Forgive the late night musing, but I've been thinking, and have become quite conflicted.
You see, I enjoy a nice heap of schadenfreude every now and then. I enjoy it served up cold, with a side of spite and a nice glass of snark. I enjoy it even more when I feel that my candidates and causes have been run into the ground with unfounded comments and speculation. I mean, really, all this "Obama's an America-hatin' Muslim pinko commie baby killer" crap really pisses me off. So, yeah, I admit that I will make digs at "the other guys" whenever I have a substantiated beef with them. Luckily, Dubya et all have done a "heckuva job" with providing fodder over the years, and it appears McSame has become their new standard bearer for the "Foot in Mouth" party.
But when does a line get crossed? Or does it really matter?
Over the past eight years, I've witnessed the Rove playbook of dirty politics. I've been mortified by the things I've seen - the flip-flop crap at the 2004 GOP convention, the "Swiftboaters", the talking points, the spin. Years upon year of lies and deception. And I've found it disgusting.
But I've noticed something else - that people actually buy into this crap. And, somehow, people are won over by gleeful maliciousness and not by the hope of something better.
I've always had a great deal of pride in the Democratic party for the fact that we aren't like them - for years, we turn our proverbial cheeks when slapped. We continually play by the rules, only to be perpetually mocked and belittled by a Good Ole Boy's Club of liars and cheaters.
Which brings my thoughts to this - do we continue to hold our heads up and fight the good fight, even if it means we keep enduring the rubbish they throw at us? Or do we fight fire with fire, and unload on them - stealing from their play book and tossing the rules out the window?
Is it possible to talk of hope, and in the same breath spread our own unfounded theories?
Can we keep our message about change, but still rehash the same tactics that have been used against us?
In my heart, I want to stay on the high road. My head says it's the right thing to do. Once we start on the low road, I feel we will invalidate everything we stand for.
How do we stay positive when it seems that the whole world only wants to hear the negative?