...and was struck in return. Okay, you caught me; it was actually Jonathan Bush, to whose nasty letter of complaint (NYT Book Review, Nov. 7) Kittly Kelley now
replies . Registration required, but well worth it: the force of controlled anger is palpable in her letter, and the writing is punchy and memorable -- including the apostrophe of Delay quoted in my headline above.
I have commented
elsewhere on the imperative need for the left to gain control of the daily narrative of political events unfolding. Ms Kelley gives a fine exemplar of the sort of thing which must become a drumbeat on left. Gods above! George Bush was wired in the debates, and barely a yap, much less a howl, from the toothless watch-pups of the SCLM.
Then, flipping channels in one of my rare forays into TV Land, I meet Bill (Rouge et Noir) Bennett intoning his Foxy commentary upon the opening of the Clinton Library -- that Clinton will be remembered first and foremost for having been impeached. We on the left must turn that hose back against him (and his ilk): the Republican Congress disgraced itself and befouled our Constitution in an act motivated by pure partisan bile.
The punch line? An excellent post on Digby (a week or two back, but regrettably I have lost track of the link) noted the importance of right wing talk radio in Republican electoral victories since 1994. We Democrats have all shared our angst and our recipes for remaking the party, wooing and blueing the mauve fringes of the infra-red, etc. But as long as Limbaugh and imitators are spewing hate and deception to millions daily, it don't matter a rap what we think or do.
They control the narrative by dint of volume, and their ability to harness hatred as a political force. We need to match them, to better them, without descending to their level.
The monks of the Shaolin temple became famous warriors without sacrificing their Buddhist principles -- I believe there's a lesson there for us, but it will not be easily put into practice.