No, it’s not a typo. I meant to write “enthusiasms” no matter how hard auto-correct has tried to foil it. It’s based on a scene from The Untouchables (warning: turn it off at the 1 minute, 54 second mark because it gets incredibly violent and gross).
Al Capone is making a much larger point than simply setting up someone to be brutally murdered. It is important to reflect on this as flame wars continue during the 2016 Presidential Primary. I’ll expand on that below the boring page break (I miss you, orange squiggly doodle).
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During the Presidential Primaries, we all develop enthusiasm for one candidate or another. Sometimes, the choice made is tepid, reflected only in how we’ll vote when the caucus or election is held in our state. Often, though, it’s accompanied with massive enthusiasm that is coupled with donations, volunteer work for our chosen candidate, involvement in a campaign, and writing about our candidate or our choice to convince others.
We go into full campaign mode and nobody campaigns harder than liberals because we fight for what moves us towards more equality and opportunity for everyone.
Sometimes, though, our enthusiasms get too hot, too passionate and judgment along with discretion go out the window. Words get taken out of context or meaning, a perceived slight becomes confused with an attack, and emotions get out of control as the slings and arrows are spit out in threads so far to the right of the screen that it’s nearly impossible to determine who is replying to whom. Everyone ends up with hurt feelings, bruised egos, and wait for the next opportunity for vengeance and the flames spread from diary to diary to diary for weeks.
It’s great to have enthusiasm for your candidate; to promote their positive qualities and agenda. But enthusiasm for one candidate shouldn't devolve into feeling the need to attack another candidate. Reporting facts is fine, but adding venom isn’t. That, my friends, is a sign of weakness for your own preferred candidate who should be able to stand on their own with their own positive message. And it should never extend to their supporters no matter how much we want to change their minds.
Accusations of withholding a general election vote if someones candidate is not the nominee is a frequent claim hurled around without any evidence to support it. Unless someone specifically says they won’t vote for the nominee unless it’s their own candidate, those are simply cheap shots and should never be made. It’s a hurtful and unnecessary personal attack. No one should ever have to say or prove that they intend to vote in the general for the nominee. It’s a given that we all vote in every election and that we support the Democratic candidates.
Leave attacks for Republicans. They’re well experienced in dishing them out (essentially, it’s their basic campaign strategy) and they’re good at it. We don’t need to go there. The facts are on our side. Resorting to attack mode is a sign of weakness indicating the need to distract attention elsewhere by offering up a new shiny object.
Instead, remember that we’re all on the same team or will be once the nominee is determined. Time wasted mending fences or patching up bruised feelings isn’t going to the general election campaign where it rightfully belongs. So please stop banging people around. They’re your future allies. We get nowhere unless the team wins.
We’ve been through this before in 2008. Remember how everyone came together after the convention and how many hard feelings couldn’t be soothed? Let’s not do it again for 2016. Take Al Capones’ advice and remember that we play for Team Liberal and the only way forward is together.
It’s good to have “enthusiasms”. Just don’t let them set the place on fire or use them as an excuse to wield a baseball bat for something other than hitting a baseball.
TOP COMMENTS January 31, 2016
Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU when you find that proficient comment.
Please note that I format all comments to open in the same window. Also that I am no longer blockquoting comments since DK 5 has now been fixed to open only the comment and not the diary with all its comments.
Highlighted (since “flagging" has a new and rather ugly DK 5 connotation) by Laconic Lib:
This comment by One Pissed Off Liberal from No We Can't: The Do Nothing Platform by InteGritty.
Highlighted by martini:
This comment by Dusttpuuppy from Glenn Greenwald Absolutely Destroys the BernieBro Myth by sourbrew.
From your enthusiastic host tonight:
I liked this comment by marvyt from No We Can't: The Do Nothing Platform. by InteGritty.
TOP MOJO from January 30, 2016
(excluding Tip Jars and first comments) *Got mik!*
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TOP PHOTOS January 30, 2016
Enjoy jotter's wonderful *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
Thank you jotter for the awesome image magic!
Note that 1 image had to be removed because it errored out. I have learned the hard way to post the pictures in a separate draft diary first because I haven’t figured out how to remove individual pictures.