Antaeus and the Tea Party

[elleng]

The Greek mythological figure Antaeus won victory after victory because his opponents repeatedly threw him to the ground, not realizing that it was the earth (in the figure of his mother, Gaia) that nourished him and gave him renewed strength. The Tea Party’s strength comes from the down-to-earth rhetoric it responds to and proclaims, and whenever high-brow critics heap the dirt of scorn and derision upon the party, its powers increase. . .

Take a cue from Hercules, who figured out the source of Antaeus’s strength and defeated him by embracing him in a bear hug, lifting him up high, and preventing him from touching the ground. Don’t sling mud down in the dust where your opponents thrive. Instead, engage them as if you thought that the concerns they express (if not their forms of expression) are worthy of serious consideration, as indeed they are. Lift them up to the level of reasons and evidence and see how they fare in the rarified air of rational debate where they just might suffer the fate of Antaeus.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/antaeus-and-the-tea-party/?hp

[Al Claybon]

1. THE flaw in your plan is that it is impossible to engage in rational debate with them.

They do not want to be and cannot be "lifted up to the level of reason" where actual discussion can take place.

There is as much chance for success at that as there was for the bipartisan approach that Obama has been trying for two years.

NONE! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[COLGATE4]

2. Yeah - as the saying goes, "you can't fix stupid".