Policing The Fringe

Mlle. McArdle agrees w/ someone about something.

01 Sep 2009 12:51 pm

Leaving the Lunatics Behind

This strikes me as a very good idea. If the right ever wants to get back in power, it needs to start policing its lunatic fringe.

The "this" to which she links is a call for a boycott of World News Daily & organizations that share email lists w/ WND. Compare that to "boycotts (of Whole Foods) don't usually work."

In comments, Reps. Kucinich & Waters are brought up as examples of left-wing lunacy that the dirty Dems didn't have to "police" before they regained power, nyah nyah.

Not mentioned: Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell, Regent U. grad, whose masters thesis has come to Internet light.

McDonnell also comes across as a zealous, ideologically driven opponent of the New Deal and the welfare state, utterly unreconciled to the principle of using government to provide a safety net for the neediest -- calling it a socialist plot to destroy the family. He writes:

[E]very totalitarian movement of the twentieth century has tried to destroy the family. The modern American experience can be seen as an ideological battle between the forces of democratic capitalism and socialism, with the latter's attempt to "substitute the power of the state for the rights, responsibilities, and authority of the family." (pg. 10)

Lunatic? Remember, this is a Republican candidate for governor of a large & important state, not a website.

Fun W/ Words:

[E]very totalitarian movement of the twentieth century has tried to destroy the familyindividual. The modern American experience can be seen as an ideological battle between the forces of democratic capitalism and socialism, with the latter's attempt to "substitute the power of the state for the rights, responsibilities, and authority of the familyindividual." (pg. 10)

See the stark difference between simple theocratic madness & Glibertarianism?