April 17, 2006
Tables Turned?
I've known some angry people in my life.
There is no anger quite like people who think that their lives are completely out of their control, and that "the system" is immutably against them.
I remember during the darkest years of the Clinton Adminstration, after the '94 "Crime" Bill seemed to be another step in logrolling our Second Amendment rights back to Red Chinese levels; while most gun owners reacted the way they're supposed to (the NRA zoomed to unprecedented membership and power; other groups, including Minnesota's Concealed Carry Reform Now, coalesced around the line in the sand. But there was a thin film whose fears led to anger, and whose anger led to irrational, fervid extremes. They felt disenfranchised...no, worse. They felt like the system had yanked their rights bodily away from them, and there was no recourse short of...what? Violence, armed resistance, a millenial libertarianism.
Hang around a father's rights organization for a while, and you'll see the same sort of thing. Many divorced fathers have a lot to be angry about, of course; they are genuinely powerless against a system that has rules that nobody explains to them at the beginning - and holds their ignorance against them throughout the rest of their childrens' childhoods. Talk with some of these guys; they're paying 25-50% of their income (sometimes more), with zero guarantee of ever seeing their children; painted as deadbeats (or having it assumed that that's what they're going to be if given half a chance), stripped of drivers and professional licenses if they fall behind or spend any time unemployed, they have reasons to be angry - and many of 'em seethe with it, if you hang around with 'em long enough.
It's not hard to find the deeply angry.
It's just unusual to find it among people who have lived a life of deep, abiding privilege, and whose only cause to anger is that the democratic process didn't break their way.
The WaPo found one.
The story of Maryscott O'Connor has been bouncing around the blogosphere since last week:
But after years of being the targets of inflammatory rhetoric, not only from fringe groups but also from such mainstream conservative politicians as Newt Gingrich, the left has gone on the attack. And with Republicans in control of Washington, they have much more to be angry about."Powerlessness" is O'Connor's explanation. "This is born of powerlessness..."It has come to the point where the worst people on Earth are running the Earth." And now, "I have become one of those people with all the bumper stickers on their car," she says. "I am this close to being one of those muttering people pushing a cart.
"I'm insane with rage and grief.
"But I also feel more connected than I ever have.""
We all know the type, of course; ranging from the frothing Kossacks and Atrioids who bay at the moon over conspiracy theories to the likes of smug, pudgy Ollie Willis, who is too angry to think.
But here's the part that is funny; Mark "The Wege" Gisleson thinks there's no comparison:
So let us off to Truth Laid Bear where the numbers of links in don't lie (unless it's to downgrade a liberal blog ranking or upgrade a wingnut site). Unhinged wingnuts first:Question: If a conservative reads the phone book in the forest, and no liberal is there to hear it, is it still "hate"?)2. Michelle Malkin
4. Power Line
5. Little Green Footballs
6. Captain's Quarters
9. Hugh HewittThese are the top wingnut blogs (I ignored #1, Instapundit, because he mostly just links to hate and tries to avoid directly peddling it).
No, I'm serious; Read through Powerline, Hugh, Ed and Michelle; the prose is measured (and usable in polite society), the points clear generally supported by evidence - in other words, they make an argument, sans the ad-homina, the shrieking invective (that's their detractors' turf), the vein-popping rage.
Read Kos, Atrios, Ollie Willis - even the reference to the five conservative bloggers itself, long on ad-hominem, short on anything that would convince the non-koolaid-guzzler that Michelle Malkin or Ed Morrissey is a hate-choked rage-o-holic (or even as much of one as their detractors).
Just saying - the "I know you are, but what am I?" defense isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Posted by Mitch at April 17, 2006 07:17 AM | TrackBack
"I remember during the darkest years of the Clinton Adminstration..."
I do too. Damned peace, cursed prosperity.
And let's not forget all that awful competence!
Posted by: angryclown at April 17, 2006 07:57 AMYes, Clown, let's remember the competence. The smooth travel office, the highly efficient records keeping, the elegant introduction of gays into the military, the rapturous repeal of Second Amendment rights, the efficient transfer of funds from the Chinese, and let's not forget the harmonious relations with the judiciary! They are were done oh so well. And shall we discuss how well Clinton handled Osama? Much praise due there! And his plan for Yugoslavia's remants couldn't have been better. Remind me, just how many cabinet officers have been indicted in Bush's administration as compared to Clinton's?
The perjurous Clinton managed to get inherit a prosperous and peaceful time in history and do remarkably little to destory it. You are right be proud of his accomplishments -- they're better than what the current crop of Democrats could accomplish.
Posted by: nerdbert at April 17, 2006 08:25 AMNerdie, you're doing a heck of a job!
Posted by: angryclown at April 17, 2006 08:39 AMBack on subject...
Projection seems to explain 95% of Liberal thinking.
"I hate those HATERS..... I hate them HATE THEM! HATE THEM! ERRRRRRRRRRRGHHH!!!!"
Posted by: rick at April 17, 2006 08:47 AMYes, all that damned peace. Pieces of the Khobar Towers, pieces of the US embassy in Tanganyika, pieces of the US embassy (and several hundred innocent bystanders) in Kenya, pieces of the US Cole, pieces of an asprin facory (does that go under awful competence?) Pieces of an internet stock bubble about to fly apart in a burst of irrational exuberance, pieces of Bosnians, Serbs, Croats, etc.
Posted by: Kermit at April 17, 2006 08:53 AMI especially like how he taught my 10 year old son all about fellatio and how it wasn't really sex. Have we determined what the meaning of "is" is yet? I hope so.
Clinton's "peace" was the "peace" of Neville Chamberlain - head buried firmly in the sand.
And you can thank Ronald Reagan and the '94 Congress for the prosperity.
Posted by: mitch at April 17, 2006 09:05 AMLet's not forget that the WorldCom and Enron scams were initiated during the CLINTON administration. I guess Janet Reno was too busy with bonfires in Waco or sending a little boy back to that oasis of Liberal freedom (Cuba) to bother with those scandals.
Yep...thems sure was the good 'ol days.
Posted by: Dave at April 17, 2006 09:05 AMSomebody had to teach him, Kerm. That whole "When Mommies and Daddies are very much in love" speech of yours isn't going to cut it.
And I'd be all for Bush getting a couple Oval Office hummers if it'd help him win a war, or get bin Laden or reinforce dikes.
Posted by: angryclown at April 17, 2006 09:30 AMYeah...those tens of MILLIONS of dollars that the Federal government has been sending down to New Orleans...only for the money to be scammed-off by Ray Nagin and his band of liberal money skimmers wasn't enough. We needed to send MORE for them to skim. Great idea.
Posted by: Dave at April 17, 2006 09:46 AMOkay, somehow this whole post went into gun control and child support.
?
WHAT ABOUT Dafur? What about "Not on my watch..."?
Seriously, who cares if you hate Clinton, whether Reagan was the greatest president etc.....
Feeling powerless when you're not a politician and talking about Dafur...where is the average man's influence? On a petition? Big whoop. Like someone is listening....
One thing I have to give her...I don't hear alot about the 2 1/2 years of genocide on this site.
Posted by: carmelitta at April 17, 2006 09:58 AMCall me a "bleeding liberal" or whatever you like. I give a shit. I'd like to see Bush address this.
So as a good liberal Angryclown is advocating sex ed in grade school. Do you want to hand out condoms to second graders too?
Posted by: Kermit at April 17, 2006 10:54 AMCarmelitta is right. We should invade the Sudan immediately. It's the compassionate thing to do.
Posted by: Kermit at April 17, 2006 10:55 AMDamnit, Kermit....we CAN'T invade Sudan! The UN says we can't so....we can't. But I'm sure Kogo Anon (sp?) can go over there at his daddy's request...and see to it that all that aid money is spent. And maybe some of the food money might actually get to the people.
Posted by: Dave at April 17, 2006 12:19 PMRidiculous! Those blogs are "hate-filled"?!! Each one of them are very well-done, common-sense-filled websites...done by grown-ups!! Maryscott (oh, lord) is yet another in a long line of liberals showing her arrested-development juvenile self to the world and it ain't pretty.
Posted by: Colleen at April 17, 2006 12:44 PMIt's hard to think logically when your mind is clouded with rage.
Posted by: Kermit at April 17, 2006 12:47 PMThe foul language used on the lefty blogs (vs. the right wing blogs on the list) is an indicator of "rage". People use expletives for emotional, not rational discourse.
Posted by: Terry at April 17, 2006 02:20 PMSometimes, however, a single four letter word in context can be remarkably effective. See this post from Tom Smith at the rightcoast for an example: http://therightcoast.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-wapo-liberals-dont-get-by-tom.html
"Let's not forget that the WorldCom and Enron scams were initiated during the CLINTON administration. I guess Janet Reno was too busy with bonfires in Waco or sending a little boy back to that oasis of Liberal freedom (Cuba) to bother with those scandals.
Yep...thems sure was the good 'ol days."
Please, oh please, let us not forget Global Crossing. If any of you have forgotton, here's the Wiki-link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Crossing
Posted by: jackscrow at April 17, 2006 02:32 PMEr, as useful as Wikipedia can be, it shouldn't be hoisted as proof of anything in the political, environmental or cause-du-jour areas.
Anyway, back to vacation!
Posted by: Ryan at April 17, 2006 05:18 PMInvade Sudan?
But they weren't behind 9/11, were they?
Posted by: Corey at April 17, 2006 06:42 PM"Er, as useful as Wikipedia can be, it shouldn't be hoisted as proof of anything in the political, environmental or cause-du-jour areas.
Anyway, back to vacation!
Posted by Ryan at April 17, 2006 05:18 PM"
Excuse me, Dilrod. It's a link. Not the definative. Otherwise I would have interrupted your vaca to ask you.
Love yer use of a term that should be reserved for overpriced soup. Or your brain.
U talks pretty, tho.
Here's a couple more. One from each side of the blue/red/fred/head/dead line.
Old history, I know. But you interrupted your extremely undeserved vaca to nit-pic, so Lord knows it must be worth everybody's time.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/1808.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1813847.stm
If these aren't good enough, go "hoist" the Wash.Post's and NYTimes archives.
Or just go hoist.
"Hoisted"????
Jezzz.
Posted by: jackscrow at April 17, 2006 09:01 PMWanna see rage? Just listen to Limbaugh who, to this day, works himself into a frothing lather over Bill AND Hillary.
Posted by: Doug at April 17, 2006 09:23 PMClown, you show your usual level of reading comprehension: pitiful. I don't hate Clinton, never have -- I've even defended him a time or two on this blog, even from Mitch's barbs. I called Clinton and his administration incompetent. He's the id personified, and it's his blessing and curse. It made him the consumate politician for the the 90s, but it led to what even his aides said was an unfocused, scatterbrained administration, to some rather regretable incidents with the law and employee relations, and to a rather questionable set of ethics that permeated his entire administration. Hate and anger? Nope, not in the least. View him as a very flawed president? Yep. But he was an excellent fit for the 90s.
Hillary is the one I respect. Why don't you compare and contrast the way she runs her staff and the way Bill did his sometime? She's learned the lessons of the lack of focus and she's the far more formidable opponent. While I don't doubt I'd like her policies less than Bill's, she'd be the far more competent administrator and leader, while Bill was little more than a politian.
Posted by: nerdbert at April 17, 2006 10:37 PMJeez, Jackscowl, overreact much? I read your comment using the Luke Skywalker whine voice.
"But, I was going into Toshi station to pick up some power converters!"
Posted by: Ryan at April 18, 2006 03:48 AMHuh?
Reference, please.
Oh.... Right.
Put yer little lightsword away and get back in line.
Posted by: jackscrow at April 18, 2006 07:26 AMToo bad youse guys can't swear — it would do a lot to alleviate your anger.
Bush lied to all of us, but he only betrayed your side. My side saw it all coming and that's why we've been cussing so much.
Posted by: da Wege at April 18, 2006 07:41 AMNerdbert went on: "Clown, you show your usual level of reading comprehension: pitiful. I don't hate Clinton, never have -- I've even defended him a time or two on this blog, even from Mitch's barbs. I called Clinton and his administration incompetent. He's the id personified, and it's his blessing and curse. It made him the consumate politician for the the 90s, but it led to what even his aides said was an unfocused, scatterbrained administration, to some rather regretable incidents with the law and employee relations, and to a rather questionable set of ethics that permeated his entire administration. Hate and anger? Nope, not in the least. View him as a very flawed president? Yep. But he was an excellent fit for the 90s."
And on: "Hillary is the one I respect. Why don't you compare and contrast the way she runs her staff and the way Bill did his sometime? She's learned the lessons of the lack of focus and she's the far more formidable opponent. While I don't doubt I'd like her policies less than Bill's, she'd be the far more competent administrator and leader, while Bill was little more than a politian."
While we're discussing reading comp, Nerd, maybe you can tell me which comment of mine this even remotely responds to. I think you're arguing with the voices in your head again.
Posted by: angryclown at April 18, 2006 08:10 AMda weggie: "Bush lied to all of us, but he only betrayed your side. My side saw it all coming and that's why we've been cussing so much."
Oh PLEASE! Can you f'ing morons get over the whole Bush lied fantasy already? You sad little people know as well as I do that every democrat from Bill Clinton to John F. Kerry claimed there were WMD too. You all are cussing so much because you have limited intellectual capacity and the verbiage you employ displays both this limitation as well as your emotional immaturity.
Posted by: Kermit at April 18, 2006 08:48 AMComment #3, Herr Clown. I can believe you're involved in the press: you really need your hand held when you're trying to follow something!
Posted by: nerdbert at April 18, 2006 12:05 PMSorry, Nerdbert. AC #3 was where he was congratulating Bill Clinton for teaching my ten year old child about fellatio. Then like the craven little wimp he is he avoided my rejoinder "Do you want to hand out condoms to second graders too?"
Posted by: Kermit at April 18, 2006 12:23 PMBut then I expect no substance from him. Neither should you.
I've told you many times, Kermie: Angryclown is a divider, not a uniter.
Posted by: angryclown at April 18, 2006 12:33 PMAngryclown is really kind of sad. You are more of a uniter than you think.
Posted by: Kermit at April 18, 2006 12:38 PMYet you seem to trail me around on this blog like a smitten puppy dog.
Posted by: angryclown at April 18, 2006 01:23 PM"Yet you seem to trail me around on this blog like a smitten puppy dog."
OK, show of hands. How many people think this is a freaking hilarious statement?
Posted by: Kermit at April 18, 2006 03:09 PMWow the timing of this post sure did not work for you. You cite Michelle Malkin as a model of civility and then she goes and does this:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/04/17.html#a7943
Facilitating death threats towards her opponents.. . . Real polite company you keep Mitch.
Posted by: RickDFL at April 18, 2006 04:51 PM"How many people think this is a freaking hilarious statement?"
Not as hilarious as this:
"No, I'm serious; Read through Powerline, Hugh, Ed and Michelle; the prose is measured (and usable in polite society), the points clear generally supported by evidence - in other words, they make an argument, sans the ad-homina, the shrieking invective (that's their detractors' turf), the vein-popping rage."
Posted by: Tim at April 18, 2006 05:12 PM"Facilitating death threats towards her opponents.. . . Real polite company you keep Mitch."
Well, to be fair Rick, Mitch was discussing the issue of anger. Malkin may be a devious communicator who uses the power of subliminal suggestion to facilitate death threats and who achieves orgasm thanks to the mural of Manzanar painted on her ceiling, but she's not angry!
Posted by: Tim at April 18, 2006 05:31 PMTim,
I'm curious. I wrote:
""No, I'm serious; Read through Powerline, Hugh, Ed and Michelle; the prose is measured (and usable in polite society), the points clear generally supported by evidence - in other words, they make an argument, sans the ad-homina, the shrieking invective (that's their detractors' turf), the vein-popping rage.""
And then you re-quoted it, saying it was "hilarious".
But you didn't produce any examples of "anger", "rage" or any other uppititude on the part of Ed Morrissey, John Hinderaker, Hugh Hewitt or Michelle Malkin.
Are you implying some need for clairvoyance, or what?
Posted by: mitch at April 18, 2006 05:35 PMRickDFL-
Posted by: Terry at April 18, 2006 10:24 PMIs that the standard these days? If a blogger releases any info that causes an unhinged person to make a death threat, that blogger is a hater? If it is, goodbye 1st amendment.
"Are you implying some need for clairvoyance, or what?"
Tim just KNOWS that they're all angry and hate filled. If they weren't they would be with him on the side of the angels. You don't need actual proof, the accusation is sufficient. After all, it the seriousness of the charge, not the evidence that matters.
Posted by: Kermit at April 19, 2006 08:01 AMRickDFL-
If the students didn't want their private info published, I suggest in the future they don't include it in a PRESS RELEASE.
Even some Kos commenters are ripping them for not realizing they are playing in the big leagues.
Posted by: Paul at April 19, 2006 05:39 PMRickDFL - I finally read your link. It's been aptly hammered by others on this thread, not to mention Ed Morrissey.
If that's the best you can do, I'd say case closed.
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