Why The Left Delights in Misery
I cannot escape the conclusion that The Left delights in misery in general and for America in particular. I sense — no, discern — a cynicism behind this phenomena. It’s time to take a hard look at this.
Why do I think that a cynical game is being played?
It seems to manifest itself in numerous ways. The commonality between the various incidents is not all that obvious. However, there is enough apparent to explore.
1. The Need to Be Offended
It seems that at every opportunity, folks on The Left look for something to be offended about and react as though there were a constitutional right assuring them never to be offended. The latest, but by no means only, example is that The Revs. Jackson and Sharpton are offended by description of the folks fleeing New Orleans as being “refugees.”
They insist they are “evacuees,” and to call them anything else is offensive. It reminds of the poor Washington D.C. staffer who had the temerity, not to mention literacy, to call certain tightwad individuals “niggardly.” That nearly cost him his job. Why do certain folks on the Left do this? The answer, it seems to me, is power.
If someone acts offended by something I have said, and if I am generally respectful of others’ feelings, I’m put on the defensive.
I ask myself if I have done something wrong. I examine and scrutinize my remarks, and usually am able to see whether in fact I have been rude or insensitive. Some folks on The Left use this as an opportunity to attack and to assert their own moral superiority, setting themselves up to play the part of victim, yet again. It has gotten to the point where they do not miss an opportunity to engage in this game, even after a disaster. The disaster, the misery, empowers them. This is cynical with a capital “C.” I do not think anyone is offended by being referred to as a “refugee.” I think certain folks have chosen to feign indignation. Their purpose in this is becoming clearer the more often it happens.
[Editor's note: The best defense is a good offense. The old adage remains tried and true.]
2. The Need to Besmirch the Motives Those with Whom They Disagree
Honest disagreements with many on The Left are not possible. The tendency to see evil intent behind anything done by anyone with whom they disagree is common among those active on The Left.
Today, my favorite, The Democratic Underground, ran a “serious” discussion on whether Karl Rove had in fact hidden Judge Rehnquist’s body for several days and not reported his death when it “actually” occurred so as to bail the president out of a tight spot at a good time… like 11PM on a Saturday night (a peak media hour and day to be sure).
The Bush administration is “pure evil” as one writer put it. I could only wish this lunacy was an exception. It is not.
The news today brought us “leaders” saying that the response to the disaster in New Orleans was slow because the victims were black… er, African-American. That anyone could say such a thing with a straight face, let alone a “leader,” can only result in amazement for most of us.
The mayor of New Orleans stating, twice, that the CIA was out to get him is but another example. Again the misery. Again the victimization. Again the cynicism. We see this in in other areas as well. Teddy Kennedy perfected the art of “Borking.” Judge Bork, according to Teddy, would bring back back-alley abortions, destroy privacy and generally bring judicial approval to a Nazi-like state if he were confirmed. That Bork had no such views or motives was irrelevant to Teddy and his fellow perpetrators.
People who think and act like this are not the sort of folks with whom you can engage in rational debate let alone reach compromise.
3. Relishing America Taking Its Lumps
The delight in misery manifests itself no more clearly than it has in The Left’s reaction to casualties in Iraq.
If twenty men are killed in action or by a mine, their pleasure is impossible to disguise. They say something like, “We have have lost twenty men, see, we told you we should not be there.”
Were they thinking doing something worthwhile would come free of human loss? No, they were not thinking that. Rather what they were thinking was that they could USE the misery resulting from these deaths to advance their agenda. [Editor's note: See Cindy Sheehan] My sense is that they could not care less about the dead soldiers, though I could be wrong about that. What is clear is that they are using the dead to advance their aims. Again the misery. Again the victimization — in this case that of the dead soldiers. Again, the cynicism.
These are but a few examples. I invite anyone who would like to offer further examples to do so. I also invite contrary views.
But for me, I’ve about reached the view that it’s not worth it to try to do business with these people any more. I am sadly coming to the view that we need to do what we need to do, and let the chips drop where they may.
– by contributing blogger, MontereyJohn
September 5th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
I have been feeling the same way. Here are three examples:
“Misery”
The Mayor of N.O. cussing about the Bush administration not being prepared to save his citizens, while hundreds and hundreds of School buses are being submerged in City of N.O. lots that FEMA has no jurisdiction over. Transporting the people out of town prior to the breech, eliminates the need for National Guard rescues (under the Governor’s jurisdiction, btw).
“Victimhood”
Second, the loudmouth grandstanding president of Jefferson parish, who bauled his head off on meet the press and then today called the Bush administration murderers.
“Cynicism”
Rev. Jesse Jackson lives again. Called back from a second rate gig in Venezuela to recover his 15 minutes of fame, Jesse flew into New Orleans ready to do what he does best. First he cried racism, then offense to the “refugee” term, then he said the ones that have suffered should get all the jobs to rebuild, not halliburton.
What vintage Jesse! A trifecta! Translation…Bush and cheney are racists and have killed people. They have personally offended me and shown insensitivity. They can not pay enough to repair the damage they have caused, …BUT…
…If 150 billion dollars will be passing through the most notoriously corrupt political machinery in America AKA the Big Easy, “I” plan to have some say in where it goes (Considering Jesse has no visible means of support).
I was brought to tears, literally by some of the stories I saw on the news, but these Liberal ambulance chasers are nothing but ghoulish.
Some cities are passing laws against “Agressive panhandling”, because there is a big difference with being confronted with a genuinely needy person with their hand out and a pushy person saying, “Hey! Give me some money, no! more!”. Unfortunately, both will suffer diminishing returns because of the actions of the latter.