Turbo Sigh of the week: Divisive, violent language...from liberals. SIGH.

Yes. It had to be done. I hate blogs that diverge from their purpose, like you go to an interior design blog and they are ranting about their children and you are like "What? I don't care about your kids.... or your dog." But this must be done because it is bugging me, its relevant, and I don't have another outlet. So here goes:

Somehow I got signed up for this CREDO action committee (I think they are associated with the "Queer the Census" folks, which I signed up with...hmm..) Anyway, they send me emails all the time advocating for progressivey things, which, being a liberal, I am generally OK with. But then they sent me this.



Yup. The Bracket of EVIL. Dun dun dunnnnn! Which, at first kind of made me giggle. The idea is that you vote for the people and things that are more "evil." The picture is kind of small, but you can vote between Dick Cheney and Fox News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, Tea Parties vs. Prop 8 people, Monsanto vs. Big Oil. And you go round after round until us liberals find the most "evil" conservative thing, and then CREDO will focus on destroying them.

While I think that Mr. Beck and Mr. Limbaugh are kind of ridiculous, using the word "Evil" is a bit harsh. Everyone complains about partisan politics and ideologues, but this is the kind of shit that starts it! Each side calling the other "evil" will never get things done. Again, while I think Glenn Beck specifically is kind of a crazy face, I feel like he really does care about America...even if I feel like he doesnt know what he is talking about and has some backwards ideas... this is certainly not EVIL, just misguided and a overzealous. This "Bracket of Evil" Language is also really violent in nature. Usually when something is evil, it is something to be thrown in jail or killed. While I wouldn't consider BlackWater to be "good"... I think it is really awful...but putting people in this "Bracket of Evil" just isn't fair. It puts all of these "Conservative things" into the "Evil" category, thereby leaving the audience to possibly deduce that all "conservative things" are Evil. Not fair. Not accurate. Ok, so I was willing to forgive that because I figured CREDO was just being Cheeky and funny. But then they sent me this:

Stand up to the Texas Taliban.
SSSSIIIGGGGHHHHHH.
First off, the whole Texas textbook thing is ridiculous, lets not lie... but comparing them to the Taliban???? Come on. This analogy is pitiful. Talk about your slippery slope! Ever heard of Godwin's law? Well the link is there, but here is the summary definition: The longer an online discussion lasts, the more likely an inappropriate "Nazi" analogy will appear. This inappropriate analogy robs appropriate uses of the "Hitler/Nazi" analogy of their validity, and also operates to shut down the debate at hand. "Oh yeah... well that is EXACTLY like Hitler and Nazi Germany!!!" Who is going to argue with that???

Ok... so essentially this "Stop the Texas Taliban" is using the same rhetorical strategy. Make a horrible Taliban analogy that shuts down the debate. Because if you don't agree with them, you are essentially saying "No. I LIKE the 'Texas Taliban'." and who wants that? Now, granted, we probably should stop the Texas Textbook people, but lets not compare them to the effing Taliban ok? If we want to... you know... "get along nice" with people and get shit done in Washington, lets stop calling each other EVIL and comparing each other to the Taliban. This also polarizes people to choose between sides such as "liberal" or "conservative" (or good and evil) which ignores a whole spectrum of people and debate.

With lots of Peace and Love and no Hate speech,
SHELBY LEANNE