Inside the Wall

It's gone for Obama twice now but if you think that means the Commonwealth is turning blue, you got another thing coming...

Just last week, a couple Virginia Republicans lead the defence of the infamous State Rape law. Why yes, they were all men! But they got a token chick to testify on their behalf, spinning some malarkey about how "abortionists" hide the ultrasounds from pregnant women, else they have second thoughts and cut into all the abortion profits.

"Your vacu-sucked fetus is paying for my new yacht!"

If you live in a sane part of the country - a growing rarity - you might be wondering how the hell anyone can hold on to a view like that. See, this was never about saving babies but about identity. The same sentiment that drives everything in this rotten country from gun politics to veganism. Pro-Life identity in this country runs hand-in-hand with a whole mess of reactionary paranoia, from black UN helicopters to communists controlling the media to Obama having actually done anything about guns before the last month or so.

Reality isn't a factor in any of this, so don't expect to win 'em over with conflicting evidence. Especially when it comes to American conservatism, where there's nothing but conflicting evidence. But it provides a stable and  - most important of all! - self-congratulatory framework for dealing with an ever changing and downright scary world.

They're bombarded every day with news of wars, revolutions, gays getting married, and a black guy in the White House. This upsets them but it would be even more upsetting to admit to themselves "I don't know where Mali is!" or "I'm a racist fucktard!" The right-wing identity provides a context for all this that not only makes it orderly, but makes them heroic - "Wars are caused by terrorists because they hate your freedom! Obama is a super-secret Islamo-Commie from Mars who stole the election and is personally invested in making sure you don't get that promotion!"

"Socialists made you eat all those cheeseburgers!"

And honestly, what would you rather believe? That the universe is as random and indiferent as all our observations indicate? That you're stuck in a nothing job, in a nowhere town because of economic problems beyond your control and possibly your understanding? That you hold to some pretty vile social views which history is now decisively turning against?

Or that everyone is out to get you because you're special?