I had a martial arts teacher, a cop, who used to say...

[Enraged_Ape]

"You will learn the slow, easy way, or the hard, fast way."

One of the first precepts of self-defense is to keep your hands up and your elbows in during a fight. This is not easy to do, if you've never learned it. You can either learn to do this by practicing this a thousand times on your own (the slow, easy way), or by actually getting your gob smacked two or three times in sparring (the hard, fast way). But you will learn, eventually.

If I draw any consolation at all from this election, it is that the people who voted for Bush have enthusiastically decided that the slow, easy approach has not been enough for them and that they would much rather have their education delivered via gobsmacking. It will be very hard for them when Bush delivers it. But it will also be (relatively) fast. And they will learn, I assure you. Everyone does, eventually.

[revree]

1. Right on, sometimes the sleeping giant is sleeping so deeply,

you have to bash his skull in to get him to open his eyes!!!

[GreenPoet64]

2. Lovely analogy! Thank you for this.

[Enraged_Ape]

3. No. Thank you!

I just refuse to accept the proposition that in order for the Democratic Party to appeal to "swing" voters, we have to adopt platforms that are more bigoted and intolerant. Fuck 'em. These people need to learn the lessons they're making us all pay for.