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Name:
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copperline
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Subject:
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Converting Heros into Goats
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Date:
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6/30/2012 10:20:29 PM
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i’ve been trying
to understand the reasons behind the
intensity of the rhetoric and polarization of the political process… The
conservative reaction to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court seems to be a good
example of what’s going wrong, but doesn’t give us any ideas about what to do
about it. After
a career of blessings by the Right-wing, Justice Roberts’ ruling ran against
what part of the political establishment wanted… and the action has left him to
be redrawn him as a far less admirable man. This quick conversion process has become an
accepted part of the conservative thinking.
A few days ago, he was an
unquestioned hero.
The really polarizing
component of conservative thinking is the attention to identifying & naming
of enemies. This view is that compromise
over differing ideas is not just bad, it’s dangerous. Failure to oppose their philosophy with
complete conviction becomes the same as consorting with the enemy. it isn’t allowed, it’s even seen as a
question of character. Once an enemy is
created, they can neither be trusted nor completely rehabilitated. With
that in mind, these politicians make every effort to cast themselves as ‘complete
patriots’, ‘true conservatives’, rather than Statesmen & representative of ALL of the people in their districts.
So, when a
traditionally conservative Supreme Court Justice fails to agree with the
position of the group that claimed him, questions quickly surface about his
true beliefs and adherence to their political agenda. As a Supreme Court Justice, he’s not SUPPOSED to be party to the
political process! But this public reaction just underscores that
there will be no room for compromising, no tolerance for discussions of consensus
building in the Tea Party ranks.
As a result, i
expect we’ll remain stuck as long as we allow the over-blown political verbiage
on both sides to keep us up in arms…..racing around to identify & pillory enemies,
or defending against ridiculous & misleading sound-bites.
Seems now a
tradition in the conservative movement to over-idealize their political figures
and later demonize them as failures, or worse.
George Bush is a pretty good example of how fickle this is. The
right wing won’t even acknowledge for a second that he was once the hero of their
movement. if Mitt Romney loses he’s
likely to see his history written that way, too. Now
it’s Chief Justice Roberts turn to be degraded as traitor to “the cause”. Conservatives who supported him should be
proud that they brought an impartial jurist to the Court, and hope that politics
doesn’t ever overshadow the purpose of the SCOTUS.
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