I tend to pick on the right quite a bit and I am considering upping my game. I have been caught up in the idea of the angry liberal lately. It is becoming more difficult to be the soft and kind, touchy feely, hippie type. Ann Coulter is the best model for what the left needs. She is a person who makes little to no sense, yet says things anyway. Without the anchor of a network, she can go on any show and say whatever she wants and sell books to those who want to read and listen to her. Nice work if you can get it, right?
The reality is that without an anchor, she can play into the standard view of the conservative white person and enjoy being what people expect. The problem with the left and the liberal snowflakes is that we are supposed to represent the softer side and the positive world view. Donald Trump has turned that on its head.
In terms of debate, the liberal line is tough to hold. How do you stand up for yourself while still being the caring loving individual you are? The answer is simple, in my humble opinion. We need the liberal equivalent of Ann Coulter.
Case in point: Helen Baristain is married to an undocumented immigrant. She is a Trump supporter. Her husband was just deported, despite having no criminal record and being an upstanding citizen (or rather being an upstanding person living in the U.S.). What is there to say? The soft, snowflake wants to say that I am sorry that happened. I want to say that she and we should do everything in our power to get him back into the arms of his loving family. The angry liberal in me wants to tell her tough and launch a new hashtag, (#Itoldyouso).
We are seeing more and more of it; people falling victim to their support of Donald Trump and the Republican regime. The interesting thing is that if something good happens, Trump takes credit. If something bad happens, he places blame everywhere but himself. I think we need someone to take him and others to task without trying to be politically correct. For the record, that person is not Bill Maher.
I am not saying that everyone should be mean to trolls. I am saying that someone should be mean. Someone needs to listen to some of the things these people are saying and say, "That is stupid." The inevitable reply to that will be, "Oh, I thought you liberals were supposed be all sweetness and light." Do we care and is that the line that lets people off the hook for the silly things they say? The idea that people should allow others to say what they want without consequence or rebuttal because it is the nice thing to do.
The problem is a simple one and easily solved. One of the reasons why we lose these debates and the commentary is because we have cede the lower ground. We all rise above when someone needs to get muddy. Also we assume that people are open to convincing or simply the viewing of relevant facts. I do not want to believe we are past the point of serious debate, but...
In my opinion and my wildest dream, we need a liberal goon. In hockey, often teams have a goon or an enforcer whose sole job is to punish players on the other team who foul them. The right has many such goons who come out of the woodwork when it is time to bash a liberal. We don't really have anyone. I would like to see someone sink to their level. Let's have a reporter with a White House press pass who just screams, "BULLSHIT!" when Sean Spicer said something that was untrue.
Fundamentally, the left has been on its back foot since November 7th or so. We have been in a defense posture where we are replying to the things that have happened as opposed to launching our own initiatives and building our base. We have been called on to work with Trump and those in the know are unwilling to do so, despite how many people it would help, because he would likely take credit for any progress made on the left and if anything fails, put them in a place to take the fall.
So I ask, where is the angry liberal out there yelling and screaming about the alt-right and telling people to STFU?
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