House of Eratosthenes

Blogger friend Virgil sends along, in an off-line, a reproduction of this editorial that appeared in June. It’s in the form of an open letter to Senator Obama, speaking on behalf of those bitter people in small towns who cling to God ‘n guns. Breaking some of my own rules about teasing, I’ll excerpt just the delicious uppercut at the end, but you really should go read it all.

You’re wrong about why small-town Americans don’t vote for Democrats.

We don’t vote for Democrats because we’re self-reliant so we don’t like the government trying to “solve” everything for us. And because you tell your rich friends in San Francisco that we’re dumb. And because, each election, whichever one of you is running for president traipses all over the country telling us you have all the answers, that you’re the one on our side, that you understand and respect our way of life.

But each time, a little bit here and there slips out — and by the end of the campaign, we can tell what you think about us. And we manage to learn who you really are.

And we see you’re just a horse’s ass.

Coincidentally, blogger friend Phil excerpts a comment expressing sentiments very close, but flowing in the opposite direction. It’s just a comment underneath an article he finds entertaining, but I think it’s an important comment because it’s one we’ve heard many times before:

What is going to happen if Obama loses is the biggest Brain Drain this country has ever seen. I already know many colleagues and associates who have relocated to Europe where there’s less prejudice against intellectuals and a more realistic societal model. It won’t be the fault of the left when it happens. The know-nothing US electorate will have had two chances to make the correct decision and throw the neocon bums out. Those of us who knew better all along, who saw 9-11 not as an excuse for war but as an opportunity to show America’s greatness by rising above it, who protested against the Iraq invasion while most of the country was still in the throes of Bush-worshipping wishful thinking, will only be victimized by the rest of you gullible fools for so long. This is your last chance to get it right – or you WILL be on your own.

The commenter would probably find himself in easy, pleasant company with Jeneane Garofalo, who thinks all Republicans should be jailed. Almost in the same breath as the one in which she brags about how much more tolerant and open-minded she is than those closed-minded pinhead Republicans.

Here’s the money quote:

GAROFALO: First of all there is no evidence to support that the current incarnation of the Republican party, hyphen conservative movement, has any tethering to decency, kindness, tolerance, open-mindedness. What do they stand for? Torture as a policy. They stand for homophobia. They stand for no reproductive justice. They stand for denying global warming.

FUND: So what should we do? Jail them?

GAROFALO: That would be great!

Look what you have going on here. Two sides, each one wishing the other would go away.

One side is weary of being micro-managed. As Will Manly points out, “you have all the answers” but you think “that we’re dumb.” Now contrasted with that, the commenter Phil found tells us to shape up or else they (all those who agree with him…huh…wonder if he personally checked with each one) will leave us to our just desserts! Phil’s headline says it all: Is That a Promise?

But the side represented by that commenter, supposedly with his one-way ticket already in hand, doesn’t really seem to want to abandon anyone or jettison anyone. Not completely. That other side seems to be saying, check your opinions at the door, but bring your wallets because we need to “come together.” Taxation without representation. Fight global warming — we don’t have any goals in mind for that at all, the important thing is that “together we can do this.”

The lesson? Tolerance is an opposite word — be wary of anyone throwing it around. Too many of those folks have Garofalo disease; you must agree with them, or into the hoosegow you go. They’re tolerant of your billfold. Your opinion, not so much.

This fatigue expressed by Will Manly…you know, once you put some real thinkin’ energy into this stuff, you see this is what tolerance really looks like. And if there is any residual doubt, you can travel through the midwest, through “flyover country” as Rush calls it. Drive on through. Try to find the spot where Ma and Pa Kent rescued Baby Clark from the rocket ship. Look at corn and wheat fields ’til they make you dizzy. Stop in at a diner where people are still allowed to smoke if they want to. You’ll be very hard pressed to find any Garofalo disease there. Very few people will want you to go to jail for expressing a contrary opinion. They do their stuff, you do your stuff, you don’t tell them what to do, they won’t tell you what to do.

But doesn’t that raise the specter of disaster should one or the other of you get into trouble?

Actually, no. Go ahead, get a flat tire out there, or lock your keys in the car; see how much help you get. Then go to some urban enclave of a nice blue state and repeat the exercise.

The left doesn’t really show tolerance. They don’t show a respect for diversity. They talk a good game, but what they really bring to the table is immaturity — “do it my way, or I’ll pick up all my marbles and go home.” Obama’s been proving it, and people like Garofalo are helping to prove it some more.

[…] They keep promising and promising and promising. Leave already! Don’t let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya. HT – House of Eratosthenes […]
- Do You Promise? - Please Leave « Colorado Right | 09/18/2008 @ 16:22

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Will ManlyWednesday, September 17th, 2008

Will Manly
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008