-Caveat Lector- http://www.listbot.com/cgi-bin/subscriber?Act=view_message&list_id=onlinejourn al&msg_num=770&start_num=787 12-07-00: Nice doesn't cut it in the face of the rabid Right By Johnny Angel December 7, 2000 | Wanna know what has really crippled the progressive/moderate movement in America, why we seem so impotent in the face of the endlessly blaring nuttery on the Right? Basically, it's a lack of anger, a lack of outrage over the idea that the rest of the world doesn't share our views, the life's blood and passion of America's neo-conservatives. The fact is the Right is perennially pissed off. Pinch-faced, cross-eyed pissed off. It always has been and loudly so since Marconi's genius became mass marketable, from racists Father Coughlin and Gerald Smith during the Depression to convicted felons Gordon Liddy/Ollie North today. And why is this, you may ask? Because the kind of psyche, rheuma, soul, whatever word you'd like to use that is always boiling over cholerically belongs to the empty-headed animals of the American Right--why do you suppose that the bile level on political talk radio is up at the eyebrow line? As John Lydon said so eloquently in PIL's 1986's anthem "Rise," "anger is an energy"--and the Left doesn't have it. Not until we've been reamed, steamed and dry-cleaned will this change. Even then, the nature of our internal beast is not combative -- our own well-adjustment is a political Achilles heel. Not to mention dissonance and confusion in 2000, the roles of Left/Right have reversed. Frankly, we on what was the Left have assumed the traditional role of the true freedom-loving conservative--laissez faire on social issues, economic prudence on debt and deficit, antipathy to "zero-tolerance" and "mandatory sentencing", true adherence to the Constitution (especially as it pertains to the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments, all loathed by the selective patriots on the Right), and most importantly, a sense that fair play trumps all concerns, that there must be uniformity in how the laws are applied. The American Right operates on the (lack of) principle that their simian symbol of success, GW Bush derided on a daily basis in his 200 million dollar campaign--"if it feels good, do it", was a 60's mantra that Bush cited as the example of the decline of Western Civilization, as proof of spiritual corruption gone haywire. Yet, as has been shown in Florida in the last few weeks, the Bush and GOP camps have "done it" whenever the mood hit them, with no regard to either the law or the will of the people, using mob rule and violence to quell manual vote counts in Miami, or assembling endless legal stonewalls or Harris cronyism to assure a victory. And what will be the first priority of a Bush administration? A trillion dollar tax cut (or, more accurately, a rollback to 1989, so as to eradicate Bush Sr.'s tarnished record) that will bring back deficits and high interest rates. Conservative? Hardly--Barry Goldwater is rolling in his tomb. Selective outrage, blood pressure-raising pique, hauteur for no discernable reason, these are now the character traits of the people that make up today's Republican Party. Our problems with this juggernaut are duo fold--not only are they motivated, they're unified against what they perceive as a common enemy--us. Ironically, the rank and file of the Angry Right have much more in common with their supposed foes in the working and middle class than they do with their wealthy, manipulative leadership (a source of incredible anxiety to them, there is nothing they hate and fear more than the idea that they're no better than anyone else)--but another character trait of today's conservative is the unquestioning devotion to cherished totems like righteousness, religiosity, the military and the traditional role of the woman in the family. Beat that drum hard enough and long enough, and the inability to reason (the downfall of any regressive) takes over--with a side order of propaganda-fired rage as well. Can't see us on the Left getting mad enough to get even, for the same reason that there is no Limbaugh on the Left--sure, we have our prejudices as well, but we don't embrace them as a source of pride, we have bouts of anger, but they are aimed at moving the intractable evils of some human beings as opposed to keeping the status quo at all costs. If we believe that if privilege is sacred, it isn't because it's an exclusive weapon to keep the masses in their places, but a benefit that must be used to alleviate suffering without condition, if we believe that there are cultural differences between certain groups of people, then we enjoy that aspect of the human condition, not try to steam-roll other cultures into a conformist straightjacket. This philosophy is harder to articulate and doesn't play to xenophobia or code-word racism like the voices of the Right do--and it doesn't play to the deep-seated fear and paranoia (ever heard a progressive rave about an invasion from China or North Korea, say?) that keeps the stentorian bellow of rightwing commentariat in full roar, 24/7. Who'd have ever thought it--we're too good for our own good! Johnny Angel is a freelance writer who is frequently published in the LA Weekly, LA New Times, Mean, Hotdog, RollingStone.com, and is a syndicated columnist with the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Copyright � 2000 Online Journal. All rights reserved. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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