Blue Spot

As long as the right-wing has Ann Coulter as their spokesperson and the mainstream media does nothing to curb her careless, extreme, partisan, acid-tongued attacks, there will always be a strong left-wing infrastructure that includes blogs such as this one.

I hear the voices from moderates recently, calling for a cease-fire. Bloomberg dropped the GOP label so he can appear more non-partisan. To some degree, Obama is running on promises to be less divisive and unite the country. To do this he will have to move to the right at some point. Some say that judging from the debates he's already started. It seems like the "in" thing to do these days is to denounce partisan politics. Coming off of six years of Bush, it's easy to see why.

Most sane, regular people would like to see a national discourse that is more civil and, as Al Gore would say, less hostile to reason. I'm all for this. The trouble is that it's a little like laying down your arms in the middle of the battlefield. The right-wing began this degradation of the public sphere. Their infrastructure has steadily been built over decades starting after the Goldwater defeat and solidified by the 2004 election. Their constant whining about a perceived left-wing media bias over the years and the relentless stream of pundits on talk radio and even the mainstream media, attacking any person, idea or organization that is even a fraction left of, let's say Karl Rove, has left a lasting scar on the liberal agenda.

Let's face it folks, the Left, either because they are wimps or because they are just more open to other ideas, usually cave in to Republican ideas if they are not too extreme. They are more willing to compromise. On the other hand, anything that the Right even slightly disagrees with, is met with the full force of the Right-wing noise machine. This is why that in the face of so much evidence against the Bush administration regarding WMD, the tactics and strategy employed in Iraq, it's only now or very recently when most Republicans (many of whom face re-election in their home districts) are finally beginning to say the very same things the Dems have been saying for years.

So what should we do? Should we just lay down our arms and accept the attacks from the Ann Coulter's, Sean Hannity's or Rush's of the world? You know the more I hear her the more I'm surprised that some lefty nut hasn't already killed the bitch. I'm serious...I mean think about it, a couple of pies in the face can easily be replaced by a couple of slugs in the gut if she's not careful.

But I say we keep doing what we've been doing. Fight back with facts. We keep getting the truth out there. We don't need a lefty Fox News. We don't need to have annoying, comedic, lefty "hitmen." Leave the personal attacks alone. It's not enough to shout about how much you hate Bush. We need to be more responsible. We need to stop being lazy and participate whereever and whenever we get a chance. Go to Meetups. Read, read & read. Pass info. to friends and yes, do talk about politics. It's not a taboo anymore. We should look to our own communities, reach out and support the best leaders starting from the lowest levels & up.

Support lefty organizations. I can't believe the attacks that Air America was getting before the sale, from their own community. We can't expect to agree on every single issue. If we did we'd be 2004 Republicans. There were many single-issue lefties who would not support AAR simply because they didn't like one of the hosts, when there were so many great hosts to choose from. This is non-productive...Support independent media like Amy Goodman at Democracy Now!

Finally, we keep pushing for what we know is right. Keep writing to the media, to businesses, to your Congressperson, to your Senators. If Hillary or Obama become the closest to what we can call a leader, make sure they remember who put them there. Let's get this country's reputation back and keep up the good fight.

Labels: Comment, Coulter