Sunday, May 18, 2008

Penultimate Advice by Anthony McCarthy

My friends, conservatives and other opponents on many blogs have brandished one of the most feared weapons from the armamentarium of those trying to avoid discussing the topic. I have been accused of conceit many times. While I suspect that this is due to my superannuated style of expressing myself, when it's not the Benadryl doing the typing, it's happened often enough to be at least symptomatic of something. I don't have the time to sort it out.

The late John Kenneth Galbraith didn't have much use for the virtue of modesty. He held it to be overrated. He might have been right about that, but more practically, when a leftist lets modesty get in the way they don't fight aggressively for the leftist agenda.

My fellow leftists, please, make the same sacrifice I have. Put aside that most charming of personal traits, demure modesty. It has no place in a brawl and politics is a brawl. If someone, even your inner liberal niceness angel, - mine is an obnoxious, nagging pest named Nat - scolds that you are being immodest, consider it to be a noble and worthwhile sacrifice for the cause. If your angel keeps bugging you, promise it you'll try to cut down on the use of the first person.

Conservatives, motivated only by greed and hate, have much to be modest about. But you don't see them hiding behind the couch.