Tired of getting your ass kicked as liberals, Democrats and feminists?
| By ODUMarc - May 25th, 2007 at 10:22 am EDT |
Are you getting pretty fucking tired of running around on campus, being one of just a few who see what the hell is going on, and trying to fight the right? I know I am.
You know why that is? It's because no matter what we do, no matter what we claim, the truth is we, as feminists and liberals and Democrats, are getting our asses kicked up and down the aisle and Capitol Hill.
The reason for this is simple: we play by the rules. It still amazes me that, knowing the right's tactics and lack of consideration for the Constitution, integrity or anything else, we're still living in a dream world and thinking that, somehow, if we play by the rules, we're going to win.
We're not. The Republicans are breaking the rules, and so should we. They're lying through their teeth, and so should we.
We're losing our public-image battles, and that needs to change. What we need, then, are allies.
The biggest group of potential allies we can tap into? The religious right. Just as the Republicans are able to manipulate the message of God, Jesus and whatever else the religious right voters believe, so can we.
The truth is the religious right are often uneducated, and don't really give a damn about Constitutional laws or scientific studies or any of that. So what do we do? We speak in their language. We embrace them. We talk about obligations as Christians, and Catholics, as Americans and family-loving people. That's how we win them.
Our ideals are not good enough. We must be able to manipulate in order to get the votes, to put the people who share our Democratic values into office. We must be able to convince religious voters that we are the "correct" Christians while the Republicans are not.
Does it mean we have to twist the truth, stretch the Constitution and play hardball politics? Absolutely. The end justifies the means.
This bullshit about "our ideas are better than theirs, we'll win" or "what is good and just will always prevail," and "in the end, goodness will always win over evil" is bullshit. That might get you a vote or two as second-grade class president, but in politics, you're fucked!
We can run around talking about what is right and what is good and all of that, but without a political strategy, we get nowhere.
It's time for us to stop living in a dream world, start acting like the Republicans, and kick some ass.
It's time we find the liberal version of Karl Rove.
Fairness means nothing.
You know why that is? It's because no matter what we do, no matter what we claim, the truth is we, as feminists and liberals and Democrats, are getting our asses kicked up and down the aisle and Capitol Hill.
The reason for this is simple: we play by the rules. It still amazes me that, knowing the right's tactics and lack of consideration for the Constitution, integrity or anything else, we're still living in a dream world and thinking that, somehow, if we play by the rules, we're going to win.
We're not. The Republicans are breaking the rules, and so should we. They're lying through their teeth, and so should we.
We're losing our public-image battles, and that needs to change. What we need, then, are allies.
The biggest group of potential allies we can tap into? The religious right. Just as the Republicans are able to manipulate the message of God, Jesus and whatever else the religious right voters believe, so can we.
The truth is the religious right are often uneducated, and don't really give a damn about Constitutional laws or scientific studies or any of that. So what do we do? We speak in their language. We embrace them. We talk about obligations as Christians, and Catholics, as Americans and family-loving people. That's how we win them.
Our ideals are not good enough. We must be able to manipulate in order to get the votes, to put the people who share our Democratic values into office. We must be able to convince religious voters that we are the "correct" Christians while the Republicans are not.
Does it mean we have to twist the truth, stretch the Constitution and play hardball politics? Absolutely. The end justifies the means.
This bullshit about "our ideas are better than theirs, we'll win" or "what is good and just will always prevail," and "in the end, goodness will always win over evil" is bullshit. That might get you a vote or two as second-grade class president, but in politics, you're fucked!
We can run around talking about what is right and what is good and all of that, but without a political strategy, we get nowhere.
It's time for us to stop living in a dream world, start acting like the Republicans, and kick some ass.
It's time we find the liberal version of Karl Rove.
Fairness means nothing.
!
Comments are closed for this post.
But sometimes the means can't be justified. History has shown that one cannot use oppressive means to reach liberating ends: in politics, means have a nasty habit of *becoming* ends themselves.
Also, as much as it may seem at times, I don't think it is appropriate to paint religious conservatives as "uneducated" without citing some kind of proof. These kind of statements automatically discredit you in the eyes of people who disagree with your points. After such a statement, you are simply preaching to the choir. Of course, the title to this basically states this as your purpose. I suppose I just want to know; what good do you think that will do?
Can you name a single secular humanist organization that has established sub-standard diploma mills to allow like-minded people the luxury of getting undergrad and law degrees without ever having to actually think critically or with a modicum of rational thought? Because I just watched a dedicated disciple of the religious right, a graduate of two religious right schools (Messiah College and Regent/TBN University Law School), admit that she flagrantly violated federal law in testimony before Congress, while confirming that she understood nothing about law or the practice thereof. Simply possessing a JD from a third-tier diploma mill like TBN University was apparently sufficient preparation in her mind, and the minds of her Republican bosses, for her being put in position to hire and fire career prosecutors and civil servants.
Call me reductionist, but that's not something that our side does, is it? There isn't a CAP-funded college devoted to turning out underqualified minions of abortion-loving pagan social science majors that I don't know about, is there?
Let's not look for an eqiuvalence here--anti-intellectualism is so much stronger a sentiment on one side than on the other that trying to equate the two on those grounds would be patently ridiculous.