XML FeedsMea Culpa: the Eating of the Crow, and some Observations thereon
By etee on Sep 2, 2009 | In ePinions, Politics | 3 feedbacks »
It would appear that at least some of the Bloggers o' the Right are having an attack of the mea culpas right now. Case in point: RightWingSparkle (aka TexasSparkle over at Chron.com) admits that We Were Wrong (cross-posted over here) as she says
We were wrong about The Patriot Act. We were wrong about warrantless wiretaps. You see, we believed at the time that these things were necessary to protect us in the war on terror. We trusted Bush on this.
We were WRONG.
We should never trust ANYONE in the government to restrict our freedoms in any way. Now that we have someone in office that we Republicans don't trust, we should see that.
Uh, excuse me, but... what is this we stuff!? There were many among us of the conservative persuasion who were opposed to things like the PATRIOT Act (and PATRIOT-II) and warrantless wiretaps back when they were originally brought up. Some actually blogged about their opposition, and in case you didn't notice, the response they got wasn't overwhelmingly positive. And, if our objections weren't enough to convince you of the folly of taking this path, then why the change of heart all of a sudden? What is it about Glenn Beck's golden oratory that makes him so believable?
I also wonder just how long this "conversion" will last. As I noted in a comment I made in response to your blog post,
The real test of your newly-discovered knowledge: will you remember this when a Republican next occupies the office, and tries to sell you and other conservatives on the "need" for some extraordinary power?
As I noted in an earlier blog post, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."[1] Unfortunately, history demonstrates that this type of lesson is too easily lost under the pressures of conflict, which is why calling something a "War on..." is such a popular trick to play on us. Think of the other "Wars on..." we have been called on to fight (or at least fund), and what rights we have had to give up sacrifices have been asked of us in their pursuit. Tell me, how are those 'wars' coming along again?
Most of the time, when I read someone publicly eating a helping of crow, I look to see if I can find the 'root cause' - what is driving the person to admit this. Sure enough, I think I may have found it, at the end of her post, where she says
It's time for people, of all political stripes, to demand that our government not grab more control over our lives. We have GOT to stop trusting our government just because our guys are in charge.
Isn't this ONE thing we can all agree on?
Probably not. After all, YOU couldn't see this when YOUR guy had the power, so why expect your opponents to?
[1] Santayana, George. (1905) The Life of Reason, p.284
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But, let's assume that her recent revelations were the result of some sort of Come-To-Jesus moment, and not just a ploy to take a dig at the Evil Liberals for some of the things that W and his administration did. Given her history (and the history of those in her collective), I really feel she will have to "walk the talk" and that the moment of truth will come when the next elephant takes up residence in the White House. Until then, I will keep the salt mill handy, if you know what I mean (and I think you do.)
~EdT.
I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it's something in the water. First of all, we have a local rightwingnuter blogger admitting that We Were Wrong. I have already said my piece on this startling revelation, including a bit of wondering about just who co...
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