Robert McNamara, interviewed in Erol Morris'
Fog of War, stated in his second lesson that:
Rationality Will Not Save Us. This was in reference to the outcome of the Cuban Missle Crisis, pointing out that every leader in that conflict from John F. Kennedy, Nikita Kruchiev, and finally Fidel Castro were all rational beings, yet were willing to come within a hair's bredth of nuclear war over a combination of cultural misunderstandings and global power wrestling between nations.
It might then seem a stretch to take that lesson and apply it to the ethical lapse of Ben Domenech: his inflammatory statements of calling Correta Scott King
a Communist during her funeral, his
linking of the judiciary with the KKK, his public Mea Culpa of
plagiarism, and prior to that
his lying about that fact to protect himself at the expense of others at Redstate. And yet, not in his behavior, but in the behavior of those who continue to vociferously defend him, do we see the ugliness that is not conservatism, but humanity itself. For if this is not the fountain of rationality taken to irrational extremism, no such fountain can possibly exist.
Many examples on Redstate from this sorry spectacle exist which call into question the judgment of the site's editors. I'll list but a few, for the purpose of this diary is not to point at conservatives and Redstate - which all too many diaries here at Daily Kos have already done - but to look inward and consider the meaning for humanity; especially those who consider themselves directly in opposition to the right. For this is war. Perhaps one waged with words and ideals, but war nonetheless.
These are the words of Thomas, a Redstate editor and site founder:
I repeat: Should the entire American Left fall over dead tomorrow, I would rejoice, and order pizza to celebrate. They are not my countrymen; they are animals who happen to walk upright and make noises that approximate speech. They are below human. I look forward to seeing each and every one in Hell.
To those conservatives who couldn't wait to find wrongdoing where none existed: Gee, funny you didn't get all hyped up about this with Bob Bork. Or Sam Alito. I guess maybe your common sense detector -- or decency reserve -- only kicks in when it gets you something you want?
You're all dead to me, as well. Too bad: One lady in particular was a favorite writer of mine. Ah, well.
One might very easily conclude he would rejoice if half our nation, the half who votes Democrat one presumes, simply up and died. That they will go to hell is assumed, along with himself. He attempts to defend those indefensible words down the thread, and I encourage readers to click on the link and follow for a prime example of how so many when confronted by the failure of those leaders within their fraternity will simply warp any moral or ethical sense of right and wrong in order to maintain self-righteousness in purpose. Thomas is wrong, there can be no doubt in that.
Yet when confronted by Redstate members who dissent and ask Ben to explain his behavior, Redstate editors blam, eject , and threaten longstanding members with expulsion for simply dissent - not even rude dissent. That is groupthink at its worst.
I point at this not to say: look at how ethically bankrupt those conservatives are, aren't we so much better. No, we are not. The furor over the dkos Pie Fight advertisement shows just how easily any community can break down into conflicting groups over even the mundane, never mind the serious. Do not look at the implosion of Redstate as if they are misfortunate enough to have simply chosen the wrong ideology. That is a gross misunderstanding of human nature. For if Stanley Milgram taught us anything about mankind it is that blind obedience to authority is the norm, not the exception. And here at dkos, there are far too many examples of downrating over disagreements, the many piling on to the one who posts dissent, or simply large numbers of meaningless "me too" posts in a popular diary or front page article. We all want to be noticed, and to gain notoriety too often thoughtless agreement to group imposed social norms is the necessity.
Robert McNamara pointed out in his last lesson: You Can't Change Human Nature. He had already noted the folly of war in a nuclear age where modern weapons destroyed not people, not villages, not towns, not cities, but entire nations - and even habitable planets. Yet in the microcosm, the same lesson should be learned here. For they are two sides of the same coin. To be blindly obedient to leaders, here at Dailykos, or at Redstate, or in our nation's capital - for whatever reason - is the same lunacy. And yet it is also the same human nature.
What solution do we have but eternal vigilance in pursuit of the defense of the dissenter? Whatever he or she may say, whether we agree or not. To do otherwise is simply furtherance of war at a time when war can easily escalate to outright suicide. Even those civil wars which engage not a nation but those communities that revolve around simple little websites.