I'll take a moonbat any day over a wingnut

Resolved:

Moonbats are not a threat to our nation, whereas wingnuts are.

As a centrist Democrat, proud inheritor of the New Deal, which made America the greatest country in the world, I've had the opportunity over at least 4 decades to closely observe both moonbats and wingnuts in American politics. Here are my observations:

Moonbats: First of all, and most important, they are generally in touch with reality, and are capable of modifying their views when events dictate, though without abandoning their values. Seco nd, their values, favoring individual liberty and dignity, equal opportunity, anti-racism, and more reflect the best of the American tradition.

Their main problem is that they can have a distorted sense of priorities, furiously advocating causes have little popularity, much opposition, and which are not necessarily the highest expression of liberal values. Thus, they get in a lather about things like gay marriage, racial preferences for minorities, animal rights, and other non-mainstream opinions that alienate them from the mass of the public and hurt their efforts to prevent the US from becoming a polluted police state under eternal war.

Wingnuts: Wingnuts appear to have problems over what constitutes reality. What's more their values reflect the worst of the American tradition (nativism, racism, the Confederate states, imperialism, Christian fundamentalism) and are otherwise wildly inconsistent (an incomplete "libertarianism" that obesses about threats to liberty from government but ignores the threat to liberty from overly rich and powerful private interests). They advocate war and naked imperialism, but are, for the most part, unwilling to serve in the military. They not only ignore the consensus findings of science if it conficts with their interests, but they go to great lengths to insist that the science is wrong.

Wingnuts appear to serve as "useful idiots" to advance the cause of the rich and powerful, who would just as soon ignore most of the wingnut rantings that don't advocate more wealth for the already rich and more power for the already powerful. Of course, they 0ccasionally have to throw the wingnuts some bones to keep them happy, much to the chagrin of (for example) the Jewish cadets at the Air Force Academy.

One interesting difference between moonbats and wingnuts is that there are absolutely no moonbats in high elected or appointed positions in the United States, whereas many, many wingnuts now walk the Halls of Congress and are in the highest executive offices. The moonbat link to reality kicks in when they do reach high office, so they, of course, can temper their views to reflect more accurately the public they serve. I think this is what enrages the wingnuts, who, for some reason, seem to be incapable of changing their policies, even when it's obvious they aren't working.

So, like I said, give me a moonbat any day!