Reply #46: That's ALMOST it, but not quite--at least the way I see it. [View All]

[Raksha]

To a certain extent, we HAD to become like them in order to defeat them. Maybe I should only speak for myself. Just like everyone else here, I saw the same things you did--the insufferable arrogance of the BushCo inner circle and all the Republicans, especially the really evil and powerful ones like Tom DeLay. The "fuck you" attitude. The "How DARE you question me?" attitude. Not only are they mean-spirited but they actually seem to glory in being mean-spirited, like it's something to be proud of. And their kool-aid drinking fan club on all the various discussion boards is every bit as bad.

So how did that "cruelty is cool" attitude come to infect those of us who supposedly know better? Again, I can only speak for myself. What made me more and more furious was the all-pervasive attitude that liberals are WEAK, that compassion and civility are weaknesses. I thought I was going to scream if ONE more conservative asshole sneered at me "I FEEELLL YOUR PAAAAINNNN..."

And to a certain extent I shared that assessment when I looked at the Democrats in Congress, always giving in when the Repukes demanded an apology, always called "obstructionist" even though most of them seemed to bend over 9 times out of 10...

And yeah, just like everyone here I thought, Dammit, these people are bullies and the only thing a bully understands is a swift kick in the ass--and WHEN are our Dems going to give it to them? I actually got to the point where I loathed the word "civility" and I still habitually put it in quotation marks. I have a very negative reaction to words like "civility" and "bi-partisanship" because to me they are euphemisms for capitulation. I absolutely HATE being told "I expected better of you" (meaning I should pull my punches), and I actually told one freeper who pulled that on me on another forum, "Don't EVER 'expect better' of me!"

My tag line on that forum is: "Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don't ever apologize for anything." --Harry Truman

I originally found that quotation on DU, and I'm still using it. I don't think there's anything wrong or invalid about using the enemy's weapons against them, and it was ONLY when a whole bunch of progressive types started getting angry at the same time, and STOPPED being such ladies and gentlemen that we started winning.

But to adopt that same combative attitude with EACH OTHER??? I guess it's impossible to adopt meanness as a tactic without to some degree internalizing it.