The hubbub over the Pastor Rick Warren's inclusion in the Inauguration. I am of two minds on the subject, I don't really have a horse in this race but it has been lighting up the blogosphere. I recommend checking out Glenn Greenwald over at Salon. He makes an interesting argument on the subject.
Also for the the postings by Michelle Goldberg at Religion Dispatches and John Cole over at Balloon-Juice have a nice take on the various sides to that argument. Must reads.
The thing is, I think I agree with Greenwald in this regard, over the last 20-30 years "liberals" are always painted as fringe, deeply unserious, and patently unprepared for the rigors of reality. That being said, why is it when the conservative ideology that has held sway and completely failed by any available metric, it is progressives who must be conciliatory?
At no point over the last 8 years has there been even one acknowledgment from the right, that there is even a left leaning portion of the nation, except possibly to denigrate or demean. Yet once a relatively progressive ideology seems to be on the ascendancy, all we hear is how pragmatism and "reaching out to the other side of the isle" should be the order of the new day.
It may be divisive, but so what? There absolutely should be consequences for bad decisions.
If in your completely myopic pursuit of intellectual orthodoxy, you have led us to the precipice of ruin all the while telling me how foolish, naive and unserious I was. I am going to need a bit of contrite behavior on your part, before I listen to anything you say.
I am going to need to see some real intellectual rigor on their part. Not just invocations of "free market rules" and lower taxes in times of trouble.
If they want to be included they need to earn that right.
-Cheers
2 comments:
Isn't this the "he started it" defense... is there no room for righteousness. I would argue that this is a golden opportunity to better our government(and the democratic party). I mean, you've got this thing and it's &^$%#! golden and you shouldn't just give it up for &%$#@& nothing. Don't do it.
Heh, no. We have laws, ostensibly all men and women are governed by them. You break them you need to pay.
In academic settings if you push an idea that is proved to be erroneous, yet you still state its veracity against all odds and mounting evidence you need to be ostracized for it.
If you spout bull shit, you need to be ignored till you stop spouting bull shit.
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