Don't let laughter soothe our social conscience

One of our truly great friends hates liberals:

"Oh, liberals are experts at a kind of mock moral outrage. They can get incredibly indignant over the too-frequent use of masculine pronouns; they can detect the whiff of a molecule of hidden racism in some injudicious choice of words; and they can become easily outraged over the slightest criticism of their political clients (minorities, women, post-colonial peoples, etc.). But authentic moral outrage is something outside the orbit of their political culture."

He's right, in his first assessment. But he is not in the second. We have authentic moral outrage. Cindy Sheehan shows  moral outrage. Michael Moore shows moral outrage. And Courtney Martin shows great moral outrage and reminds us that we should not be lulled into complacency by laughter. She is absolutely right in this excellent OP-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun:

"What if all this laughing is pacifying us? Making us inert? I hate to say it. I love my Amy Poehler fix as much as the next gal, but I fear therapeutic irony is rendering us politically impotent"

But, you know what? Democrats are going to make a difference now. Impeach Bush, NOW.