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July 19, 2007
Conservatives Against America
Kathleen Parker, the most widely syndicated columnist in America, starts out her most recent column with "If our enemies don't hate us, it's an oversight."
Turns out we're a bunch of narcissists, and Parker, who, multiple times a week, writes down and sends her personal thoughts out to tens of millions of people, think that's bad. But you see this fairly often: With Parker, and D'Souza, and large swaths of the Christian Right. There are a lot of people in America who really don't like America, and for much the same reason that they think Osama bin-Laden doesn't like America.
Now, in reality, bin-Laden doesn't like America, as he repeatedly tell us, because of its foreign policy actions in the Muslim world, but insofar as he also finds our freedoms distasteful, so too do some on the right. I don't know if I'd go so far as Francis Fukuyama does when he says "what we see today on the global stage is in some sense an extension of America's own culture wars," but it certainly looks like many conservatives agree with him, and have resolved the cognitive dissonance by deciding our cultural degradation is the product of tricky liberals and Hollywood gays, and not genuinely part of America at all.
July 19, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
our cultural degradation is the product of tricky liberals and Hollywood gays
Just doin' our job, folks. But really, to be fair, some credit has to go out to folks like David Vitter.
Posted by: Glenn | Jul 19, 2007 1:02:44 PM
The differences between Osama and the likes of Dobson, Robertson and (the late) Falwell are (1) they have different imaginary friends,and (2) Osama and his boys display rather more physical courage.
Posted by: rea | Jul 19, 2007 1:03:09 PM
@ rea: They have the same imaginary friend, but apparently that imaginary friend is a two-faced shit-stirrer, because he's telling both sides that they're the one who really should rule the world, and that he's not really friends with the other side.
Remember, people, when your god hates the same people you do, you probably made him up.
Posted by: paperwight | Jul 19, 2007 1:06:27 PM
(2) Osama and his boys display rather more physical courage. - rea
Of course, you must never say this in public. It's akin to pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes on, as Susan Sontag (z"l) learned. Of course, such self-delusion is ultimately dangerous (as Israel ought to have learned by now every time it thinks its actions project strength and its enemies' actions indicate cowardice) -- but better to have good "self-esteem" than to actually confront reality, eh?
Isn't it amazing how, after criticizing us liberals so much for being obsessed with PC and self-esteem, it turns out the right is worse than we about this obsession? (c.f. another post by Ezra ...)
Posted by: DAS | Jul 19, 2007 1:11:07 PM
Remember, people, when your god hates the same people you do, you probably made him up.
God told me that's wrong. Oh, and I should kill you now.
Posted by: Glenn | Jul 19, 2007 1:15:43 PM
D'oh! I guess I need more caffeine ... my c.f. was to this post itself (regarding young Ezra's mordant noting of Parker's own narcistic tendancies -- shared, of course, by all of us bloggertypes).
*
Anyhoo ... re: "what we see today on the global stage is in some sense an extension of America's own culture wars" -- some have argued the opposite: what we are seeing in America's culture wars is the importing of a centuries old culture war within the Islamic world (between more orthodox and Sufi Muslims) into Western Culture starting with the Renaisance (sp?) adaption of Greek texts (as preserved by the Muslim world) back into our culture.
Posted by: DAS | Jul 19, 2007 1:16:24 PM
Who'd have thought I could be lured into reading Kathleen Parker....
KP: ...YouTube, the favorite medium of narcissists gone wild,
and kittens, too. Along with Senate debaters! Oh my.
"But wait" (as teevee ads tell us):
"There ARE two Americas" (or there are TWO Americas!).
Ezra, please keep us posted when Kathleen discovers that much of the world is now American culture (aka: world culture).
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | Jul 19, 2007 1:24:36 PM
My favorite is how many conservatives profess undying love for America and then demand everything be changed from schools to tax systems to church/state separation to courts to civil liberties, etc. America hating on the right has a long tradition.
Posted by: Th | Jul 19, 2007 1:25:36 PM
I thought that this rightwing/fundamentalist distaste for freedom-- or more accurately, for the way actual human beings tend to behave when allowed to be free-- had been admitted by D'Souza, and that's why his last book disappeared so quickly. At the time, I thought it was priceless, that he'd dropped a gift right in our lap, but naturally the left never bothered to hammer the point.
Posted by: latts | Jul 19, 2007 1:35:53 PM
the next time there's a posting praising america on a liberal blog will be the first time.
this is the pot calling the kettle....
Posted by: hmmmm | Jul 19, 2007 2:28:05 PM
the next time there's a posting praising america on a liberal blog will be the first time.
American conservatives love America like a fearful five-year old loves her mommy: America is the best, it could never be better, you can't say anything bad about it (except that it has too many libruls), and you have to praise it praise it praise it or it might leave you and never come back.
Liberals love America like an adult loves another adult: we're a great people, we have great principles, we should be encouraged to live up to them, and we can survive criticism because we're grown-ups.
Posted by: paperwight | Jul 19, 2007 2:56:02 PM
have resolved the cognitive dissonance by deciding our cultural degradation is the product of tricky liberals and Hollywood gays, and not genuinely part of America at all
I don't think this results from an effort to resolve cognitive dissonance. They just see elements of America as having increasingly lost touch the core values that made America great, as they say. And liberals often see conservatives that way too.
The differences between Osama and the likes of Dobson, Robertson and (the late) Falwell are (1) they have different imaginary friends,and (2) Osama and his boys display rather more physical courage.
Both false, as a moment's thought reveals.
American conservatives love America like a fearful five-year old loves her mommy ... Liberals love America like an adult loves another adult
Self-congratulatory baloney. There's no evidence, and it doesn't make much sense, that there's a fear that America will go away if it isn't praised. Liberals on liberal blogs do seem more reluctant than liberals in general to praise America, no doubt in part as a reaction to conservatives they argue with not being critical enough.
Posted by: Sanpete | Jul 19, 2007 3:08:45 PM
Self-congratulatory baloney.
Only because you don't think there's any difference in the mindset of conservatives and liberals. You merely think they're the same people, but with different policy proposals, made in good-faith. A naive and ignorant error on your part.
Posted by: Tyro | Jul 19, 2007 3:23:46 PM
There are sometimes differences of degree between conservatives and liberals, but unless you have some good evidence for the typically black and white views of the hyper-partisan on both sides about the other side, I suspect you are naive and ignorant on this point. You could give evidence for paper's point, for example, if you think there is any.
Posted by: Sanpete | Jul 19, 2007 3:31:59 PM
Kathleen Parker is the most syndicated columnist in America? I want to die from shame. Next you'll tell me The Singing Bee had the most popular summer premiere in years...
Posted by: Will | Jul 19, 2007 4:08:11 PM
Before you praise or condemn something, you first need an accurate perception of what it is. Given this, the real criteria isn't the frequency of "praise" but its content.
It's easy to say "I love the flag!" repeatedly but occaisionally, it's necessary to note that the flag has been flying 24/7 for more than a year and looks like a tattered, washed out rag. Perhaps it ought to be replaced?
Likewise, its easy for some to aggressively assert their love for "America", without really articulating what this "America" that they love so much actually is. Not rarely, it turns out that the image of "America" they love is one that excludes large swathes of their fellow Americans whom they detest.
On the other hand, there are those whose love for America is bound up with the realization that America is nothing if it isn't the myriad and diverse peoples who occupy its territory. This conception of America doesn't lend itself to the hypnotic mantra of USA, USA, USA, or to a monochromatic narrative of American history as a preordained, linear, triumphal progress. This because a nation so diverse in substance must, of necessity, possess a history no less diverse. Such diversity entails conflict and contradiction.
Those in the former category do not love "America" as it actually exists. They love a mythic conception of America that suits their prejudices. Such a love requires no investigation into the actual realities of American life and history. Rather, it actively militates against such inquiry, since it would challenge the the cherished image worshipped by its adherents. A worship which is, in the final analysis, self worship.
Those inhabiting the latter category are certainly not saints. They don't possess any fewer vices, flaws or human failings. However, what they do possess is a fundamentally different outlook and frame of reference. Their America is, by definition, external to themselves and composed as much by those differing from them as those like them. Its dynamic drives them away from simpleminded sloganeering towards investigation of and consultation with, the actualities of American life and history.
As everyone ought to know, that life and history is as filled with failed promise and tragedy as it is with promises redeemed and triumph. For those whose affection for America is an affection for its people, this presents no more of an obstacle than loving one's family despite their flaws.
For those whose love for America amounts to nothing more than a love for their self image, such candor is unbearable and therefore treasonous.
Posted by: W.B. Reeves | Jul 19, 2007 4:12:48 PM
"Liberals love America like an adult loves another adult"
Exactly. They're kind of stuck with it. They'd rather be in France (the proverbial other women), but the reality is, the financial risks are too great. So intead, the drone on with the boilerplate bitching that most adults do about their lovers. Sure, they love them, but mostly out of familiarity and becuase they realize that, while they'd love that 18 year babe (Sweden) across the streat, this is as good as it gets for them.
Posted by: hmmmm | Jul 19, 2007 4:25:41 PM
WB Reeves: That was great. Thanks.
Re Sanpete: I long ago gave up on caring what he says. Sanpete is the ultimate concern troll. He doesn't seem to believe in anything (not even consistent argumentation) except his personal superiority to everyone else, and so he thinks everyone else is the same (or alternatively, blind fanatics -- Sanpete is a nihilist caricature of the all-or-nothing views he claims to criticize).
As for hmmmmm, I find it amusing that he/she leapt to the assumption that I meant eros rather than agape. Also, I hope he or she doesn't have a significant other -- the views he or she espouses about the relationships between intimates are really sad.
Posted by: paperwight | Jul 19, 2007 4:39:36 PM
Those are good points, WBR. I think those who praise America less conditionally do tend to identify with America somewhat differently than others do, but not necessarily as a projection of self. I think it's generally more like family. They feel about America as they do about their parents and siblings (paper gets that much right--calls to mind Socrates view of Athens). Such a view is naturally somewhat idealized, with the same kind of defensiveness that people have about their families, and similar disfunctions. I'm not sure that's a bad thing on the whole.
Posted by: Sanpete | Jul 19, 2007 4:40:46 PM
I see you have no rational response, as usual, paper. You project.
Posted by: Sanpete | Jul 19, 2007 4:42:25 PM
Unfortunately Sanpete, far too many people view their families as extensions of their self.
Posted by: W.B. Reeves | Jul 19, 2007 4:52:39 PM
Not a phenomemon I'm familiar with, WBR.
Posted by: Sanpete | Jul 19, 2007 4:55:35 PM
hmmmm, that's actually pretty funny. But the canonical saying is that liberals love their parents like adults love their parents.
but, at the same time, the other side has some merit-- all but those who immigrated to the United States and the rather well-off are not in the US by choice but rather by circumstances of birth, kind of like an arranged marriage... the the best option is to make do with what you have and work from there to have a better life rather than initiate a divorce which will likely cause a huge mess for everyone.
The conservatives are, of course, the annoying 7 year old screaming that their daddy can beat up your daddy.
Posted by: Tyro | Jul 19, 2007 5:02:41 PM
Sanpete, conservatism is essentially an inclination to find power attractive. liberalism is, at its essence, the act of wanting to disperse power.
Your naivete comes from believing that both sides have good-faith differences on specific policies they wish to implement, with equally-weighted extremes at either end, whereas it is ob vious to most people that the republican party activist cohort contains within it people who have a completely different mindset and culture, which plays itself out in the rhetoric of the candidates, the statements of their supporters, and the arguments advanced by their pundits. If, frankly, you think the Rush Limbaugh is just the mirror image of David Corn and Jon Stewart, well, you have problems.
Posted by: Tyro | Jul 19, 2007 5:07:58 PM
"Everyone has a tush." Ezra, you're just jealous that you didn't write that line.
She's not really the most widely syndicated columinst in America, is she? Because then I will have to leave to be with 18 year old Sweden (some excellent projecting in that comment by the way).
Posted by: Klein's Tiny Left Nut | Jul 19, 2007 5:14:29 PM
