I tend to be a big picture kind of guy most of the time. That is why so many kind people send me emails about words that have been misspelled. I do the best I can, but I often get so wrapped up in the whole presentation that I get lost in the details. My wife makes the same complaints. I suppose there are some areas where I am detail oriented, but for the most part I work in generalities. In the world of politics, we have a choice between the politics of small and the politics of big.
Right now, the Joe Wilson situation is a perfect example of this kind of debate. On the one hand, progressives see all of these mini-battlefields where we are seemingly losing and they are beginning to panic. I don't blame their concern. The new buzzwords going around Washington is the phrase, "silence means consent." So, the House of Represenatives is poised to reprimand Joe Wilson for his outburst during the Obama speech. That and a couple of bucks will get you coffee at Starbucks.
The Wilson affair (and other similar stories) have bogged down this administration. It doesn't seem to matter how the president reacts (or if he reacts at all), the news cycle seems to get stuck on these blips on the radar. The conservative strategy is now coming to the fore and the fact that they are called teabaggers brings it all to light. They are refighting the American revolution. No, they don't have ideals on their side per se, they are simply using the same tactics that our military did.
Simply put, they know they are outgunned, outmanned, and outsmarted if they get into a traditional political war with the progressives. We simply have the numbers and the ideas. However, if they keep engaging us in these side skirmishes they can wing us off one or two at a time until they can engage us. Like the continental army, they never win these skirmishes, but that's not the point. Simply engaging them is enough to get what they want accomplished. For every minute we are engaged with them on Professor Gates, Joe Wilson, Van Jones, or any other puissant issue we are not engaged on health care, the environment, or seeking more regulation on Wall Street.
So, we need to ask ourselves whether we need to continue with the politics of small or shift to the politics of big. Not engaging them on their splinter issues does have its consequences. If the progressives don't answer the call on those issues then some on the fence could see that as us conceding a point. However, most thinking Americans would choose to believe it is a simple case of us not wasting our time with ludicrous things. The Obama presidency will not be measured on what beer he had with Professor Gates, Joe Biden, and a random white cop. It won't be measured on how he responded to a back bencher that was looking for some publicity. The issues of the day demand that he be measured by more.
When the history books get written (whether by historians or Christian fundamentalist) how will we be judged? Will we tackle the issues of our day or not? The current history books don't dwell on the incidental garbage James Buchanon was dealing with in the late 1850s. We just know that he ducked the responsibility of the nullification and secession crisis. We know he left the heavy lifting to Abraham Lincoln. Harvard professor? Degenerate back bencher? No, those things don't matter. What matters is whether we get the tough things done. So, participate in the politics of small if you wish. Just don't take your eye off the big prize.
The considered history of our country is that of progress. Every amendment to the constitution (except for Prohibition) has expanded the rights of individuals. Most major pieces of legislation have expanded our rights and privaledges and those that didn't did not last very long. If we get hit in the proverbial nads we will get up and keep going.
To use a good football analogy, conservatives are a lot like a team with a great defense and shitty offense. Sure, they can stop us from scoring most of the time, but they can't really score themselves. They play in a permeanent prevent defense. They lose the game every time because it is our enduring nature to progress. America's legacy to the world is finding injustice in our country to moving beyond it. We had slavery. We abolished slavery. We didn't allow women to vote. We allowed women to vote. We tried to bar African Americans from the elective process, economic process, and social process. We gave them civil rights. Now, we see the same thing with the homosexual community.
The American spirit isn't necessarily about being perfect but it is about redemption. We've redeemed ourselves in so many ways. All conservatives can do is stand in the way of that progress. History clearly shows them to lose everytime. It may take years, but it will happen.
Scott, your perspective is that of an educator. I makes sense in the course of history. While I WISH we could engage them on the big things, we can't because they are too ignorant to win that kind of debate. So they hit below the belt.
In boxing, that is not allowed. But in this free country of ours, unfortunately it is.
But don't you see? This is my entire point. What these people are doing is denying people's health care, ravaging our resources, and screwing us over on Wallstreet. Yet, instead of engaging them on that we are engaging them on this small meaningless shit. Whether Joe Wilson gets reprimanded or not is not going to stop corporations from shitting on us. It's not going to get us universal health care. It's not going to stop the bandits on Wall Street from flushing the economy down the toilet. Absolutely engage them, but engage them where it matters.
I remember reading that most of the people in 1930's Germany didn't believe in the shit Hitler was saying or doing. They just thought they could keep quiet and mind their own business and it would go away. Because after all, rational people knew better.
I wonder if that isn't what we are facing now. Do we sit back and "take the high road" and keep quiet; feeling ourselves to be "above the fray"; knowing the truth and assuming that the majority of Americans also realize these people are idiots? Or do we realize that it's time to stand up and be counted because these cretins are getting away with this. We can NOT let these freakin' racist idiots get away with this any longer. They're had their way too damn long as it is.
These idiots are the ones who are emulating Hitler and we are the ones who need to STOP THEM.
Well said FantasyLand... Damn the torpedos!!!
Funny, I honestly believe you guys think you can ignore these people or beat them at their own petty game.
Again, I don't think everyone realizes what they are dealing with. These "people" slaughter millions for resources. Torture people to death. Spy on their own countrymen. Hate people for the color of their skin. All the while thinking they are chosen by God...
As much as I would love to take the high road or beat them at their own game, I know what it will take to "win". The majority of the country are not in the same "war" as these people. They don't want to debate you. They don't care about what your needs are.
You need real health care for you and your family? You need a roof over your head? You need a living wage and enough to retire on? MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I second Huey's comments, and would also add the following. The disrespect for President Obama has reached alarming proportions. While many of us (myself included) made fun of George W. Bush and often felt no respect for him whatsoever, I can't recall anyone in the mainstream left who ever advocated violence against him. I also can't imagine any member of Congress who would have interrupted an address he was making to that body to yell that he's a liar.
There are legitimate attacks. There are uncomfortable attacks employing ridicule and humiliation from the peanut gallery that most of us sit in. And then there are attacks that go too far. Both threatening violence and refusing to obey dictates of decorum inherent in one's own office and the office of the person addressing you are attacks that go too far. Those are the ones that demand address.
That seems logical if that is the case. I'm not sure that it is. This is why the right is so desperate to show that the tea parties are bigger than they really are. I think we need to put the pedal to the metal and pass health care. The right is trying to get us bogged down in this crap.
I would disagree with you on this one Scott. For years, Democrats have thought to themselves that as long as we have the best ideas, make the most intellectual arguments, and simply state what the facts are when Reps. are lying, then voters will somehow be enlightened and come to our side. That has usually failed.
I think there is one huge problem with your premise and it lies in the following statement:
"However, most thinking Americans would choose to believe it is a simple case of us not wasting our time with ludicrous things."
I'm not convinced that thinking Americans make up the majority in this country.
While I don't think that we should get into every scrap or skirmish, but I do think that we need to win small battles in order to win the war.