Extremists in Our Midst
Paul Krugman, once again, hits a home run in his discussion about extremism in this country. I would go even further and say we've already seen this extremism hit our country with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings. At that point in our history, we were deeply enmeshed in the anti-government (basically, anti-Clinton, in my opinion) movement that was perpetuated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy, and Timothy McVeigh's background and motives suggest that he was firmly anti-government (imagine for a second if McVeigh had been an extremist liberal--they'd still be talking about it on talk radio and cable tv). But, Krugman is right that the extremism we face now is religiously charged (and they can't be "anti-government" like they were before because, well, they are the government now).
The thing is, these extremists--namely, a good part of the conservative Christian right that has taken over this country--don't care about fair play, the rule of law, or logic. They care about acting in what they perceive to be what God wants, and all rules and the hypocrisies and contradictions that they themselves display can be damned. Liberals and moderates and even some conservatives have played nice with them, acknowledging their right to exist and believe what they want to and be a part of the political process; the problem is, they don't play nice with others, and they don't acknowledge anyone else's right to exist, believe what they want to, be a part of the political process. While the rest of us work to accomodate them, they work to destroy us. We work to consider where they're coming from; they work to make us come from where they're coming from or perish. It's truly a game of Chamberlain-Hitler like appeasement, and we know how that worked out, and we can see how it's working in our society.
They will never be sated now matter how much we give them. And when they finally have it all, they'll still need someone to fight (remember, they are always the oppressed, no matter how much power they have), so they turn against people that originally followed them. They'll find the conservatives who aren't Christian and do the same thing. They'll find the Christians who aren't Christians like they are and do the same thing.
Sounds alarmist? Well, there's plenty of world history to justify it. The way they're operating now justifies it as well.
When they have been repeatedly thwarted by the law and voters of this country, they will move on to more extreme tactics to further their cause. It will be done in the name of patriotism and God. If you don't think the likes of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, and John Ashcroft won't resort to such tactics, then you haven't been paying attention.
The thing is, these extremists--namely, a good part of the conservative Christian right that has taken over this country--don't care about fair play, the rule of law, or logic. They care about acting in what they perceive to be what God wants, and all rules and the hypocrisies and contradictions that they themselves display can be damned. Liberals and moderates and even some conservatives have played nice with them, acknowledging their right to exist and believe what they want to and be a part of the political process; the problem is, they don't play nice with others, and they don't acknowledge anyone else's right to exist, believe what they want to, be a part of the political process. While the rest of us work to accomodate them, they work to destroy us. We work to consider where they're coming from; they work to make us come from where they're coming from or perish. It's truly a game of Chamberlain-Hitler like appeasement, and we know how that worked out, and we can see how it's working in our society.
They will never be sated now matter how much we give them. And when they finally have it all, they'll still need someone to fight (remember, they are always the oppressed, no matter how much power they have), so they turn against people that originally followed them. They'll find the conservatives who aren't Christian and do the same thing. They'll find the Christians who aren't Christians like they are and do the same thing.
Sounds alarmist? Well, there's plenty of world history to justify it. The way they're operating now justifies it as well.
When they have been repeatedly thwarted by the law and voters of this country, they will move on to more extreme tactics to further their cause. It will be done in the name of patriotism and God. If you don't think the likes of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, and John Ashcroft won't resort to such tactics, then you haven't been paying attention.
1 Comments:
Good points. They make our side out to be the enemy but they are the ones who are. Things are so screwed. What can we do though?
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