Nuggets of Political Wisdom

I’ve decided to add a new recurring topic here on my blog, to share my favorite political quotes, interviews and findings. Just a quickie this morning to get your day started on the right Leftist foot.

Before I begin this entry, I wanted to let a few of my readers know that I can’t access some of your blogs. Holdfire recently acquired a new server, which many of the accounts on the old server were moved to. For some reason, I’m not able to access anything that’s on this particular server. I’ve been checking my referrals and I’ve noticed a lot of you are on it, so I apologize for not returning the visits! Neither Jordan nor I can figure out why, I think my internets just hates me. Sorry!

Janeane Garofalo has been one of my favorite actresses and comediennes for almost 15 years now, but she’s also a political activist and she sparks a lot of controversy in the right wing for stating her opinions, and is often berated for “smearing” the right wing news machine. I was watching one of her interviews, and this excerpt (loosely paraphrased) really struck a chord with me as far as one of the foundational problems with the conservative and neoconservative movements.

“The conservative movement is not inherently evil - there’s nothing wrong with the tenants of fiscal prudence, small government or personal accountability. That’s not what we’re talking about. But, there are two types of conservatives. One element of society who is not particularly sophisticated - not particularly able to think critically about the news, not particularly desirous of being informed, they prefer their news sort of the way Fox News or the New York Post delivers it - very black and white, aggressively bumper-stickerish, reactionary. They report, they decide, they tell you how to think. Then unfortunately you have a much more dangerous element; People who are racist, misogynistic, and homophobic tend to move toward the right wing or GOP, because they know they are provided political cover, they know they can wrap their character defects in the flag, hide it behind Jesus and claim the moral high ground. So that’s really where the problems are for any socially progressive movement or any peace movement, those rogue characters in that arm of the conservative movement.”

I couldn’t agree more with this statement. The best part about it, is that if you check out any of her clips or interviews on Youtube, the comments section is always peppered with responses like “I h8 this women deathcamps fer liberals!!!1111 she is a derty jew cunt fagit dike bitch cunt kunt cunt!!!!!!” which really kind of proves her point to the T. That’s the kind of person who hates Janeane, and so many other liberals who speak out. That particular uneducated, quick-to-anger, “this is America and I have the right to my opinion but YOU’RE just wrong!!!!11” brand of asshole. That’s one dangerous brand of asshole.

Perhaps even funnier is that the comments or backlashes from Bill O’Reilly or Rush Limbaugh or Karl Rove (or any other aggressively adamant, self-loathing political figure) are never about political discourse - it’s always some personal stab at her, as if she’s ever going to a.) see it, or b.) be affected by it. I’ve found that to be one of the right wing’s favorite defensive response mechanisms. The idiots always bray the loudest, amirite?