Nation’s Liberals Suffering From Outrage Fatigue

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4027&n=3

WASHINGTON, DC—According to a study released Monday by the Hammond Political Research Group, many of the nation's liberals are suffering from a vastly diminished sense of outrage.

"With so many right-wing shams to choose from, it's simply too daunting for the average, left-leaning citizen to maintain a sense of anger," said Rachel Neas, the study's director. "By our estimation, roughly 70 percent of liberals are experiencing some degree of lethargy resulting from a glut of civil-liberties abuses, education funding cuts, and exorbitant military expenditures."

[Dudley_DUright]

1. I reached outrage overload about

3 years ago but the needle has been pegged ever since.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Hey fella!

:hi: oh and ditto on the outrage fatigue

[Warpy]

3. Must be a right wing stink tank

because anybody who actually knew any liberals out there would know that the outrage is growing!

Liberals are finally waking up to the truth that the opposition doesn't just disagree with them, it wants all liberals DEAD.

It's about bloody time!

[funnymanpants]

4. No, it's a left-wing commedy site

Check it out. It is one of the funniest.

Actually, as an anti-war organizer, I am suffering outrage fatigue.

[KoKo]

12. Yes...even though this is an Onion funny, it has alot of truth...I see it

here on DU amongst those of us who protested against Iraq Invasion and who were coming off a Stolen Election and 9/11 attack.

Some of us are tired of "outrage." There's so much to get outraged about and so little get's resolved to relieve our frustration that it gets one very tired and cynical.

[OSheaman]

5. I <3 The Onion

:-)

[Jokerman]

6. Why, oh why do I always read the clip before noticing the source?

Somewhere in the first or second paragraph I start thinking "what a load of crap" then I look at the link and see "theonion.com".

I love the onion, I'm just so used to reading outrageous bullshit from the "serious" media that it catches me by surprise.

[primavera]

7. It happens a lot these days...

[Skittles]

11. LOL.....the bearded liberal IS Eric Alterman, isn't it?

:D

[mwb970]

8. I am fatigued...

Outrage fatigue is right! Just today's news alone is enough to drive you to drink. Adding 23 minutes of arm-twisting to the 15-minute House limit on a Patriot Act amendment. Telling Pakistan to deliver Osama on July 26, 27, or 28 (while not, of course, "politicizing the war on terror"). Setting aside Homeland Security funding to debate a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Another phony terror alert (remember the July 4 attack?). Bush's National Guard records turn out to have been "inadvertently destroyed", though this had not been mentioned before. Bush refuses to address NAACP before the election (first president since Hoover). Shrill attacks on Edwards as inexperienced, although (a) he is more experienced than Bush was; and (b) where has the "experience" of the current crew gotten us? And that is ONE DAY's worth! How much more can we take of this?

[Cory]

9. Sorry, I don't buy that

Those who oppose Bush are given new fuel for their rage each and every week. Personally, I can say that I have been more "fired-up" in recent weeks and can feel the momentum building across the country.

[OSheaman]

10. It's partially true

There's so much to be pissed about that it's hard to get properly pissed about *everthing* these people do.

[Martin Eden]

13. What they're doing is moving the bar

Outrageous policies, conflicts of interest, and ethical lapses have become so commonplace in this administration that it has taken on the appearance of business as usual. Many of us who are paying attention have tremendous stamina for outrage, but the public in general is accepting the current state of affairs as normalcy.

This is partly because the supposed "center" has been pushed steadily to the right; partly because the media too often presents both sides of the issue as equally valid even when one side employs Orwellian black-is-whitism; and partly because the public is like a nation of frogs in a pot of water with the heat being slowly turned up.

It's not so much a question of outrage among those who see what's going on, as it is the obliviousness of the majority of frogs.