Oliver Willis: "The Truth"

[AnnInLa]

http://www.oliverwillis.com/2007/03/the_truth_about.html

The big, deep unreported truth about Ann Coulter's comments at CPAC is this: conservatives agree with her. They do believe that "faggot" is an acceptable term, both for gays and political opponents. They believe, as she said last year, that Arabs are "ragheads". When Rush Limbaugh called the torture at Abu Ghraib harmless pranks, they agreed. Sean Hannity issued a call to arms before the 2006 election that stopping Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker was a cause worth dying for, and this is part of their core value system.

There is a reason why conservatives rarely condemn their allies in the media, and when they do its in the most tepid terms: they agree with them. Conservative talk radio hosts, pundits and other entertainers are simply saying what cons speak about behind closed doors. As a society we've banished these insane beliefs to the basement, but among conservatives they are mainstream. Whether that involves the subservience of women, the inferiority of blacks or Hispanics, or the superiority of conservative Christianity over all other religions - it is what they actually believe.

So in a strange way, Coulter is to be thanked. Republicans have tried for years to act as if their movement is a mainstream one, and not radical. They hide it under words like "compassionate conservative" or sloganeering like "support the troops", but as the speech of Ann Coulter and the conditions at Walter Reed can testify to - this is nothing more than a facade, a fake.

The continued long-term success of the Coulter, Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck, Fox News quadrant of political commentary and opinion is a testament to the popularity of the ideas and slurs of these figures (and others, like Michael Savage) among the modern conservative movement. They are their gods, their id, their ego, their unrestrained voice. When they speak, there are thousands of heads nodding in agreement from coast to coast. They say what extremists believe and in a perverse way I'm grateful for it because it's great to know what the enemy is really thinking.

http://www.oliverwillis.com/2007/03/the_truth_about.html

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. The saddest thing of all

is that the conservatives that agree with Coulter see nothing wrong with their beliefs. I think they want to go back to the bad old days of the '50s when gay sexual acts were illegal and homosexuality was treated as a mental disorder. It reminds me of a time when I was a young teacher just starting out and I had to go talk with a parent about their kid. The parent casually used the "n" word and talked about how "lazy" those people were, surely not better than his Johnny (they were academically superior, if I recall). The casual racism and hatred I heard made me ill, and when I left the person's house, I felt like I needed to take a shower.

[AnnInLa]

2. Yes, in casual conversations, you can see that

they actually hold these convictions. But, the recent publization of "political correctness" has made them hold their tongues in public...their true beliefs however, are still there, so they cheer when someone like coulter says what they are thinking.

I too, have always felt they want to go back to the simple times of the '50s where women and minorities knew their places, men ruled, homosexuality was kept in the closet, America was the strongest power in the world, and everyone went to church. Of course, the 60s spoiled their perfect world, and everything now is a reaction to the world-changing 60s.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. The funniest thing of all

of course was that in the '50s, there were women who were single parents working outside the home, minorities were working hard to gain their rights, there was an active underground gay culture, and men only appeared to rule at times. Funny thing is I remember that time as one of fear--not only of the Bomb but of getting polio-my next door neighbor got it and was paralyzed; a cousin was confined to an iron lung. Everyone pretended to go to church, but I recall many folks who didn't-even back then the church was concerned about lagging attendance except at the holidays.

But of course all the nitty gritty of reality pales when one has a selective memory, as the conservatives often do.

[AnnInLa]

6. You're absolutely right of course about the 50's

I remember them too, as a young girl....I think that, after the Depression and after WWII, the 50's gave the "impression" of being innocent, simple, safe. When I hear the wistful theme song from "All in the Family," I think of the 50s. If the 60's were a reaction to the "safe" 50's, then today's republics/conservatives are still reacting to the 60's.

[Toots]

5. Funny thing about those "fifties"

Democrats controlled Congress.

[AnnInLa]

4. "Normalizing Crazy"......by Digby

Please go to digby's site and read her post today about "Normalizing Crazy." It is excellent and hits the nail on the head:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/normalizing-crazy-by-digby-glenn.html


I am very glad that Sullivan finally recognizes this. But Ann Coulter and her vicious tongue has been a huge star on the right since her first vomitous anti-Clinton screed. That was ten years ago. She's been receiving riotous ovations at conservative meetings for years. Rush Limbaugh has been blowing his bile for even longer and he too is a highly respected member of the GOP establishment. The annual CPAC gathering has been selling items like "Happiness is Hillary's face on a milk carton" and "Muslim = Terrorist" bumper stickers like they were going out of style since they started.

This hideous face of the Republican Party has been obvious to those of us who have been paying attention for a long, long time. It is the single most important reason why our politics have devolved into a filthy grudge match.

snip

When Limbaugh said, "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus - living fossils - so we will never forget what these people stood for," we didn't doubt him anymore.

When Ann Coulter said "we need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors," to rapturous applause at the 2002 CPAC, we knew she wasn't just kidding.

snip

It continues today. Dinesh D'Souza just published a book saying that liberals are the cause of terrorism. Ramesh Ponneru calls us "The Party of Death." And when Michele Malkin then creates a career out of calling the left is "Unhinged" and the Washington Post treats her likes she's discovered the Holy Grail.

This is why it is so shocking to us when we see people like Howard Kurtz and various others call for the smelling salts when some members of the left have reacted in kind by saying hateful, violent things about Dick Cheney's assassination attempt. These anonymous commenters are not best selling authors making a personal televised appearance at a gathering that includes most of the Republican presidential candidates, members of congress and even the Vice President himself.


snip

Coulter:
On Democrats: "Someday they will find a way to abort all future Boy Scouts." College professors: "sissified, pussified." Harvard: "the Soviet Union." John Kerry: the other "dominant woman in Democratic politics." Her post-9/11 motto: "Rag head talks tough, rag head faces consequences." For good measure, she threw in a joke about having Muslims burn down the Supreme Court -- with the liberal justices inside.


more at:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/normalizing-crazy-by-digby-glenn.html