CONCEITS OF THE ANGRY LEFT

An interesting event occurred last week...itself of no interest...but the Blogosphere has been full of comments.

Apparently, at a public event, a "roast of sorts" last week...I think it was the White House correspondent's dinner...President Bush spoke, alongside a comic who gave a parallel schtick saying what he thought the President actually meant. It was said to be a funny event...Mr. Bush was making fun of himself, and apparently most people had a good time.

After that, another "comic" named Steve Colbert, (I don't watch most TV, so I don't know who he is) presented his piece which turned out to be an anti-Bush tirade, and according to others present, distinctly unfunny. The video is on the web...Google it up, if you want to see for yourself...

Among others, today's Wall Street Journal Online comments on an article in today's Washington Post by columnist Richard Cohen, in which he wrote:

...Rude is not the same as brash. It is not the same as brassy. It is not the same as gutsy or thinking outside the box. Rudeness means taking advantage of the other person's sense of decorum or tradition or civility that keeps that other person from striking back or, worse, rising in a huff and leaving. The other night, that person was George W. Bush.

Why are you wasting my time with Colbert, I hear you ask. Because he is representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country. His defenders--and they are all over the blogosphere--will tell you he spoke truth to power. This is a tired phrase, as we all know, but when it was fresh and meaningful it suggested repercussions, consequences--maybe even death in some countries. When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or--if you're at work--take away your office.

But in this country, anyone can insult the President of the United States. Colbert just did it, and he will not suffer any consequence at all. He knew that going in. He also knew that Bush would have to sit there and pretend to laugh at Colbert's lame and insulting jokes. Bush himself plays off his reputation as a dunce and for his penchant for mangling English. Self-mockery can be funny. Mockery that is insulting is not. The sort of stuff that would get you punched in a bar can be said on a dais with impunity. This is why Colbert was more than rude. He was a bully.

The WSJ makes these comments:

This, it seems to us, explains several conceits of the Angry Left:

The notion that criticism--whether of the Dixie Chicks or of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer--amounts to censorship.

Claims by Democratic politicians that Republicans are "questioning" their "patriotism."

Fears of incipient fascism.

What these have in common, aside from being totally fantastical, is that they all reinforce the image of the Angry Leftist as courageous dissenter. In truth, this country is so tolerant, indeed downright indulgent, of this sort of "dissent" that it affords no opportunity to be courageous.

Speak "truth to power" in America, and power will pat you on the head and say, "What an adorable little girl." Some on the Angry Left could actually have the courage to stand up if they were faced with real consequences--but they are unlikely ever to get that chance. America's almost boundless tolerance thus reduces them to the level of petulant children. No wonder they're so angry.

Except that I'm not "questioning their patriotism." I'm stating my belief that their hatred of this President and of the rest of us who support him in his efforts to protect America is unpatriotic.

This is so even if Mr. Bush is clumsy with his language. It is so even if mistakes are made, as plenty are made in all wars. I do not question the President's sincerity or the magnitude of his effort on our behalf. I've not heard anyone else with an error-proof plan that differs substantially from his.

Winning this war...victory as he's defined it...a secure self elected Iraqi government, free of terrorists and able to defend itself.. is our only option.

Any other option is not only rude, not only "bullying," not only wrong, not only cowardly and base. It is anti-American and unpatriotic and deadly for our way of life and for us, our grandchildren, and everyone else.

Victory in this war, only one battlefield in a wider conflict, is essential for the continuance of our Civilization in what is clearly a war against it, being waged by enemies who believe they're fighting for their God of a thousand years ago, and who will stop at nothing, not now, not ever, to destroy us.

I do not question... I deny...the patriotism of those who love political power more than they love America.

There it is. Stuff that where the sun never shines.