Effin' Democrats

Trying to figure out his ass from his elbow
When a few posts ago the Nob started out exploring Logical Fallacies --those flights of argument that generally crash and burn the moment they get too close to the sun for scrutiny’s sake--I promised that I would make it non-discriminatory and try not to focus too much on the fallacies of any one particular group. After all, logical fallacies are part of the human condition, afflicting, alas, even the humans in my political tribe, which prides itself on being reality based and well-versed in nuance. 
Democrats…liberals…progressives…what have you…not only partake in well-established logical fallacies, but being creative sorts in general succeed in creating new logical fallacies, as they did this week in the treatment of Senator Bob Corker’s interview with The New York Times in which he said Donald Trump is running the White House like “a reality show”, that it should “concern anyone who cares about the nation,” and most alarmingly, that Trump has put us “on the path to World War III”. This is Bob Corker talking here…a Conservative Republican from Tennessee, not some screaming liberal from California or Massachusetts. But the reaction to Coker’s amble down the road to Damascus from the political left was the adult equivalent of “Oooooh. He’s got cooties!”
You couldn’t find a pundit on the left who didn’t report, blog, or tweet on Corker’s interview without couching it in layers of feverishly Googled facts documenting Corker’s past sins. Those sins most often cited: Coker had been an early supporter of the very person who turned the White House into a reality show and put us on a path to World War IIICorker voted 88% of the time to support a person he earlier termed unstableBack home in Tennessee Corker ran a racist ad against his black opponent and lied to scare Volkswagen workers to vote against unionizationLet’s stipulate right here and now that those are pretty damning sins, both individually and collectively. But here’s the thing, because of those very sins Corker comes forth as a credible witness against Trump for a sizable portion of the electorate. Because of the things he has done in the service of Trump specifically and the overall conservative agenda, he cannot be dismissed as a partisan, a member of the fake media, or a Trump hater. But instead of capitalizing on that credibility and echoing Corker’s harsh takedown of Trump, establishment Dems have largely been silent on it and left-leaning pundits have been working overtime to discredit Corker. In a court of law, this is called impeaching your own witness. It’s as if the lawyer for one of Harvey Weinstein’s victims called her to the witness stand and introduced her to the jury by presenting a semi-nude photo spread she did for Glamour magazine.
In a legal proceeding of course such hanging your witness out to dry is usually strategic. You want to own the Glamour spread, control how its presented, and deprive opposing counsel the shock value of introducing it. But what is the benefit in this political context of tearing Corker down and thereby blunting the considerable weapon he’s provided with his words against Trump? In terms of the logical fallacy known as Poisoning the Well, you introduce toxic information when you’re trying to ruin your opponent’s argument, not when you agree with the core argument (in this case Trump's unfitness for office). In the more capable hands of Republicans, who--if nothing else--know how to fight, they would've adopted a Dem who spoke out as Corker did against a Democratic President as their party mascot (see Miller, Zell). 
The perversity of this peculiar logic took another twist of the pretzel today when Punditry demanded to know--mockingly--where the voice of "Man of Courageous Principle Bob Corker" was on the new Trump attack on health care for millions. Thus Corker’s reputation was further tarnished by his sins of ommission as well as commission. And to what end? What is the strategic thinking behind this?
Well, there is none of course. This is all about ego. This is about people showing off their superior knowledge, higher moral standards, and Odyssean resistance to the siren call of bipartisanship, compromise, and moderation. Big picture be damned. Wrap it up and put a bow on it, and it’s a thing I have christened the logical fallacy of Liberal Vanity….and its endemic to my political tribe. This is not just about the treatment of Bob Corker. In my own political evolution it goes as far back as Bobby Kennedy when his valued opposition to the anti-Vietnam War movement was constantly undercut by references to his past service as an aid to red hunter Joe McCarthy and to his father’s dalliances with bootleggers, showgirls and Nazis. Lefties can be very unforgiving when it doesn’t suit their tastes…and downright vengeful even if it does.

This prideful blame-fixing is abundantly evident in the chaos that is now the Democratic Party. Single-payer health insurance for all is savaged by Dems who see Bernie taint; advancing women and racial minority rights is dismissed as Hillary taint. Everyone’s purity is in question...daily. Democratic hopes for re-taking Congress in 2018 are jeopardized by its fractious holier-than-thou war. Even more dire is the nation's chance of surviving the mortal threat to its being emanating from the White House if we insist on kicking strange bedfellows to the floor. If spite trumps strategy, Trump trumps everything, and we are truly doomed.