Yep By: Mark W Adams

Thers at FDL:

The primaries are a great way to get basically nice, friendly people who agree on broad principles to despise each other because they support different candidates. That's why primary season is so much goddamn fun.

A lot has to do with the thrill of the ride. Nothing beats primary season for being the intellectual equivalent of a roller coaster. Just when you think you're at the bottom, the end of the ride, you read something like this about John Edwards in South Carolina:

....he was in fourth place at this time in 2004, and went on to win the state.

And you grab hold of something solid (like a beer bottle) and go for another ride.

Thers has a terrific point that these things set people at each other's throats who really are natural allies can be see all over Blogtopia (Yes, SCTP -- which reminds me to remind everyone who doesn't like Edwards aggressive tone and would rather you sit down an negotiate with the drug companies and HMO's and insurance companies -- You can't spell negotiate without "no go.")

This week I've seen more hysterical accusations of racism, misogyny and whateverthehell is up Armando's ass than is productive, all in the name of finding an excuse to hate democratic candidates we all agree are head-and-shoulders better than the crap-weasels the GOP is offering.

At this point some folks are so deep in the weeds they're just looking for a fight, finding insult where none is either offered, intended or evident. It's precisely this kind of P.C. crap the conservatives find so amusing, so just stop it. Go find some wingnut welfare recipient to amuse yourself with and explain to him that you can't just change the meaning of words just because your mommy published your book.

Seriously, stop it. We're giving the racists all the ammunition to plead their innocence when they gear up this summer. I mean, if fascism can be called liberal, it doesn't take much imagination to go from s/he said it first to it's okay to be that way. They just feed off this stuff.

It's not a matter of exposing who is more or less tolerant than the other, it's a matter of fixing a serious problem.

"The average net worth of black families is about $8,000; white families is about $80,000," said Edwards with one of his more sobering statistics. "Let me tell you, we're not moving in the right direction"

The fact that maybe, somehow, this might change is more important that who "wins" or "loses," as long as the problem is being taken seriously by all of us, the politicians and powerful can't ignore it.

It's not the hate, it's the greed that's tearing this country down.