This is a comment on Jon Stewart's appearance on Rachel Maddow's show and how Stewart's comments expose the bankruptcy of trying to disparage other people as crazy left in order to legitimize one's own beliefs.
Gosh, it was fun and educational watching a flu-queasy Jon Stewart on Rachel equating protesters against a war that the world declared was illegal to people who smashed the windows of congressmen and severed the gas line of Tom Perriello's brother because they were angry that all Americans might finally have health care.
Left and right-- they're exactly the same! We're all tribalized because there are two shows on cable TV (not to mention several more on underpowered AM radio!) that actually call Republicans names, and not because of 20 years of Rush Limbaugh saying comical things like, (I paraphrase) "We'll leave a couple of liberals alive in a zoo somewhere, so that people will know what they were like" or Newt's list of defamatory words to demonize DemocRATS. If only Democrats would make nice and get along!
I think I endured 10 minutes of this and then did Mr. Stewart's vomiting for him.
There is a larger point to this. For decades, people on the center-left have been playing the game in which they denounce people a little farther left of them as being crazy or extreme. They imagine that this will legitimize them. In fact, it simply makes their allies angry and diminishes their leadership, as Obama discovered with his "professional left" comment.
There are only three things we can demand of others in a coalition:
* what they say should be factual and respectful of the truth
* they should not call for violence, breaking the law, demonization of others, or winning by intimidation
* the policies they urge should be for the benefit of everyone, not using majority power to force a solution on unwilling others
That's it! The whole megillah!
People who play the game of "I'm left, but not crazy left" have violated the principle of demonization.
Not everyone in a coalition will have beliefs you like. If fundamentalists want to preserve the environment, God bless 'em! We can work together on this and agree to disagree on whether schools should teach the Ten Commandments. Keep your eyes on the prize and keep silent on how crazy you think their other beliefs are. We all have beliefs that someone thinks qualifies us for a rubber room.
Jon, love your comedy. Leave the actual politics to people who are looking for more than a laugh line.