There is a guy who lives on my street. Retired lawyer. White. Gay. Single. Republican. We both have dogs and see each other while out on dog walks. He knows I've been a big supporter of democrats in the past. The big Obama HOPE sign in our window in 2008 was a dead giveaway. And he loves to talk to me. About politics. I try to tell him that is what blogs are for but to no avail. The conversation we had this week went as usual but then a few things got my attention. And then reading one of the recommended diaries here yesterday also got my attention.
Earlier this year I told my neighbor I failed to see much difference between the Democrats and Republicans as they both worked for the same corporate owners. He explained to me that I couldn't see the difference because I went to public schools. Regardless, I still feel that way. This past week he was on fire. A literal cartoon of right wing talking points. I'm sure I forgot a few but here are most of them.
Barney Frank caused the housing crash.
The reason the cops shot a black guy in our city this week was because Obama was getting the blacks all fired up.
The media is liberal
The education system teaches left wing propaganda.
The treehuggers won't allow us to drill for oil and gas here so we have to go to war to get it.
The "leftists" won't allow us to drill for oil in America because they want to destroy America.
At this point I stopped him. I thought of the people on this site. I thought of my friends and family. I thought of all the "leftists" I knew. I couldn't come up with anything in my history where I could recall someone saying they wanted to destroy America. Where was he getting this idea? I asked him.
"So what are the leftists hoping to gain by destroying America?"
He wasted no time in responding.
"Totalitarian rule"
Got that? Here is a relatively intelligent person who was able to pass the bar exam (at least one well known Democrat had a bit of trouble with that). He believes Democrats want to destroy America so they can subjugate it. Where have I heard that sentiment before?
I had left some soup on the stove simmering and I was starting to get worried since he'd been ranting for a while. So I gave him two minutes (or so I thought).
"I have two minutes. My dinner is about to burn. Tell me how this country is different under Obama than it was under Bush"
He stammered something about not being able to do it in two minutes. I told him to give it his best shot. He had nothing.
"The debt. Trillions of it"
I stopped him.
"Do you realize how much debt Bush got us into? Obama hasn't done as much. And you do realize that Cheney was the one who said deficits don't matter? And that he told us all, that Reagan was the one who proved that?"
More stammering and then he went to the wheelhouse of frightened conservative thinking.
"Apparently you don't remember 9/11. Bush had to spend to restore our financial center...blah blah blah"
It was pathetic. Luckily another dog came along, there was a lot of barking at each other (this time it was the dogs) and I was able to go save my soup.
But I was really troubled by the idea that the right wing talking points were so powerful that this guy thought all "leftists" (he also called the president a communist a few times) wanted to destroy America. Did these people not see the polls after 9/11? Their most favored trump card in debate? The leftists and the rightists (is that a word?) both were very fond of President Bush and the idea of war and pretty much whatever when it came to defending this country. How could people be so myopic?
And then I got to yesterday's diary. And these comments from Dkos members about Republicans.
Not being overly dramatic here. Republicans want to destroy this country.
The only goal of the republican party (and too many in the democratic party) is to see you and everyone you love dying, naked, bleeding, starving and homeless in the streets after they steal every last penny you have and kick you and everyone you love in the teeth. They have to lose if America -- and that includes YOU -- is to have even a chance of surviving
And it made me think of my neighbor. He says the same things. About Democrats. How could two groups of intelligent literate people be so similar and also so wrong? Do you really think the average Republican voter wants to destroy this country? I don't. Just as I know the average Democratic voter does not want to destroy this country.
Are there sociopaths in control of multinational corporations who own our politicians who don't care if the average person in America lives or dies? Of course. Are they using politicians to create the right vs left divide with their corporate owned media making it fairly easy to accomplish their goals? Sure looks like it.
But it also seems like there are a whole hell of a lot of Democratic voters who are falling for the "lets just accuse them of wanting to destroy us" story and supporting "democrats" who throw us a bone every once in a while and then go right back to their corporate masters. I live in NY and am represented by a "democratic" governor who has taken a bunch of money from the Koch brothers. He is very popular among democratic voters. Must make the Koch brothers laugh long and hard. But he was great on gay marriage. He is a corporate right wing Republican on pretty much ever issue and is taking money from the Koch brothers. But he got one thing right. One very important thing. One thing we should be embarrassed to be talking about in 2011 as a blue state like NY should have addressed this a long time ago. But it was one thing. And apparently that is enough for Democrats. Ignore the rest of what he is doing. Sounds a lot like Republican voters to me. The ones we all accuse of voting against their self interests as long as their reps fight against gay marriage.
And it isn't just Cuomo. My Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, appears to be very popular on this site. She also was a great champion for equal rights for all Americans. As any blue state senator should be, right? And this has gotten her labeled a "progressive" by many. Despite her work history. Despite her family history. Despite her political history. She comes from a politically corrupt family in Albany, NY. She was a NYC lawyer who worked for Big Tobacco. Her first political experience was interning for Senator Al Damato (Republican). Not exactly the resume of your typical progressive. So were you surprised when she co-sponsored SOPA? I wasn't. See how that works? When it comes to doing what the corporations want, they play ball. All of them.
So Blue State democrats support gay marriage. What wonderful people. What about those who have to run for national office? Does anyone think Barack Obama doesn't personally support gay marriage? How about Michelle Obama? How about Hillary Clinton? Oh, but look, Bill Clinton, who can't run for anything anymore,is all for it. See how that works?
Now, as a thinking person, I can't stand any of the Republican candidates. And, if given the chance, I would happily beat Paul Ryan with my fists until he was bloody and then drop him off at an ER in Detroit and let him experience some "health care" first hand. But I also believe Newt Gingrich is a smart guy. So when he makes comments about black people and food stamps, I don't think for a moment he doesn't know that the majority of people on food stamps are white. He is feeding red meat to his base. Is it racist dog whistle bullshit? Yes. You know the last time I heard some racist dog whistle bullshit? From the Clinton campaign in the primaries. See the similarity?
While my neighbor was lecturing me and taking pity on me because I didn't see the real truth he said to me, "I like you."
I laughed and said, "That is good. I think it is important that people who don't agree on everything can get along" I truly believe this as I've been married for quite a while. And because it just makes sense. But I also believe that our corporate/political oligarchy has convinced us this isn't possible. I truly believe that my neighbor (and many others) hold beliefs that aren't going to lead us to a good place. Why do they believe this? Why are people on this blog saying Republicans want to destroy America? I don't believe the majority of Americans want to destroy America.
But I believe the people who own the politicians love to sell this story to both sides and keep them focused on each other instead of on the real issue. And when I see the very same sentiment coming from both sides, it scares me.
But then again, I went to public school, so what do I know?