American Politics Journal -- Tongue and Eggs



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Guest Editorial
Tongue and Eggs

by Douglas Wiken

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 (AmpolNS) -- The ranting and raving about American parties being "Nazi" or "Commie" in origin reminds me of an old joke:

A fellow whose diet had previously been limited mainly to cereals and vegetables was invited to a neighbor's house. He was asked if he wanted some beef tongue.

His response was, "No, I don't want to eat anything that came out of the mouth of an animal. Just give me an egg."

Parties and organizations of all kinds try to rewrite history to make their origins noble and their originators "grand idealists" with "pure motives." Quite often the money behind them or their support base was less than noble, and greed of some variety was a driving force.

Until I saw posts in political forums, I never heard anybody suggest that the Bush side of the Republican Party had Nazi connections. I have heard scores of Republicans attempt to paint Democrats as "communists" or "pinkos." I have associated with hundreds of Democrats and never had any indication that any of them were even remotely similar to communists and certainly unlike some ersatz socialists with Nazi roots.

I would think, however, that centrist Republicans would be a bit concerned about the similarities between the polemics of their party's wingnut ranters and ravers, given the historical parallels to the Nazi and Soviet revolutionary polemicists. Whether or not there are any connections whatsoever, the behavior in and of itself warrants concern.

I think the millions of good people who affiliate themselves with the Republican party must have concerns that will lead them to reject wingnuts. One roadblock impeding Republicans that are attempting to move away from the wingnut fringes of their own party is that Bill Clinton has moved the Democratic Party into the middle, and now there is not a whole lot of room for disenchanted Republicans to re-establish a centrist Republican party.

Perhaps this is why we often see such blind hatred of mild-mannered Bill Clinton exhibited by the losers who have realized too late that they threw away their centrist anchor. Witness Shrub Bush attempting to define an oxymoron like "compassionate conservativism." Witness wingnuts trying to somehow convert modern centrist Democrats into communists and nazis at the same time.

These lunatic propaganda ploys show a level of desperation possibly unequaled in American political history.