Chuck:
> The key question for the Left is How do we pierce that bubble? What
> will work to radicalize these people, or at least, get them to drop
> their support for stupid neocon beliefs? The Left's problem, as I see
> it, is that it continues to be very deterministic and fatalistic when
> it comes to action. We prefer to talk about the Dittoheads, but we
> aren't trying things to see what will work against the paradigm they
subscribe to.
> It's pretty obvious that the Left can't change the situation by
> electing pathetic Democratic candidates, so how do we change minds?
Chuck, I was fully with you up to this point. You still think it can happen here if "we" only work a bit harder, don't you? Let it go, Chuck. It will not happen here. These people are beyond hope. They will rather sink with the ship than move to the second class to save it.
Wojtek
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There can be no real disputing Wojtek's point. It won't happen here, and these people are beyond hope. To mildly paraphrase Macaulay, they are slaves, proud of their servitude. They are impossible to reasons with, because they reject reason, or even moral persuasion. There are some deep pathologies at work here that manifest themselves in vicious and bizarre ways. I mean, most of Bush's core supporters will proudly tell you that any minute now they expect Jesus Christ to appear in the sky, riding a white horse, wearing a red robe, leading a heavenly host of angels and saints, and all those who are "in Christ," the dead and the quick, will rise to meet him in the sky, and . . . Then what? Who knows? But people who believe such nonsense have truly left the "reality-based community" far behind, and will believe, and are capable of, anything.