This remarkable cartoon that Matt got off of Hendrik Hertzberg says it all, doesn’t it? Some of the terminology has changed since this cartoon was published in 1862, when there was a backlash against the Republican party of that era for its perceived liberalism. For instance, the term “Negro worship” has been replaced with “political correctness”, though I do imagine the two terms are used to promote roughly the same argument. (Which is that white liberals aren’t sincere in their anti-racism, but are just acting out of some sort of guilt that they impose on each other.) “Spirit rapping” is a reference to an admittedly silly trend of the era that is analogous to the various alt medicine and New Age-y crap that often takes off with liberal sorts who reject organized religion, but haven’t graduated to rejecting irrationality. “Free love” has turned into an all-purpose complaint about feminism and sexual liberation. I think by “Puritanism” they might have been referring to a particular strain of 19th century progressivism. The modern equivalent would probably be conservatives complaining about the “nanny state”. Complaints about “rationalism” have morphed into complaints about “liberal elitism”, and particularly denouncing Obama as “arrogant” for having the temerity to suggest facts matter. And complaints about “socialists” and atheists haven’t changed one bit, it seems.
This is the sort of thing that makes claims that Tea Partiers are either some new phenomenon or that they have a specific, policy-based gripe with Obama even more comical. It’s all culture war, all the time. Like Matt says:
I think the evident similarities between aspects of political rhetoric today and 150 years ago highlights the extent to which the values-and-temperament debate between conservative nationalism and progressive cosmopolitanism is ultimately much more fundamental than the passing controversies over tax rates economic regulation. The basic anxieties provoked by threats to existing status hierarchies haven’t changed, nor have the rhetorical tools of countermobilization.
After reading that, I read a perfectly hilarious example at Sadly, No. Daniel Foster at NRO suggested that he should start smoking again just to show those nanny state liberals who had the nerve to put warnings on cigarettes indicating that smoking is deadly. (He should see the labels on cigarettes in England. These new ones still don’t measure up in terms of graphic nastiness.) I’ve noted before on this blog that the “piss the liberals off” meme has gotten to the point where conservatives are expressing a willingness to hurt their own bodies to “show” us. I would point out to them that even suicide bombers know you have to pick one more victim than yourself in order to make an impact. As soft-hearted as I am, I’m not going to stay up at night thinking, “Some simple minded fool is out there killing himself just to show me he has every right to do it.”
Anyway, Sadly, No makes fun of Foster for this. In doing so, they include this picture of him: