Sunday, October 21, 2018

The Annals of Incivility

On the incivility front, the enraged rage. There are no limits. No bounds. No rules and no constraints.  Unfortunately, it isn’t even funny anymore. It’s a direct threat to democratic institutions.

Kevin Williamson reports on what he calls “The Witches of Bushwick,” a group of witches, duh!, that has joined together to cast spells and to utter mindless incantations for the sole purpose of causing Bret Kavanaugh to suffer. Tell us about the party of love and empathy.

Williamson remarks:

Occasionally, our friends on the left do us the favor of making plain that which conservative critics have inferred about their ranks: that they are intellectually unserious, that they are damaged, that they are high on rage, that they have made a religion of politics.

The witches of Bushwick are not resolved that Justice Kavanaugh has erroneous views about constitutional interpretation — they are resolved that he must suffer.

Williamson is too kind when he says that these witches are not emotionally healthy. It’s not about mental health. They are suffering from a serious character flaw, one that ought to get them expelled from polite society.

Emotionally healthy adults do not wish to inflict suffering on people over political disagreements. Emotionally healthy adults are not so bewitched by partisanship that they engage in what the nice bookstore ladies in Brooklyn are engaged in here, which is the 21st-century progressive version of a cross-burning — a lot of mystical mumbo-jumbo piled on top of a sentiment that could easily be communicated in three little words: “I Hate You.”

If you have not had your quota of hate today, examine the confrontation that took place in Portland, Oregon. A crazed left-wing protester began to rail at a woman who was-- gird your loins-- wearing an NYPD cap. From the Daily Caller.

When the women replied that her husband had died on 9/11, it did not provoke the rage-filled radical to feel shame. He had long since taken leave of his moral sense. He upped the ante:

Video of a left-wing protester telling an alleged 9/11 widow that her late husband should “rot in the grave” has gone viral.

The harassment of the woman took place in Portland, Ore. during clashes between Antifa and pro-Trump factions.

The protester screamed at the woman in the video and looked to be ready for a physical confrontation. After the woman said “My husband died in 9/11,” the protester yelled “Good for him! Good. Good. NYPD were a bunch of sodomized — fucking sodomizing immigrants with their bully sticks. Your husband should probably fucking rot in the grave.”

The woman walked on.

You would not shed too many tears if said Antifa radical had been subjected to the same punishment.

Anyway, the woman in question had been accompanied by her son. Said son was bigger and stronger than the Brown Shirted radical and confronted him:

However, the leftist protester was not so empowered when a large man approached him and asked, “Did you call my mom out?”

The protester said “What?” and then took off running.

“Why are you running?” the man yelled.

There was a standoff between the leftist and far-right protesters, but when a large group of Trump-supporting activists looked to confront him, the man who insulted the widow suddenly lost his nerve.

The moral of the story: the armies of deranged fascists will only return to civility when they are confronted by a larger counterforce. It is regrettable. But, bullies only respond to other bullies. Allowing them to rant on, shamelessly, will inevitably lead to a reaction. They are not going to feel quite so empowered when it happens.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...


Is this not how it works on almost every issue that may need to be addressed? The issue is first broached and a significant number of good people think lets find a solution. The radicals notice that here is an issue they can use agains't their opponents politically. Soon the radicals take over the issue and so twist it out of shape that the original issue is no longer recognizable to anyone including the first victims to say something about it.
There will be no solution or attempt at a solution because the radicals have ensured that nothing will be done. Then we get the violence from people who care nothing about the issue except that they get to beat up people and destroy things. One would thing that after seeing this happen that those who want to address an issue would know better than let radicals get control, but they fail to do what is necessary to create a coalition and worse yet do everything to make it impossible because they want to believe the worse about anyone who disagrees with them. It is embarrassing to see all rational thinking fall prey to rage.

dtrumpet

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Yeah. “Far-right.” Sure. So the Southern Poverty Law Center says. SPLC has the first listing on Google when you look up “Patriot Prayer.”

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

The rage is its own end. There is nothing you can do with these people.

That said, I am concerned because if the “right” starts to fight back, it will get ugly. That’s the goal: draw out conservative elements, make them look like violent crazies.

The best move is not to play. Just vote. Lie to pollsters. Vote!

Dr. Irredeemable Dreg said...

"The rage is its own end"

That's true, in the sense that the rage pre-exists any given incident. Smoldering rage actively seeks out accelerants.

Chronic rage also explains why Progressives are so statistically over-represented as long-term therapy patients. Unfortunately, as Schneiderman frequently points out, psychotherapy as currently practiced should be spelled psycho therapy, as it serves to justify and feed the rage it purports to treat.

I think I'll talk about this at my next Toastmasters meeting. :-D

Ares Olympus said...

It does seem like we need George W Bush to come back once a week and repeat his speech after the Texas slaughter of police officers. It seems to apply daily.
---
We have seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. At times, it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates into dehumanization. Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions — forgetting the image of God we should see in each other.
---

I recall hearing a presentation by a Sufi guru once, and I really couldn't take anything he said literally, but like he said souls are not bound by the body, but that each individual soul extends about 6 miles from our body, so our soul is unconsciously influenced by all the people within that radius. So as a literal fact, I balk, but as a mythic one it brings me pause and makes me consider my bad moods may not just be my own, but a collective force, and my ability to handle them gracefully is also helping all the thousands of people within my reach. And it also makes it clear the curses you offer to others directly or silently will bounce back to you in some way. And maybe the contagions of the internet mean the 6-mile radius is now the whole world, and contempt for the most afflicted is the easiest path to our own fall.

Christopher B said...

I'm remided of something I think AVI wrote recently. Paraphrasing - When someone claims that it's not a big deal who started the fight, that we should just discuss how we all can move on from here, it's a very good indicator that their side has gained territory, wants to cement those gains, and prepare for the next advance.

Ares Olympus said...

Christopher, who is AVI? This is the only match I can find:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avi_(author)

It does make sense that a side that thinks it is winning is secure to call for civility, knowing civility gives the advantage to current balance of power. I don't know which side has the high ground on civility at the moment, while both sides hyperfocus on the bad examples of the other. I also heard the idea the Left has won the cultural war (whatever that means), while the right has gained the most political power. Of course political power is a very small power to help individuals, and its money that is the real power everyone is fighting for, and rich are definitely winning, heads (GOP) they win, tails (D) we lose.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it is a communication problem after all.

In a detached manner you actually can appreciate the aesthetics of the Vietnamese race. Asian wisdom has long realized that dogs are not man's best friend but rather are better suited to be part of the Vietnamese cuisine. https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9cb_1440682401

You don't have to participate or agree with the Vietnamese way, as an "Emotionally healthy" noodle you can simply admire the beauty of the aesthetic from afar. Don't be quick to judge what isn't harmful to what you perceive to be your own.

Judging others all the time requires a lot of heavy weight to be placed on yourself. This overvaluation of your self worth is arrogance. Judging others is a sign of insecurity.

Yodie Yoder said...

Satan is smiling.

Dr. Irredeemable Dreg said...

Im surprised Ares doesn't know her from work... a Spoofi Master of the Most Trembling Sublimity, Ibn Hazmat Tulong, claimed in a recent lecture that Ares is the VAVI (Vice Assistant Village Idiot). Hm. Go figger.

Ares Olympus said...

A blogger?
http://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/

Dr. Irredeemable Dreg said...

Yes! A blogger!

http://ares2000.blogspot.com

The Spoofi Master of Inutterable Perfectitude knows...