Stickybuffalo.com

So, y’know how the right wing keeps getting crazier and crazier in their hatred for the President? I’d assumed it was just because they’re, well, crazy, and unrepentantly racist and just generally bad people. But it suddenly occurs to me that it’s not just that they’re getting carried away with partisan opposition, craziness, unrepentant racism, and general malevolence. Consider the following scenarios:

1. Particularly harmful elements of Party A controls all levers of government for close to a decade. Nearly all of the worst fears of a particular segment of Party B are realized, thanks to the avarice and misanthropy of the ruling portion of Party A. For this wing of Party B, it’s as if their society is completely turned on its ear, everything they hold dear is being crushed, and there’s little cause for optimism. Suddenly, Party B wins control of the government in a landslide, thanks in large part to Party B’s sudden interest in the aforementioned segment of itself. Things start to improve immediately, and Party B rejoices. Unfortunately, a horrific economic crisis explodes at pretty much the same time, and the outlook is extremely dire. However, given the demonstrated competence of the leader of Party B, as well as the widespread acceptance of the idea that recovery will mean a dramatic structuring of society in a way that the recently empowered part of Party B has been working toward for decades, there is cause for optimism. So members of this particular segment of Party B find themselves simultaneously relieved, exhilarated, and terrified.

2. Party A has controlled government for close to a decade, and despite early popularity, the segment of Party A that seems to be running things becomes increasingly reviled by the majority of the citizenry, even as all the things they fought to see happen for decades are implemented. As it turns out, they were wrong about pretty much everything. To make matters worse, Party B is getting much more popular at the same time that it is coming under the sway of the worst enemies of Party A. And, on top of all of this, the economy has completely collapsed (probably as a result of the implementation of Party A’s favorite fantasies), which is setting the stage for massive changes that happen to resonate strongly with the worst fears of Party A’s suddenly unpopular wing. There is nothing for these Party A stalwarts to feel other than defeat and hopelessness. They are utterly crushed and humiliated, perhaps permanently, probably for decades to come, but certainly for the next several years. There is no room for optimism.

Things are really bad for wingnuts right now. You remember in late 2001 how all us progressives started to feel a certain dread about what was to come? And how reality ended up much worse than we were expecting? And how each new day brought fresh horrors that could barely be believed? That’s where they are right now: everything they’ve ever believed in is blowing up in their faces, they’ve become completely politically marginal, their enemies are in power, and they’re afraid that Barack Obama will use the economic meltdown in the same way that George W. Bush used 9/11: as a political cudgel to smash in the brains of anybody who stands in the way of a radical agenda.

Of course, for most of us, Obama’s agenda isn’t nearly radical enough, but remember that the wingnuts think Karl Marx was an avatar of Satan. They have no idea what socialism is, except that it’s roughly synonymous with evil. And they’re proud of this ignorance: to know Marx/Satan is to become him. So, armed with willful ignorance, an alarming capacity for cognitive dissonance, and only the merest seed of empathy (though only in the form of “it could happen to ME!”), they go nuts. Barack Obama becomes their George W. Bush (which, given their dedication to dualistic thinking, makes perfect sense to them).

It’s not that I have any sympathy for the wingnuts (how could anybody?), but I’m trying to feel a little bit of empathy for them, if for no other reason than it’ll make it easier to keep beating them. Plus, right now we’re where the wingers were in 2002, and maybe if we understand them better, we can avoid their fate, or at least learn how NOT to lose when we’re inevitably tossed from power.