I was watching the clip where Chris Dodd smacked down O'Reilly over the Daily Kos hate site nonsense.
Dodd said something that clarified a lot of confusion for me.
Dodd responded to O'Reilly that it was deceptive to attack Daily Kos for some "objectionable" posts when the real reason for the attack was one of ideology.
And I couldn't agree more. Join me below if you're interested.
"We" are not better than "them." Fact is, we're all human beings, some kind, some mean, some cruel, some smart, some not so smart. We're made of the same DNA, we all eat when we're hungry, drink when we're thirsty. We all love someone, our families, our friends. We laugh when something strikes us as funny, we cry when we're sad or in pain. Well, you get the picture.
What separates progressives, lefties, liberals, Democrats from neocons and Republicans is our ideas and our values. And that is what Dodd pointed out so well in his "interview" with Bill O'Reilly.
I hear posters sometimes say "we're better than that" or "we're better than them." I don't agree. I think our faults, our weaknesses, as human beings, are no different than the 29%'ers. We can be just as petty and small.
But our ideas and values, those are very different indeed. We believe in giving folks a hand up, not leaving them to fend for themselves. We believe government can work for everyone, and that the people of this country, given a fair voting system, will do the right thing in electing representatives that reflect that notion. We believe that working together we can solve the problems of our country, that no one should be left behind and no one is not worth helping.
We believe in equal protection under the law, that one shouldn't have to be rich or toe a party line to obtain impartial justice.
Our ideas are better, much better. We have formed a virtual grassroots movement where people powered politics have given us a say in our own government. The fact that so many Democratic presidential candidates are attending Yearly Kos attests to that fact better than any argument I can make.
And that is what the O'Reilly's and Coulters and Roves and Cheneys are so afraid of, why they attack us personally and try to shift the debate to that level -- because they know they will lose if that debate is about ideas rather than who's more holy and pure and without sin.
Because we are not better human beings, I really believe that. We are not saints and I don't want us to be. I'm forgiving of mistakes, anger, snarling insults, obnoxiousness and even offensive language if the person doing so votes and works for justice and fairness for everyone. Hell, I've been guilty of all of the above myself at one time or another in my life.
We are not better, we are not more human. But yes, our ideas are absolutely better -- they work. Their ideas don't work, never have and never will.
We are not better, we are not more human. But yes, our values are absolutely better -- they reach out to everyone. Their values depend on depriving and hurting others for their own gain.
It's a no-brainer for me.