Patterico's Pontifications

11/22/2017

Hyper-Partisanship Is More Dangerous Than “The Left”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:00 am



I am a conservative — at least, what we used to call a conservative. I don’t think I’ve ever voted for a Democrat in my life. I’m probably as hard-core in favor of limited government, the Constitution, and the free market as anyone you’ll find on this site. I oppose government intervention in the economy in all forms, whether it’s ObamaCare distorting the health insurance market or the Fed distorting the nature of capital formation by setting interest rates. I promote the appointment of judges who adhere to constitutional principles and oppose the made-up “right” to abortion. I seek the slashing of our federal government, the wholesale elimination of most federal “departments,” and the gradual reform of entitlements to protect our children from the punishing taxation and likely economic collapse that follows a long period of fiscal irresponsibility.

But there is a growing force that endangers most of the principles I believe in. No, it’s not “the left.” It’s tribalism.

The real danger to our country is hyper-partisanship.

Think of all the stuff that “the left” does that you oppose. Maybe it’s pushing for open border policies or sanctuary cities. Maybe it’s advocating an unlimited right to kill babies at any time during (or even after!) a pregnancy. Maybe it’s advocating ruinous regulation and taxation, disastrous foreign policy, or any number of other things.

Are the people who advocate these policies hyper-partisans? Yes, they are.

Is hyper-partisanship a problem only on the left? Um, no.

Many writers at RedState have written pieces recently I admire, that either focus on or touch on the corrosive nature of increased tribalism on both sides in the era of Donald Trump and now Roy Moore. Kimberly Ross wrote New Poll About Sexual Harassment Shows How Infected The GOP Is With Tribalism in which she said: “to some, politics is all that matters. Principles need not apply.” Kimberly also wrote Isn’t It Time That We Start Policing Our Own Side? in which she encouraged readers to “[t]ake a blowtorch to the ideas that lead us down the paths of rationalization.” Jim Jamitis had a brilliant piece titled Anti-Anti-Trump Obsessives Are Every Bit As Harebrained As The Loony Left, in which he said: “If you’re employing double standards to defend your tribe, you don’t deserve my trust either—or my attention.” Joe Cunningham has warned us: “The tribalism of the Left and Right is more about gaining power than it is about doing what we feel is right.”

I could go on and on. Ben Howe has written extensively about the dangers of hyper-partisanship. Susan Wright regularly ridicules “Branch Trumpidians” — people who don’t just support Donald Trump as a distasteful but preferable alternative to Hillary Clinton, but who actively defend every aspect of his buffoonish bullying and lying. Caleb Howe has written about how Trumpism provides its adherents with “a sort of checklist of things one is supposed to think” that blinds them to an objective analysis of something like the Roy Moore allegations. I know I am leaving out others.

I couldn’t say it any better than these folks. And while Donald Trump started the ball rolling, the dangers all these writers warned about have reached peak insanity with the special election in Alabama involving Roy Moore. As Caleb Howe put it in his epic post on Roy Moore: “I’m sorry to say, it seems a great number of people in Alabama aren’t all that concerned about the accusations, even should they prove true.” And indeed, according to the Boston Globe, pastor Earl Wise “said he would support Moore even if the allegations were true and the candidate was proved to have sexually molested teenage girls and women.” Holy hyper-partisanship, Batman! A direct quote from the pastor: “there are some 14-year-olds, who, the way they look, could pass for 20.” The governor of Alabama said she had no reason to disbelieve the women who have accused Roy Moore — but hey, vote for the Republican anyway because he is a Republican. And David Horowitz agrees, saying: “In my view Moore is guilty as accused” but vote for him anyway because Democrats.

This is sick. When we’ve reached the point where we are willing to say that, even if a man sexually molested a 14-year-old, that’s cool because we need 52 votes for feckless Republicanism and not 51, we are lost. A friend who sent an email with the pastor’s comment about 14-year-olds looking like 20-year-olds cited Mark 8:36: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Indeed.

And of course the partisanship occurs on both sides. In a particularly shameful tweet, a woman named Kate Harding wrote that Democrats should excuse Al Franken and others who abuse women, saying: “I am sincerely arguing that we should not force a Democrat to resign for sexually abusing a woman.” Why? Because Republicans wouldn’t — and because defending them promotes the policies we like:

If you oppose tribalism of the type shown by Kate Harding, you are appalled by sentiments like this no matter whose side they appear on. But if you’re a hyper-partisan yourself, you might slam her as disgusting while ignoring similar behavior from your own side. If you’re especially fond of moral relativism and chucking over principles for naked political gain, you might even go so far as to praise her for her clear-eyed hardheadedness. (!)

Such sentiments are, in my view, repulsive, and exactly what is wrong with this country. Again, if you held your nose to select Donald Trump over Hillary, I am not talking about you. But if you’re praising the attitudes of the pastor, or David Horowitz, or Kate Harding — if you’re saying that we have to vote for the child molester FOR THE CHILDREN! — then yes, I am talking about you. You and your attitudes are the problem with society today.

And, to bring us full circle, this hyper-partisanship also causes Republicans to define their issues, not in terms of liberty, limited government, the free market, and the Constitution, but instead by whatever causes “the left” to cry those yummy yummy leftist tears. This means that a cynical campaign of incessantly starting public feuds with unlikable people can serve, in the eyes of mindless partisans, as an adequate substitute for spending cuts in an era of $20 trillion deficits. Yammering about football players taking a knee is the new hotness, while repealing ObamaCare is not worth the hard work it takes to twist arms in the U.S. Senate. We’re sacrificing more and more of the issues we claimed to care about on the altar of “fighting the left” on issues that are trivial but entertaining.

We have become a reality show culture led by a reality show president. And our kids are going to pay dearly for it.

And the reason for that isn’t “the left.” It’s the hyper-partisan forces of “the left” combined with the hyper-partisan forces of the right, joyously slinging mud and engaging in stupid pointless battles for clicks and applause and poll numbers, while the country goes to hell and our children’s future is a set of upside-down cards in a Monopoly game. (Google it, millenials.)

I, for one, am proud to join forces with my colleagues at RedState who oppose this dangerous trend. I’d like it if you stood with us as well.

UPDATE: Stand also with my colleague and wonderful guest blogger Dana, who addressed this same issue in a post that reflects my own thoughts perfectly: When Party Loyalty Begets a Collective Moral Bankruptcy. I hope to partially make up for my inexcusable failure to link that post above, by making it central to further reflections that I hope to post along these lines in the next couple of days.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

148 Responses to “Hyper-Partisanship Is More Dangerous Than “The Left””

  1. If only we could resurrect Teddy Roosevelt. He was a good blend of free market, minimal taxes and good stewardship of Mother Earth. They don’t make conservatives like Bull Moose anymore.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  2. The problem of course being that the left has always been hyper-partisan and all efforts by the right to avoid it have been successfully used by the left against the right. The left never makes any concession and any small supposedly temporary concession given by the right is immediately colonized by the left and declared leftist sovereign territory forever.

    Conservative hyper-partisanship is a recent defensive reaction to the insanities of the left.

    Fred Z (05d938)

  3. Republican victims ..lol

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  4. It almost always ends badly with “conservatives” along with the Republican establishment going weak in the knees and having no stomach for the fight.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  5. Cleek’s Law

    Today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today, updated daily.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  6. The Left is like the Japanese of WW2, only with lowT. Countless atrocities, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Just imagine the American military mewling about “we musn’t be like them”…

    One must fight fire with even more fire. They are in it to win it.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  7. The problem with Patterico’s post is that he posits only two tribes – left and right. But there’s (at least) two tribes on the right alone – the populists and the Never-Trumpers. And they are each as tribal as the other – in a lot of ways, the NeverTrumpers are a lot closer to the Left than to the populists (just look at David Frum, for example). And the Never-Trumpers have their own buffoonish candidates (Egg McMuffin! John Kasich!) too. It’s just that their buffoonish candidates lost to the buffoonish candidate of the populists. Frankly, the Never-Trumpers will need to work on their own hyper-partisanship with respect to the populists before working on partisanship with respect to the left.

    (Full disclosure – I held my nose and voted for Hillary).

    A.S. (23bc66)

  8. Lay a huge growler right on their pointed heads.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  9. Yes but he crushed anarchist scum like you Ben, gabes fan fiction is entertaining, but I wouldn’t tale it seriously.

    narciso (d1f714)

  10. And I also wrote about the dangers of this on the post, When Party Loyalty Begets a Collective Moral Bankruptcy:

    But convenience is not limited to the left side of the aisle. The disgust I have at the Democrats’ decades-long denials and efforts to dismiss and rationalize Bill Clinton’s awfulness until politically convenient to admit them, is the same disgust I feel about the right side of the aisle currently circling the wagons around Roy Moore. To my mind, there is little difference. Both men have been accused of heinous behavior toward women. And far worse, claims of sexual assault on this side of the aisle involved a minor. Victims have shared their stories. Family members and friends have backed them up in their allegations. And yet, because Moore is a Republican, a party which once claimed the moral high ground, it is now seemingly willing to overlook the accusations, make excuses for Moore and dismiss any allegations because of the R after his name and because there is an upcoming election. It’s taken a long time, but Republicans are now this close to becoming as morally bankrupt as are the Democrats.

    Dana (023079)

  11. But some of my best friends are liberals!

    Kevin M (752a26)

  12. All kidding aside, one aspect of hyperpartisanship is Othering those who don’t agree with you. Unfriending someone because they voted wrong, forcing someone out of a company because they donated wrong, picketing a business because the owners (or sometimes an employee) is wrongly spoken on some issue.

    And certainly none of THOSE people are among your friends. It’s a bigotry worn openly, even proudly. The ideological Klan. And it happens on the fringes of all parties, not just Ds and Rs.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  13. Kate Harding is not showing her partisanship to Democrats. She is showing her partisanship to Feminists. Franken should not be forced to resign because the will of the people (loony though they may be) who elected him, through the democratic process, should not be disregarded because of what a couple of women said, but Ms. Harding would really get into trouble should she say that.

    nk (dbc370)

  14. Hard to argue or calmly disagree with the just plain crazy… https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/281501/

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  15. If you want to see hyper-partisanship, look to college campuses. Look at the news media. Look at unions. Look at public employees.

    But no – look at people who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt based on politics, THAT’S where the real danger is.

    Smfh

    harkin (a9a478)

  16. Watching trolls flame eachother every freaking day on here and thinking about having the government they deserve. Good and hard.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  17. I have always been with you on this topic, Patterico. Ditto, Dana.

    Simon Jester (11f8db)

  18. The problem is that, unlike a court, there is no enforcement mechanism to ensure that the same standards are applied across the board.

    By any normal measure, Bill Clinton should have been removed from office for perjury. The judicial system depends on people telling the truth, and declarations “under penalty of perjury” are submitted hundreds of times every weekday. Perjury is a direct attack on the judicial branch of the government.

    Yet the Democrats, on a strictly partisan basis refused to do their Constitutional duty.

    Not to mention that what he did with an intern would arouse extreme ire if done by, say, President Bush.

    I am reminded of Scalia’s opinion in RAV v. St. Paul (1992): “St. Paul has no such authority to license one side of a debate to fight freestyle, while requiring the other to follow Marquis of Queensbury Rules.”

    I agree that hyper-partisanship is very bad. But I have a hard time giving credit to someone raising that argument whose political allies gave a pass to someone for a couple of decades until he and his wife were past their political prime

    Bored Lawyer (998177)

  19. The Party is not always right, but it can be right. And sometimes you can’t pick your party. Like me and my party of old white men.

    nk (dbc370)

  20. Narco: Go stop democracy in your tropical junta.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  21. This does not bode well… https://vimeo.com/239050403

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  22. As our Founding Fathers knew, the greatest threat to The American Republic would come in the form of entrenched political parties encouraging ever greater levels of partisianship in order to dominate the Federal government.

    The only force strong enough to withstand an abusive central authority was the independent states of the Union, the Founders relied on the Senate (two senators appointed by their respective state legislatures) as a check to balance the federal threat, but Lincoln’s victory in the War of Northern Aggression and the subsequent rape of the former Confederacy firmly established the dominace of the Federal government over the states.

    Which dominace was codified in the War Amendments to our Constitution, most germaine was the 17th which stripped the authority of state legislatures to appoint senators and instituted statewide elections, which destroyed any opportunity for the states to effectively limit federal authority.

    Great issues would henceforth be fought by incrasingly partisian national political parties seeking electorial office, and most especially the office of Chief Executive.

    ropelight (500027)

  23. As I said: Washington was my city. But it is a city for all Americans, as the seat of our democracy. For his efforts to make the city seem, instead, like a nonstop exclusive party to which almost nobody is invited, I dare say Halperin is the single journalist most responsible for Donald Trump. Think that’s too bold? Name me another.

    After all, what did Trump respond to? Most of all, two things: the sense among Americans that the language of politics has become an incomprehensible jargon of the elite, and the sense that a disaster or a dramatic change that will upend everything looms at every moment — hidden from sight, but still imminent.

    We have an apocalyptic politics in part because Halperin helped promote an apocalyptic approach to political coverage. It made him and his little scoops seem hugely important: that conversation he overheard between McConnell and Schumer meant everything. The title of his career-making book, 2008’s Game Change — which sold over 350,000 copies and netted him and his coauthor John Heilemann a $5 million advance for a follow-up — says everything. Politics is a game and its rules are constantly being transformed. Its intentionally hyperbolic, breathless text presented details like the fact that Obama “woke up late … and went for a haircut with his pal Marty Nesbitt” the way an ancient monarch’s courtiers used to examine his every sigh for divine omens.

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/evefairbanks/mark-halperin-poisoned-our-politics?utm_term=.vs2KKXRqV#.hm4nnz7yo

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  24. Where has Heilemann been hiding?

    Come out. Come out wherever you are.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  25. 21 – Lord Boyer (excuse, couldn’t help myself:

    “St. Paul has no such authority to license one side of a debate to fight freestyle, while requiring the other to follow Marquis of Queensbury Rules.”

    Great quote from Scalia.

    That is exactly how conservatives have been expected to fight for the past three decades. Now that this ridiculousness has bled over slightly to the other side we are all warned that this is a non-partisan [cough] issue and by no means can you blame liberals and/or democrats for the loss of standards.

    Attempt to point out inconvenient facts? But Trump!

    harkin (fcaff0)

  26. no means can you blame liberals and/or democrats for the loss of standards.

    I’ve never heard such I-me-mine wailing and gnashing of teeth, though toothless.

    Anecdotal, fact-free rant of self pity reflects the lack of self-deprecation that is core to Pattericos frustration with you knuckleheads.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  27. Guildensterns balding pate is often seen on msnbc, Julianne bender his contrivance traveled in the most spurious innuendom

    narciso (4f079d)

  28. Prisoner’s Dilemma.

    NJRob (b00189)

  29. It appears you’ve forced beenburned into a safe space retreat, harkin.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  30. Lincoln’s victory in the War of Northern Aggression and the subsequent rape of the former Confederacy firmly established the dominace of the Federal government over the states.

    I would have shot the planters and their male offspring, so they got off easy.

    Which dominace was codified in the War Amendments to our Constitution, most germaine was the 17th which stripped the authority of state legislatures to appoint senators and instituted statewide elections, which destroyed any opportunity for the states to effectively limit federal authority.

    An Amendment passed in 1913 is a Civil War Amendment? Good God, but where do you GET your information?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  31. The dangers of tribalism I recognize, but I must ask: How does one fight tribalism without succumbing to it oneself? Hyper-partisanship was adopted by the Left because it worked, and it is now being adopted by the Right because nothing else has worked to stop it. (In the game theory of The Prisoner’s Dilemma, the optimal cooperative strategy only develops over multiple iterations where the betrayal strategy is swiftly punished by a return betrayal.)

    If there is a more effective alternative, what is it, and how is it practiced/deployed? And what will it cost in the interim?

    Stephen J. (308ea7)

  32. C’mon Stephen.

    They can’t be clueless as well as stoopid while they outflank you and roll you like marks at the same time.

    There is little logic in that narrative.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  33. We have become a reality show culture led by a reality show president. And our kids are going to pay dearly for it.

    And it was a ‘conservative’ icon and his actress wife who injected the very virus you lament into the body politic and cultivated it to their fullest advantage. Hence, today, Americans don’t want to be governed, they wish to be entertained:

    “I don’t know how anybody can serve in public office without being an actor.” – Ronald Reagan.

    The kids always manage to do fine in their own time. Enjoy your turkey time w/t family, P. And Happy Thanksgiving to all!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  34. Oh, I forgot their evil too.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  35. Isn’t that the heart of ethics? The hard part is having them when it doesn’t seem to pay off.

    DRJ (d18ca6)

  36. Fear not, for this is what these predominantly leftwing titans of industry are producing now: https://vimeo.com/239050403

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  37. “If you are not loyal to your own, to whom are you loyal?” is really the question. To a transcendent morality, to a “higher ideal”, to your own self and your judgment of how things should be?

    nk (dbc370)

  38. “They can’t be clueless as well as stoopid while they outflank you and roll you like marks at the same time. There is little logic in that narrative.”

    Well, I never thought of myself as stupid, but I am quite frequently clueless; viz. right now, for an example — I’m not sure I follow this answer. Who is this ‘they’ you’re referring to? Whom did you infer I was calling clueless and stupid?

    I simply wanted to hear some practical answers to the basic question: how to resist an opposing group’s hyper-partisanship without becoming hyper-partisan.

    Stephen J. (308ea7)

  39. Rejected conservatism in 1964 when Goldwater opposed sending man to the moon.
    Abandoned organized religious services when God went on vacation in 1968.

    We touched the moon. But God, I fear, is still vacationing at his condo near Jupiter– the planet, not the Florida retirement community.

    “Zero-G and I feel fine.” – John Glenn, February 20, 1962

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  40. Regardless of your hyper-partisan leanings, I would strongly urge everyone to read the transcript — or listen to the audio — of Hugh Hewitt’s 45 minute long interview yesterday with Hillary Clinton.

    It’s a very revealing look at her when she’s being questioned by a political adversary — but in a very respectful and thoughtful way.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  41. it would be interesting to know who they are:

    https://twitter.com/PoliticalShort/status/933412138286178304

    narciso (d1f714)

  42. For decades those on the left have referred to conservatives by many names such as: morons, racists, stupid, unsophisticated, ignorant, religious fanatics, racists, misogynists, Islamophobe, racists, homophobes, narrow minded, racists, and lately Nazis, white supremacists, racists, Deplorables, and racists.

    Conservatives have countered with the powerful argument: WE ARE NOT, SO THERE!!!

    So now we are at the point where we are shoveling the sh!t back at them and we’re bad? Then all that is left is for the shooting to begin.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  43. UPDATE: Stand also with my colleague and wonderful guest blogger Dana, who addressed this same issue in a post that reflects my own thoughts perfectly: When Party Loyalty Begets a Collective Moral Bankruptcy. I hope to partially make up for my inexcusable failure to link that post above, by making it central to further reflections that I hope to post along these lines in the next couple of days.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  44. Analysis of court records calls into question account given by Leigh Corfman about Moore’s inappropriate conduct towards her.

    And there is some evidence that the yearbook inscription that forms part of the basis for the account by Beverly Young Nelson may have been doctored. Her attorney, Gloria Alred, has refused to allow the original to be examined so the age of the ink can be determined. The telltale sign is that the signature has a “DA” next to it. There is no reason for that, and Moore has denied that he put “DA” next to his name.

    But you know where “DA” appears? On documents Moore signed as Judge, and they were the initials of his Court Clerk. Not sure why his Court Clerk would initial documents, but it seems possible that if someone forged the signature by tracing something off a court document with his signature — like Young’s divorced decree that he entered as Judge — they might have mistakenly believed that the DA was something that Moore put on his signature.

    As for Corfman, it turns out that court records from the Feb. 1979 custody hearing that her mother attended — where Corfman says she first met Moore and he asked for her number, etc., — was actually a hearing asked for by her father in order to gain physical custody of Corfman because of “disciplinary and behavioral problems” she was exhibiting while in her mother’s custody. The Court ordered that Custody be switched to her father, and she was ordered to move in with him no later than March 4, 1979, approximately 2 weeks after the hearing.

    There is no information about the nature of the “disciplinary and behavioral problems” — but they seem to have been significant enough for the Court to take her away from her mother and place her with her father.

    She returned to live with her mother more than a year later, with the Court noting that her “disciplinary and behavioral problems” had resolved.

    Should she be believed? I don’t think this resolves the issue one way or another, but it certainly reveals a new aspect to the emotional problems of a 14 year old at the time.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  45. The easy solution to the Roy Moore problem is for Mitch McConnell. In exchange for a tepid non-endorsement and holding back on demands for withdrawal, Moore agrees to a deal. McConnell announces:

    “Serious accusations have been made against Judge Moore. However, under our system, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Judge Moore has assured me that if he won the Senate seat on December 12, then he will resign his seat in the Senate if these charges are later proven.”

    Can’t we be clever and coy instead of so damned sanctimonious? Take my advice, and we’ll keep the Senate seat Republican and let the governor appoint his replacement.

    El Gipper (f1f816)

  46. @43. Thing is, swc, that’s a sliver of the very sickness Patterico– and I as well BTW– laments: the motivation to do the sit down was not to exchange viewpoints– but to hype her book.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. Isn’t that the heart of ethics? The hard part is having them when it doesn’t seem to pay off.
    DRJ (d18ca6) — 11/22/2017 @ 12:18 pm

    Unless you believe in God.

    Psalm 111

    …The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
    A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
    His praise endures forever.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  48. Stephen says…Hyper-partisanship was adopted by the Left because it worked, and it is now being adopted by the Right because nothing else has worked to stop it

    To which I reply…They can’t be clueless as well as stoopid while they outflank you and roll you like marks at the same time.

    And your question..Well, I never thought of myself as stupid, but I am quite frequently clueless; viz. right now, for an example — I’m not sure I follow this answer. Who is this ‘they’ you’re referring to? Whom did you infer I was calling clueless and stupid?

    They being the Left..you are on the right. Right?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  49. So says she right?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  50. well he was sleeping with maria shriver, before we know of Arnold’s indiscretions,

    https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Face.mu.nu%2F

    narciso (d1f714)

  51. It appears you’ve forced beenburned into a safe space retreat”

    Like coloring books, play-doh and cancelling exams, it’s much easier than thinking.

    harkin (a9a478)

  52. What makes you think you’re thinking?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  53. You left out the slinky, harkin.

    slink·y
    [ˈsliNGkē]
    ADJECTIVE

    graceful and sinuous in movement, line, or figure:
    “a slinky black evening dress”
    synonyms: tight-fitting · close-fitting · form-fitting · figure-hugging · [more]

    NOUN

    a toy consisting of a flexible helical spring that can be made to somersault down steps.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  54. Decide whether or not you belong to Tribe Trumpidian.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  55. 42… I turned away from liberalism during the 70s when I saw repeated instances of well-intended policies resulting in abject failure and my rejection was strengthened over the years as I witnessed the utter destruction of the black family unit that resulted from the so-called War on Poverty and the Left’s embrace and promotion of destructive behaviors.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  56. I belong to tribe Steve57.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  57. Lincoln was hyper-partisan. I don’t think he ever had an incident of bipartisanship with the donkey mascot party.

    jcurtis (ef4f19)

  58. …I saw repeated instances of well-intended policies resulting in abject failure

    What made you think they were well intended?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  59. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I never would’ve imagined they had set out to do the damage that resulted, Steve.

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  60. It’s my job to imagine. Or it was. 9/11. I can imagine what you don’t want to know.

    Naval Intel.

    What I can’t be is believed.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  61. “We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military.” The president suggested that the passage of time, and the fact that Mr. Moore’s accusers did not come forward earlier, should call into question the accusations. And he noted that Mr. Moore has been elected repeatedly by voters in Alabama. “I do have to say, 40 years is a long time,” Mr. Trump said as he left for a five-day Thanksgiving vacation at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. “He’s run eight races, and this has never come up. So 40 years is a long time.”

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  62. These are some great examples of hyper-partisanship. Good work guys.

    Davethulhu (6a4a84)

  63. Tribes don’t have Tartans, I don’t think I’m down with that.

    Pinandpuller (2281e8)

  64. Informed decisions is what it’s all about, Cthulhu…

    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4)

  65. Shouldn’t Moore be proven guilty in court?

    mg (60b0f7)

  66. I’ll take care of my own tribe. I never expect agreement when talking politics.

    mg (60b0f7)

  67. my tribe has tartans.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  68. Imagine all the cases he oversaw needing review

    But then, it’s Alabama

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  69. Bob Brady seems to be a wee bit bipartisan.

    mg (60b0f7)

  70. It looks like you are getting ready to join Bill Kristol and vote with the left. Or maybe I should say “The Deep State.”

    Even Powerline is having doubts about the GOPe campaign against Moore.

    Mike K (b3dd19)

  71. As has been pointed out time and again, me hoagie and others were Cruz supporters, o also voted for gingrich and guiliani, in the previous primaries

    narciso (d1f714)

  72. I have to say, I was almost falsely accused.

    I say falsely because she didn’t accuse me. The Navy put pressure on her. And she didn’t knuckle under. She told me later she knew I wouldn’t do that to her. She risked court martial for me.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  73. She is my hero.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  74. narciso-
    I was on c-span shaking hands with Cruz last year in St. Peterborough, N.H.

    mg (60b0f7)

  75. good.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  76. So on top of weaponizing the holidays, this is just par for the course.

    http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bal-md.personnel02nov02-story.html

    narciso (d1f714)

  77. 81.narciso-
    I was on c-span shaking hands with Cruz last year in St. Peterborough, N.H.

    Was that you, narciso? You really look young.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  78. No that mg, another one of rabid trump supporters I guess.

    narciso (d1f714)

  79. 78.As has been pointed out time and again, me hoagie and others were Cruz supporters, o also voted for gingrich and guiliani, in the previous primaries
    narciso (d1f714) — 11/22/2017 @ 3:12 pm

    They refuse to listen, narciso. As liberals if it doesn’t fit their narrative it does not exist, as leftists they really don’t care about facts and as Trump haters truth was the first casualty. So the year long sob-fest continues until the children get their way. They stare at the sky and scream like turkeys at the rain. (I know turkeys don’t do that but leftists actually do)

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  80. Lay a huge growler right on their pointed heads.
    Colonel Haiku (fe83d4) — 11/22/2017 @ 9:45 am

    A waste of good microbrew…jk.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  81. Like me and my party of old white men.
    nk (dbc370) — 11/22/2017 @ 10:38 am

    Usually the best tippers.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  82. This is serious. When we get to a point where anything goes and where a candidate like Roy Moore can still gain the support of a major political party and the President, we have a real problem on our hands. This is exactly how a democracy fails.

    They say “we must have 52 votes!” If our Party’s need for power trumps all else, then why not go further? Why not support autocratic measures? Why not?

    noel (b4d580)

  83. How far from autocratic is anti-democratic? A short hair..

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  84. Should Joe Barton be forced to resign his church pew?

    https://twitter.com/barry_corindia/status/933425401946238976/photo/1

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  85. Perhaps you all will recall that Trump claimed the election was “rigged”. Remember all that nonsense? How he might not accept the results of the election. And we now know that Russia was encouraging him to challenge it too.

    Autocratic tendencies. They have been there for a while now. Dangerous.

    noel (b4d580)

  86. “St. Paul has no such authority to license one side of a debate to fight freestyle, while requiring the other to follow Marquis of Queensbury Rules.”

    harkin (fcaff0) — 11/22/2017 @ 11:01 am

    Don’t forget to pay off a few judges like Adalaide Byrd in the vein of RBG.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  87. Barton has represented his district in Tea Party Texas for 33 years. Time to go.

    I propose a clean sweep in 2018 regardless of the schedule. Throw the bums out and bring in the relief. Keep non-abusing staff members for transition and daily business until we’ve treated every surface of the Capitol with bleach in readiness for new occupants.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  88. Isn’t that the heart of ethics? The hard part is having them when it doesn’t seem to pay off.
    DRJ (d18ca6) — 11/22/2017 @ 12:18 pm

    Hillel says, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?” Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14

    Hillel is widely recognized as one of the wisest people who ever lived. This Mishna is arguably his most famous aphorism. The first clause of the aphorism roughly translates: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”1

    The phrase distinguishes between two selves – “I” (ani in Hebrew) and “me” (li). It implies that somehow we can have a self called “I” and a self-called “me.”

    The “I” self is the deepest self. It is our personalized facet of the Divine image. By contrast, the “me” is the persona we develop during life. Elements of the “me” originate from others, from society – from that which is outside “I.”

    The biblical paradigm for successfully wrestling with this identity crisis is Abraham.

    “Go, get yourself [away] from your country, your birthplace, your father’s house.” (Genesis 12:1)

    Literally translated, the words “Go, get yourself away” can be read: “Go to yourself!” The idea is that only by breaking away from the external forces that operate upon our “selves” can we hope to come to our true “selves,” our destiny.

    Abraham was told to break away from three levels of “non-self” forces:

    “Your country” – the nationalistic, political ideology.

    “Your birthplace” – the more local, communal, ethnic undertows.

    “Your father’s house” – even the particular familial expectations and norms.

    Abraham’s future success began when he first broke away from those environmental forces.

    Link

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  89. I came over here from Red State as I didn’t know how to comment or write otherwise. Your post was so brave and critical. I am a former Republican turned Democrat turned hyper-partisan Democrat (in recovery) turned Independent as of this year. I read Red State (and Washington Post, NPR) to keep me balanced so I don’t fall off the left leaning cliff to Crazyland. I voted for Hillary and would do it again in a minute when considering this alternative (sorry), but I ultimately quit the Democratic Party for the increasingly rampant hyper-partisanship and then deciding that getting off a “team” could perhaps help me begin to more accurately judge issues without being brainwashed by what my team tells me to believe. I feel pretty alone in this line of thinking, and when I told some of my friends, they seemed to look at me a bit differently, like I was a defector or even a traitor. I remember back when I worked in politics as a career (for a Republican politician) that too often friends or family would be completely uninformed on political stories, have no opinion on issues and would respond “well I don’t really follow politics.” Now I almost miss those innocent, blissfully ignorant days as today you would be hard-pressed to find a friend or family member not following politics, without a (mule-headed) opinion and without a permanent line carved out in concrete. Reading your post made me want to work even harder to challenge my own hyper-partisan (Democrat) friends…I’ve already long been working on my Republican family in that respect 😜. Thank you so much! I will definitely keep reading.

    Ang (c35cb2)

  90. Nicely done Ang.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  91. Oops….there it is. So sorry.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  92. Hugh Hewitt’s 45 minute long interview yesterday with Hillary Clinton.

    It’s a very revealing look at her when she’s being questioned by a political adversary — but in a very respectful and thoughtful way.
    shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 11/22/2017 @ 12:44 pm

    I’m not usually one of those Columbus didn’t discover America guys but the SS Hugh Hewitt did not exactly run aground in Terra Incognita.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  93. A large piece of the genius of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution (USC) is that they frankly reflect an understanding of human nature at its base. Humans are NOT other-directed. We are inherently selfish and forever seek the comfort of perceived power as part of the prime instinct of survival. Tribalism is a core feature in this.

    The USC memorializes the tyranny of the mob, as well as of power, with the various checks and balances. A true democracy we are not. At least for a little while longer. This is almost never taught anymore. Instead, victimhood is to be sought and acknowledged with great fervor. Virtue signalling is the sine qua non in society. Nevermind truth. Mobs detest truth.

    Saul Alinsky was all about creating the necessary ignorance and anger to get us where we are now, and much further. The useful idiots of the Left who have stridently fought for the end of reason deserve a special place in the thought stockades and schoolrooms (jail cells) which are rapidly coming our way.

    Great, great, column, Pat. Thank you.

    Non-sequitur – one of my alltime favorite TV movies is “Tribes.” Set in a Marine boot camp, it excellently demonstrated the power, and dangers, in banding together in an unthinking manner. Thank God the Marines train in this way, as war demands this type of devotion to cause.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  94. This is pArt of the constructivist relates that have replaced actual knowledge:

    Ot, why did they think this would work
    https://www.thewrap.com/lets-try-to-piece-together-what-zack-snyders-version-of-justice-league-was-like/

    narciso (d1f714)

  95. my tribe has tartans.
    Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/22/2017 @ 2:46 pm

    Will your tribe make me eat mushrooms?

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  96. The disparity in the media and political carnage is starting to give them second thoughts:

    “ABCNews’ Alleged “Proud Independent” Chief Political Analyst: There’s a Big Difference Between Rapists and Molesters Working for “The Common Good” (i.e., Progressives) and Those Not Working for the “Common Good” (i.e., Conservatives)”

    So pure.

    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/372640.php

    harkin (10a18c)

  97. Jerry Clower joke:

    Guy: Baptists and Johnson Grass are taking over here! You can go to some states and they are only three or four percent Baptist!

    Marcel Ledbetter: Hey buddy, why don’t you go to hell? Ain’t no Baptists there!

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  98. Matthew Dowd worked for Bush Admin I believe. Not sure how you add progressive to the mix.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  99. Remember all that nonsense? How he might not accept the results of the election. And we now know that Russia was encouraging him to challenge it too.

    It was such shame thaqt your candidate Hillary is such a crook. Isn’t it ?

    Tell me again who is not accepting results ?

    Mike K (b3dd19)

  100. Speaking as a Perot voter and Texas tribalist, here:

    Barton should resign from Congress, if not his “pew” at church, for demonstrated bad judgment.

    AFTER Anthony Weiner was forced out of office, Barton *repeated* the same bad behavior.

    Hey, Joe, why not fill your freezer with cash and then invite the cops in to search? Why not take a bimbo out on the boat and invite reports to photograph you? Why not cash bad checks in the Congressional “bank”?

    BECAUSE THOSE ARE CAREER-ENDING BEHAVIORS, you *moron*! Don’t do stupid stuff. And if are caught repeating stupid stunts, expect your voters to want you gone.

    pouncer (915d55)

  101. They stare at the sky and scream like turkeys at the rain. (I know turkeys don’t do that but leftists actually do)
    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7) — 11/22/2017 @ 3:48 pm

    They need a button that pops out to tell them they’re done.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  102. 109.Matthew Dowd worked for Bush Admin I believe. Not sure how you add progressive to the mix.

    I know it’s hard to understand but to us conservatives Bush is a progressive. You know, like No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, “we got to destroy capitalism to save it” and stuff like that. I realize to you radical leftists anyone right of Stalin is a racist conservative but in the real world not so much.

    Rev.Hoagie® (6bbda7)

  103. Yes hoagie. Thank for making it clear just how far to the right y’all are.

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  104. @91 Steve57

    Ever been to Branson,MO?

    Ride through the scenic Ozarks. Climb to the top of the Mountain (aboard our Duck, of course). Discover the history behind some of America’s unique military vehicles. Splashdown and Cruise Table Rock Lake. Drive the duck, if you want. Quack along with the captain and the music aboard this 70-minute Ozark adventure.

    Yep, Ride The Ducks is an amphibian – this thing really does go from land right into the river. Our Ducks resemble the WWII DUKW in appearance only. The Ride The Ducks vehicle is built, exclusively for us, from the ground-up using the latest in marine safety.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  105. “My candidate Hillary Clinton”?

    Uh. Nope. I am a Republican who stands against both parties’ abuses. You?

    noel (aad1d8)

  106. Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 11/22/2017 @ 3:58 pm
    re Barry C

    #theresistance #croatoan #lol

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  107. this right – gop – tribalism. How come it didn’t show up, until Trump won?? I mean, Eric the Red…State and his fawning lil friend Patterico, were just fine and dandy with the tough, and mighty GOPe, and it’s tribe. Until the uncouth Trump won. Silly Patterico.

    JOM (30b6bd)

  108. Remember all that nonsense? How he might not accept the results of the election. And we now know that Russia was encouraging him to challenge it too.

    Autocratic tendencies. They have been there for a while now. Dangerous.
    noel (b4d580) — 11/22/2017 @ 4:01 pm

    How many winners demand recounts?

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  109. All this time I thought there weren’t any “shady Democrats” just Republicans who were literally Hitler.

    Thud Muffle (5a4596)

  110. 96

    Forget a link?
    http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/48893292.html?mobile=yes
    Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 11/22/2017 @ 4:16 pm

    No.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  111. Yes NOEL, it was the ruskies. Trump is far more evil than we thought. He’s an evil genius.
    How does his ass taste pardner??

    JOM (30b6bd)

  112. Nicely done Ang.
    Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 11/22/2017 @ 4:18 pm

    I was going to guess David Brock.

    Oops….there it is. So sorry.
    Ben burn (b3d5ab) — 11/22/2017 @ 4:19 pm

    Blue Blockers? jk. It’s fine.

    Pinandpuller (cdbb17)

  113. 122

    GUS! of Justoneminute infamy.

    How’s it hanging?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  114. Pinandpuller defends Trump with “How many winners demand recounts?”

    Well, you might be forgetting something. Those demands are made AFTER a close election. Unless, of course, you think you have a right to win.

    noel (aad1d8)

  115. I didn’t know she had inspired so many characters

    http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/249620/actress-hedy-lamarr-bombshell

    narciso (d1f714)

  116. Michelle Goldberg’s gonna have to write another editorial……

    “Two more women have told HuffPost that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) touched their butts in separate incidents. These are the third and fourth such allegations against Franken in the past week. Leeann Tweeden, a radio host, wrote last week that Franken had kissed and groped her without her consent during a 2006 USO tour. On Monday, Lindsay Menz accused Franken of groping her at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010…….

    ………In order to escape the situation, the woman excused herself to go to the bathroom. At that point, she said, Franken leaned in and suggested that he accompany her. She grabbed her friend and fled to the bathroom without him……”

    https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a15a455e4b09650540ec295

    harkin (a9a478)

  117. Just write it on an etch a sketch, to make corrections easier.

    Ot, one show i just cant figure out is dirk gentlys detective.

    narciso (d1f714)

  118. For those who think I never disagree with Patterico (Hi Haiku!), I do and this is an example. Tribalism per se doesn’t bother me because it’s normal for people to focus on their families in times of stress of insecurity, and tribalism is basically a way to focus on core connevtions.

    The problem with tribalism is that it arises when people lose their confidence in the fairness of society and the justice system, so it causes a breakdown in the values that make our society work.

    DRJ (15874d)

  119. Yes.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  120. When did Kernal Pooterico recognize this nonsensical tribalism? Date??
    This nonsense is way way too easy. Erickson, Kristol, Poooooter boy et al….. discovered religion, at the very moment, they became irrelevant and powerless. Pooter, has chased a RED STATE bi-line, since he grew pubes. Assuming that ever happened

    JOM (30b6bd)

  121. Words fail:

    http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2017/11/what-cnn-considers-national-security.html?spref=tw&m=1
    narciso (d1f714) — 11/22/2017 @ 8:09 pm =

    But pictures will do.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  122. P&P

    You know the Duck is the vehicle the New England Patriots use for their victory parade?

    I’d have to check, but I think the Red Sox used them too…

    kishnevi (c81531)

  123. Noel

    You are attacking Trump, accusing him of colluding with Russia to contest an election he won. And it is legal to contest elections, unless you don’t believe in due process.

    Pinandpuller (3e38b3)

  124. @134 kishnevi

    I did not. We’re going to need more ducks.

    I did one of those tours. Supposedly the Waters of Lake Taneycomo are cool enough year round to keep the mosquito population around it very sparse.

    Pinandpuller (3e38b3)

  125. noel

    If the voters of Alabama elect Roy Moore are you and Mitch and Paul going to accept the results?

    Pinandpuller (3e38b3)

  126. Re 138
    Chortle.

    kishnevi (356aa4)

  127. Okay. If it turns out that Corfman is proven to have been lying like a rug, will it be moral bankruptcy to notice?
    Of course. Because hyper partisanship and TRUMP!
    And nobody should vote for accused rapists like the frat guys at UVa, or the Duke lax team. Cause of moral bankruptcy and stuff. Unless they’re running as democrats in which case it’s okay.
    You folks ought to look up the circumstance which caused Burns to wish we had the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us. Because from this pew, the view is not compelling.

    Richard Aubrey (415087)

  128. Final thoughts on the matter: While again stipulating to the real danger of tribalism and hyper-partisanship, I think it’s worth remembering one of the most damaging characteristics of those things, something they facilitate and are facilitated by and which, despite my respect for Mr. Frey, I think he has fallen victim to here — Bulverism.

    For those unfamiliar with this term, it was coined by C.S. Lewis as a description of a particular form of the fallacy of irrelevance: Bulverism does not attempt to prove that an opponent is wrong but simply assumes he is and then offers an explanation for that error, almost always an unfalsifiable explanation of motive. Saying of someone “You only believe Roy Moore over his accusers because both you and Moore are Republicans” is, in fact, a perfect and classical example of it.

    Now Bulverism is an error that anyone can fall into. What makes it so deadly when a tribalist uses it is that it becomes not only the default reaction but ultimately the only reaction: another hallmark of the fanatical hyper-partisan is that he cannot believe any explanation for disagreement other than by attributing partisan motives to it. The arguments “I believe Roy Moore over his accusers not only because the accusations are suspiciously timed, conveniently unfalsifiable and utterly unprecedented, but because they are being promulgated by people with demonstrable incentives to lie who have a demonstrated history of lying and hypocrisy,” and, “I believe it will do more harm to the political culture to establish the witch-hunt precedent of allowing unfalsifiable accusations to destroy a candidate than it would to elect a candidate and risk him being discovered to be a criminal after all” — neither can be believed by the true hyper-partisan, because the assumption of bad faith is so chronic and reflexive that it can no longer even be really perceived.

    As a Canadian who cannot vote I have no dog in this fight. So one can justly accuse me of being willing to take an “innocent until proven guilty, wait and see” stance only because it will directly and immediately cost me nothing if I am wrong. But that, too, is another form of Bulverism.

    Stephen J. (308ea7)

  129. Am I going to accept the election results if Roy Moore wins? Oh, I already have and I expect him to win. But, when one political party crosses the line to this degree, and wins, look out. Our political system can be corrupted like it is in Russia and around the globe.

    Moore is the worst of the worst. Twice removed from the bench for making up his own rules on top of a history of child predator actions. If you can support that, you are a danger to democracy.

    noel (b4d580)

  130. Noel. Nice to see somebody upset with the First Horndog. Wait. What? Never mind.

    Richard Aubrey (415087)

  131. Yes it follows the ambush of Herman cain back dive years ago.

    narciso (d1f714)

  132. If the voters of Alabama elect Roy Moore are you and Mitch and Paul going to accept the results?

    Will you have a celebratory celery tonic?

    Ben burn (b3d5ab)

  133. If youbreally are Canadian, you remember the campaign against stockwell day, nearly 25 years ago.

    narciso (d1f714)

  134. I came over here from Red State as I didn’t know how to comment or write otherwise. Your post was so brave and critical. I am a former Republican turned Democrat turned hyper-partisan Democrat (in recovery) turned Independent as of this year. I read Red State (and Washington Post, NPR) to keep me balanced so I don’t fall off the left leaning cliff to Crazyland. I voted for Hillary and would do it again in a minute when considering this alternative (sorry), but I ultimately quit the Democratic Party for the increasingly rampant hyper-partisanship and then deciding that getting off a “team” could perhaps help me begin to more accurately judge issues without being brainwashed by what my team tells me to believe. I feel pretty alone in this line of thinking, and when I told some of my friends, they seemed to look at me a bit differently, like I was a defector or even a traitor. I remember back when I worked in politics as a career (for a Republican politician) that too often friends or family would be completely uninformed on political stories, have no opinion on issues and would respond “well I don’t really follow politics.” Now I almost miss those innocent, blissfully ignorant days as today you would be hard-pressed to find a friend or family member not following politics, without a (mule-headed) opinion and without a permanent line carved out in concrete. Reading your post made me want to work even harder to challenge my own hyper-partisan (Democrat) friends…I’ve already long been working on my Republican family in that respect 😜. Thank you so much! I will definitely keep reading.

    Ang,

    Thanks for the kind words and welcome. Please keep commenting. I’ll take an honest and non-hyperpartisan independent over a hyperpartisan Democrat or Republican any day of the week.

    Patterico (0170be)

  135. I put ot in the lun.

    narciso (d1f714)


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