How To Be Of The Left

When I was a kid it was straightforward …

The Commies were on The Left.
The John Birch Society and other crazies who believed “The Commies Were Coming” were on The Right.
And everybody else was pretty much in The Middle.

The GI Bill, unions, and good jobs made up the foundation of a strong Middle Class. It was easy to be “Middle Of The Road” politically when you lived in the middle of The Middle Class.

The Right never had a real foothold. Regardless of what The Dan Smoot Report said … The Commies weren’t coming anytime soon. Richard Nixon convinced Joe McCarthy that an anti-communist campaign got votes … So McCarthy found his cause and his goons ran roughshod over America in the early fifties. They ruined thousands of lives but they never did find The Commie Threat.

The Right continued to flog the Anti-Communist horse and the crazy conservatives all lined up to support Barry Goldwater for his presidential bid in 1964. Goldwater carried six states. Johnson won 486 electoral votes to Goldwater’s 52.

In college I found ineffectual commies all over the place. Marxists, Leninists, the hybrid Marxists-Leninists, and Maoists, all argued ideology until I was bored silly. It was difficult to be a communist in those days. To much stuff to memorize. Working at a Taco Bell to save up enough money to buy the new Beatles album branded me a running dog lackey of the Capitalist Establishment. And no one seemed to appreciate my slogan, “Smash The State … Seize The Time … Won’t you be my Valentine.”

But all that happened 40 years ago. Things change.

The Republicans roared back into power 16 years after Goldwater’s defeat. They allied themselves with The Right, made up of Crazy Conservatives and Crazy Christians, and got all the cash they needed from Corporate America.

These days … even when the Right is out of office … they’re never Out Of Power. They’ve got everything they need. They’ve got The Money … The Media … and The Crazy Stupid People. A seemingly unbeatable combo. You don’t need to win elections when you own enough people and media outlets.

The Right has been telling lies since before this nation was formed.

Google, “A Short History of Conservative Obstruction to Progress” and check out the Anti-American agenda of The Right that stretches back over 200 years.

And … somehow they got control of our language.

40 years ago you had to be a commie to be on the left.

Nowadays all you have to do is tell the truth. To be labeled part of the “Far-Left” by Bill O’Reilly and the other Corporate Mouthpieces … all you have to do is expose their lies.

Last Saturday night radio station KPTK hosted a Town Hall Forum. On the panel were radio talk show hosts Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Bill Press, Mike Malloy and Ron Reagan. Not a communist in the bunch.

But because they expose the lies and machinations of The Right on their programs … And Tell The Truth … they are all labeled liberals and “leftists.”

At the risk of sounding like Jeff Foxworthy …

If you were against the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq and the pointless war in Afghanistan … you’re a “lefty.”

If you think that healthcare should be available for everybody … you’re a “lefty.”

If you believe that religion and government should never mix, people are more important than the bottom line, and truth trumps lies … well … you get the idea.

Basically it comes down to this … if you’re not insane … you’re “Of The Left.”

I don’t know how to do it but somehow we’ve got to get our dictionary back … and change a couple of definitions that were hijacked by The Right.

I started off as an Adlai Stevenson Democrat. Along the way it was only rational to be against war … to be for Civil Rights … to be against unrestrained corporate power … to be for protecting our environment … and to be against the poisoning of our land, water, and food.

These concepts define bargain-basement sanity. The Right holds completely opposite ideas. And they’re the ones that have been calling the shots since Reagan.

Sure we “won” the last election … but the goons of The Right are trying to seize power by force. It’s the Ultimate Anti-Democratic Move by the historically Anti-American Right. How soon will we see that defending our Democratic Principles from the American Brownshirt Goons brands us all … “Of The Left?”

The Tipping Point is the level at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.

There’s the signpost up ahead … next stop … The Twilight Zone.

How To Be Of The Left August 10, 2009