Posted on 11/09/2008 7:53:15 AM PST by andrew roman
Without realizing it, I have apparently evolved – or been promoted. Instead of being just an average, everyday garden variety Republican, I am suddenly one of “them.” Without application or initiation, I now have a “hard line” membership with the far right – and the astonishing thing is, I didn’t have to do a damn thing to receive it, sort of like a President Obama tax “cut.” No longer am I just a middling conservative, or a meager traditionalist. I am an honest-to-goodness, above-board extremist now.
How cool is that?
I honestly thought there’d be more work involved in earning my coveted TE-5 badge (Traditional Extremist - Conservative Level Five Badge). I figured I'd be doing something decidedly proactive like organizing a book burning, helping an aging Klansman cross the road or hosting a fascist pancake and sausage breakfast, something.
Nope.
I simply had to sit back and let the American cultural left redefine the terms once again. By doing nothing more than maintaining my belief that the millennia-old definition of marriage was a sound one, by believing in the exceptionalism of the American people and not the power of government, by understanding that nations do not tax themselves into prosperity, by rejecting the tenets of socialism, by ignoring race and creed and focusing on character, and by supporting a vigorous and strong national defense, I exposed myself for the radical I am. (I hesitate to admit that I also support the reinstatement of Washington’s Birthday as a national holiday, lest Keith Olbermann brand me a supporter of slavery).
Why am I so excited? What am I talking about?
Norman Lear, creator of such iconic television programs as All In The Family, Maude and The Jeffersons – also co-founder of the warm and fuzzy activist group People For The American Way (PFAW) - has sent an e-mail out to fellow Leftocrats, reminding everyone that despite Barack Obama’s victory in last Tuesday’s election (and Democratic control of Congress), vigilance is now priority one.
In his communiqué, co-written with Kathryn Kolbert, President of PFAW, stern warnings were dispatched to temporarily euphoric Obamatized liberals, urging them to get their heads back in the game and man the cultural watchtowers by remaining ever-alert. They say to expect the very worst from the reeling GOPers in the months and years to come. The Republicans will regroup and “take a hard turn to the extreme right.”
Watch out.
Frankly, if I weren’t already on the team, I might, too, feel somewhat intimidated. After all, it just sounds so frightening doesn’t it? The "extreme right."
Hold me. I hear hobnail boots a-crunching in the distance.
As Lear and Kolbert write:
With the right in its new role as ‘the opposition,’ get ready to see an invigorated right-wing grassroots, media and organizational infrastructure.
They ultimately make three grizzly predictions in their missive:
- Right-wing blogs, talk radio and television outlets like Fox News will experience a boom, and new personalities will emerge.
- Considering the popularity of Sarah Palin, who appealed to the far-right base, many will make the case that the best political strategy is a hard-line and unabashed commitment to right-wing ideology.
- Following the passage of anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California, the emboldened religious right will seek to “repeat these tactics in state after state.”
Of course, if we – the “opposition” - have yet to make this “hard right” turn, as they advise, where then are we now? What will differentiate our current position as conservatives to where we will be once the shift en masse to extremism comes to fruition? Assuming we will reject lynchings, segregated lunch counters, pre-assigned seating on city busses and separate baseball leagues, what will our objectives be to make us more extreme? Will we radically seek more liberty? Will we – dare I say it – demand even less government intrusion in our lives? Heaven forbid, will we suggest that it is okay to keep more of the money we earn? Oh, Lord, where will it end?
I hate to break it to them (I will anyhow), but the conservative blogosphere (FreeRepublic.com, for instance, among many others), terrestrial talk-radio and the Fox News Channel were already booming. (See “Free Market”).
And again, more proof that I was already a far-rightist - I supported Governor Sarah Palin. She appealed to me.
Furthermore, I’d like someone to explain to me how the pro-traditional marriage ballot initiatives passed on Election Day were in any way “anti-gay.” There is absolutely nothing – repeat nothing – “anti-gay” about wanting to retain the traditional definition of marriage. I don’t support incestuous marriages, am I therefore anti-sibling? I don’t support the marriage of human beings and dogs – am I thus anti-poodle?
No shifting is necessary, Mr. Lear. I am already there.
My name is Andrew Roman, and I am a traditional extremist.
TE-5. I like that. Heh heh... I’m a TE-5!
Political profiling. Just like labeling protestants as “evangelicals”. right wing extremiste etc.
What ever happened to being middle of the road with a broad range of favorites and not so favorite issues?
Too many people focus on the controversial issues as definiing people’s political profile. The middle is the battleground we need to focus on, and not the far right or the far left.
Better late than never.
Giggle, they weren’t expecting Sarah Palin. I guess they thought we were all dead.
We, the ones that were’nt already involved, (I know I could have done more besides convincing family) could become more active at the local level.
Let’s take the good pages out of thier playbook, the few that there are, and become more engaged. The 2 people that came to my house this cycle asked me to suppurt the dem ticket. I’l go door to door to pass out fliers - It may not be much, but I don’t like to solicit and bug people.
Typical leftist inclination to categorize, codify, and divide humans like boxes of chocolate in an assembly line.
Great post!
Make me a badge too!
That's the sound of Obama's minions.
Mr. Andrews, you may inadvertently positioned yourself at the top of ‘The List’.
Good job sir!
That makes me about a TE 12.
What is “NEW” about our role as opposition. The Right has been in opposition to the Lefts encroachment on liberty since the “New Deal”.
- Right-wing blogs, talk radio and television outlets like Fox News will experience a boom, and new personalities will emerge.
Have I missed something? Are there other networks like Fox News? New personalities are always emerging in media. It’s called vying for ratings.
- Considering the popularity of Sarah Palin, who appealed to the far-right base, many will make the case that the best political strategy is a hard-line and unabashed commitment to right-wing ideology. -
What is a political party if not an organization to promote a ideology common to its members? The Republican Party’s problem since the Great Depression, FDR and the New Deal beat it in to submissive funk is that it lost its identity and became the Socialist Lite Party. It is about time that the Republican Party reclaimed its identity and stopped trying to be the slightly less obnoxious Democrats.
- Following the passage of anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California, the emboldened religious right will seek to “repeat these tactics in state after state.”
Not a bad idea. Glad he thought of it! I have to agree with Andrew Roman that it is in no way anti-anybody to defend a proven social standard; a standard that has encompassed every known civilization, every culture and every known history. Why should we change what has been successful in all of history simply be cause a minute segment of society suddenly feels that it has been treated unfairly.
I’ll put dibs on TE 13 for reasons other then shoe size.
Me too! Me too!
I tried to explain this to a musician friend about a month before the election. I explained my pro-marriage position in what I thought was a very clear and reasonable fashion. As I posted here on election day, I received the following email on the eve of the election: "I hope that yes on 8 vote you are about to cast gives you cancer....fucking deplorable." I wrote back reiterating my position and told him he was taking the vote way too personally. He wrote back and told me "My entire family approves of what I wrote to you because your level of bigotry justifies my level of meanness." I think he threw that in there because this person has a very famous father and is a well known musician himself.
Frankly, I am stunned at the level of hatred from the pro-gay camp. I just saw my country elect an American Hating Marxist and I'm not holding demonstrations or making threats. It was an election. We will have another one. How we handle the loss will have a lot to do with how we do next time. I am not backing down. We are now calling these rabid pro-homosexuals "Eighter" and/or "Heighters".
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