re: #36 yesandno

He makes a lot of vaid points. But why can’t we find someone who has “gravitas” and can carry the same message? I don’t hate Beck, but recently I have been forced to question much of what he does on the TV program.

The advantage that the Democrat Party has in the modern era of American politics is that they don’t ever express embarrassment at the behavior of their “Progressive” wing. They’ll tolerate 9/11 troofers, Code Pink wackos, and the nutroots bloggers and commenters so long as they continue to reap political benefit from them. Notice it’s only when they turn on the Democrat establishment that the Democrat politicians have anything untoward to say to them (as in Barney Frank telling the Code Pink ladies in his hearing room to “grow up”).

Republicans are far more sensitive to appearance. Sarah Palin embarrassed a lot of “conservative” pundits because she talked like the sheriff in Fargo instead of Bill Buckley on Firing Line. Glenn Beck could have used any of a number of other visual metaphors in this clip and made the same point, but the way he chose to do it looked over-the-top. And even where there are basic differences in belief and policy — as in a Bobby Jindal pushing creationism in Louisiana public schools — part of the attack on him is based on his religious beliefs themselves, and not the pernicious fact of him trying to inject specific religious views into the public schools.

We’re in a clash of civilizations, and the people on the Left in the USA have chosen the path of appeasement and mollification of our enemies. If the people on the Right choose to focus on division rather than coalition-building, the appeasers and mollifiers will have a clear field to pursue their policies and position the West to lack the will and the physical wherewithal to win against a relentless push from radical Islam.