recursion

I don't really claim to be a representative of "The Left". But I will take a crack at Aaron Swartz's complaints about "The Left's" overreaction.

As far as I can tell, he has four:

1. Overreaction to the DMCA (but he hates the DMCA too, so he doesn't address this)
2. Overreaction to the PATRIOT Act
3. Overreaction to proposed FCC regulations
4. Overreaction to the Valerie Plame scandal

Let's take these one-by-one.

Overreaction to the DMCA

This is really more of a civil libertarian issue, not a Left issue. Furthermore, it's isolated mostly among cyberliberties activists.

MY TAKE: I'm punting on this issue for next year's election. I don't care enough at this point to support a single issue candidacy on the DMCA.

Overreaction to the PATRIOT Act

You could argue for this. The PATRIOT Act is widely demonized by Democratic candidates (even those who voted for it) and is much-hated by The Left. However, most issues don't see Americans for Tax Reform standing shoulder to shoulder with People for the American Way.

MY TAKE: Everyone hates the PATRIOT Act. There a few things in it that may be necessary and constitutional, but it needs to be throughly reviewed if not outright repealed.

Overreaction to proposed FCC regulations

I assume Aaron means the proposed relaxation of ownership rules. Again, opposition to these regulations was unusual for its bipartisan nature. Senators Byron Dorgan and Trent Lott held a joint press conference surrounded by stacks of MoveOn petitions opposing the measure. The regulations were opposed by groups as diverse as MoveOn, EFF, and the NRA. It was supported by big corporations. Congress rebuked Powell's attempt to deregulate local media by a huge margin.

MY TAKE: This is the way it's supposed to work!

Overreaction to the Valerie Plame scandal

This is the only one you can solidly pin on The Left. Conservatives are definitely not overreacting to this! Check out the DNC's ad to see The Left's "overreaction".

MY TAKE: It's not overreacting to point out that at least two senior members of the Bush administration committed a felony. Using that fact to go on a $70 million dollar fishing expedition and then impeaching Bush for lying would be overreacting...oh wait, that would be karmic justice.

Seriously, I do not think The Left is overreacting. The FBI under Ascroft cannot impartially investigate the Bush Whitehouse. Democrats will wait until the FBI finds "no wrongdoing" in a few months, then scream bloody murder.

In my opinion, this issue is not particularly important in itself. But it represents a good example of the kind of dirty tricks the Bush administration is willing to play, and helps show the pattern of deception surrounding Iraq and pretty much everything the Bush Whitehouse does.

Atrios has a post called Gay Bishops are Just Like the Rise of Hitler about a Salon article about a married (at least as far as that goes) lesbian couple in a small California town. The whole article is really interesting, but Atrios quotes part of it where the womens' Episcopalian church parish has a meeting to talk about the national church confirming an openly homosexual bishop and allowing local dioceses to bless same-sex unions at their discretion. One woman is upset with the new rules:

"There's no comparison [to female priests]," she says, "between the ordaining of a moral woman and a twice-divorced man who's been living with another man. We've got to protest. I remember Germany in the '30s and nobody protested and you know what we got from that."

In the comments, "Dr. Nick" snarks:

Oh great, the dawn of the Gay Reich! Run for the hills! The Axis of Fabulous is upon us!

First they came for the poorly dressed, and I said nothing. Then they came for the soccer moms, and I did nothing....

Heh heh.

Aaron Swartz proposes a Common Sense Party (which, incidentally, sounds a lot like the Democratic Party). He thinks it'd be a real winner. Ignoring the fact that third parties are a dead end in the American political system, here's what the right wing would do to his party.

We're for severely cutting, if not eliminating, taxes on you, the average American. (We'll pay for this by raising taxes on the rich and cutting wasteful government programs like the military, but we don't have to tell you this.)

Class warfare! (Actually, this is quite close to the conservative position, with a little fudging about who gets the cuts.)

We're for giving you increased benefits. You're an American! You should get free health care, free education, free food, free room and board -- whatever you need. This will save you money.

Socialism! Communism!

We're for a strong economy. We're going to lower the deficit and stop going to war with weird countries so that you get a good job and make more money.

Weak on defense! Unpatriotic! War on Terror!

We're for strong environmental regulations, so that you have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We're for strong corporate regulations, so that you don't get your money stolen from swindlers like Enron again. We're for safety regulations so you don't die in a car crash or from some poisonous product.

Big Government regulations interfering with ordinary Americans' right to do what they want with their property! Anti-business! Free market!

We're for personal freedom. Does it make sense to spend your money on preventing people from having an abortion? To go after pornographers and copyright infringers? To pay food and board for thousands of drug addicts? Rehab is much cheaper! Imprisonment is a waste of your money!

Immorality! Anti-family agenda! God! Christian nation!

We're for common-sense security. Does it make sense to attack Iraq and then spend $87 billion of your money rebuilding it? Does it make sense to slow you down at the airport when the terrorists had valid IDs and box cutters? Does it make sense to go on a war against terror when you're far more likely to be killed in a car accident than in a terrorist attack?

Weak on defense! Unpatriotic!

I recommend reading Moral Politics by George Lakoff for more insight on the conservative and liberal psyche. Here's a short synopsis.

The Common Sense Party wouldn't be able to win over the hard core conservatives, because it violates their strict family morality (it's not tough on crime, abortion, censorship, and personal responsibility). With their huge money advantage, the GOP would paint the CSP as dope-smoking hippies intent on destroying everything good about America.

Sort of like what they do to the Democrats.

If you support a third party, I encourage you to join the Democratic Party (motto: "We're not really that bad!") and advocate for instant runoff voting. Only when we get election reform will third parties matter in America.