P-Mac's column references the contempt smeared all over Ron Johnson by Our Elitist Snob Senator, who actually is an Oik. He's part of a large group of Oiks, which includes the MSM and most educators. (Read on. The term will be defined.)
The aim was to portray Johnson as a lunatic, writes McIlheran.
Taranto (in the same column I referenced below) expands a bit on that election strategy.
...can anyone argue that a show of contempt is a winning political strategy? The question answers itself and implies that the contempt is genuine.
In more cerebral moments, the elitists of the left invoke a kind of Marxism Lite to explain away opinions and values that run counter to their own.
Taranto quotes Robert Reich:
It's called fear. When people are deeply anxious about holding on to their homes, their jobs, and their savings, they look for someone to blame. And all too often they find it in "the other"--in people who look or act differently, who come from foreign lands, who have what seem to be strange religions, who cross our borders illegally. . . .
...and Taranto points out the obvious: the one has nothing to do with the other. But in Elite Logic, random events or phenomena linked by passion-laden rhetoric to draw a meaningless conclusion is a Trump Card.
The liberal elites cannot comprehend common sense, and, incredibly, they think that's a virtue. After all, common sense is so common.
As it turns out, the Elite have their own deep, dark fear: oikophobia.
The British philosopher Roger Scruton has coined a term to describe this attitude: oikophobia. Xenophobia is fear of the alien; oikophobia is fear of the familiar: "the disposition, in any conflict, to side with 'them' against 'us', and the felt need to denigrate the customs, culture and institutions that are identifiably 'ours.' "
Feingold, the Oik!
Of course, Feingold is a Senatorial Oik. Far more vociferous and influential are the Oiks of the MSM--which is damn near every single member of that group.
...our oiks masquerade as--and may even believe themselves to be--superpatriots, more loyal to American principles than the vast majority of Americans, whom they denounce as "un-American" for feeling an attachment to their actual country as opposed to a collection of abstractions...
Which is why the Oiks are compelled to utterly destroy Sarah Palin, and why Our Oik, Feingold, has to destroy Johnson, and why our Junior Oik, Barrett, has to destroy Scott Walker. Palin, Walker, and Johnson (mutatis mutandis) are not just symbols of the Country Class--they are of it. Boise State? Mankato State? Non-degreed? Hunter? Fisherman? Housewife? Industrialist? Budget-cutter?
Other examples of Oik targets abound: Limbaugh, Beck, McCarthy, Cheney, Arapaio, Walker, and Sykes are on the list. And the greater the threat, the more personal the attacks--to the extent of attacking family members and personal histories.
Who's NOT on the list? Well, there are no Extreme Lefties, of course. But note the treatment given to John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Murkowski, and the Maine Babes (inter alia) by the Oiks. It is far less brutal, far less personal. It is, in fact, the Strange (New) Respect treatment.
There's a reason for that. Caveat Emptor, friends.
HT: Grim
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Oiks, liberal elitists, statists, secular progressives...the psychobabble that passes for intellectual discourse these days by conservatives is striking.
Not that ANY of the above concepts are "a collection of abstractions" manufactured by "superpatriots" such as yourself. No, of course not.
Sure, it's all "psychobabble." No problem. True, false, otherwise, it's just "psychobabble." Ignore the fact that the terms are defined, because it doesn't fit the Left-o-wacky superiority narrative.
The Left, on the other hand, sticks with The Lie: conservatives are raaaaaaacist.
And by the way, if you would read for meaning, you'd notice that we apply the "statist", "elitist" and "secular progressive" labels to a lot of Republicans.
Because, of course, it's true.
Post a Comment