Blowing-up the Bush Brain

There he was, George W. Bush preening as his legal toady Alberto Gonzales was being sworn-in as Attorney General of the United States of America. Then, asked to say a few congratulatory words, Bush seized the opportunity to thank his god and then launch into a monologue about the Patriot Act, forcefully making the case that unless Americans immediately surrender the tatters that remain of their civil liberties terrorists would certainly be at the door.

It was a striking performance on many levels. And it made me wonder how such an obviously morally bankrupt ideology could have so completely taken over my country. The reason, I think, is that we've bent over backwards to try to respectfully honor their point of view instead of calling it what it is: a fascist theocracy that has seized control and is ruling America.

One of the biggest challenges we liberals face is the wildly different way in which we approach the world as compared to the way right-wing conservatives (and the right-wing is quite different from the merely conservative) approach anything new or different.

We liberals are curious by nature, always open to new ideas and willing to explore different ways of looking at things. We're not arrogant enough to assume that we know everything and that our way is the one right way to approach a problem or issue. Every day the liberal wakes up wondering what new things he or she might learn today, and convinced that today will be even better than yesterday.

We're comfortable with the idea that we might just learn something new if we listen to and consider the other side's point of view. And there is our greatest weakness.

By contrast, the right-wing conservative is convinced that there is one right answer and that he or she already knows what that answer is. There is no curiosity about the new or different, only plans to defend the already existing truth against foreign un-truths. The right-wing conservative wakes up already knowing everything he or she cares to know and worrying that today might turn out to be worse than yesterday unless he or she takes action to protect what he or she already knows to be the truth.

What is worse, the right-wing conservative sees the liberals' openness as a weakness (remember the "flip-flopper" label?) and an opportunity to go on the attack.

But we liberals have a powerful tool to up-end the right-wing conservative mind: it's our curiosity. Try this next time: ask them, "Why?" Why do you believe that? Why do you think your taxes are too high? Why do you think that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the U.S.? Why do you think that poor people are lazy? Why do you think George W. Bush is a paragon of morality?

Then, and this is important, whatever their answer, ask them why they believe that. Soon it will be like one of those old sci-fi movies where the malevolent computer melts down when confronted with questions it cannot answer. Because the fact is very few Americans actually believe the right-wing ideology.

Rockridge Institute - Creating a Progressive Values Movement