Erick Erickson continues to advance towards the exit of his far-right membership:
The other tragedy in all of this is that Americans have begun to enjoy hating each other more than crime and criminals. Those who hate Trump have imputed the worst motives to him and his supporters. Those who hate the left have imputed the worst motives to them. And both now shape their own views, interpret domestic events, some foreign policy events, and even the word choices and expressions of those on the other side through a lens of hate.
On the right, Carl Schmitt is the post-liberal philosopher of the day. He embraced the idea of seeing the world through a friend-enemy distinction. On the Left, it is Michel Foucault, the father of postmodernism, who chose to see the world as victims and oppressors. In both, we have abandoned the Christian philosophy of loving one’s neighbor as one’s self, and allowing the state to bear the sword for the safety and protection of its citizens. In Christ, we are all sinners. In postmodernity, we are in classes and groups. In America, our social fabric is breaking down because of it.
I just call it arrogance.
Yes, his post has omissions and unsupported assertions, such as those concerning Lt Governor Flanagan. But his thinking echoes, in part, my thinking. Lately I’ve found the sentence You use the language of hatred! dominating my emotional thinking, and finding justification in my intellectual thinking, as news and views go by my eyes. From national personalities to personal friends, often on Facebook[1], I see statements that seem shorn of context and long on spittle. Nor are they pointed at the other end of the political spectrum, but can be internal as well. Personalities such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have become targets of fellow right-wingers, as has Mayor Frey (D-MN) of Minneapolis by his fellows. A failure to be an extremist means one is a target of the extremists.
The urge to climb the political heights appears to be irrepressible, at least until the greatest strivers die of their ambitions, and the prudent agree that compromise is a good thing, not a bad thing.
And, like so many folks on both sides of the spectrum, the poisonous pot of soup is partially his fault. I think we’re going to have to find a way to mutually forgive one another for this addition of poison, because so many of us have done so. I wonder how much I’d be pointed at for such statements, although I’ve tried to avoid it. Erickson has … well, let’s not bother with that. It’s too easy.
In the meantime, keep your head down.
1 I have three active accounts in social media, this one on UMB, an account on Daily Kos which I use for reading-only, and one on Facebook. I have a dormant account on Instagram, dead because they went phishing on me, an activity to which I object. If I am pointed at other social media, I read anonymously, if possible, or not at all.
