Comments on: Reactionaries http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/ Exposing the ugly truths about the Bush Administration. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 13:09:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.3 by: The Mahablog » “Hey, Hey, LBJ …” http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-22747 Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:32:39 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-22747 [...] But we’re in a very different place today, and it’s not just because of the osteoarthritis. The antiwar and various liberation movements of the 1960s were, in the context of the times, radical challenges to political and social norms across the board; the counterculture was bent on sweeping away the old establishment and creating something entirely new. But although we may have swept away much of the old establishment, what replaced it was not liberal utopia but Reaganism. As Fred Siegel wrote here (scroll down to the essay under the subhead “American History”), But this new conservatism did not so much win the country over to its perspective as board the empty ship of state vacated by a 1960s liberalism that had self-destructed. Conservatism triumphed because New Deal liberalism was unable to accommodate the new cultural and political demands unleashed by the civil rights revolution, feminism, and the counterculture, all of which was exacerbated by the Kulturkampf over Vietnam. [...] […] But we’re in a very different place today, and it’s not just because of the osteoarthritis. The antiwar and various liberation movements of the 1960s were, in the context of the times, radical challenges to political and social norms across the board; the counterculture was bent on sweeping away the old establishment and creating something entirely new. But although we may have swept away much of the old establishment, what replaced it was not liberal utopia but Reaganism. As Fred Siegel wrote here (scroll down to the essay under the subhead “American History”), But this new conservatism did not so much win the country over to its perspective as board the empty ship of state vacated by a 1960s liberalism that had self-destructed. Conservatism triumphed because New Deal liberalism was unable to accommodate the new cultural and political demands unleashed by the civil rights revolution, feminism, and the counterculture, all of which was exacerbated by the Kulturkampf over Vietnam. […]

]]> by: The Mahablog » Bankrupt http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18393 Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:54:10 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18393 [...] Wolfe doesn’t distinguish between conservatives and, um, other conservatives, as I did here. But be sure to read the whole article. [...] […] Wolfe doesn’t distinguish between conservatives and, um, other conservatives, as I did here. But be sure to read the whole article. […]

]]> by: fshk http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18267 Wed, 05 Jul 2006 18:12:15 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18267 I suspect that most people who call themselves "moderates" really have views that fall further left than they think. Everyone thinks they're a moderate because they perceive their own views as being sensible and not radical. r4d20 is the same; he "straddles the line" because he doesn't label himself as a supporter of either extreme. Good for him, but he's getting left out of the political spotlight zooming ever further to the right. I kind of wish the discussion were more about ideas than labels, though. r4d20 doesn't state what it is he believe in that has him so confused about where he belongs. I suspect that most people who call themselves “moderates” really have views that fall further left than they think. Everyone thinks they’re a moderate because they perceive their own views as being sensible and not radical. r4d20 is the same; he “straddles the line” because he doesn’t label himself as a supporter of either extreme. Good for him, but he’s getting left out of the political spotlight zooming ever further to the right.

I kind of wish the discussion were more about ideas than labels, though. r4d20 doesn’t state what it is he believe in that has him so confused about where he belongs.

]]> by: c u n d gulag http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18201 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:54:05 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18201 Paradoctor, You're on to something. Now, we have to get it to the few remaining politicans who might understand. We stand for the rule of law. Not just the opinion in a member of this Cabal of Dunces's. LAW! Keep up the good work! Paradoctor,
You’re on to something.
Now, we have to get it to the few remaining politicans who might understand.
We stand for the rule of law. Not just the opinion in a member of this Cabal of Dunces’s. LAW!
Keep up the good work!

]]> by: The Mahablog » Dear Media, Part II: The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18158 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:30:55 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18158 [...] The Right began to build its think tank-media infrastructure in the 1970s, This was, as I explained in the previous post, the same time that the Left was coming apart. The story of the conservative rise that Stein portrays begins back in the early 1970s, when there was panic among conservatives, especially in corporate boardrooms, that capitalism was under serious attack, and something drastic had to be done about it. … [...] […] The Right began to build its think tank-media infrastructure in the 1970s, This was, as I explained in the previous post, the same time that the Left was coming apart. The story of the conservative rise that Stein portrays begins back in the early 1970s, when there was panic among conservatives, especially in corporate boardrooms, that capitalism was under serious attack, and something drastic had to be done about it. … […]

]]> by: maha http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18157 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:27:35 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18157 paradoctor -- interesting way to put it. paradoctor — interesting way to put it.

]]> by: paradoctor http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18156 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:58:58 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18156 It seems to me that now, with the Right mostly radical, the Left has inherited the role of conservative. I have not heard any discussion of the term, "Conservative Left", but I think it describes the true centrism of the day. The basic idea of conservative leftism is to protect the poor, the powerless, the usual suspects; and that not in order to overthrow the system, but to prevent the system from overthrowing itself! The New Deal was classic conservative leftism; it saved capitalism from itself. Nowadays conservative leftism has lots of cause celebres. We're for, and the radical right is against, habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the rule of law, free speech, and the present planetary ecosystem. It seems to me that now, with the Right mostly radical, the Left has inherited the role of conservative. I have not heard any discussion of the term, “Conservative Left”, but I think it describes the true centrism of the day.

The basic idea of conservative leftism is to protect the poor, the powerless, the usual suspects; and that not in order to overthrow the system, but to prevent the system from overthrowing itself! The New Deal was classic conservative leftism; it saved capitalism from itself.

Nowadays conservative leftism has lots of cause celebres. We’re for, and the radical right is against, habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the rule of law, free speech, and the present planetary ecosystem.

]]> by: Jack http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18153 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 01:19:03 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18153 I agree with the previous posts that say that the eliminationist rhetoric comes from the right. A good compilation of violent right-wing rhetoric appeared on the Guardian blog. (I'm sorry, I don't know how to embed a hyperlink in the text). Check out: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/melissa_mcewan/2006/06/lopsided.html I agree with the previous posts that say that the eliminationist rhetoric comes from the right. A good compilation of violent right-wing rhetoric appeared on the Guardian blog. (I’m sorry, I don’t know how to embed a hyperlink in the text). Check out:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/melissa_mcewan/2006/06/lopsided.html

]]> by: ironranger http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18150 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 00:29:33 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18150 Excellent piece. This kind of conversation should be going on everywhere in this country. The extreme, my way or the highway, right & left are pretty much hopeless, but the rest of us have much, much more in common than the spin masters would have us believe. We don't have any time to waste, either. Excellent piece. This kind of conversation should be going on everywhere in this country. The extreme, my way or the highway, right & left are pretty much hopeless, but the rest of us have much, much more in common than the spin masters would have us believe. We don’t have any time to waste, either.

]]> by: larkspur http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18149 Tue, 04 Jul 2006 00:01:34 +0000 http://www.mahablog.com/2006/07/03/reactionaries/#comment-18149 Interesting stuff. I'm going to go back and study it, but I just wanted to chime in with Qrazy Qat and justme. Nobody gets shot for disagreeing with me, not Malkin, not Rumsfeld, not nobody. Their opinions may inspire tears and recriminations, and possibly scolding, but on Planet Larkspur, there will be no hurting, shooting, hunting down, hanging, etc. Furthermore, I don't want to be a pendant either, but I'd prefer it over being, say, a hood ornament. Interesting stuff. I’m going to go back and study it, but I just wanted to chime in with Qrazy Qat and justme. Nobody gets shot for disagreeing with me, not Malkin, not Rumsfeld, not nobody. Their opinions may inspire tears and recriminations, and possibly scolding, but on Planet Larkspur, there will be no hurting, shooting, hunting down, hanging, etc.

Furthermore, I don’t want to be a pendant either, but I’d prefer it over being, say, a hood ornament.

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