Yesterday Kos posted a
diary (Digby notes it
here, too) on the political establishment's belief that bloggers represent only the most extreme ideological viewpoints.
But, to paraphrase Orrin Hatch, it's obvious to anyone with brains that most people who frequent sites like this one are simply fed up with the antics of George W. Bush and his partners in crime. Not coincidently, recent polls show that the majority of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance and think the nation is headed in the wrong direction. In the heavy-lidded eyes of the insular DC cocktail-party crowd, I guess that makes the majority of Americans "extremists."
Well, if opposing George Bush makes you an extremist, then I'm proud to be one. Let me tell you why.
I am an extremist because I believe that government should be
competent,
humane,
rational and
accountable. The government we have now is none of the above.
I am an extremist because I believe it is wrong to use faulty, cherry-picked intelligence to launch a pre-emptive war against a country that was no threat to us --- especially when no contingency planning is done beyond "we'll be greeted with rose petals and bon-bons."
I am an extremist because I believe that anyone who outs an undercover intelligence asset for partisan political reasons should be punished, and that anyone who blows the whistle on law breaking within the highest ranks of government] should be commended. Not vice versa.
I am an extremist because I believe that our nation's ports should not be handed over to a company controlled by a state with ties to Osama Bin Laden and other 9/11 attackers, especially when national security investigations into the deal are shortchanged or circumvented.
I am an extremist because I believe that torture is wrong --- and not just wrong, but completely counterproductive.
I am an extremist because I believe that the National Guard should be used to guard our nation and not to fight wars of choice thousands of miles from home.
I am an extremist because I believe our troops should be properly equipped whenever they are sent into harms way and that they should be fairly treated both during and after their service to the nation.
I am an extremist because I believe that the President of the United States is not a king who is above the law. There should be a working system of checks and balances among the three branches of government, not just a rubber stamp for any executive branch whim.
I am an extremist because I believe that our election process should be as fair and transparent as possible. I don't think votes should be counted by machines that give the voter no tangible proof that his vote was tabulated accurately, that can be easily hacked and invisibly tampered with and that are produced by a company run by someone who promises to deliver an election to a particular political party.
I am an extremist because I believe the every person has the right to privacy, including jurisdiction over one's own body.
I am an extremist because I believe that health care reform should actually involve reforming the health care system so that more people can receive better care at a lower cost.
I am an extremist because I believe that scientists should be able to do science without partisan political interference.
I am an extremist because I believe it is wrong to repeatedly give tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations while continually inflicting spending cuts on the least fortunate and most vulnerable. I also think it is wrong to keep piling up our national debt onto the backs of future generations.
I am an extremist because I believe that government appointees should actually be qualified for the jobs they are appointed to, and that they shouldn't get important positions just because they were someone's college roommate.
I am an extremist because I believe Congress should represent the will of the people --- not the will of crooked lobbyists.
I am an extremist because I believe that when the biggest natural disaster in the nation's history wipes out a major city and parts of three states, the president should cut short his five-week vacation by a couple of days and get back to work.
I could go on, but I think you get my drift.
These clueless, Beltway insiders seem think that the lefty blogosphere is made up solely of anarcho-hippie, body-pierced vegans who, when they're not indulging in online agitprop, surely tend fires made from crosses and American flags to keep them warm while they read "The Communist Manifesto." (No offense to anarcho-hippie, body-pierced vegans.)
Wrong. We're mostly just regular Americans who are disgusted by what Bush and company have done to our country. In today's warped political landscape, the so-called extremists now outnumber the status-quo-sucking, boot-licking dispensors of conventional wisdom that populate the cable talk shows and think-tank soirees.
Enough.
We want liberty and justice restored in this country. When will the political establishment realize this is not an "extremist" position, but rather an American principle?