The Politics Of Pity

I’ve been doing some weblog surfing recently and have come across an interesting phenomenon: the pity seeking formula employed by the conservative webloggers. If some of their content wasn’t so disturbing, it would be funny.

What contributes to the irony of the whole situation is the obvious slickness of their sites. For a bunch of set upon defenders of a besieged moral position, they sure seem to have huge amounts of resources available to them (no prefab templates like the one I use).

Their blogs are all of the highest quality. Graphic intense, full of bells and whistles, multi linked, and highly scripted. Judging by the number of feeds monitored and the amount of information posted, these sites are the work of more then just one individual posting his or her ruminations. They have to be full time endeavours run by a group or group of people. Concerned individual titles aside, there is no way that one person could have the resources and the energy to expend to create and maintain these sites.

I’m assuming that libel and slander laws are somehow not an issue for these people. If anyone spread lies about me like the ones I’ve seen on these sites, I’d be suing in a minute. Accusations of wife abuse laid at the feet of Michael Schiavo (leave it alone folks, the woman’s dead and you lost that battle) and calling Hillary Clinton a lesbian are just a sample of the trash they spew. It amazes me that conservatives could ever accuse people on the left of whining when I read the stuff that they are passing off as information.

What I truly find amazing is that they’re passing themselves off as victims of a vast and nefarious plot perpetrated against them by the media. Oh poor them, the horrible left wing press is out to get them. Good lord, don’t they ever get tired of singing that false note? They don’t even do it that well anymore. It almost make you miss the ranting of Spiro T. Agnew: “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity.” Nobody can even come close to that for absolute nonsense, but at least it was funny and showed a flair for language.

The massively funny thing is the fact that the majority of the mainstream press is owned by the very people who support them. Did you know that most of the media outlets in the United States are owned by three corporations? Yep, three.

Here’s an example of the mean spirited press that’s out to get the good old defenders of the crown, I mean state. During the Gulf War one of these media moguls set up a series of pro war demonstrations, broadcast the marches from start to finish, and then reported them as proof of the wide ranging support for government policy. Yep, it sure is horrible to have the press against you.

But they know perfectly well that there’s no more effective tool then painting yourself as the victim of something or other, like the double dealing judges upholding the Constitution in defiance of the paragons of decency that make up congress–do they not even understand that in the system of checks and balances that was implemented by their Founding Fathers, the Executive is kept in check by the Congress, and the Congress kept in check by the Judiciary, all to ensure that the Constitution is upheld?

Or then there are the interfering bastards over at the American Civil Liberties Union who keep preventing God fearing folk from carrying out their right to discriminate, kill at will, or just treat everyone badly. I don’t know how they stand up to the persecution.

You could laugh at them for being pathetic weenies if there wasn’t the problem of how many people believe them. I mean, how else would George Bush get elected if people didn’t actually believe that shit? So you can’t just ignore them and hope they go away. Remember, they have lots of money with which to get the message out.

They use the emotional bullshit to manipulate people to get the results they want The only hope you have of competing with them is on their terms. Don’t be shy. Wrap yourselves in what ever apple pie issue you can find and start coming across like the defenders of the Constitution you are. Stop just attacking their stupidity but start manipulating the situation so that you are the patriots, not them.

Point out the connections between Bush and the Bin Ladens in the language of the tabloids just like your opponents. Use catchy headlines, slogans and Hallmark sentiments. It’s time to fight holier than thou with holier than thou.

Don’t let the conservatives stake out the victim territory. There is nothing more nauseating then seeing millionaire and billionaire fascists who exploit thousands of people on a daily basis painting themselves as hard done by. Remember the real victims in all this are the American people and the Constitution.

Links to “pity sites:”

For Freedom We Stand
Fundamentally Right
Stop The ACLU