Must Reads by AIAW, Aznew

Great job by my friends Karen Duncan ("Anonymous is a Woman") and Alan Zimmerman ("The Virginia Democrat") for their superb, factual, logical, forceful pushback on "Conservative Incoherence at Virginia's Righty Blogs," as Aznew puts it. It's people like Karen and Alan - razor sharp, factual, inexorably logical, great writers - who make me proud to be part of the Virginia progressive blogosphere. As to the Virginia Republican blogosphere, I'd refer you to the comments of Jon Henke, former netroots coordinator to George Allen (and one of the smartest people in the "rightosphere" (as he calls it).

I actually think the Republican Party is in a position very similar to the Democratic Party circa 1995 - alienated from its own base, struggling to maintain whatever power it can, but without an agenda that really resonate[s] with the public. And, like the Progressives in the late 90's-early 00's, the Right is increasingly unconvinced that the Republican Party really has the ability to advance its goals.

Thus, the turn to self contradiction and "fear mongering," as Karen writes:

... Do the BD bloggers and other conservatives really believe that America’s law enforcement community - its guards, its police - would fail to keep us safe?

Here’s where it gets personal and why I am outraged. My cousin’s husband is a prison guard in South Florida. As such, he has guarded some of the most dangerous criminals in the Miami-Dade and Broward region, including members of the infamous Columbian Medellin drug cartel. So, do you really think he’s not up to the job of guarding some of the detainees and that South Florida would be less safe if they were in his care? I don’t.

In short, Virginia Republican bloggers are arguing simultaneously (and contradictorily) that: 1) bringing Gitmo detainees to U.S. supermax prisons will invevitably lead to their being "granted the rights of American citizens (which they are not) and then let go by some judge to roam around our streets and start new terrorist cells" (don't ask for logic here); and 2) "This has nothing to do with prison guards or their ability to keep us safe; It has everything to do with wasting taxpayer money when we have a perfectly good facility at GITMO already doing the job.").

More broadly, Republican bloggers appear to be arguing that our conflict with terrorists is a "war," but simultaneously that they are unwilling to take the slightest risks or make the least sacrifice to win that war. Pay higher taxes to pay for the war (as was done in World War II)? No way, "tea baggers!" Go fight in Iraq or Afghanistan? Ha, you must be kidding. Lock up the "prisoners of war" in U.S. super secure prisons (as we did with more than 400,000 Nazi prisoners in World War II). Nope, too dangerous/will raise my taxes/whatever.

My god, I can only imagine what Republican bloggers would have been writing in 1942-1945 about how bringing Nazi prisoners to America would inevitably lead to them being "granted the rights of American citizens (which they are not) and then let go by some judge to roam around our streets and start new [Nazi] cells" or that it would "waste taxpayer money." And these are the supposed (self-proclaimed) "tough-on-national-security/defending America" people? If so, we're in big trouble.