There are two categories of people; those who categorize people, and those who don’t.
Likewise, I think, there are two different types of politicians.
One type, we’ll call the Political Engineer. He or she pragmatically breaks down every issue, like a good Engineer does, carefully calculating the best path to take through the issue. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Norm Coleman, Karl Rove – all of them are Political Engineers. Just as no engineer drives a pile or moves a circuit from spec to prototype without enough analysis to mitigate risk and controlling uncertainty, the Political Engineer figures the angles before things hit the fan – or tries to, anyway. Politics involving real people rather than steel and electricity, it doesn’t always work – but then, the Political Engineer knows that. Political Engineers may have principles and beliefs – they’re human, after all, and rarely driven by pure pragmatism – but those principles and beliefs are wrung through a lot of deconstruction before they go out into the world.
At the opposite extreme is the Political Artist. They’re driven by something – an issue, a hot-button, a vision. They have visceral, rather than political, reactions to issues; their heart, not their calculations, tell them the proper response to a political stimulus. They tend, I think, to be charismatic, driven – and, sometimes but far from always, to have short careers. For many, I suspect, the emotion that drives them is focused on an issue that precludes a lot of big-picture ambition. For others, burnout ensues; a person can only maintain that level of emotional intensity for so long. For still others? When you wear your heart on your sleeve, as opposed to calculating exactly where you should wear your heart for best results, it’s easy to make a “mistake”, when things get hairy; those who don’t share your emotional commitment to the presenting issue might find allegiance to a Political Engineer less off-putting. There are quite a few of ’em out there, too; Dennis Kucinich, Keith Ellison, Ronald Reagan (to an extent, although he substituted Ideals for Emotions, I think)…
…and, I think, Michele Bachmann.
First things first: I support Rep. Bachmann. No two ways about it; she is one of Minnesota’s very best congressional representatives. She is vastly more qualified (to say nothing, at this point, of experienced) than her challenger, Elwin “E-Tink” Tinklenberg. She is a lighting rod for all the usual constituencies that find an uppity, articulate conservative woman to be a huge threat, of course – but any woman that breaks from the mushy-left, pro-“choice” pack is going to be.
And Rep. Bachmann wears her heart on her sleeve. She’s patriotic. She’s American. And in her infamous interview last week with Chris Matthews, she – like any hip-shooter up against a tingly-legged, in-the-bag huckster might – certainly uncorked on “anti-Americans”.
So what is “anti-American?” Someone who actively connives to destroy this nation? Certainly. And in context, I don’t believe Rep. Bachmann was talking about this.
Someone whose actions, you hold, are inimical to this nation’s best interests? Someone whose actions make this nation a weaker, worse place? Someone who thinks this nation would be hunky-dory if it were just completely different than it is?
That, I think, was what Rep. Bachmann was talking about, in context. And I agree with her; I think there are a lot of people whose beliefs, platforms, agendas and actions could make this nation a really crappy place. And they need to be rooted out – at the polls. Via our political process.
Would I have picked a different word to describe this idea than “anti-American”? Probably. Do I wish Rep. Bachmann had? Perhaps. Did her propensity to shoot from the hip – to be other than a Political Engineer – slide her into a moment that everyone who wants to see her out of Congress can use to spin until we’re all ready to puke?
Give me a break. Chris Matthew’s leg was so tingly, it could have generated static electricity.
UPDATE: Kouba’s take is pretty essential:
A conservative is going to get zero breaks from the media, so we need to minimize unforced errors. I’m eternally glad Bachmann is in Congress voting on the side of angels, and I hope it stays that way for a long time. Hopefully this, too, will fade, like so many other campaign flaps before it.
No spin was necessary, she exposed the open, festering hatred that the right holds for virtually everyone.
Her foot is protruding out her ass of her own volition – Chris Matthews merely gave her the venue to swallow her foot, nothing more, nothing less.
BTW if she’s articulate, I’m Voltaire, and you are, well, still a slightly detuned Joe McCarthy.
Peev, calling someone “anti-american” is not ‘open, festering hatred’.
Reality check time. Bill Ayers approved of bombing the pentagon during a time of war and plotted to kill US soldiers. Was he anti-American? If not, who do you consider to be ‘anti-American’? Surely someone must be, or the term ‘pro-American’ makes no sense.
Terry, not to mention Rev. Wright, Rev. Phleger, Mrs. Obama, Louis Farrakhan (sp?) and various others coming to light every day. If your associates for years are radical leftists, small “c” communists, Black Liberation theologians and Chicago tic machine thugs, why not be honest about what you really are. Bachmann may not have been very smart to say it, but she’s absolutely right.
First you have to ask, what does it mean to be American? How can we have Anti-Americans if we don’t know what it means to be American.
America was founded upon a philosophy. The philosophy that government does not grant rights, it can only limit or protect rights. One of limited government, dual sovereignty with the individual states, private property rights, The freedom to do as you want, as long as you do not interfere with the freedom of others…unless they consent, the freedom to consent…or not consent, taxation levels that only pay for ESSENTIAL government programs like military, public safety etc. the right to give to charity as one chooses, rather than being compelled by the government to support programs.
If being American means standing for the principles that the country was founded upon, then there are a boat load of anti-Americans, in all parties.
Maligna…is Voltaire….an agent of the French Enlightenment?
He He
French maybe.
Ha Ha Ha
Enlightenment?
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
(catching breath)
Chris Matthews merely gave her the venue to swallow her foot, nothing more, nothing less.
Let’s accept, for the moment, that you are correct (something I do only for rhetorical purposes).
So what?
Is the mangling of context honest?
No. It’s not.
Bachmann is the only target of the *real* hatred, the kind you exercise constantly (as opposed to the chimerical, non-existant hatred you are constantly accusing others of).
Pingback: Truth v. The Machine » Archives » Our belle
penigma said:
“the open, festering hatred that the right holds for virtually everyone”
Can you provide any support for this statement, penigma? It’s more than a little bit unbelievable.
Did you know that “the right” are an awful lot like “the left”? They are neighbors after all. Some individuals on the right will put forward outrageous and demeaning generalities, and do it often enough to be really annoying. Those folks are just like you, penigma.
The positive thing is this: you can both stop behaving like asses at any time you choose. Choose wisely. :-/
The sad part is that so many people like the Pen-meister will earnestly tell you to your face that even though they disagree with what you said, they’ll defend to the death your right to say it.
Then, without even drawing a breath, tell you that even if it was true, which is a matter of opinion, she shouldn’t have said it; but because she did, she must be punished for saying it.
.
Rep. Bachmann, as a conservative, will get no breaks from the media. We need many more like her in Congress to kick those do-nothing, liberal illuminatis out on their rears. I hope she’s in for the duration. She’s a very qualified conservative and not afraid to speak her mind and accept consequences.
Pingback: Minnesota Has A Motor-Mouthed Congresswoman! | Shot in the Dark
Pingback: People Always Say… | Shot in the Dark