The Blame Game
I read a lot of conservative fora and blogs, which aside from being an infuriating and depressing experience, has taught me a lot about the people who write them.
A recurring theme is the tendency to blame liberals for all the ills in American society. This is not a new phenomenon; people still blame CBS News for the failure in Vietnam. Apparently, instead of 10 years with no progress, and hundreds of deaths and and maimings, the liberal media, led by CBS, undermined morale and caused the loss by failing to unquestioningly support the war.
The current blaming culture encompasses anything and everything that may be wrong with modern America, including the record trade, current-account, and fiscal deficits; increasing income inequality, more people in poverty, lower wages, higher health costs, higher college costs and the quagmire in Iraq.
The GOP controls both houses of Congress, the White House, more than half of state legislatures, and have a majority on the Supreme Court. They also have a conservative media juggernaut, stifling debate and inquiry, and openly favoring the GOP in elections. (If anyone doubts the power of the conservative media, just look at the ratings; O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Beck & Hannity all over talk radio while Air America files for Ch. 11.)
Despite this, if you believe the right wingers, it is the left that is responsible for the problems listed above. This spineless, petulant whining is often a characteristic of those who repeatedly fail; they blame others instead of accepting responsibility for their own actions and consequently never examine the real reasons for their failure. There is a causal relationship between government policy and the problems with America; it is not those without power who deserve blame, but those directing that policy.
A recurring theme is the tendency to blame liberals for all the ills in American society. This is not a new phenomenon; people still blame CBS News for the failure in Vietnam. Apparently, instead of 10 years with no progress, and hundreds of deaths and and maimings, the liberal media, led by CBS, undermined morale and caused the loss by failing to unquestioningly support the war.
The current blaming culture encompasses anything and everything that may be wrong with modern America, including the record trade, current-account, and fiscal deficits; increasing income inequality, more people in poverty, lower wages, higher health costs, higher college costs and the quagmire in Iraq.
The GOP controls both houses of Congress, the White House, more than half of state legislatures, and have a majority on the Supreme Court. They also have a conservative media juggernaut, stifling debate and inquiry, and openly favoring the GOP in elections. (If anyone doubts the power of the conservative media, just look at the ratings; O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Beck & Hannity all over talk radio while Air America files for Ch. 11.)
Despite this, if you believe the right wingers, it is the left that is responsible for the problems listed above. This spineless, petulant whining is often a characteristic of those who repeatedly fail; they blame others instead of accepting responsibility for their own actions and consequently never examine the real reasons for their failure. There is a causal relationship between government policy and the problems with America; it is not those without power who deserve blame, but those directing that policy.
posted by Sparx at 08:42
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