I’ve been a bit mystified by the rabid, unhinged reactions of Lefties (particularly of the Kossack variety) to Ben Domenech’s new Washington Post blog. All manner of ad hominem invective and personal attacks have been leveled at Ben, from truly disgusting Oedipal analogies to spurious charges of connections to the Abramhoff scandal to charges of plagiarism (charges that, unfortunately, are looking ever more true). The fervency with which these claims have been pursued left me scratching my head, quite frankly. Why does a conservative voice on the WaPo’s blog page engender such fury? Then it struck me.
For Communists/Socialists/Stalinists and their intellectual heirs (many of whom aren’t even aware of their philosophy’s history, such as a plain majority of the Kossacks), politics and the pursuit of political power have replaced religion and faith as “spiritual” motivators. As such, politics takes on a nigh-religious role and thus political opponents are not simply wrong-headed or misinformed but are plainly adherents to a wrong and, in some cases, “evil” “faith”. If everything political is also “religious”, then, political matters are to be fought over with the same zeal normally reserved for moral matters of high import. The Leftist mentality in these issues seemingly approaches that of strict Islamists – anything claimed by Islam at any point in history irrevocably becomes Islamic past, present and future. Osama bin Laden and his Qaedan counterparts are still ticked about the Reconquista, claiming that Andalusia (Spain) is rightfully Islamic territory and must be reclaimed. Most modern Islamic scholars hold to the belief that, since Mohammed was transported to Jerusalem in a dream and Muslims eventually gained control of the city, it belongs to Islam (as the third holiest site behind Mecca and Medina) and the PLO/PA’s continual campaign of destruction of Temple Mount artifacts in order to erase any historical claims Jews have to the site is in furtherance of this belief. In the same way, the Congress, the Presidency and yes, the Washington Post‘s editorial page have belonged to Leftists/Democrats in the past and thus any incursion by persons of an opposing belief, any ceding of control of the debate is met with zeal and fury.
Now, I’m not saying that every Democrat is a fire-breating quasi-religious nut – far from it. It’s just that, when viewed from a “religious turf battle” perspective, the entire furor over Red America suddenly snaps into dramatic and sharp relief. The Kos Krusaders have been whipped into a fury and have tasked themselves with retaking the Holy Land – be it Congress, the White House, or the editorial page of major U.S. dailies. No dissent is to be brooked and no quarter given.
