We wuz robbed!

2000, Democrats: "We wuz robbed!"
2002, Democrats: "We wuz robbed again!"
2004, Democrats: "We wuz robbed yet again!"
2006, Republicans: "Bummer. Oh, well, we’ll do better next time."

Note that right-wing pundits and bloggers don’t seem to be fixating on voter
fraud, despite

documented evidence that the Democrats have been doing that kind of thing?
Note that Republican candidates who lost very narrowly gave in gracefully,
without demanding recounts or resorting to the courts? Why the difference?

I think it’s the basic Democrat culture of entitlement showing through.
Democrats were angry in 2000, 2002, and 2004 because they felt that they
deserved to win. Republicans don’t feel that anyone deserves anything. They
believe that all rewards have to be earned.

There’s another way of looking at this. In 2000, 2002, and 2004, Democrats
explained their defeat by looking to see what the Republicans had done to
inflict defeat on the Democrats. In 2006, the Republicans seem to be explaining
their defeat by
looking
for all the ways they themselves loused up. The Democrats are showing their
investment in the cult of the victim. They didn’t lose because of any fault or
failure of their own; they lost because of the nefarious acts of villainous
Republicans.

It’s another manifestation of their epistemological breakdown regarding the
principle of cause-and-effect. The Democrats do not fundamentally believe that
they are in control of their own fate — or ours. They were victims in 2000,
2002, and 2004. The only reason they weren’t victims in 2006 was that the
nefarious Republicans didn’t successfully pull off their nefarious plots and
plans this time. And in general Democrats demonstrate a broad belief that
there’s no relationship between acts and results, cause and effect. What matters
is motive, not behavior. If you do something with good intentions,
the result will be good.

And never mind what road is paved with good intentions. They don’t believe in
Hell, either.

Raising taxes won’t result in decreased economic growth. There’s no
relationship between the two. What Congress does about taxes won’t have any
effect on the economy, so why not raise taxes so there’s more government
money to spread around to those who deserve to receive it?

Why shouldn’t we decrease defense spending in the middle of a war?
Increased defense spending causes war, it isn’t a response to it. If
we stop fighting, the war will end. If we reduce our defense spending, we’ll be
safer. Anyway, the UN will protect us.

Bailing out of Iraq won’t result in increased radicalism in the Middle
East. (Though we’re told that invading the place did result in increased
radicalism.) "Redeploying" won’t convince the radicals that we’re cowards
who have no staying power and can be worn down in a long fight. It won’t
convince the radicals that they can attack us with impunity and that the price
of doing so won’t be catastrophe for them.

Bypassing the electoral process and using the courts to implement their
radical agenda (e.g. legalization of gay marriage) won’t cause backlash
among the electorate and widespread passage of one-man-one-woman marriage laws.
(Ahem.)

Restricting the use of fossil fuels won’t cause the economy to
collapse. Energy doesn’t come from coal and oil, it comes from service stations
and light sockets in the wall.

If cause-and-effect don’t actually have anything to do with one another, and
if good things happen to good people because they deserve to get good
results, then all those ideas make perfect sense. We should live good lives, and
treat others (e.g. al Qaeda) kindly, and if we do then everything will get
better. The bad things that have happened to us (e.g. the 9/11 attack) are our
own fault because we act in evil ways, and thus don’t deserve good results. Our
lives will become more comfortable and better and safer in every way because
we’ll be virtuous, and thus will deserve it.

Fortunately, there’s another election in 2008. Two years is long enough for
the Democrats to show their true colors, but not long enough for them to louse
things up beyond repair. For six years the Democrats in Congress have done
nothing but complain about nearly everything the Republicans have done, without
ever offering any alternative plans. Now the Democrats are in charge, and will
have to act instead of spending all their time bitching. (Best guess is
that they’ll switch to spending all their time spending.)

It’s definitely going to be amusing to watch them try to lead and to see what
direction they think they’ll lead us. I think the result is going to be a
shambles, leading to a massive reversal in 2008. (Especially if the Republican
message in 2008 is, "We’ve learned our lesson, and we’ll do better next time.")