Progressives! Stoke the White Hot Flame of Fear!

   I did not want to do this. I did not want to start this blog with a political post. I fully intended for this blog to be, primarily, about philosophical and spiritual topics looking toward the future with, perhaps, a bit of politics thrown in when it fit the theme. I can't do that now. I have to speak out about what I see us facing right now in the US political system.

   To use a tired old cliche, we're standing on the razor's edge right now. We're facing major changes, no matter which side we fall off. One direction will, ultimately, be for the better but it will be a hell of a shock to our systems, facing the changes necessary for us to grow and move forward to a brighter future. The other, falling prey to the fear of that change and letting it push us rapidly backward to places we thought we were far, far past and downward into a bleak future we can't even imagine. Does that sound scary? It does? Good. And because of that, you might find yourself surprised when you learn where I'm actually going with this. You see, normally, it's the GOP that wants you scared. And, that ain't me.

   You should be scared of what the conservatives are trying to fill your heads with. But not because that has anything to do with reality. Rather, you should fear it because they themselves are scared to death. They are in such a blind panic right now that they are in fight or flight mode. They are freaking out so bad that they will lie, cheat, and steal to win total control of the white house and congress. Right now, they don't give a rat's ass what Jesus would do. Not that they much did at election time, anyway. But fear leads to the dark side. And, man, have they ever gone over to it.

   In 2008 they got kicked in the face with a paradigm shift that chilled them to their bones. And, if they don't go to extremes to stop it in it's tracks, they're doomed. The Grand Ole Party, that is. And that should have us all wetting our pants, because I don't think 'extreme' is a good enough term for what they're willing to do just to stay in the game. It doesn't matter what noble policies they supported before November of '08. All of that went out the window once Barack Obama was elected as President. And, now here's where you all start thinking this is a rant about how the Republicans are all a bunch of racists and other flavors of bigot. But it's not. Well, not exactly in the direct way you may be thinking.

  It's not that the Republicans are. It's that we all are. Bear with me, please. Let's face it. We all have prejudices. Even if it's just the tiniest fraction, we all have a little bit in us. It's ingrained into every culture to one degree or another. And, even if we weren't raised to be that way by our parents we're all bound to pick up bits, here and there, in our environment. So, no matter how open-minded you are, certain stereotypes you've encountered are going to trigger some anxiety when you walk into somewhere that's full of them. If only for a second. And, even if it's a church. But I'm not berating or judging anyone for that. Part of that is a just a survival instinct from having been a tribal species. (Oh, no! Evolution!!)

   The real thing here is that, in the backs of our minds, we all know this. And, in Nov. '08, while we liberal hippie pinkos that are waiting for the Age of Aquarius were feeling the shock of all that but thinking "Wow! We actually just elected someone that wasn't lily-white. Do you know what this means? We're really progressing and the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.", the conservatives were thinking "Holy Fucking Shit! We just elected someone that wasn't lily-white. Do you know what this means? We're really progressing and that means the GOP is done for!" And they're right. That is, unless they can turn back the political clock about, oh, anywhere from fifty to one hundred and fifty years. 

    You see? It's not necessarily overt racism. It's what overcoming that hurdle means. It means there's a real paradigm shift happening. And it's scary. For all of us. No one likes major changes being forced down their throats. Even those of us who want it. And there's the rub. I've got news for some of you. Hope and change doesn't win elections. Every side uses some version of that for a slogan, every cycle. That's just window dressing. It's fear. Fear and rage wins elections. It was fear from the Great Recession and of continued Republican policies that got Obama elected. But the Republicans are the Masters of Fear. (Henceforth, they shall be referred to as the MOF.) In recent history, the Dems only benefit from the fear generated when the MOF screws things up. We're just too nice, always taking the damn high road. And once things are all fixed up we go all soft and bend over while the  MOF prey on everyone's fears for another crack at effing it all up. And it's happening again. Only this time, it's for keepsies. Forever and ever. But you better hope not.

   Understand this. We've all known for some time that the country's demographics were changing. But the rise in the minority populations wasn't much of a pressing concern to the MOF. That is, until Obama. As long as the minorities weren't really participating in the process to a large degree, they had time. When Obama came along and won the nomination, the MOF just went, "Okay. We'll just pick a hot wise-crackin' MILF for veep and swipe the Hillary vote. No sweat." (BTW, I call her my Evil Twin. We were born on the same day. Brrrr...) But when that went south and Obama won, they knew damn well what that meant. And they freaked. Think about it. Why else would they all, rather quickly, be like, "Our only job now is to make Obama a one-term president." over someone that, not long before, was an esteemed colleague? (Well, unless it really is just flat out racism.)

   No. The rise in minority population and their increased electoral participation means the end of the GOP (just this once) as we know it. If the MOF doesn't act, the party basically dies. No more right party and center-left party. The scales had been tipped their way for some time, but no more. The right wing would be history. If this was allowed to continue there could only be left and middle. The end of conservatism. Hell, the Green Party would shoot past them in relevance. 

   And no one was more frightened than the far right lunatic fringe. As far as they were concerned, we were all on a rapid descent into hell. So the more mainstream MOF had a choice, fade in to obscurity (perhaps start a New Whig Party?) or embrace the crazy. Guess what they chose. Say goodbye to any notion of a reasonable (or sane) party platform. No more Dream Act for this party. They can't. A path to citizenship means a path to a liberal vote. They must take the agendas of the Fetus Liberation Front clinic bombing terrorists, suck-my-gun Nugentites, closeted/pedophile OLD Testament thumpers, paranoid AM talk show listeners...

[[ And just as I reached this point, I learned that some lunatic fucknut walked into a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in commando gear and killed 15 people and injured, I think, at least that many. I'm not even gonna say what I'm really thinking about a certain drug addict tub of evil. ]]

...and, of course, the racists and the just plain ignorant, throw them all in the fire, stomp on the bellows and whip up the Flames of Fear in order to forge the Red Hot weapons needed to stem the tide of progress.

   They must curb anything that might lead to a liberal vote. And, not just now but in the future as well. Public education? Cut it. Student loan interest rates and college tuition? Let 'me rise. The ignorant are easy to manipulate and the more privileged students will lean their way. Voter ID. Yeah, boy! We know how those with a concealed carry permit will vote and no student ID hits those college liberals again. Woohoo! I could go on and really risk more people labeling me a 'conspiracy nut' than those that already have by this point.

   But I'm being this provocative for a reason. I want you scared. You should be. We can't can't go down the path that the policies they've embraced will take us. And they are using fear to win control in November. And, me. I'm just trying to fight fire with fire.

[[ Death toll in Colorado was just revised to 12. Better, but no real comfort in that. ]]

   A friend of mine just postulated on his blog the notion that the Democrats just can't explain their reasoning and policies well enough to convince voters to swing their way. Edit: He actually talked about how Dems can't explain the truth and expose the lies. (I had read a bit too quickly and realized me error later. Sorry, Pat.) But it doesn't really change what i cover next. And, it does kind of seem that way. It seems to just go over the heads of some, or in one ear... Well, you know. But I don't think that's it. Most people really aren't that stupid and can understand the logic of a well explained concept, even if it's somewhat complex. But there's one thing that can easily override logic. 

   FEAR. And, let's face it. We libs are just too nice to scare people into staining their pants. But the MOF are not, and they are well practiced in the art. They do not hesitate to fight dirty. And, neither should  we. We need to use all their tactics against them. When the Citizens United decision and the SuperPACs started to become an issue I immediately thought that the Dems needed to take advantage of that as well. But nooooo... The high road, remember? We could could not have matched them anyway, but now we're really far behind. We're just wussies when it comes to fighting back against their tactics.

   Well, I say it's time to get mean. It's time to take some pages out of the playbooks of those who successfully played dirty against these kind of interests, be it Lyndon Johnson or even Huey Long. We can't just explain ObamneyCare to grandma, we need to make her soil her diaper when we explain the Paul Ryan Death Budget. 

   LET'S GET NASTY!!!  STOKE THE FIRE!!!

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