The thing about denial as a defense mechanism--

[Jackpine Radical]

It's like glass, pretty strong as long as it remains entirely intact. However, once a crack appears in it, its structural strength is gone and it doesn't take much to shatter it entirely. For many thousands of people in Wisconsin, Walker & Co. have put the first crack in the glass armor of right-wing denial. People who participate in a demonstration and then see the lack of coverage most media give it, or who see a happy, orderly crowd portrayed on Fox as a gang of thugs, are going to suddenly find themselves questioning all sorts of things that they once held true. The next time they hear Limbaugh or Beck, they will find themselves questioning what they hear. And soon they will find themselves shifting around uncomfortably in their belief systems until they finally end up with their eyes wide open, seeing reality more clearly than they have ever done before in their adult lives.


Here is a newly-hatched example:

[SpiralHawk]

1. "You cheese heads need to go pick some coconuts in your backyards." - Fox Propaganda Inc. (R)

[Octafish]

2. That's Door County.

I kayak there all the time.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. So it is.

That's Mount LaFollette in the background.

[Octafish]

10. FIPs luv the place.

"Fucking Illinois People."

We got them all up, down and around Lake Michigan.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. I thought that acronym was 'FIB."

[Jackpine Radical]

3. OK, laugh, but we really do have palm trees.

Here's one I caught on film yesterday in Eau Claire:

[Jackpine Radical]

6. So Okay, this is juvenile, but…

[Octafish]

5. Crack the glass with the truth.

People's belief systems defy all information, truth and even professional rhetoric. That's why it's so hard to change people's minds who still believe Iraq had something to do with 9-11. Not information, what shatters the belief system is personal experience. And people -- despite what they've been told and come to believe all their lives -- are realizing they've been staring at the shadows on the cave wall.

Thank you for an excellent summation and analogy, Jackpine Radical. Truth -- seeing clearly with our own eyes-- the little rock that dings the windshield...

Edit: The bottom line.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Personal experience is vital. So is the person's peer group.

Once the scales start falling rom their eyes, they become uncomfortable around the Kool-Ade crowd & start finding new associates whose ideas of reality don't conflict with those personal experiences.

You have to be pretty brave to go out among all those crazed liberals like the guy in my picture did, but I suspect that he will find himself drawn to his new associates by more than a common ideology. Just look at the faces of the people in a liberal demonstration and compare them to the sour mugs you see among teabaggers. Which group looks like it's having more fun? Which bunch looks like it would be more fun to hang out with?

[Octafish]

9. Absolutely, on all counts.

To keep critical mass from occurring, we see plausibility for the authority position, every time there is evidence for corruption -- from Wall Street to the Warren Commission. The end effect is sufficient support for the power position, whether it's additional funding for the war in Vietnam (or Nicaragua or Iraq or Afghanistan) or defunding the War on Poverty.

Getting back to the point: The new DEM has found his home. Getting to know him may help some of the old hands remember why they became DEMs in the first place.

[H2O Man]

8. After first reading this,

I had to bring my dog outside. It's raining, and it's melting the huge accumulation of snow. Across my property, there are wee little streams of running water coming down the hill, which combine with other little streams, and eventually become large streams. They pour into the swamp, which then feeds an even larger stream, which then enters the creek. This creek goes down yet another steep hill, where it joins a large creek.

I can hear the voice of the water, from the tiny noises on my lawn, to the stream from the swamp going down the steep hill trough the woods, to the creek. And the noise from through those woods is very loud.

And so it is with the energy coming through those cracks in defenses that you speak of.

Nominated.

[Jackpine Radical]

12. Beautiful.

The Spring of the Great Awakening.

"Waterman"--indeed.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Well said, and I agree with you.