A Recollection From The Third Grade

[Parisle]

---- I wish I had been smarter in the 3rd grade. Oh, I made A's and B's ... but I didn't yet have a clue as to human nature and, in 1959, that was not unusual for 3rd-graders, I suppose. So I kept my mouth shut.

---- But I clearly recall that there were two little girls in that class,.. Patty and Christine,... they sat side-by-side off to my left, and not only were they inseparable friends, but they were the classroom moralists, as well. Anytime anything occurred that was in any way shy of the ideal, regimented 3rd-grade classroom culture,... say for example that some hapless kid farts, or doesn't have his homework,... they would signal the event with a practiced ritual. They would clap their hands over their mouths and say, "A-Lordy,".... with long, lingering emphasis on the second syllable. It came out like, "Ah-Lorrrrrrrrrrdy." Got that image? I sure did. Their little singsong expressions of sanctimonious shock were the icing on the cake of incrimination.

---- Well, this little ritual popped up all the goddamned time. I even inspired it a couple of times, myself (I once recklessly saw fit to correct the teacher's grammar) And of course, "A'Lordy" moments happen to 3rd-grade kids all the time. They get sick in class,.. they lose stuff,.. they forget their lunch money,.. and in every instance, the exasperated sigh of our teacher (the ungrammatical Miss Ferguson) would be accompanied by Patty and Christine's little chorus. "Ah-Lorrrrrrrdy." They were like the soundtrack to disaster or something,.. and in a way, I feared them.

---- Then one day it happened. The little sanctimonious dashboard buzzers known as Patty and Christine got their ultimate opportunity. A burly little redneck kid named Darryl (Yes, goddamn it,. he was a redneck and his name was Darryl,.. I'm not making this up, Ok?)... whew,... anyway,... this little redneck kid Darryl slipped and took a fairly bad fall on the sidewalk outside the classroom. We were "marching" back from recess. Darryl said "Damn," and he said it rather loudly. All the other kids were aghast. In 1959, third-graders most assuredly did not say "damn." And needless to say, there were Patty and Christine,.. ready with an extra-special, extra-breathless rendition of their one-word editorial.

---- "Ah-Lorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrdy!!!" Darryl picked himself up off the sidewalk and sneered defiantly at the two little girls. And he was about to turn away and walk on when,... I think it was Patty,... not to be deprived by unrequited moralism, blurted out, "Say it again."

---- Yes, this is a true little story,... pretty inconsequential in the giant scheme of things. But I think back to it often these days when I consider the nature of much of the political opposition to the neo-nazis running the White House. Patty and Christine would not fare very well against them, eh? How about the DU?

---- We all want to feel correct, empowered and vindicated whenever we can. But sanctimonious outrage and protest don't win many ballgames. (I like baseball analogies) You can't "A-Lordy" your way into the winner's circle,.. and outrage does not equate to useful, original thought. At some point, you have to stop obsessing about the "right vs. wrong" angle,.. eschew whatever sanctimonious gratification is to be found along the high road,.... and concentrate on scoring some runs for America.

---- It is not difficult to portray the republicans or the neocons as bad,... in fact, it is remarkably easy. But that only gets you to first base.

[villager]

1. And your thoughts for getting us across home plate, perchance?

A good story -- how do we push it into the realm of currently useful tactics?

cheers...

[tomreedtoon]

3. Good suggestion: talk to others, not just ourselves!

Instead of saying "Ah, Lordy" to each other here on DU, perhaps we might try talking to the people who voted for Bush and who still think he has virtue.

"Ah, they won't listen to us," is your probable response right now. That suggests that you are following the consumer-culture philosophy of instant gratification. "Headache relief NOW, not in a few minutes! when I tell a neocon the truth, he must INSTANTLY see things my way or it's pointless to try to convert him!"

It is NOT going to be easy to change people's midns. Events have helped a little bit, to turn people against Bush and Company. But why have you waited so long to complain? It sounds like "I told you so," and still doesn't make you friends.

People who care should firmly state "I believe Bush is wrong - wrong on the war, wrong on the economy, wrong on damn near everything." And they should keep saying it.

For all the self-cocking stuff going on here...which is what the original poster was talking about...there were two individuals who really got the ball rolling. Michael Moore in his Oscar speech years ago was the first person in public to say "Shame on you!" He got booed, and villified by idiots like Coulter and Hannity, but he proved that you COULD say something like that in public.

And Stephen Colbert proved you could say it to Bush's face.

Both these guys had the courage of their convictions. How about you? Do you have the nerve to walk up to someone who has a W sticker STILL on his car, and tell him "So, you supported Bush. Tell me, who does Jesus want us to torture this week?"

[Cobalt-60]

4. If you want to sizzle a freepers synapses..

Remind them that it Jimmy Carter to whom they owe Stealth Technology.
There was a pre prototype of the wobbly goblin during the '70s.

[tomreedtoon]

7. "Fry synapses?" See, that's why Democrats lose!

You want to HURT the people who voted for Bush, not help them back to a real concept of democracy.

If you want to really win, you have to turn those people you hate, the ones with W stickers, into someone who can tacitly accept that Democrats may have better ideas. Convince them that the Republicans have been using them, and using them badly. (And then, maybe find a Democrat that has ideas and is willing to fight Republicans...that may be the hardest part of all.)

You don't shove a two-by-four up their asses and yell, "Vote for Hillary, dickweed!" Even though that's what quite a few DU'ers would prefer to do.

[Cobalt-60]

8. Poor choice of words

I should say Lock Up.
It's temporary. But for a moment they can't decide what to say.
I didn't intend that they be subject to a destructive event.
If they check they'll find it's true about stealth

[Parisle]

5. Hold Even Your Own Politicians Accountable

---- Politicians are not heroes or superstars. They are employees,.... servants of the people. They are supposed to do what we want them to do,... not bullshit us that their corporate-paid-for deviations from the popular will and the public good are somehow better than what we asked for. Complaining about the Bush Social Security Privatization Plan, for example, is not solving the problem. The problem is that the govenment OWES the people $2 trillion in contributions which were "called" a trust fund, but which were spent on other things. Treat the government,... including members of your own party,... the same way you would treat your broker if he had handled your money in the same way. You'd send him to prison, right?

---- The problem confronting the democrats is not the challenge of winning an election,... it is the challenge of being a good party. They can win an election,... but I am tired of bullshit. They had goddamned better do something right the next time they get the chance.

[SmokingJacket]

2. You haven't spent too much time here if you think that DUers

do nothing but feel sanctimonious about the naughty Republicans.

I believe I'm pretty typical, and I am *so far* beyond sanctimony, it's laughable. No, we aren't "portraying" neocons as bad -- they are doing all that work themselves.

And the minute I stop worrying about "right vs. wrong" I will become a morally dead person.

[Parisle]

6. An Object Lesson,...

---- You can not make a better mousetrap by wallowing in gratuitous tales about how unsuccessful was the latest mousetrap built by your competition. In fact, it helps to ignore the competition, and address the problem squarely.