The Right and How They Got That Way

Now that I'm finally having time to do my "meandering" in the blog world, I have come across some great posts by other bloggers. In case someone hasn't already read these two posts, I thought I'd link them here, as both of them have very important things to say.

Alicia Morgan over at Last Left Turn Before Hooterville talks about why we should be proud to call ourselves Liberals, and also talks about how the Right systematically plotted to become the dominant force in America. Alicia says:

"And so the conservative movement began its climb up from the abyss. They knew that it would take many years and billions of dollars to build their machine. They put into place an interlocking series of organizations designed to produce a new generation of scholars, pundits, and intellectual leaders, supported by think tanks, scholarships, internships, and media outlets. Promising young college Republicans were nurtured and cultivated, and the path to prominence made smooth as they were escorted to high-profile jobs to establish them as leading lights and deep thinkers. The overriding idea was to denigrate liberalism in every way possible – the ‘liberal media’, liberal education, liberal values. This was not a natural ‘swing of the pendulum’ – it was bought and paid for."

Another great post can be found at Driftglass. DG points out that:

"No, the GOP is interested in power solely for the same reason they have been amassing it for thirty years: in order to liquidate the government of the United States, sell off its assets to their cronies at pennies-on-the-dollar, and turn the full, voracious fury of an Imperial Presidency and unregulated corporate America loose on the world."

He then goes on to quote, at length, chilling passages from George Orwell's "1984" that seem as if they are based on current events. Read the quotes and tell me that George W. Bush and his cronies are not using this book as a textbook! To quote Driftglass:

"Because for the GOP, "1984" is not cautionary, dystopia science fiction; it is an ideological playbook they cheerfully follow into Hell."

These posts remind us why this year's election is one of the most crucial of our era. The Democrats cannot afford to fail in November.