The Cult of the Con--it's a religion, LATimes editorial agrees

I have posted several times about the Cult of the Con. Seems I am not alone in noticing our fact free cons act more like religious zealots than rationals having a civilized discussion of facts. At least one other person agrees with me. See "Politics as Religion" by Neal Gabler at the following URL:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gabler2-2009oct02,0,7817347.story

Here is a sample of what he says in his editorial:

"Conservatives who sincerely believed that theirs is the only true and right path have come to realize that political tolerance is no match for religious vehemence.

Unfortunately, they are right. Having opted out of political discourse, they are not susceptible to any suasion. Rationality won't work because their arguments are faith-based rather than evidence-based. Better message control won't work. Improved strategies won't work. Grass-roots organizing won't work. Nothing will work because you cannot convince religious fanatics of anything other than what they already believe, even if their religion is political dogma.

And therein lies the problem, not only for liberals but for mainstream conservatives who think of conservatism as an ideology, not an orthodoxy. You cannot beat religion with politics, which is why the extreme right "wins" so many battles. The fundamentalist political fanatics will always be more zealous than mainstream conservatives or liberals. They will always be louder, more adamant, more aggrieved, more threatening, more willing to do anything to win. Losing is inconceivable. For them, every battle is a crusade -- or a jihad -- a matter of good and evil."

I could not agree more with his point about the new Limbaugh conservatism being a religion, but I highly disagree that the current cons cannot be beat. They have been beaten over and over again recently in every election everywhere. There movement of lies fueling raw emotion and hate has 'no there, there' at its center (as Gertrude Stein said of Oakland). When their center collapses from hate and lies, this whole phony Limbaugh dominated 'conservative movement' will fold and fall. Perhaps then we can get back to a real conservative movement that offers ideas that can be discussed instead of lies whose purpose is solely to inflame.