Actually, I am just ripping off Draginol's title -- I do not have a problem with the American Right in general. Many of the people I know best outside my family would fall somewhere between center-right and right. I have great sympathy for the social right, disagree pretty much with the business right, and think the neocons way, way off -- but none bother me nearly as much as the apathetic, so I am not really complaining. I just argue my point and listen to theirs.
So who do I have a problem with? After reading Draginol's piece and mulling it over, I realize that it is mostly the "blogging right" that I have a problem with. I find the tone of much of this group unbearable, and it boils down the persistent smell of victimhood. You read through conservative blogs, and you would never know that their man just won re-election, making it 5 of 7 presidential terms Republican, and they control both halves of Congress. One of the four major networks openly seeks their group as an audience, the most listened to talk radio host is committed to their cause... I could go on, but you get the point.
From where I stand, the blogging right has become the epitome of sore winners. Although Karl Rove clearly won the war of spin, they continue to pull out startling evidence that their opponents dared to spin various issues during the election. Although they had the best army of lawyers money could buy ready to prosecute any legal battles in case of a close election, they continue to whine about the fact that the Democrats were doing the same. Although any objective analysis would show that both sides fought a filthy campaign, the right wing bloggers continue to dwell on Democratic misdeeds.
Whining is for losers, and it is not indicative of high character. It is even less attractive in winners.
However, I had a thought: Although there is evidence that the more financially successful tend to vote Republican, there is also evidence that the more highly educated tend to vote Democrat. That's kind of a weird pair of facts, when placed side by side, and it got me thinking. Who are all these right wing bloggers, who seem so deficient in character, yet generally sound well educated?
Karl Rove himself was the epitome of the highly intelligent young man who outdid most of his peers intellectually while failing to fit in socially. This probably figured in his political career, in that he took delight in taking the contrarian point of view back when campuses were so left-wing during the Vietnam era -- and he reveled in humiliating those who were more socially successful. You could say that the scars of being a social outsider during his formative years gave him the impetus to fight on, never resting in victory, always looking to push another opponent's face into the dirt. It was his sense of being mistreated by the mainstream that made him what he is, and he retains the hunger of a long time loser, despite his string of victories.
Bloggers are by and large intelligent and well educated, and I have a strong hunch that many, many right wing bloggers share a bit of the Rove background. They have dealt with a preponderance of educated people more liberal than themselves. They may have turned conservative because they didn't fit in, or they may have been sneered at because they were conservative, but in either case they have a permanent case of feeling put upon by the world. No victory is going to assuage these feelings, and this is especially so because the most educated (and frequently the most socially prominent) continue to reject their views. You do not have to read very far on these forums to pick up the sore feelings regarding this.
I have known several such individuals during my life, mostly back in my school years. The type unanimously embraces tactics over all else. They love formal debating rules. Clever arguments delight them. If you were to say that you were run off the road by a black car, their fondest dream would be to sidetrack you by challenging you as to whether the car might possibly have been navy blue, and whether, considering that your left wheel never actually left the road, you could claim to have been run off the road... The fact that such tactics inevitably leave opponents feeling morally superior just enhances the sense such people have of being put upon.
My problems with the Blogging Right boil down to this:
* They are in love with tactics. A few months ago in a thread regarding the merits of right wing and left wing posters, Draginol boasted that he thought conservative posters were more disciplined. He's right -- the Blogging Right will never concede an inch because it is simply bad tactics.... Or, regarding Clarke's accusations, we got the response "It has been denied" -- the principle of plausible denial. The Blogging Right perceives no difference between "It works as a debate tactic" and "it gets us closer to the truth."
* They get all bent out of shape that their opponents feel morally superior, when, in truth, such is the natural outcome of too-clever-by-a half arguments.
* They have rabbit ears. After a victory, they can pick out the few hecklers in a crowd -- and they so much want to go brawl with them. They feel so much the outsider, so put upon in life, that they are just unable to concede that they have won and get on with life.
