La Vida Loca

[Joeve]

As those of you who read this site on a regular basis know, there's really not much to who I am. I'm just a guy with an opinion and a means to spread that opinion around a bit. Nothing more, nothing less. It hurts me sometimes that I don't get a little more attention (after two years you'd think I'd be doing a bit more than 100 or so hits a day), but hey that's the way it is, and while I may bitch about it sometimes I think I have a good idea why that's so.

But whatever you all think of me, however you feel about what I write and say on the show, I think all of the regulars understand that when I put something into the public sphere I do so because I believe it. I'm not trying to get a rise out of people or just pass on talking points to benefit a political cause. OK sure I'm nominally a Democrat and a liberal, but I never look at an issue and say to myself "what is the Democratic take on this?" or "how does a liberal respond to this?" I feel how I feel and if I identify myself as a liberal Democrat it's because that's where my opinions generally lead me. And unlike other radio show hosts, I never claim to be totally correct on every (or even any) issue, but at least when someone reads the site or listens to the show they know quite clearly that I mean what I say.

This attitude comes natural to me. It's who I am. And I naively think that regardless of what other people's opinions are, that represents how they really feel about something. Which is why, regardless of how often it happens, it constantly amazes me when I see people say or do the most ludicrous things just to further a cause or because that's what they're supposed to think. Like the people who put together the Swift Boat ads on John Kerry, or the pundits bending over backwards to defend George W. Bush. Of course some of that is at least understandable in the context of that's what they get paid to do though I don't see the attraction of any job that requires you to lie or demean someone else. And the more money you get for doing that, the more (and more outrageously) you have to lie. Sounds like a pretty crazy life to me. I hope they enjoy the money because it can't be doing their mental health any good.

But even despite the money, don't people see how dangerous some lies are? Take the Plame thing. It's pretty clear what happened: the Bush people knew all along that Iraq would be a hard sell, so they lied and exaggerated and basically made stuff up to justify it. And then when Joe Wilson calls them on their claims, they react by revealing that his wife is an undercover CIA operative. And while such things are hard to prove in a court of law (in part because of the political power of the people involved), I think it's fairly obvious to everyone with a mind unclouded by ideology that pretty much everyone at the top, from Rove to Cheney to Bush, not only knew about it and condoned it, but were active participants.

I don't say that because I think that bringing these people down would advance liberal causes or Democratic politicians, I say that because I believe it and I think if a lot of people looked at it honestly, especially considering the history of this administration, they would believe that as well. And I think it's important to look at what happened because of what it's doing to the country and the world as a whole. How does it benefit Republicans if there is more terrorism? How does it benefit the wealthy few if they live in a more dangerous world? Again, that's crazy. There are reasons some things should be above politics, but I guess the drive for power blinds people to that. You'd think that after a few thousand years of this nonsense we'd have learned a little more.

But again at least they have a motive for what they do, or at least they think they do. What does it say about a poor working person who votes Republican because they have been led to believe that the Republicans are fighting for them? Have taxes gone down for the working class since the GOP took over? Are they going to go down for them any time in the foreseeable future? No on the former, highly doubtful on the latter. Only two things prevent these people from voting for Democrats if only to get these people out of office: one is the timidity of the current Democratic leadership (though maybe they're showing some signs after all? I'm still in a wait-and-see mode on that), but the other is undoubtedly a desire to stick to ideology, and that's just nuts. I know gay people who vote Republican. Why? Two percent of blacks vote that way as well. Huh? Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Even worse are people who ought to be united against a common enemy yet demand their own form ideological purity in choosing their allies. I see this all the time on the boards: petty bickering and pointless mind games. Are we the Judean People's Front or are we the People's Front of Judea? Does it really matter?

The enemy isn't George W. Bush. It's not Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. These people are just symptoms of a greater problem, and if we were honest with ourselves, if we looked past the raw, tribal, instincts that drive us and try to rise above them, we can build a better world. Or a less crazy one.

Cup O' Joe - Blog Of The Working Man!