As my co-blogger CVE noted some time ago, the cover up is always worse than the sin. Recently, a comment about the 4 contractors killed in Iraq (whose corpses were mutilated) caused the well-known left-wing blogger, Kos, to reply with an ever so-thoughtful "Screw Them."
For those of you who have missed (or ignored) this pissing match, let me bring you up to speed.
As one might have expected a great brouhaha was had by all. Kos issued one of the least sincere apologies I've seen in dog's years here.
At the end of the day, Kos decides that, apparently, he was in the right all along and so on, and no actual expression of remorse or regret was needed when a "Bring 'em on" would do. Gerard Van Der Leun masterfully addresses this nonsense.
Thus far I have avoided posting on this because it seemed both thoroughly beaten to death as well as, well, base.
The most recent episode, however, is a more interesting issue.
It seems that the Kos website has a place for posters to post in their daily diaries. And, naturally, some odious piece of crap managed to drag up the whole Colin Powell=Uncle Tom slur again.
And naturally, the fit hit the shan, once again.
This, being a clearly more racist comment also brought a few other gems back to the surface, like this bit of crap (racist or not its still in poor taste) by Gary Trudeau.
Gerard Van Der Leun ties these two things together quite nicely, as well as highlighting a couple of interesting points that I'll get to in a minute.
Basically, Kos, given this 'softball', this 'Sistah Souljah' moment, strikes out.
Frankly, I have a hard time reading his blog because it takes so very little time for the folks populating that site to send my bloodpressure through the roof. That being said, I echo the sentiment pointed out by Mr. Van Der Leun and more than a few sadly-voting-Republican former Democrats: if this is the most popular left-wing blog on the internet, then the Democratic Party is in deep trouble.
And if half of a two party system is in trouble, then the republic is in trouble.
As was alluded to earlier, the cover up always hurts worse than the original sin. The first case (the screw-the-contractors) incident is a good example of this. And when, within two weeks, another opportunity to do things right - like, for instance, say that calling a successful black man an "Uncle Tom" is a bad thing, he screws it up. He decides, essentially, to stand behind blatant racism.
Given this behavior, and wonderful things like this, it seems that in addition to giving the Republicans the south, the Democrats are well on their way to returning the black vote to the Republicans, as well.
I suppose if one were being snarky, one might say something to the effect that this shouldn't be a surprise out of the party that started a civil war in order to keep blacks as chattel slaves.
I could (well, OK, I didn't), but it skips over the fundamental point. When one's hatred becomes so intense that one begins to start becoming tactically inept while wrapped in a shroud of self-indignation, then something is going on.
In this particular case, we see the Democrats even of the Clinton Era going off the handle. The interesting parallel to note is the difference between the terrorism of the eighties (distinctly political in its aims) and the terrorism of today (solely macabre in its goals).
The same kind of irrational hatred that seems to be consuming the Democratic Party is the same sort of thought that is chewing up fundamental Islam. Much like those Muslims who keep trying to reassure the world that Islam is a religion of peace, but who have failed singularly to stand apart from their cancerous brethren and retake ownership of their ideology, the Democratic base fiddles while their party burns.
Pacified by the politics of inclusion and what seems to be a fundamental inability to call things as they are, too many Democrats are unwilling to reclaim the party that produced some of the finest presidents of the last century.
Not all folks on the left have gone this way, but dear God people, why can you just Trent Lott-his ass into anonymity?
Launched by Bravo Romeo Delta at April 14, 2004 09:34 PM