"This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance"
- John Lennon
I was reminded of this line by a fellow Kossack who wondered "what's wrong the term 'Zionist'?" It took place in an extremely unwise diary which has since been deleted. Our conversation ranged from the seemingly reasonable, to the deeply frustrating. In the end, there wasn't much to say.
So what's wrong with ___ism? Well, everything, so long as it's just a label.
I realize that this is an ineffably short diary, and despite the presence of the word "ineffably", it hardly deserves much attention. But my point is a small, simple and significant one: we need to abandon the tribalism associated with people or ideas and embrace rational discussions about these things.
I am a former Edwards supporter, now an Obama supporter, who prior to the campaign would happily have supported Hillary as well. If she somehow wins the nomination via legitimate means (an impossibility from my vantage point) I will still support her. If she "wins" the nomination through other than "legitimate" means, I guarantee that I will not support someone other than the Democratic nominee, though I may not like it much.
In any event, my beef with Hillary is about her tactics, not her qualifications, personality, experience or platform. In fact, the more her campaign tries to take Obama down, the less likely I am to support her. Because the tactics are often indefensible.
But at the end of the day, what scares me most about all the campaigns are the number of individuals whose positions are opaque, rigid and whose support is about identity politics rather than "solution politics". I want a country where the political process is about vetting a candidate's ideas and abilities as a leader, and not their PR team's ability to spin effectively. I want candidates who are candidates for the vast majority of Americans, and not for true believers of any kind.
I want to be a whole person, and be led by whole people, and not just teams of PR flaks developing labels with ever more traction. Please.