The Ashford Zone Blog

Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson longs for the good old days:

When I was a kid, it was easier for parents to keep their children in line. They didn’t have to depend as much on closeness and communication.

Yeah.  Fuck "closeness and communication".  When I have kids, I’m never going to speak with them, or even allow them in my presence.

Parents could control and protect their kids, more or less, by the imposition of rules and the isolation of their circumstances.

Shoving them into closets and car trunks works wonders, I hear.

Farmer John could take his sassy son out to the back forty acres and get his mind straight.

Farm tools — good for working the land and working over your kid!

Just the threat of that happening was enough to keep most teens from going off the deep end.

Yup.  Keeps your kids in line so they can grow up and beat their wives and kids, too.

Comrades, I regretfully inform you that one of our brothers-in-revolution is divulging secret communiques from the Central Committee.  If you see him at this weekend’s Lenin-palooza, eliminate him at once, without prejudice.  It is your duty to the Motherland.

UPDATE:  I want to write about this a little more.

The underlying message from the rightosphere (as Liberal Avenger points out) is this: "People who demonstrate against the war are either (a) commies; or (b) dupes of commies".  It’s basically the same meme trotted out almost 40 years ago, and it is just as silly now.  More silly, in fact, because communism pretty much died some, oh, fifteen years ago.

But here is my prediction.  On Monday, on some right wingnut blog, someone will post pictures of the American Communist Party handing out leaflets at the anti-war demonstration.  Or something along those lines.  The implicit (if not explicit message) is that anti-war people are in tacit cahoots with communists; therefore, their opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.

To demonstrate, let’s take a look at what Captain Ed wrote:

That doesn’t mean that everyone who attends these rallies lacks sincerity in the message. It should warn them, though, that continued association with such groups will eventually destroy their credibility.

Ever hear of a logical fallacy known as "guilt by association"?  That’s exactly what Captain Ed is employing.  Oddly enough, in his post, he quotes from the Washington Times, which is operated by Reverand Moon, who — aside from being a six-time felon — and a buddy to North Korea’s Kim Jung Il — thinks that Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves because they haven’t repented for killing Jesus.

So Captain, maybe you should check out your bedfellows.

Anyway, I don’t doubt that communists are against the War in Iraq.  So is David Duke.  And so are literally millions and millions of people — of all political stripes — in between.  Trying to "swiftboat" all of them as fringe simply does not pass the laugh test.

Captain, wake up.  The people who oppose this war — including a significant percentage of Republicans and a majority of Independents — are NOT the fringe.  It is a broad coalition — so broad, in fact, that I suspect many of them disagree in their fundamental political philosophies.   Thankfully, those disagreements are irrelevant; it is an anti-war protest — not a pro-A.N.S.W.E.R. rally, or a pro-whatever rally.  The people who attend, whether they are affiliated with a group or not (and I suspect most of them won’t be), are there for one thing only: to show their disapproval a war that was, and is, folly.

So try as you might, Captain, you cannot marginalize the majority of American people with smears and generalized labels.  YOU are in the margin, Captain, and if you care to venture outside of your echo chamber and go to Washington (leave your blinders at home, please), you’ll see for yourself.  Asshole.  And fuck you too, Glenn "Spinning the Protests" Reynolds.