Don't pass out - LGF post: "Why I Parted Ways With the Right"

[BR_Parkway]

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14305/dont-pass-out-little-green-footballs-post-why-i-parted-ways-with-the-right

It's not April Fool's Day, is it? One of the stalwart go-to blogs on the right -- competing up there with rants at Freeperland several years ago was Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs. Even LGF has had enough of the lunacy coming out of the teabagger/birther/fundie wing. Enough to write this:

Why I Parted Ways With The Right

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.)

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won't be going over the cliff with them.

It's up to nearly 600 comments at the time of this post, and I hate to break it to Mr. Johnson, but the Goldwater conservatives and moderates have been put six feet under by the theocrats and know-nothings. I don't know how you can wrest the GOP back from the crazies. I am under no illusion that Charles Johnson is now progressive or agrees with the Obama admin on policy (heaven knows we have enough beefs with the admin); I actually feel for him.

These low-brow conservatives that coo over Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush are sheep -- no critical thinking whatsoever, in denial about how they are shilling for policies that hurt them, instead they focus on blaming on the "other" -- that doesn't look like them, worship like them, believe in reproductive freedom or isn't heterosexual. With fumes that weak, how can that movement sustain itself? It's an incredible feat.

Yet it also reminds me that this administration and Congress would need the 100% control on the Hill and a completely impotent GOP to find the spine to do anything of consequence without selling the whole farm to cover their political posteriors. It's all a mess

[BR_Parkway]

1. Almost 1,300 comments now - and some are surprisingly supportive

it's like they needed someone else to say it first, but there are many there opening up about how they've hated the religious right takeover, blogs they've stopped reading over time because of the constant focus on religion or homophobia.

And yet the leadership of the GOP is staying to the hard core right at the prompting/fear of the teabaggers. Will we have a Palin party as well as a GOP when all is said and done? The bloodbath over which side got custody of Reagan's corpse would be a sell out pay-per-view event

[ck4829]

2. 1300 comments now

I want to apologize to Charles Johnson for anything bad I've said about him over the years, may he be one of the leaders of a movement that liberals can fight with on the weekdays, but be friends with on the weekends. And I'd rather have him over the crazy let's-nuke-anyone-who-disagrees-with-us right wing any day of the week.

K&R

[BR_Parkway]

4. I've been reading through the comments, the best one so far:

In a nutshell, one does not tolerate a bigot, racists, ignoramus, liar or worse, for the sake of the party.

And yeah, I'd have to agree with you - I don't mind the disagreements over how we accomplish certain things, it's the selfishness of certain things that drive me crazy about the wingers.

Who knows, maybe some of Obama's bipartisan approach that's driving us crazy at times is driving them more crazy - crazy enough that the less crazy want to be unaffiliated with the total loons enough to where we can actually talk again about the 80-90% stuff we pretty much agree on.

[Igel]

7. He hasn't changed.

All that's changed is the particular issue that you're looking at. Since for many a single issue defines a person, as different issues pass under the microscope the person is seen to veer wildly to the right and to the left, becoming loathsome and wholesome by turns.

He started out as dem. He went "RW" because of how he sees Islamism and the often-perceived lack of significant or meaningful response to it by the "LW". However much of the RW impetus has motivations that are--and have always been--unacceptable to him. In any event, teasing the two apart is difficult, and in so doing he fell afoul of the RW.

It wasn't obvious to him at first, and when he realized what was up a "moral purity" test came into play: If they want X and Y for impure reasons, and he wants X for the right reason, then can he work with them? It's a constant question, and in many cases the answer depends not so much on the deviant morality at play on that particular issue but in other issues. People aren't consistent with this, either over time or over issues, BTW.

He's mostly in the center. That means many of his views are fairly abhorrent to those well left of center, and vice-versa. It also means that many of his views are fairly abhorrent to those well right of center, and vice-versa. It's true of most people that they don't tow a particular party line, that they're "deviationists" or don't subscribe to all the "correct policies". In a society where things must be black and white and grey is eschewed that's not always easy to perceive and you get flak for such a position. Ahem.

He despises Islamism and stupidity in dealing with it. He despises racism and the stupidity of dealing in it. These two views can co-exist quite nicely, even if aversion to something sometimes pushes him a bit over the edge from time to time.

[mmonk]

3. Recommended.

[Wednesdays]

5. Beware -- this could be "reverse psychology" in the works

I remember clearly during the 1992 campaign, when things were looking good for Clinton. Rush Limbaugh got on his show, sounding really depressed, and said he gave up--that Clinton was going to become president and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

Well, of course frantic callers flooded his studio, pleading with Rush to reconsider. Rush argued with them for a while, saying they all should just get with the program and accept the inevitable. After a while, though, Limpballs slowly changed his tune and it became clear that his whole opening gambit was nothing more than a hoax...designed to rile and energize the wingnuts into a frenzy. And it worked. Classic case of reverse psychology.

Not saying it's necessarily so, but this could just be a repeat of Rush's ruse.

[old mark]

6. Right wing has become so disgusting that even professional right wing assholes

are disgusted. The "really right" will get worse - we have just experienced the start of the RW preparing for the elections in 2010 and 2012. We are seeing a lot of propaganda about how the Dems won't vote, and how the "trends" support GOP victory in '10, but the GOP loves to lie so much even they start to believe it.

mark

[struggle4progress]

8. Hmmm. They're gonna play "We're centrists, like Reagan and Goldwater"

Reagan was a rightwing wacko, of course