Schoolyard power-plays are the problem

[phantom power]

As we were watching some functionary or the other extolling the order to kill Osama bin laden as a unique act of leadership and courage this morning, Mr Digby muttered to me, "they're beating them at their own game." And that's what's wrong with it. It's not that Republicans are uniquely evil people in this regard, obviously. This stuff is very human. It's that the game itself is evil.

I get why the Democrats are doing it. I'm sure it's extremely satisfying to land those punches on the right wing blowhards after all the years of taunting and jeering about liberal cowardice. To be able to say they killed the evil mastermind where the swaggering codpiece failed is probably too much of a temptation for them to pass up. I get it.

But I hate it. I hated it when the Republicans did it and I hate it now. I don't believe the most powerful nation on earth should be running its democracy via schoolyard power plays. This is how we ended up stuck in Vietnam and how we have found ourselves floundering about in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It's why we can't stop spending trillions on useless weapons systems, why we "have" to continue to fund ridiculous programs like Star Wars and why everyone in the political establishment assumes that the only answer to budget problems is to cut the so-called "entitlements."

I know we live in a dangerous world. But this nation is extremely rich and extremely powerful and its most important assets are morality and mystique. I'm not going to argue about the morality of killing Osama bin laden, but it should be remembered that our unilateral wars,torture regimes and insistence on imperial prerogatives have already taken a toll on America's reputation for moral behavior.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/schoolyard-power-plays-are-problem-not.html

[pscot]

1. Noone has ever lost money by underestimating

the intelligence of the American public. The appeal here is to folks with a mental age of about 14; i.e., Republicans.

[get the red out]

2. Exactly!

Bingo. We don't have the luxury of the highest ground when the last shreds of democracy are at stake.

[Sentath]

3. Unilateral disarmament

Is not a solution

[phantom power]

4. We absolutely have to fight them. Hard.

But if we fight them by proving we're just as militant, patriarchal and conservative as they are, did we win?

What if we fought them by telling them to fucking stuff their military industrial complex and tax breaks for the rich, etc?

[msongs]

6. let's continue apologizing and appeasing the right wing. works well doesn't it? OR just the facts

are sufficient in many cases, stated without bragging?

[pscot]

8. Taking credit for killing binLadn

actually seems fairly innocuous to me. It's not like Obama is gloating over exeuting some retarded kid who killed someone while robbing a 7-11. The repukes beat up poor people, then brag about it. What they hate about this, is that binLadn was a member of the class tney're sworn to protect.

[gratuitous]

5. But it is so prosperous!

So, none dare call it treason. Digby (whom I respect greatly) may not argue about the morality of gunning down a sick, unarmed old man by elite military forces, but I'll say without reservation that it's a sin and against who we claim we are as a people and a nation. We do the exact same things those we describe as terrorists do. The only difference to the victims is we yelled "God bless America" instead of "Allah akbar" before the murder occurred.

I get why Democrats are doing it, too. Because everyone feels so good that this week's bad, bad person is dead, and quibbles over the method and its lawlessness are simply buzzkills. Then call me Captain Buzzkill, because I think that preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution is worth 100 bin Ladens or 100 Hitlers or 100 Pol Pots. Because without the Constitution, there's no United States. And shitcanning the Constitution is the sure path to creating number 101, no matter how much we like him.

[JoePhilly]

7. Sometimes to stop a bully, you have to throw a punch.

The GOP certainly isn't going to stop. DO you think they would ever reduce the school yard power play behavior?

Hell no. Because bullies usually get what they want. Until some one punches them in the nose.

And its not just that the GOP calls the left "weak" ... its that they've actually been successful in making the claim that the left hates America and supports terrorists.

They've used that approach to win elections, and then when they win, they do terrible things, like invading a country for no reason.

If we want to stop that, we need to punch them square in the face over this.

Their policies do not make the country safer. In fact, they have the opposite effect. They'd Invade Iran if they can get the chance.

Punch them now. Punch them hard.