Sunday, November 28, 2004
The Abused and the Abusers
On a third-season episode of The West Wing, a political consultant tries to convince administration officials to fight back against a Republican pamphlet accusing the president of being a liberal, telling the president's aides:
More Recommended Reading: The week of Bush's inauguration in 2001, The Onion published a story headlined "Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over.'" As Dan Chak discovered, it wasn't just political satire, it was prophetic.
On a third-season episode of The West Wing, a political consultant tries to convince administration officials to fight back against a Republican pamphlet accusing the president of being a liberal, telling the president's aides:
We all need some therapy because somebody came along and said liberal means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on Communism, soft on defense. And we're going to tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn't have to work if they don't want to. And instead of saying "Well, excuse me, you right-wing reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun Leave it to Beaver trip back to the '50s," we cower in the corner and say, "Please don't hurt me."Fictional character, fictional president--absolutely factual statement of the Democrats' problem since the Reagan Era. To put it another way:
Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazile squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, "Why did they beat me?"That's Mel Gilles, a veteran advocate for victims of domestic violence, who says that liberals' reaction to the constant abuse we take from conservatives is almost exactly like the reaction domestic violence victims have to the constant abuse they take from their spouses. And like an abused spouse, you can't stop the beatings until you stand up for yourself--anything less just gets you beaten again and again.
More Recommended Reading: The week of Bush's inauguration in 2001, The Onion published a story headlined "Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over.'" As Dan Chak discovered, it wasn't just political satire, it was prophetic.
