Problem Being That "Anti-Anti" is Not a Double Negative
Megan of Jezebel, in her "Crappy Hour" feature with IM buddy and political pundit Spencer Ackerman, raises a point that I think might explain some of the nature, and bitterness arising out of, for instance, the "blowjob wars." The snippet below involves speculation about who John McCain might select as a Vice Presidential running mate.
MEGAN: ...At what point in the race do you think Lieberman would start undermining McCain the way he did Al Gore?SPENCER: Not even SLIGHTLY and here's why. Lieberman is animated by the classic neoconservative grievance of rejection by his first love, the Democratic Party. Jacob Heilbrunn's book goes into this pathology in detail. And honestly, I have to admit I understand it, given my inability to let go of this whole TNR shit. [Note: Ackerman was fired from The New Republic for failing to drink kool-aid with neocons. --fl] That's why Lieberman has been such an eager attack dog for the right ever since he lost his primary in 2006 — he wants, and wants badly, to redress what the left did to him. He's not actually rightwing. He's anti-anti-left, and ferociously so.
MEGAN: Well, you know, if you want to be a hawk, don't expect a bunch of doves to come flocking to you.
SPENCER: He's obsessed with his own transcendent righteousness.
They said it here.
The problem with transcendent righteousness, in any debate, is that, like Leiberman, one can wind up doing damage to one's own cause at the expense of respect or influence in *either* camp.
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