Posted on 01/24/2020 4:11:33 PM PST by nickcarraway
In terms of seriousness, I realize that this question ranks right up there with “Why is There Air?” (which was a pretty funny comedy album from back in the 60s). There have been hundreds of books and articles which have examined the “roots of progressive rage.” At times I believe that we have seen so much progressive fury that we have almost become inured to it. Like most people, I usually adhere to the philosophy of “fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and progressives gotta rant.” However, during the holiday season, I ran across two instances that caused me to re-examine my own thinking about our current social and political environment.
The first instance was brought about by the arrival of my Sports Illustrated which featured its “Sportsperson of the Year”, Megan Rapinoe. Since I don’t follow either men’s or women’s soccer, I took SI’s word at face value that she is a star in her field. However, I thought the cover photo of her was a bit odd; she was immaculately dressed but held in her hands a heavy sledgehammer. I suppose this was meant to hold some sort of symbolism but the somewhat hostile half-smirk on her face did cause me to wonder if, just out of camera range, there was a box of kittens or maybe even a harp seal. One could also imagine that hanging over Ms. Rapinoe’s bed, there was an autographed photo of Aileen Wuornos. I read later that Ms. Rapinoe, at the awards ceremony, showed her appreciation for this prestigious award by lambasting her hosts for not awarding other women in the past.
The second instance was generated as I was channel surfing and fell upon WOSU, the local PBS station. There appeared to be a panel discussion of distinguished academics (the host referred to them as distinguished and I would never contradict her). The conversation had been relatively mundane when one of the participants, a gentleman by the name of Eric Alterman, blurted out something to the effect of “…and by the way, the members of the Greatest Generation were not fighting for this country; they were fighting only for people like them”. (Which I took to be white people.) A brief titter came from those in attendance and Alterman sat back in his chair with a Rapinoesque smirk on his face evidently pleased with his witticism.
These two unrelated events, by two boorish people, are insignificant by themselves. However, they are representative of the kaleidoscope of idiocy that has only worsened during the last three years.
It’s hard to imagine but progressivism in the United States hasn’t always been associated with the lunatic fringe. While it’s true that politicians such as Robert La Follette and William Jennings Bryan and muckrakers such as Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair weren’t exactly loved by bankers and industrialists, they were eloquent and thoughtful advocates for lower and middle-class Americans.
So how did the terms “progressive” and “raging wingnut” become synonymous? Like a lot of other folks, I think the 60s never really left us; they just morphed into something even more hideous. Ask a progressive today what he (or she) thinks of the 1968 Democratic Convention or the 1969 “Days of Rage” instigated by the Weathermen and you’re apt to get a starry-eyed recitation of how magical the 60s were.
I have my own memories of this period; being up to my derriere in mud in Vietnam, having my bus stoned by hoodlums as I left Oakland Army Terminal and gazing at the smoldering ruins of the ROTC Building at Kent State in 1970. There was nothing magical about this period; it was just plain rotten (except for the music, of course).
Spring ahead to the early 2000s and this “progressive rage” began to reappear as a response to “the warmonger Bush”. As I watched the street protests against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (I had been recalled to active military duty in 2002) there was an unmistakable feeling of deja vu as I watched the usual suspects such as Jane Fonda mouthing the same platitudes as they had back in the 60s.
However, what really stood out for me was an evening in which Swift Boat Veteran John O’Neill appeared on CNN with John Kerry apologist Lawrence O’Donnell. I’m not sure if the event was recorded for posterity on YouTube but I would urge everyone to take a look at it because I believe that it was a prime example of how the Left had been taken over by the lunatic fringe. The confrontation was almost comical; the soft-spoken combat veteran (O’Neill) being screamed at by the draft dodger lunatic (O’Donnell). Like many people, I thought that O’Donnell would be given a “time-out” by CNN for this childish display of temper. However, I learned later that O’Donnell had been widely praised for his “passion” in his “debate” with O’Neill. Many Americans, like me, wondered if a first-grader began screaming at a classmate over who was entitled to the last cookie; would he be praised for his “passion”? No matter; although I did not realize it, this encounter was soon to become the template for all progressives thereafter. Facts not on your side? No problem, simply start screaming! Can’t comprehend the issue? Just label your opponent a “sexist”, a “homophobe”, a “racist” or a “fascist” and walk away, declaring the argument won. And this is where we stand today.
It’s not difficult to see how we arrived here. But why? Why did progressives go from helping to hating? Why have they turned their hatred into some sort of macabre religion? And, most importantly, is this hatred and rage growing at a rate that this country cannot survive?
Progressives tell us that their rage comes from Donald Trump’s election but that’s totally laughable. No, the rage existed far before President Trump.
No doubt there has been a confluence of many factors. Certainly, the culture of narcissism (admirably written about by Christopher Lasch and also by Roger Simon) has played a part. In addition, the idea of instant gratification (“I want what I want and I want it now”) certainly figures in. And, an educational system that values feelings over scholarship has to be considered. Finally, the rise of social media has played a part, although I would argue that it has been the vehicle rather than the cause of all this rage.
However, I don’t believe that we could have been brought to our current situation without two things:
a. THE WORST LEADERSHIP THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER EXPERIENCED.
When the oh-so-erudite Barrack Obama told his followers to “get in their faces” when it came to expressing ideas, he may as well have been giving some of those people loaded guns. He knew better and he did it anyway. Each time he had to choose between being the President of all the people or being the devoted disciple of Saul Alinsky, he always chose the latter. He cannot duck his share of responsibility for our current social and political environment.
As for the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body”, well, how big a laugh has that become? Any dignity that the U.S. Senate had remaining was forever lost during the Kavanaugh hearings. The subsequent “warning” sent to the Supreme Court by Senator(s) Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Hirono, Durbin, and Gillibrand simply proved that pandering to the lunatic fringe had taken the place of serious legislation.
Still, I reserve my award for the worst politician in the history of this country to one Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her “Deplorables” moment ensured that this nation would be forever divided. Her subsequent comments that “civility can start again” only when Democrats take power was some of the most despicable verbiage ever from a person who has made a career out of being despicable. Those comments simply poured gasoline onto the fire that had been blazing since her defeat.
b. MEDIA & “ENTERTAINMENT” THAT RESEMBLES THAT OF THE 1950s SOVIET UNION.
The state of American media seems to worsen on a daily basis. The only question is how low can they go? One of the best things that I have learned in life is when you’re in a hole, stop digging. Left-wing media and entertainment seem to be utterly incapable of this. Case in point: Writing in Salon, Amanda Marcotte asserted that “…conservatives have increasingly embraced the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ to mean basically ‘f*** you’ to anyone that they’ve deemed less than legitimate Americans.” Just to show that this was no fluke, she later added that Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel were “the platonic ideal of fascist propaganda.” Another media website advised that “white women’s obsession with ‘being nice’ was one of the most dangerous tools of white supremacy.”
As I was watching Mr. Alterman the thought suddenly hit me; this “distinguished academic” was really no different from Ms. Marcotte or “entertainers” such as Samantha Bee, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, or for that matter, most progressive politicians and academics. When a person has no discernible talent, the only way they can become (or remain) relevant is to be outrageous. The funny thing about being outrageous; to stay relevant, the person must become more and more outrageous. Where does it end?
I don’t pretend to have a solution. Someone once said, “Don’t argue with a fool. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.” If this is true, it doesn’t give us much hope for the future. Perhaps it isn’t important as to why progressives are so angry. Maybe it’s more important to figure out how we can survive that anger.
I recently made a comment to Henry Racette’s excellent post (“Everything Trump Touches Dies”) that perhaps some sort of “Thermidorian Reaction” will be needed to stop our American Jacobins. That “Reaction” can’t come fast enough for this country.
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I see the reasons for their anger as two-fold. The progressive philosophy is founded on envy and anger, and attracts people who have those faults.
But first, the author makes the mistakes that “progressives” used to care about people. They never did. Progressive=liberal=socialist=communists always start off by claiming they “care” about the “poor and oppressed” but that’s just their jive talk shtick. It’s ad copy, meaningless.
The US progressives have had a mask on, or some of them have, for a while, and now the masks are off. Angela Davis, Bill Ayers, Abbie Hoffman and plenty more - like the stone throwers the author mentions in Oakland - they had their masks off. Progressives have always been filled with and motivated by hatred, anger, envy, lust for power and the love of destruction. Their philosophy is evil, hateful, destructive and appeals to people who already have envy, greed and desire for power.
And the philosophy of progressivism throws gasoline on those bad traits so they feel entirely justified in indulging in the lowest of human emotions and motivations.
One thing common to progressive/socialist etc philosophies is they are all based on atheism and a rebellion against Natural Law of every kind. That is why they always embrace the foulest of behaviors and practices such as abortion, feminism, perversions of all kinds and hate those who are devout, of any relgious persuasion.
With the mask on, they have duped silly irrational people by acting as though they actually cared about the poor, etc. But now with their masks all off, many of the dupes are wawking up and going to Trump rallies.
The Devils time is short.
Good grief! Recalled as what... a nuclear physicist? Thank you for your faithful service! If I were called up now about all I could do is instructions on how to use a walker - when needed.
An excellent essay on our times and how we got here. I suppose anyone our age can relate to all those cues you mention so accurately. I have wondered if the 60's flower children are responsible for this social sewer we are building but it doesn't seem to fit. Certainly angry spoiled brat college professors have played their role - hiding behind tenure; they need to be thrown out of their jobs, some of them charged with sedition or treason. I encountered one away back in 1960.
But also the politicians are becoming carpetbaggers, sewing dissention, division and hatred while lining their own pockets, with an escape hatch when the ship starts to sink.
Need I mention the media, violent movies where problems are solved with sex and violence? 'Journalists' who have been trained to be hatemongers and propagandists (I went to journalism school, briefly, but we were not taught to report in this current fashion.) Of course now the media is consolidated under a few billionaires... I leave you to define their motives.
It is too late to review all the elements involved, but we certainly have a nearly insurmountable problem. I have mostly retreated to prayer.
Thanks again for your (prodigious) service. :-)
Jealousy is a hate based emotion and quite murderous.
Jealous people don’t hate the individual for having what they, themselves dont. They want that individual destroyed because of it.
Three things-
1. President Abraham Lincoln freed THEIR slaves.
2. A silly little commie popped their Camelot President.
3. Donald J. Trump beat Hillary like a stepchild.
And remember- President Trump is the second President to be Impeached for humiliating Hillary.
“being up to my derriere in mud in Vietnam,” assuming that this was at the very tail end on the war in ‘75 and that the writer is 18 at the time, who gets recalled to active duty (”recalled to active military duty in 2002”) 27 years later at the age of 45?
Hysteria is their default mode. They quite simply are not happy unless they can rant and rage, and even then their happiness is a sham.
Most progs are emotionally disturbed immature mental weaklings.
Yes, repressive as well as regressive.
Their monthly government check for being alive has not arrived yet. :)
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