But lately I've had the sense that something else is going on with a lot of them (the 'Baggers, I mean...)
Follow me and see if this makes sense...
They're economic Progressive Populists, they just don't know it.....
As far as I can tell, there isn't ONE person here who isn't burn-things-down pissed about the fact that the CEO's of Goldman, BoA, Citi, and the rest of the idiot financial houses aren't rotting in prison. A lot of the 'Baggers are, too.
We see them chasing their ideological tails, and they look like fools. I think that some of them, at least, are working through the lies they have been fed for 30 years or so, and that is a process that takes time, and TRUTH. (and the rest are crass enough that all they see is an opportunity to WIN, and so they feed the others more and more bullshit.)
That poor woman that Lawrence eviscerated last year (the one who "...wants her Country back"...)? She knows, like all of us here know, that something DAMN WELL is wrong...the problem is she doesn't have the first clue as to WHAT that actually is. She was TOLD that the first African-American President is a Conspirator, a Socialist;... she was TOLD that Soc. Sec. and Medicare are broken and bankrupt;...she was TOLD that her fears are, of course and INDEED, well founded.
But she was not told the the FACTS. She was never told WHY. They are NEVER told the facts, never told WHY, because that would interfere with the lie that America is always the best-est, no matter what, no matter HOW much Corporate Rights destroy Personal Rights, no matter how many people the Govt. tortures, no matter HOW much Rand-ian, Trickle-down economic theory has destroyed her ability to send her kids to college. The America that JESUS LOVES can NEVER be wrong, and by proxy, neither can the party that loves Jesus EVER be wrong. That other Party??? Conspirators and Rebellious Children, they are. They hate America just like they hate their Parents.
The other day, I had a conversation with a self-professed Conservative in the lobby of the hotel where I work. I had the news on, and we had a conversation about Taxes. She asked off-handedly why anyone in their right mind would want their taxes raised.
I said I wouldn't mind, given the correct reason WHY it was happening. She looked at me dumbstruck, and them I explained it to her. I informed her that to me, it was a VALUES question...which do I hate more?, having my taxes go up for a while until the National Debt is paid off, or NEVER GETTING IT DONE, and leaving it for my daughters generation to NOT figure out.
THEN she got it. I could see in her eyes the enlightenment break over the horizon of her mind, and she understood. She said she would have to think about that, but I knew. I had gotten her not just to SEE, but to understand. I think its because I offered her a WHY that made sense.
Given that these are things that I see and understand (and feel free to tear holes in this, it makes me better at what I do, after all) I believe that it is the Public OBLIGATION of the Democratic Party generally, and American Liberals specifically to get the factual WHY into the heads of people who have been TOLD they aren't supposed to like us much. Economic Populism is THE window that, right now at least, lets us do that. THEY KNOW that the banks are ripping us off, they see the same bailouts WE do, the same broken Senate, the same inane stupid that passes for real news. Its WHY, to a large extent, they turned OFF Beck. Its WHY Sister Sarah isn't top dog in the polls anymore, even among the 'Baggers. The WHY is important, and the Corporate Masters of this Country will NEVER give it to them. Only we can. That the Democratic Party leadership hasn't figured this out yet is only our problem in the sense that, just as a rising tide does indeed lift all boats, a spreading (populist) fire doesn't care WHO'S house it burns down, GOP or Dem.
Some of them are working their way through the lies of the last 30 years. We have to help them. It will take time, but I believe it can be (no, MUST be) done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_PFZ92dMysTime index 2:21-5:28
The blonde girl? thats our teabagger, in all her naive glory=). Lets help her understand.
"WHY is the only real source of power, without it, you are powerless."
Peace
=)