Tuesday, July 11, 2023

The Alliance Bulletin: Issue #348


I have recently been scolded yet again for not loving some of our Never Trump "allies" uncritically enough.  For noticing their self-serving lies and hypocrisies and speaking of them in public.  This is, of course, verboten: the rule, as understand it, is this: it is a wicked, bad, naughty, evil thing for a Liberal to speak ill of our recently-former Republican "allies".  

Period.  Full stop.

But what about the fact that our recently-former Republican "allies" can't seem to go a single day without finding some way to let the world know how seethingly unfair it is that they are that circumstances have to forced them to share a bathroom with us stupid, feckless Liberals?

Well apparently that is perfectly OK.  After all, since they sincerely believe that Democrats are an empty-headed drum-circle of dupes and chucklefucks who refuse to appreciate just how awesome Joe Manchin is, it's just not reasonable for us to expect them change anything about themselves or their beliefs to accommodate us.

And what is the most toxic and egregious lie many of our "allies" tell?  

The Both Sides Do It Lie. 

We now join MSNBC's subsidiary, The Bulwark, already in progress.  The Bulwark's top kick, Charlie Sykes, is currently on vacation so he turned hosting duties over to the odious Mona Charen who invited the National Review's Jay Nordlinger to commiserate with her about how awful Both Sides are.  Remember kids, these are our "allies" about whom we are to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil:

Charen:  You have figures like Tucker Carlson who, again, he is no longer a God ... doesn't have the doesn't have the platform he once did, but influencers like that who are outright Putin apologists?  Spokespeople?  Talk about what's happened to the Right.

Nordlinger: There's an old expression "You are what you eat".  And for the last several years I've taken to saying "You are the media you consume".   I listen to people, I have a sense of what media they consume and a lot of the media on the Right are hostile to Ukraine and friendly to the Kremlin. This is quite a reversal and, y'know,  some people who are near and dear to me are anti-Ukraine and pro-Kremlin.  And they are victims, if you will.

driftglass:  They're not fucking victims.  Jesus 12-Step Christ, weren't you people the self-proclaimed Party of Personal Responsibility, like, five minutes ago? 

Nordlinger: Maybe they aren't. 

driftglass:  That's it Nordly!  Hang onto that thought for just a few...more...

Nordlinger:  But I'll say ... victims of the media they consume.

driftglass:  Nooo!  You blew it Nordly!  You were *this* close, but you couldn't help yourself, cold you?  No, they are not  "victims of the media they consume".  Unless they are children, or seriously mentally underclocking, or someone has been holding a bazooka to their head for the past 30 years, forcing them to listen to Limbaugh and Hannity and Loesch and O'Reilly and Beck and Carlson and on and on and on, they are responsible for the media they consume.  All they ever had to do was pry their asses up from the La-Z-Boy and change the fucking channel, but they chose not to.  And that is on them.

Nordlinger:  ...victims of the media they consume which says that Ukraine is a Woke Nation with Pride Flags.  In a free society you can fly the flag you want.  And that Putin's Russia is some -- pardon expression -- bulwark against Wokeness.  And that Putin is a great defender of Christian civilization.  And all this and it's just rank propaganda.  It's all lies and a lot of people have bought it.   And there's also the fact that the president is a Democrat, and if you're in one tribe you have to be against what the other tribe is doing even if the other tribe is pushing motherhood and hot fudge sundaes.

driftglass:  Here it comes...

Charen:  Yeah, you know, if Biden announces that he is for puppy rescue organizations, support for them will go down among Republicans immediately.

driftglass:  Wait for it.  Wait for it...

Nordlinger: And vice versa 

Charen:  Yeah and vice versa.

Nordlinger:  It's a tribalistic instinct...

And there it is.  The spoor of virtually every Never Trumper

Reflexive.   

Utterly toxic.  

And perfect, because the Both Side lie gives them permission to automatically dismiss everyone to their Left as nothing but mindlessly"tribal" goofs just like Republicans.  Which, in turn, elevates their clear-headed, non-tribal, morally-superior selves above the rest of us irrational peons down here in the grimy, "tribal" scrum.  

Both Sides Do It is also, perversely, the safest lie in the world to tell because so many professional cowards and influential grifters already depend on it to hide their cowardice and ambition, that their collective, mutual need to defend it makes it nearly indestructible. 



Burn The Lifeboats

6 comments:

johnbodensteiner said...

I had a strange dislike for people like Sykes and those other fools like Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, and I absolutely refuse to watch or listen to G Conway, but after listening to you and your wife and Olbermann, I can finally put a definition to my dislike and uneasiness with these goobers.

Robt said...

Agreeing to the Rules of engagement with a never Trumper to a Trumper is not something I do anymore.

If a discussion begins, they will always impose their Rules of engagement on you if they can.

I still hear republicans say that "congress" is all corrupt. When I ask, if this GOPer or that GOPer is who they speak of. Why do you vote for them?
Then the partisan extremist bubbles up and they tell me their list of Democrats that are corrupt. but can never name one single republican. Not even the Newt.


Take a thief and Bank president/ The bank president has other people's money and sometimes overcharges his clients. The Thief sees that money and wants to manage it for himself. They both want to manage other people's money.
So both sides, they are the same.

Raven Onthill said...

Thing is, I don't believe these people will stick with us when the going gets rough. Probably Stuart Stevens. Just possibly Joe Walsh. But most of them? They'll jump ship in favor of some new conservative hope, or just because the going get rough.

Kevin Holsinger said...

Good morning, Mr. Glass.

To quote "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"...Stop right theeeeeere!

"...victims of the media they consume which says that Ukraine is a Woke Nation with Pride Flags. In a free society you can fly the flag you want. And that Putin's Russia is some -- pardon expression -- bulwark against Wokeness."

Are there a lot of Black people in Ukraine who are being treated very well by the police? Is Ukraine's nickname "Woketopia?" WHERE did Mr. Nordlinger get this idea from about why some people don't support Ukraine? Is this an actual thing that I haven't heard of? Or does he not listen to the very media he's commenting on?

Best to you and your loved ones.

Jon Sitzman said...

G'd morning, DG and BG!

It's nice to see your comments sections getting more love. I hope the message is getting out. I mention you on other liberal blogs fairly frequently (and it always makes my heart swell when someone recognizes and compliments you, which happens somewhat frequently). Hope it helps.

May I ask who is giving you all this grief about being nice to Never-Trumpers? Please feel free to email the answer, if you answer at all (I won't be offended if you choose not to).

Hope your home life is returning to normal in the wake of the storms, or already has done. Please give your kitties some treats from me. :-)

Stay safe.

Hallbowski23 said...

I'm a type 2 diabetic. Did I get that way because I was victimized by Hostess and Little Debbie and Ben and Jerry's? No. There were alternative foods I could have sought out but too often I opted for the worst choices and here I am. Just like the dittoheads out here who took in the words of Rush, Hannity, etc. as fact and gospel instead of seeking out other viewpoints.