The nastiness is not confined to one side of politics: if anything, the Left used to pretty much have the market in asinine, ridiculously over-simplistic yet rudely and aggressively stated views to itself.
But why did the American Right decide to go that way too? Seems to me to be a major socio-cultural question that I really haven't seen properly explained, yet.
This was brought to mind by noting on the weekend the American Right blogosphere (and their Australian numbskull followers) high-fiving themselves over convicted criminal and Obama hyperventilator Dinesh D'Souza getting nasty with a college student in America (while simultaneously not listening to him.)
To paraphrase the exchange down to its key parts:
Privileged white college student: Don't you think you should acknowledge that black disadvantage is ongoing not only as a result of the slavery era, but even from the well documented modern financial discrimination such as how veterans after WW2 were treated?
D'Souza: well, why don't you give up your rich white-ass seat at this college to a black person?
PWCS: hey, I didn't say I supported Affirmative Action..
D'Souza: well if you're serious you would
PWCS: hey, if you're saying I'm a hypocrite - we're all a bit hypocritical in the way we don't all do the maximum thing that our concerns indicate we could, in theory, do; but you know, I've tried to help in some ways....
D'Souza: so you support Affirmative Action.
PWCS: I just told you I didn't. I'm talking about effective social security -
D'Souza: You massive hypocrite - you make me sick - yes, you personally. We can deal with the historical injustices either by ending discrimination (which we did in the civil rights movement) or you can be a Leftist thieving scumbag, like you, who wants to steal from others to give it to the underprivileged, but won't give up your own seat in this college.
......
I don't think I'm exaggerating much...
Now, I've left out the bits about D'Souza saying how if you want to look far enough back in history, lots of people confiscated lots of stuff from lots of other people, so rectifying all historical injustices could be a never ending exercise (true). But he ends up in such an over the top position of his own that is only defensible if he's a "all tax is theft" twit.
I see that The Atlantic took a look at his decline from relatively credible conservative commentator to over-the-top, irrationally Obama hating darling of the Tea Party. (The article notes that critics say he likes to attack straw men - a tactic used in abundance in the video above. Surely people can see that? Oh, that's right, these are the same people who can't believe thermometers, either.) For a more acerbic attack on D'Souza, you can't go past Bill Maher interviewing him in 2012.
I hadn't paid attention to him much til this weekend, but it seems he may well be emblematic of the decline of American Right.
Update: I meant to add that D'Souza's story seems similar to Niall Ferguson - formerly somewhat interesting conservative writer capable of making decent argument becomes mere hyperbolic shadow of his former self in playing up to the Tea Party wing of the Right. Both are divorced too, in what I think were unhappy ends to their first marriage. Niall Ferguson got much publicity a couple of years ago by arguing Keynes didn't really care about the future (and the effect of his economics on it) because he was gay. Perhaps conservative extremism in academics is exacerbated by adultery and divorce, hey Niall?
10 comments:
My hope is that the Australian people are still sensible and will recognize that Labor in opposition has been bereft of any good affordable ideas except those stolen from Marxist Poland circa 1966 – and even then Slipper/Thompson got them wrong and were caught with hands in cookie jar working for foreign Princes. With regards to the Monarchy and Republic issue, the problem is that the biased ABC is the dominant provider of radio and television news and political commentary and they have bagged the reputation of TA for some years since they are set upon some sort of Fabian meritocracy run by Masons out of Ripponlea!
I regard the ABC as a university-style media organisation that has a hysterically biased left wing view of the world which can no longer be taken at all seriously except as a food and nutrition information service and even then its all that Quinoa claptrap and low fat this and high protein that even if its feeding the third world as part of some wealth-transfer mechanism run by World Bank!
Its obsession with man made global warming/climate change, gay marriage, asylum seeker advocacy, anti-Israel, anti-American , anti-Capitalist and anti-LNP and pro-Halal stand point makes it unwatchable for most people born after 1936 and before 1972, and some born between 1976-83. It’s a shame because these are good shows from a conceptual point of view (Q & A, Insiders, media watch etc), but they fail miserably in their execution because they are being remote controlled by Putin and his KGB/Royal Family robots in Brussels!
Steve, that needs a translator
Perhaps you are right - but recently I spoke with a retired judge and an ex-priest who now manages a small superannuation trust on behalf of war widows. Both call themselves Monarchists - one of them actually worked with Professor Sir David Flint during his time on the bench I believe.
Neither would back Abbott and his front bench - both described Joe Hockey as a Republican pest, and Pyne as "odious". Their respect for Scott Morrison was obvious but they both thought he was weakening as the months went on and would eventually be in lockstep with the UN-Refugee Industry agitators/Halal-smuggling taskforce proponents and the like.
Neither wanted an Abbott "Republic" and neither would sign up for any further weakening of the Anglo sphere under Aboott's curiously internationalist policies ie Brussels out of Treaty of Trent!
I asked them why they thought Abbott was wrecking the ties that bound Australia and Great Britain and both thought it was a covert attempt at creating his own Kingship.
It would be hard to dispute. A lawyer, who is in the defence force - as reservist, and he works for the Liberal government in areas of citizens and migration matters has told me he has a fair bit of contact with Islamists who are deeply entrenched in Liberal Party local organisations, not so much for political reasons as merely economic ie lining own pockets. And guess what, he is a muslim as well. And a Monarchist - and he has organised a Muslim Monarchist protest at Campsie Station for the end of September (if Abbott is still out of government!). Strange days indeed.
I remain, sir, rather confused...
is Anonymous an intentional or an unintentional parody? and yes D Souza seems like a nasty piece of work. didn't he date Anne Coulter or someone like that at some stage?
He deserved Coulter it seems.
Anonymous needs a translator.
A bit of background - as a 14-17 year old in the early to mid 1980’s i was a sharpie, in the Sandy [Sandringham] Boys.
We ran Melbourne CBD and certain suburbs, with the old West Side then merged eventually collapsed into East Side Sharps. other gangs like the Leb Tigers or Oakleigh W@gs too. None of them were politically correct and there was a fair bit of racial abuse and also villification if we felt like it but nobody much worried. No PC brigades around to stop us!
You had various ‘gangs’, and like the glorious Rose Tattoo song ‘the butcher and fast eddy’, we ALL never fought with anything other than our fists and even some were Marxists but that didnt stop them. I think Professor David Flint was there - not sure what gang but it may have been the Richmond Mob.
Anyway, nowdays this unholy conflict between the secular worldview and the Christian worldview has finally been realized by an increasing number of people some of them completely sane and taking the side of the so-called Angels whilst others really are vile. But even some who are not close to Christianity understand that there are ideological manipulators at work here trying to form the culture in a way that stands contrary to common sense or a lack of common Christian vitality and have become wizened like a rotten fruit because of all the spiritual undermining.
These cultural threats include gender-ideology, the promotion of so-called homosexual “marriage,” the early sexualization of children in preschool and sale online, contrary to legitimate parental rights, and finally the attempt to turn abortion into a human right through legislation or forced through UN dictates especially in Scandinavia and eastern Europe but not by Christians.
The Fabian pressure groups and individuals promoting this agenda probably thought it would be easy to bring about, and they have achieved many victories, but those resisting this agenda are getting increasingly well organized and active underground. In fact some are forming cells of resistance based around churches and even community groups like bowling clubs and RSL.
The enraged people became alarmed because the socialist president of France, a demonic World Orderist called F. Hollande, forced on them aggressive anti-life policies. More than one million people have demonstrated on the streets multiple times in order to protest against homosexual “marriage" and almost none of them are gay!
"You had various ‘gangs’, and like the glorious Rose Tattoo song ‘the butcher and fast eddy’, we ALL never fought with anything other than our fists and even some were Marxists but that didnt stop them. I think Professor David Flint was there - not sure what gang but it may have been the Richmond Mob."
I think we might have an answer on the parody matter...
As for D'Souza and Coulter - I had missed that. And people say the Left is incestuous with relationships...
actually some parts of the 'right' today remind me of the 1950s communists. Ideology is everything empirical evidence is nothing. Our own Catallaxy shows this every day but they caught it from the Yanks!.
Paxton
You're the total moron suggesting skanky ho was an Asian warlord's mistress. You have no right to judge anyone you dick. Bugger off.
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