“Manning Up”? Speaking the truth with courage and conviction
Guest post byCamillus
Camillus, a former Republican Party officer in his home state in the Northeastern United States who was involved in campaigns at both the local, state, and federal levels during the 2010 elections.
Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration. M-H
Joe Scarborough, a former Congressman who is now a conservative television host on MSNBC, recently called on national Republicans to “man up” and confront Sarah Palin. I want to propose something rather different. The real need is for people of good will across the political spectrum to “man up” and speak honestly about the movement that supports and sustains both Palin and other similar politicians such as Carl Paladino and Sharron Angle- the Tea Party- and the broader cultural forces that have given rise to it and that continue to fuel it today.
Although I agree with some positions held by the Tea Party movement, and share many of its concerns regarding the direction of the country, I am convinced that its emergence represents a real danger to our common future. Indeed, I am persuaded that its course runs inevitably to a dystopian tomorrow.
Why? Because it is marked by anti-intellectualism, hostility to established institutions, resentment, and, most significantly, fear and anger. This fear is inchoate, but ever-present. At its base, I think it is a fear of the future- of the economic, demographic, and cultural changes sweeping both our nation and the globe. In other words, it is a fear of the unknown. And being fearful, it is brittle. As a result, it is intolerant of dissent and the open discussion and debate of ideas. This intolerance is expressed in naked hostility towards opponents- they are not merely wrong, they must be demonized. Above all else, it is marked by the utter absence of love, by which I mean that love of brother- agape- that is for me always truth’s handmaiden.
