03
Nov
Pragmatism sucks
It’s a day later, and the scar tissue is forming.
I honestly don’t know whether I’d be able to vote for a candidate who comes from the New Middle. I imagine him to be someone who says that prayer in school is a good thing, that late-term abortion when the woman’s life is at stake is a bad thing, and that homosexual marriage is a bad thing, but I also imagine his thinking that conservation is a good thing, that a fair taxation system is a good thing, that universal healthcare is a good thing, and that the environment is something to take care of instead of something to shit upon.
I suspect that such a person doesn’t exist. I mean, if he’s capable of the meanness embodied by discrimination, he should be incapable of giving a shit about the environment. In the real world, Mr Hydes never harbor inner Dr Jeckylls waiting to burst forth.
So, notwithstanding what I said in the last post, I think that the only path left for liberals is to keep doing what we’re doing. We need to believe what we believe. We need to defend the powerless. We need to rail against the bastards who are raping the environment. We need to keep doing all those sappy things the cons ridicule us for. We need to make certain that the conservatives know we’re still here, and that we’re watching them. And somewhere down the road, maybe, they’ll fuck up to a degree that will scare some of those who voted for them.
We could be permanently marginalized by acting in accordance with our ideals, but I’ll be damned if I drift toward the New Middle just so that we have a chance of regaining a little power. Who knows; maybe state and world events will channel public discourse in such a way that the middle comes back to us instead of the other way around.
But I’m banking on the conservatives to fuck up. The hubris shooting through the hallways of the white house right now must be incredible. I’m sure they feel they can do no wrong; like Nixon in ‘72.
