Revenge is a Bad Thing

Funny Pictures

I've made the point repeatedly that the Halter/Lincoln Primary Thing was all about Revenge.

Blanche Lincoln betrayed certain interests and constituencies and in order to teach her a lesson, she was primaried by Arkansas Lt Governor with the support of a number of online "progressive" communities and a number of labor unions acting in concert against the White House and the so-called Democratic Establishment.

Blanche's principal betrayal was to back out of support for the "public option" in the health care insurance reform. But there were many others over the years. She is, after all, a reliable tool of corporate interest on Capitol Hill, as are most of her colleagues.

But Bill Halter, whose name will be forgotten by the end of the year, was no progressive -- as the good people of Arkansas make plain. He was slightly less overtly toolish than Blanche, something that undoubtedly would have been corrected shortly after his election to the Senate if such a thing were possible, but it wasn't.

Neither Blanche nor Halter are likely winners in the General Election. Some reactionary Republican by the name of John Boozman is almost certain to win, no matter who the Dems put up for the seat.

And the Dems chose Blanche.

But the coalition of forces aligned against her got their coup because she was made to Pay the Price in the Primary, and she's Not Going To Win in the Fall. This is idiocy.

Meanwhile, the same attitude of punishment and revenge is informing the Israeli attitude toward the Gaza. Gaza is being punished by Israel to teach its residents a lesson for electing Hamas; betrayal. The situation is far more horrible between Israel and Gaza, but the motivation is identical.

And that's why revenge is a bad thing.

It leads to the kind of suffering and bloodshed we see in the Middle East and we have been seeing there for decades.

Do not practice the politics of revenge. To do so puts you on a cycle of revenge that is very hard to get off of. Just ask anyone who's been through it recently.

How about asking the various populations of the Former Yugoslavia. Why not ask Punjabis. Ask the populations being subjected to the reimposition of Anglo-American Empire out of a thirst for revenge for things they haven't even done. Ask Native Americans about cycles of revenge. Ask the Irish.

Revenge is a bloodthirsty goddess.

Revenge is a bad thing.