In Salute to Glenn Greenwald

 

I know this article is a month old but it’s just so amazingly well put, well said, and on point. Salon’s Glenn Greenwald on gay issues, the “fringe left” and the liberal veal pen.

Highlights:

The only thing remarkable about the comments Harwood passed on is that anyone would be surprised by them.  In that regard, the furor over Obama’s complete inaction on gay issues vividly illustrates the same elements that shape political controversies in virtually every other area — from war to civil liberties to health care and beyond:

• Pretty words and inspiring pageantry from the President, accompanied by endless inaction or contradictory policies;
• Hordes of people who believe in their heart of hearts that the administration is led by such a nice, just and likable man that it couldn’t possibly be guilty of anything worse than a little benign political calculation (just as the evangelical, Texas-swaggering Bush did for Red State loyalists, the urbane, charming and highly intelligent Obama possesses all the cultural markers of a good and decent person for Blue State loyalists, and thus simply can’t be capable of anything malicious or destructive — there’s a reason Bill Maher tried to remind liberals:  ”He’s your president, not your boyfriend”);
• Organizations (exemplified by the truly dreadful HRC) that suck funding out of progressives and serve as liberal validators of administration conduct whose overaching devotion is to the Democratic Party and the administration rather than the causes they claim to promote (fortunately, civil liberties groups are the exception, as they have remained steadfast, unapologetic, independent and principled in harshly criticizing Obama); and,
• Deeply personalized scorn directed at those who try to hold Democrats and the Obama administration accountable — since they’re the ones who control the levers of government with huge majorities — rather than devote all their energies to the cheap and easy partisan task of ridiculing and blaming a marginalized, impotent conservative movement which is a small minority and currently wields no power in Washington.

~ by Kyle on November 10, 2009.