Saturday, March 25, 2006

Rage and eliminationism

A significant facet of the mental makeup of movement conservatives is the belief that, because their motives are pure and their cause is just, they are allowed to "bend the rules" when necessary. It's a classic case of the ends justifying the means. Lying, cheating, stealing: these are all justifiable if done with a pure heart, for the cause.

This is what fuels so much of the rampant corruption in conservative ranks: the lying over WMDs, Plamegate, the Abramoff scandal, and now the NSA wiretaps scandal. And that's just the short list.

It's been around a long time, too. After all, David Brock's Blinded By the Right is essentially a history of this facet of the right-wing mindset in the 1990s.

The problem is, the rest of the world isn't quite ready to go along with them. They're not so convinced that lying and stealing with a pure heart for the cause of conservatism isn't still just lying and stealing.

So when guys like Ben Domenech get caught cheating and stealing and lying, their response isn't to reflect on the ethical foundations of conservatism. No. Of course not. Perish the thought. Their reflex is to blame liberals. Right, Glenn and Michelle?

When right-wingers get caught out, it's always somebody else's fault, usually the people who do the catching. The end result of this reaction is not reflection and reform, but rage.

And when right-wing rage comes out, as surely as night follows day, you know what's next: eliminationism.

So, rather predictably, over at Domenech's former haunts at RedState, you could read the following remark:
I repeat: Should the entire American Left fall over dead tomorrow, I would rejoice, and order pizza to celebrate. They are not my countrymen; they are animals who happen to walk upright and make noises that approximate speech. They are below human. I look forward to seeing each and every one in Hell.

This comment was offered not by an anonymous RedState commenter, but by one of the site's editor/contributors, the pseudonymous Thomas Crown.

Of course, the bitterness spills over even to those on his own side who were insufficiently supportive, and he actually makes an interesting point along the way:
To those conservatives who couldn't wait to find wrongdoing where none existed: Gee, funny you didn't get all hyped up about this with Bob Bork. Or Sam Alito. I guess maybe your common sense detector -- or decency reserve -- only kicks in when it gets you something you want?

You're all dead to me, as well. Too bad: One lady in particular was a favorite writer of mine. Ah, well.

Gee, it's not hard to guess who that might have been ... but then, Thomas is not alone in this sentiment, either.

What's funny about this is that previously in another thread, a commenter named Catsy complained about behavior of commenters at RedState, including:
Advocating or expressing approval of harassment, arrest, immprisonment, torture, or death of liberals and Democrats. Really, there's just no defense whatsoever for this, and yet it's not at all uncommon for me to see people joke about it. Guess what? My family's armed, and it's not funny.

And the same sainted Thomas replied:
That's a bannable offense, and I'm quite serious. If you know somewhere that's happened, I'm more than interested.

I might wonder if he's reported himself for banning yet, but then, I'm sure this is another one of the cases where it's best to "bend the rules."

Give him another few weeks and a couple of deeeeeep breaths, he'll probably revert to the standard right-wing claim that these remarks were "just a joke" anyway.

After all, that's what the folks at Stop the ACLU did this week in posting a Photoshoped picture of Albert Einstein writing the following formula on a blackboard:
Rope + Tree + ACLU Lawyer = Pinata

The picture, of course, appears with the following "disclaimter":
For those who are too stupid to understand, the below picture is satire. It is a joke. We do not actually advocate murder in any way here at STACLU.

Hee haw! Of course! What a knee-slapper! Obviously, this is just another example of that refined right-wing elimination humor.

I'm sure it would be OK for someone on the left, at no risk of being labeled "unhinged," to Photoshop the same picture with some other formulas. Oh, like this one:
Stake + Fire + Right-Wing Blogger = Roast Weenie

Or how 'bout:
Block + Ax + Rich Republican = Justice

Har de har har! See? Fantasizing about executing your fellow Americans is such fun! And if you call it a "joke," you can say damned near anything!

Most of all, it's a great way to vent the rage that comes when you're caught "bending the rules" for that truly just cause.

[Hat tip to ThinkingMeat.]

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