As you may have heard, Democrats officially took the reins of both houses of Congress today. It’s a proud moment that many of us have been waiting for, with varying degrees of patience, for quite some time. I’ve heard from many friends in Washington today who are filled with optimism and hope. It’s a new day, a new Congress, and a new opportunity for some real progress after too many years of dormancy.
I couldn’t help but be curious, though, about how our friends on the right are receiving the news. I expected plenty of bitterness, but I was surprised to see so many come up with “Red Scare 2007.”
Redstate, for example, is one of the preeminent conservative blogs in the country. Needless to say, no one would expect Redstate’s proprietors to be pleased with today’s developments, but the lead graphic on the site, right now, is a sign reading, “Democrat-Socialists Take Back Congress.” There’s a hammer and sickle in the middle, and the background image is of the evacuation of the U.S. embassy of Saigon.
Remember, Redstate isn’t even close to being the most inflammatory conservative site online; it’s generally considered a “mainstream” right-wing blog, popular with the Republican establishment.
And when it came to the red-scare talking point of the day, Redstate wasn’t alone.
Here’s another standout post from a prominent far-right blog, explaining that “the notoriously anti-American Dhimmicrats have taken over Congress.” Citing Democrats’ role in Vietnam, the blog explained:
Remember the millions of innocent people that were brutally murdered as a result of the Dhimmicrats’ betrayal? All of those innocents were murdered by the Democrat Party.
And now, just as we’re involved in another war that they desperately want us to lose, they’re back in power. That is bad news for us, and it is seriously bad news for millions of Iraqis. Deja vu all over again.
And that is why this world will never be a better place until every last socialist on the surface of it has been exterminated. Just as any other disease, they need to be purged from the body of mankind. Because if they’re not, they’ll keep popping back up, and every time the Socialist death toll will rise.
Even Coulter got in on the fun.
The passing of Gerald Ford should remind Americans that Democrats are always lying in wait, ready to force a humiliating defeat on America…. Democrats turned their backs on South Vietnam, betrayed an ally and trashed America’s word.
I assume it’s a coincidence that so many conservatives are talking about Vietnam today, and equating Democrats with socialism, but it’s rather startling, isn’t it?
Just to be clear, I’m not violating Drum’s law — these are actual items from well-read conservatives, not their commenters. I’m also not saying that these are wholly representative of all right-wing voices today.
So, why am I mentioning this? Because I think it’s worth noting, on occasion, a) just how nutty some of our friendly rivals on the right really are; b) just how much they hate us.
Plus, I think it’s kind of funny how, just last fall, Peggy Noonan lambasted the left because, she insisted, we lack “an element of grace — of civic grace, democratic grace, the kind that assumes disagreements are part of the fabric, but we can make the fabric hold together.”