement without having to turn the dissenters into reviled apostates. No one gets excommunicated and cast into the outer darkness for deviating from the party line. The right doesn’t even have a party line. Hugh Hewitt and Bill Quick could fight to the death with nerf bats, but neither one will ever gain control of “conservatism.”
So let’s continue to disagree.
What our lefty friend failed no notice was the substance of our disagreement. We are arguing about serious issues, and not just calling each other names. It’s not so much that the sailors are all fighting to get their hands on the tiller; it’s more that they are standing around the charts with ruler and compass arguing about the best course to plot through the political shoals.
And when the crisis comes, when the next awful moment like September 11th arrives, we will all drop our differences and stand behind our country and our Commander-in-Chief. That’s the way we are.
And that’s what distinguishes us from the Lurking Left. The Left will view the next murderous event as another glorious opportunity to snap at the heels of the President and the Republicans and bring them crashing down into the dust.
The fact that they themselves will be crushed underneath does not seem to matter. Push out the pillars and bring the Temple down on everyone! After all, we deserve it.
9 comments:
Dennis Conner deserves more credit than that the designer, the boatbuilder, the team manager, the sponsors and the skipper make the boat go fast and win the races. The best tactician in the world is no substitute for boat speed.
(Good legal representation helps too.)
Bill, the left is so obsessed with style over substance, as the soudbit goes, because they've abandoned any really subsantial moral and political ideas in favour of making themselves acceptible to everyone. They're determined to look like they're doing "the right thing", yet they never actually do anything. So, it's no surprise that they're incapable of comprehending the nature of the arguments on the right. The idea that arguments are anything other than posturing for the camera and jokcying for position simply isn't in their frame of reference.
Good lord, my spelling sucks tonight.
Anyway, something to add. The left quickly cottoned on to the idea that presentation is the key to winning in most debates. If they can present their arguments in a way that sounds better than their opponent, they can claim a somewhat dubious victory. Remember the televised debate between Nixon and JFK? I recall a survey around the time that polled the opinions of those that listened to the debate on the radio, vs those that watched on TV. The radio listeners generally sided with Nixon, reckoning he had the better arguments. They only heard the substance and weren't exposed to the posturing, smiling and presentation of JFK the handsom saint vs Nixon the ugly devil. The TV watches sided with JFK, simply because he looked more presentable on TV than Nixon. And it's been downhill ever since...
Baron, although the 'Kos may be too much for you, me, and others here, there is currently a "mini-experience" available at The 'Club, in the form of Kevin, who sometimes seems from Pluto rather than from 'Kos.
(Full disclosure: I really came here to see if I could lure you or Lady ~D into writing a few lines about our friends the Saudis, in terms of their buying influence here and around the Globe.
Another poster and I touched on the subject.)
Another Far Right Wingnut that neither sees GWB as infallible, nor think he needs to be.
Democrat Cabal's Mantra:
"Scare Quotes are Us"
I can understand when someone misunderstands you if you're speaking live, and they miss a phrase or your intro, and get a wrongheaded notion of what you're about based on some sound byte out of context.
But when someone totally gets you wrong in spite of the fact that your words and ideas are written down and can be reviewed at their leisure before they pop off their mouths, then you have to wonder at the absolute stupidity of their thought process. No wonder Air America is heard by three people nationwide.
They say you're a product of the company you keep, but a good judge of how well you're doing is also a look at the quality of your adversaries. As long as you're quoted as the "other side", and far right wingers, by people who can't get the gist of you even after a good read, then you know you're doing fine. Keep confounding the confoundable!
p.s.: What kind of terrible job is it to have to read the Air America blog? You'd think the radio show is bad enough. And I thought people who cleaned septic tanks had it rough...
I’m jealous. All I get is the same crazed Islamist apologist who spasm my site with long articles from his own website (‘cause he knows I ain’t going there!)
“FAR right” is, of course, a code phrase. Here’s a few more:
“Inclusion” (Keep in step and toe the party line!)
“Diversity” (only one way of thinking allowed)
“Affirmative action” (our kind of racism)
“Go it alone” (fight a war without France)
“Exceptionalist” (knows Western culture is better than a mud hut)
“Environmentally friendly” (a mud hut)
“Social justice” (antiquated phrase before animal rights and the environment but sounds good)
Viel Feind, viel Ehr - many enemies, much honor.
"Those who profess to know right from wrong and that the truth doesn't change are labeled "FAR" right."
Which of course is amusing, because these leftists tend to be VERY doctrinaire.
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