I am in conflict about the Moral Monday protests in Raleigh, NC. On the one hand, I too am unhappy with what the newly-elected Republican legislatures are enacting, and the impact it will have on the most needy in our state. On the other hand, the point is precisely that. The Republicans were elected. Overwhelmingly. And there is something of the Johnny-come-lately, self-serving conceit about the circumstances of the protests themselves. We all (still) had a chance to vote. The Democrats were not forbidden from taking part. There has been no suggestion of untrammeled fraud. And the Republicans made no secret of what they stood for (and against). **REALITY -VS- UTOPIA (II) -- MORAL MONEY PROTESTS** I am in conflict about the Moral Monday protests in Raleigh, NC. On the one hand, I too am unhappy with what the newly-elected Republican legislatures are enacting, and the impact it will have on the most needy in our state. On the other hand, the point is precisely that. The Republicans were elected. Overwhelmingly. And there is something of the Johnny-come-lately, self-serving conceit about the circumstances of the protests themselves. We all (still) had a chance to vote. The Democrats were not forbidden from taking part. There has been no suggestion of untrammeled fraud. And the Republicans made no secret of what they stood for (and against). So, I find myself a tad uncomfortable when there is suggestion that the Republicans have no authority for doing what they are doing. They have every authority. They have the mandate of an election result. And when some further grumble at the pace, I would remind them of similar grumbles that emanated from Republicans in Washington at Obama’s pace in 2009/2010. The victor is permitted to do what he or she was elected to do. By all means bear witness. But I would be more comfortable with a little more humility. After all, the Democrats are as much to blame for the Republican victory as the Republicans themselves. Democrats did not do enough to curb their own excesses, corruption, inefficiencies and incompetence when they held the reins of power. And they paid the price. Instead, I am left with the impression that we are once again witnessing one of the less endearing traits of some of the progressives from around these parts. Their belief that there are only two political positions in the entire galactic politic: progressive or wrong. When protester after protester loudly declaims that Republican legislators are wrong, they are also stating that those who voted for them are wrong. Many of those voters are solid, honest working folk, who got sick and tired of Democratic antics in Raleigh. We should be focused on winning those voters over at the next election. Not on estranging them further. That is what I mean by conceit. And it is this same conceit which generally discourages so many working folk from voting for what they perceive as elitist, out-of-touch Democrats. Democrats who believed and appear still to believe that government is their right. That they merely have to state their position to be worthy of election. Without explanation, debate or hard work. That the rightness of their positions is self-evident. That those who do not agree are uninformed. And that if the progressive position does not attain a majority, then Democrats are also perfectly within their rights to declare and protest that the majority simply did ‘the wrong thing.’ As for self-serving, I suspect there are many of those being arrested who are more interested in a photo for their next manifesto than they are in winning votes for Democrats in Republican-held constituencies. If there is some sort of weird psychological self-flagellation at work here, where progressives rid themselves of guilt for their failings in North Carolina in 2012, well, so be it. But I’m bound to say I would be more impressed if the protesting was being undertaken with a deal sight more courtesy and respect for those who were elected, and for those who elected them, and with something by way of an apology for allowing their election to occur in the first place. I would be further impressed if, for every hour that was spent on a Moral Monday protest, a similar hour was spent traveling to a Republican-held constituency, and working to unseat that Republican.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:12:30 +0000
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