There is a diary that has been in the back of my mind for several years now. I have jotted down some notes about it, but it has basically remained there. I am not sure that tonight is THE night, in that regard, but I hope to make a start.
In my notes about it, I wrote:
The ‘Inner Republican’ ALWAYS seeks selfish advantage. Selfish advantage is assumed if competitors for (even scarce) resources are ... negatively affected in some way. Even if no explicit economic or political advantage is realized. The greater the adversity they (the competitive OUT-GROUP) experience, the happier the Inner Republican is. HITTING them, in some fashion, still equates to gaining relative advantage.
More below.
Top Comments recognizes the previous day's Top Mojo and strives to promote each day's outstanding comments through nominations made by Kossacks like you. Please send comments (before 9:30pm ET) by email to topcomments@gmail.com or by our KosMail message board.
I had a friend that I worked with for a while. I’ll call him Willy. (Not his real name. Okay, well, maybe it’s his real name. Please don’t confront Willy about this.) I always got along well with him, but it did involve some eggshell stepping. He had a tendency to cultivate personal vendettas. He’d get so angry at whoever slighted him in some way, that he’d cause himself harm, as long as he felt he could hurt THEM, that he could deal a blow of some sort to them. The satisfaction of causing them hurt outweighed any damage he himself might experience in the transaction, including damage to his reputation. It was like a compulsion. In my time in his company, I never saw him turn away or forget a slight, no matter how small. That isn’t a good thing to say (or even think) about someone.
In the diary’s context, in my view, he capitulated to his Inner Republican, because hitting back outweighed all other considerations.
How often do we see that in today’s politics? Republicans have been so invested in making Democratic Party affiliation radioactive, that ‘their’ voters will ignore their own self-interest in EVERY way if it means they can ‘hit’ Democrats, or a similar or related OUT-GROUP. Gays, the transgendered, women, government workers … the list goes on and on. You know the list.
But I was thinking about it in the context of this past 12 months. Because as attentive as I try to be to my Inner Republican, I can’t say that the fights have been unequivocal victories. My inner frustrations have contributed to anger and attitudes that … are at least somewhat at odds with my beliefs about how ALL people should be treated. It’s easy to feel the criticism when our brothers and sisters are mistreated and discriminated against.
My Inner Republican would have me forget that those conducting the mistreatment and discrimination are our brothers and sisters too, even if they don’t FEEL that way, even if they don’t believe it, themselves. My Inner Republican would have me forget that fact, and do unto them as they do unto others.
But perhaps the greatest hope is that they might gain some insight into our innate kinship if I can defeat my Inner Republican in this contest, and live to a higher, more loving standard. And in a world that comes to reflect that.
Thanks for reading.
On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by my fine teammate and friend, brillig!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Highlighted by Silent Spring:
Is this comment by mim5677, with thoughts on an Oprah candidacy.
Highlighted by Jewell1894:
Is this rant comment by MayaPinyun, who is NOT a Stephen Miller fan! (Join the crowd!) In Jen Hayden’s fine diary about his piggish behavior in a CNN interview. (Ed. note: My apology to pigs. I DO know they never behaved so poorly.)
Highlighted by snafuforyou:
Is this rant comment by heretoo, giving Trump the same treatment that Stephen Miller got in MayaPinyun’s comment, above. (And snafuforyou’s highlighting comment is a close second!)
Highlighted by JTCA:
Is this comment by Devthep, who came to our 2016 candidate with fresh eyes.
Highlighted by zman1527:
Is this fine comment by ThinkAgain67, with more thoughts on Oprah Winfrey, an analysis of the 2016 election.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, January 7th, 2018, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for January 8th, 2018. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!