What does the post it heads have to do with this cartoon still posted by a Supposedly Liberal Dude Blogger named Roger Ailes?
I suppose it is my humorless feminism that prevents my brain neuropaths from making the intended connections and joyfully laughing aloud. Or else it is knowing that Jane Hamsher has said she is afraid of crossing that blogger. In any event, the referenced post is a defensive reaction to Bob Somerby’s contention that among other things, castigating journalists by calling them “Republicans” is not a useful tactic. I think Somerby is correct. I’ve been called a Republican (as an insult) by a number of Supposedly Liberal Dudes in the blogosphere. I found it particularly amusing when this occurred in the context of defending public schools. Because we all know how much Republicans love public schools, and Dems hate them, right? Somerby makes some excellent observations I wanted to repost here:
…it seems to us that progressives will be poorly served by adopting the tactics of the kooky-con right (something this writer at the Huffington Post seemed to advocate this weekend). Increasingly, our politics is going to feature battles between the haves and have-nots. For progressives, the other side will increasingly be better-connected and more powerful. In these future debates, the most powerful tool we’ll have on our side will be an insistence on traditional standards of fact and logic. We will never be able to out-bullroar the tribunes of the rich and the powerful. Our view? When we head down that tempting road, we commit ourselves to future defeat. …
…On the liberal web, we often brag that we represent the”reality-based”community. In the future, progressives will continue to find themselves at war with well-funded dissemblers:tribunes of powerful upper-class interests. Our view? Aggressive embrace of”reality”:of the traditions of fact and logic:will constitute our best hope for success. It’s always tempting to overstate:and being human, we all end up doing it. But for progressives, it’s a road to defeat. There they go again, we should say, when tribunes of the powerful do it.
–Ann Bartow
