Must dump my brain before starting work... Was watching PBS News Hour last night. Thinking how PBS is considered leftist media at best, lamestream by the Fox set. But they were talking about JP Morgan, and had opposing points of view: more lefty talking about bringing the bosses to justice, the conservative point that charging Jamie Dimon would have a chilling effect on business. OK, possibly legitimate points of view. But I am always trying to figure out why people who have different points of view have them. I have some good friends who are of the conservative/Republican camp. They are excruciatingly intelligent people whom I know to be compassionate and caring. They have said its difficult to be in a social group that is overwhelmingly liberal. I can understand their pain but Id suggest that some of their dissonance comes from knowing that their views make them bedfellows with people who come at their views from less enlightened positions. A few weeks ago, I shared a photo of the Obamas that had been shared by a right-wing FB friend (one of the few people whom I friend on FB whom I dont really know). It was the Obamas saluting the flag, using their left hand. It was so ludicrous to me that I went back to the original posting to see what people said. Almost half of the people knew it was Photoshopped, half the people said things to the effect of Ha! I knew they were un-American! And one person said something like, we people on the right have to stop posting things like this because its not helping our cause, it makes it easy to call us stupid. So to my conservative friends on FB, I want to say: whatever your beliefs or reasons for being conservative, you must know that you have made a Faustian bargain? You must know that even if PBS slants somewhat leftward, Fox slants towards deliberate untruths? (example: birtherism). And, you are in bed with the segment of society that is racist, even if youre not. And going back to the article by Zack Beachamp How Racism Caused the Shutdown... It was suggested to me that I believe it because it reinforces beliefs I already hold. True enough. But Im rereading it. Its true that Southern Democrats opposed anti-lynching bills in the 30s, saying it was a states rights issue (the argument for Federal intervention was that individuals were NOT getting justice through their states legal system in the south). Northern Democrats DID become more radical on Civil rights, but we opposed into the sixties because Southern democrats held positions of leadership in the Senate. And when LBJ was finally able to push through a Civil Rights law in the sixties, many of the south left the Democrats and became the base of the Republican party that makes the South a critical stronghold in the left state/blue state divide. So if youre going to argue that racism has nothing to do with the Republican opposition to *ANYTHING* that comes from the administration, and any form of compromise, I suggest that you are closing your eyes to important pieces of 20th century history, and particularly closing your eyes to the fact that you are in bed with people whom you might not want to share dinner with.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 12:53:38 +0000
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