My Dog Just Watered Your "Tree of Liberty"

Are you sick to death of the I-can-out-crazy-your-crazy screaming, the Obama-wants-to-kill-yo-mama infantilism, the he's-a-Kenyan-Nazi-Communist, America-doesn't-apologize, torture-shmorture, government-is-evil-except-when-it's-interrogating-Muslims, my-gun-gets-bigger-when-you-rub-it, and the O'Reilly-Beck-Hannity-Limbaugh Axis-of-Evil? If the answer is yes, I salute you. If the answer is no, I also salute you... with this one finger.

I have some advice for all of us. Stop trying to get these people to realize how wrong they are and how right you are. Stop trying to apply reason to the profoundly unreasonable. Stop trying to mitigate or explain their collective temper tantrum. Stop trying to curry their favor, their votes, their attention. They don't care about truth, right and wrong, good or bad. They care about stomping feet, crying victim, and pointing fingers. Barney Frank had it exactly right, it's like arguing with a dining room table. Enough is enough. Fuck Kumbaya.

I'm not sure what bothers me more, the profound and disturbing ignorance displayed by some, or the ones who know what's right but protest simply because what's right was proposed by the Left. Ironically, their elected representatives don't care about them any more than they care about us. They care about reelection, they care about influence and power, they care about themselves, and they mindlessly adhere to an antiquated ideology at our collective peril (see Sunday's Paul Krugman).

Don't be afraid of them. Don't let them question (or make you question) your basic instincts for goodness, decency, humanitarianism, and the attainable America you want and deserve. Don't let them intimidate you. Think of Vivian Jones and James Hood trying to attend their first day of college, facing those bloodthirsty crowds led by none other than the Governor of Alabama seething, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" Those kids didn't run. Martin Luther King didn't run when that same governor called him a communist threatening the fabric of America. If they didn't run at the first sounds of anger, the first sight of guns, the first smell of stubborn ignorance, neither should we. And neither should President Obama.

Comments

[KentheEnchanter]

Well said, Mr. Seitzman!

And, yes, I know that all conservatives are not dumb, nor all liberals bright, but I'd surely like to hear some sound from principled conservatives. What we're getting is Town Hall Screamers (a great name for a rock band, you'll have to admit) bellowing about Obama not being a citizen, comparing his initiatives to mutually opposed political philosophies (you can't be both a Nazi and a Communist...think, people!), and scaring up lies like death panels. You can't tell people these don't exist if they have chosen to believe in them and nothing anyone says can convince them otherwise.

Sarah Palin may actually be dumb enought to believe the lies, but Chuck Grassley isn't, and when he tells his contituents to be afraid of death panels, he's just manipulating them, and that's not good faith discourse.

Maybe if we had more dialogue and less demagoguing from those who offer no solutions other than to break Obama, the nation might be in better shape.

[Chip W]

"I'd surely like to hear some sound from principled conservatives."

I've been saying this for a while.
Of course there are intelligent, sincere, rational conservatives who have things to say that are worth saying, and that I'd actually like to hear.

But where the hell are they?

[ReedYoung]

Purged from the GOP, like pastries from a bulimic.

[minty68]

The tree Beck draws on his show is the clearest sign of mental illness I have ever seen.

[OdinsEye]

And you are a certified psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or psychoanalyst? Or just an art critic?

[CrittersRTasty]

Mr Seitzmann,
Believe it of not, many of us on the right feel exactly the same way. It is just as difficult for conservatives to have a reasoned conversation with today's progressives. Had I written the article above, it would likely have sounded much the same, but with different names and instances. I couldnt help but smile when I read it.

[PlanoBlue]

Difference between the two?

Our position is correct. Your position is incorrect.

Frankly no one on this site cares exactly how you feel. Go share your feelings with Michelle Malkin.

[CrittersRTasty]

Aw...Now you've hurt my feelings...I'll probably stop posting in here now....

[David Fruits]

"First they oppose the Health Care Reform, and I didn’t speak up, because I was happy with my insurance. Then they came for the homosexuals' right to exist, and I didn’t speak up, because I am not Gay. Then they came for the minorities, and I didn’t speak up, because I am white. Then they came for the Atheists, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."

wow, it still holds true. Stop them here, stop them now.

[CrittersRTasty]

First they pushed through a "stimulus" package and I didnt speak up because I didnt think my voice would matter. Then they tried to rush through a Health Care Reform, and I didnt speak up because I didnt think it would affect me. Then they came for the folks with semiautomatic rifles and pistols, and I didnt speak up because I hunt with a bolt action and carry a revolver. Then they came for the people who wanted their kids to be able to pray, and I didnt speak up because I'm not overtly religious. Then they came for those who wanted immigration reform, and there was no one left to speak up for me.

Hey, you're right. It still holds true.
Stop them here, stop them now.

[oldjerseygirl]

Sorry Critter; but everything you are against is for the BETTERMENT of your fellow man. Your kind just wants to live in a vacuum with others who are exactly like you. Never will you understand that all human beings are different and don't need to be your clone.

[sturzl]

Love the article, but really hate the racism in the comments. As a white male, why am I always lumped in with the Rush Limbaughs and Bill O'Reilys of this country? I believe in healthcare for all, gay rights, and most of the progressive ideas of the American Left. So why am I cast as the bad guy because of the color of my skin? I was taught my whole life about the evils of racism so when I see it I try and counter it whenever possible. Racism is wrong, my friends, regardless if it's directed at blacks, whites, browns, reds or yellows. The Left does not do itself any favors by lumping all white people together. In fact, it makes us look extremely hypocritical, something we call the Right out on all the time.

[cminca]

I don't think that the author was trying to be racist, nor (as I white male) did I find the last paragraph and the segregation remarks racist upon first reading.

I think the author was refering to the strength and character demostrated by the black students in the face of (in this case race-based) hatred.

I agree that we need to give everybody the benifit of the doubt, regardless of sex, race, creed, etc.

MHO

[sturzl]

You misunderstood. I was refering to the comments below the article, not the article itself. However, thank you for the reply.

[Matt Scholand]

Stop acting like all liberals are smart and all conservatives are stupid, it's not helpful. Just because some conservatives are behaving like children doesn't mean it's ok for you to. You have your ideas about what's best for america and we have ours, neither side is all wrong or all right.

[Big0725]

Not all righties are du*mb. They just act that way.

[kathy001]

I agree, up to a point. The one thing I think we should remember is that we got Bush for 2 terms because of the sheer volume of the right wing. While there is absolutely no way to out-shout them, I do believe that we need to continue to dispute - in a logical, factual and calm manner - the lies and the hatred and the fear that is being shouted. If we fail to do this, if we allow these falsities to stand, then we become complicit in them. And if we continue to dispute them we gain headway with reasonable people who are willing to listen to facts - and there are plenty of them out there.

[aablinko]

LOL, no way dude that is just too funny!

RT
http://www.online-privacy.es.tc

[BuddhaStar]

LOL! Good one.

[JimR]

BRAVO! I agree completely.

[Bailey Reynolds]

Excellent post, Michael!

You are SO right! The entire Republican party is nothing but old furniture to be moved into the back room. It's time to quit listening to these people; and to move forward and pass real healthcare reform.

May Obama make Ted Kennedy's dream reality - and make him proud!

[Matt Scholand]

It's really frightening that someone would think that they are totally right and that the other party should be done away with. That's the kind of thing that happens in the third world. The two party system is genius in that it slows change so things don't get out of control.

[cminca]

"The two party system is genius in that it slows change so things don't get out of control."

Was that what the republicans meant when they threatened the nuclear option if they didn't get their way with the Supreme Court nominations under Bush?

Or were we living in the third world then?

[NJmikeV]

Well said. Thank you.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.
-Mark Twain

[Zachary Pick]

Never argue with a fool, they will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.

[Chernynkaya]

I have to admit- I am gobsmacked by what's going on, but i should have seen it coming. There could not have been a Bush second term if these people weren't voting.

The forces of darkness simply cannot be allowed to overrun America.

[kylie]

Who says, "Bush won"?
We should all know by now how that "victory" was manufactured.

[entrenchedhoosier]

Toebugger Slogan:

If I scream twice as loud, my vote counted twice as much.

[CaliTLC]

Well said.