We all
face this. How does one respond to stupidity -- stubborn, arrogant, antagonistic, mean
Republican stupidity? And we all know, you can't
argue with stupidity. Especially a stupidity that has been forged in Republican think tanks, honed in sessions with test audiences, and then delivered to the massed troops like a box of daggers by fascist demagogues such as the lying specialist first-class
Rush Limbaugh. The goal of this kind of mass propaganda is not to reveal the truth, it is to rile the troops, to make ordinary people ready to take up arms against their neighbors, to dehumanize the enemy prior to attacking them. It is hate speech. Facts can't be arrayed against this glinting onslaught.. It's not a debate -- it's a call to arms. And it is deeply
immoral and dishonest.
More over the hedge.
So what can be done? These people don't want to argue, they want to fight. Fighting back, even verbally, will always fail. Another Kossack -- the slightly mis-named Arbortender (it's
arbor-tender) --
diaried about a letter to the editor she sent, and the response the paper published from a local Thuglican with the fortuitous name John Morehead.
Here is John's letter in response to Arbortender's letter:
Re "Spying outrages" letter (Jan. 1) by arbortender:
The tree lady of Covina is at it again. The wannabe local politician [arbortender], needs to stick to growing trees and everything green. She like many other liberals are accusing our president and congressmen that agree with his actions, of federal crimes and calling for an impeachment.
With nothing other than innuendo, she puts herself in the same mold as the other left wingers who haven't a clue about what is going on or how to keep this country the greatest on Earth.
Of course spying wouldn't be spying unless it was done secretly. She fails to remember what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Our president took an oath to protect the American people and he will continue to do so. If it takes wire tapping of suspected terrorists and their allies to protect us from another homefront attack, he has my permission. I have nothing to hide. I'm not trying to overthrow our country.
John Morehead
Covina
Note that he has hit the talking points nicely: liberals evil, in over their heads, accusatory, sneaky, ignorant, anti-American, treasonous; Bush good, infallible; me innocent. There isn't a sentence in there that isn't invective, misinformation, and hate-speech. (Yes, Thuglicans are tiresome. Yes, they project their own degeneracy onto those they perceive as enemies.)
Here is my response. I know this isn't legally tight. I had to subordinate that to the overall effect. At some point we have to reach out to these people who are being playing by the Republican party. Let me know what you think.
Dear John,
Like you, I love my country. I am proud to be a liberal, as I trust you are proud to believe whatever it is that you profess to believe. You see, being a liberal is not a bad thing -- many of America's founders were liberals, and many liberals have advanced the well-being of Americans. Many liberals fight in the military, and many are returning from tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and running for office. As Democrats, obviously, underscoring the point that non-liberals have no monopoly on service, bravery, patriotism, or love of country. So don't even bring up being a liberal, or loving America more than I do. At best you'll tie me. It's an argument you can't win.
So let us discuss the issues. You are willing to surrender your civil rights in order to allow whoever is elected President to listen to all of your phone conversations and read all of your email? Do you know what civil rights are? Your civil rights are legally granted to you. No one can take them away. If they do, you are entitled to legal redress using the US courts. That is what you are willing to give up (for that is what President Bush claims -- that you have no legal redress when the President takes your civil rights away). What rights are these? The encyclopedia tells us:
freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, and the rights to due process of law and to equal protection under the law
Think about two things before you so blithely wave goodbye to these rights Americans usually prize. First, are you ready to be persecuted for practicing your religion as you see fit? Are you ready to be told what you can and cannot say? Are you ready to have your newspapers and books and television censored by agents of government working in secret offices in a distant city? Are you ready to find the courthouse doors locked when you and your lawyer go to file a petition of grievance? Are you ready to have your neighbor favored by the law -- perhaps the tax law -- at your expense -- because the President says so? Think about that, because you give all that up when you allow the President to determine which of your civil rights he (or she!) wishes to respect, and which to violate.
That is just the first thing to think about. The second takes more imagination. Imagine a few years in the future. Senators have retired or moved on, the political currents of the country have mixed, and separated, and are flowing in new ways. Your religion might become a minority religion. Your politics might not be in favor. Someone else will be elected President of our great, dynamic land. Now remember, you have said that you don't care what the President does with your civil rights -- that he (or she) can listen to every conversation you have, read every email. How will you feel when that President supports the opposition party, and notes your hatred of the people in power. How will you feel when you are followed -- spied on -- because of your beliefs. You mean no harm -- you were just talking. But they have listened, and they keep track of people like you. How will you then like having given up your civil rights -- your American civil rights?
Civil rights are something all Americans value. We value them because they guarantee us protection from the people in power. They were so important they were written into the Constitution of the United States, and into the Bill of Rights. They are fundamental to the rule of law ("No man is above the law"), and they are central to American life.
George W. Bush has openly challenged your civil rights, and mine. I love my country so much I refuse to let anyone -- our current President or any President who may come to office -- take away my civil rights. Perhaps I was wrong in my first paragraph: perhaps you don't love America as much as I do.
Sincerely Yours,
Someone else with roots in soil and arms in the sun.
UPDATE: Poll links corrected (by removal)
jellyfish before
jellymind