Not Nasty Enough (or Americans Don't Deserve Us)

Lots of folks (especially Greenwald and Orcinus and Billmon) have already viciously deconstructed yesterday's WSJ op-ed by Shelby Steele. The jist of the op-ed is that it's the darn wussiness leached into the American character by Liberal-generated, Liberal-propagated guilt over past sins of racism and colonialism that keeps Americans from approving of all-out warfare to vanquish America's enemies once and for all.

Rather than reiterate how utterly illogical, ahistorical, and mendaciously dishonest and deliberately backassward Steele's op-ed is, or to consider the ramifications of his argument (on the frightening image of brigades of Yellow Elephants salivating at the daydream of a good-old asskicking of not-whites), I urge you to read the above commenters.

What I do want to mention is that we have reached a crucial moment, one I didn't expect just yet: whenever tyrants, megalomaniacs, conquerors fail - and they always fail: miserably, bloodily, sloppily, spitefully - they blame their followers. The people were not brave enough, not hardy enough, not strong enough, not faithful enough. The people lacked the will to match the conqueror's vision. The conqueror would have succeeded gloriously but for spinelessness of the people, those contemptible worms. The people do not deserve to serve the conqueror.

I'm always sadly amused when reminded that for all the hatred the Power Right has against us Liberals and Progressives, it's nothing as virulent as the contempt they have for those they've fooled and ruled. As their dreams of lasting power pop, the loathing towards those fools they fed with gaybaiting and the war on Christmas and The Definer! in a codpiece on an aircraft carrier will be gruesomely toxic. It's started.