As I look at the Left following this election, they seem to be a bit surprised. I think many Democrats view the election process as a sort of game, and are quite proud to see that their side has prevailed again. The feeling is analogous to your ball team winning on Saturday or Sunday. You get bragging rights, you get to feel superior by identification.
And since in their world view this is a game, what they expect to see is that Republicans will learn from them, start spinning things in a way more calculated to appeal to the vast masses of mediocrity in this country, start moving to the “middle”, and start pretending that our national discourse is “moderate”.
We’re supposed to lick our wounds, then start going at it again in a spirit of collegial rivalry. “You got us this time, you rascals, but we’ll get you in 2014.”
What they are seeing instead is masses of people in complete despair, talking about the end of our nation as we have known it. This is far beyond just a desire to return to the 1950’s. It is plainly not racism. And it puzzles them.
The smarter ones are getting whiffs of panic. They are wondering–or allowing just that whiff of a hint into their mind that doesn’t even quite rise to the level of a conscious thought–if perhaps we are right. But how could that be? Everyone around them is in complete agreement that spending more money is the solution, that we have a moral duty to the poor, that the world is only made violent by violence (even though OF COURSE Obama is being responsible in the Middle East, pursuing a “middle of the road”, balanced policy, consistent with his innate restraint and intelligence), and that the supposed “national debt” is just a distraction, created by corporate fat cats to keep their tax money from being used to help sick children get medicine they couldn’t get any other way.
But our mourning continues. We keep talking the same ways, even though we lost badly. There are even signs we may move farther to the right, despite the polling indicating this is a bad idea. How can one explain that?
What happens when that whiff hits, when your stomach momentarily contracts in anxiety, is you have to make a choice. You can go into freefall, realizing that you have spent your entire adult life supporting ideas that were completely wrong; or you can reaffirm yet more strongly your commitment to the ideas you have held your entire life.
What do you think will be the default response for most? Still, it is interesting to see flickers of life here and there.
There is in fact a dichotomous choice to make. Things are no longer on a continuum. Now is the time of either/or. Long term lying, which has resulted in castles in the sky that must crash, has made it this way.