The Fringe ...

Remember when everything we (bloggers, people with their eyes open) said was supposed to be crazy talk? Going into Iraq? The fact Bush/Cheney manipulated the 'terror alerts' for their own political benefit? You know, all the things about which we were proven correct? Yeah, well, we're still crazy people.

...

But that is how our political culture works. Throughout the Bush years, those who said demonstrably true things were continuously dismissed as fringe, conspiracy-driven leftist-losers: those who questioned whether Saddam really had WMDs; those who argued that the invasion of Iraq would lead to long-term military bases in that country; those who worried that warrantless eavesdropping and Patriot Act powers would lead to abuses; those who opposed the war in Afghanistan on the ground that it would be drag on for years with no resolution, etc. etc.

Having been proven right about all of those things hasn't changed perceptions any at all. As Ambinder's comments today reflect, the paramount unchangeable Beltway Truth is that those who distrust government claims are unSerious Fringe Leftist Losers. Even when they turn out to be right, they're still that. And no matter how many times journalists like Ambinder are proven wrong in "giv[ing] the government the benefit of some doubt, even having learned lessons about giving the government that benefit," they still continue to do it and believe it is the right and responsible thing to do.

...

You know, in a proper world, those of us who saw reality through the tons of manure shoveled on us during the Bush years would be lauded as prophets or sages at the very least, and our collective opinion would be sought out when considering matters of import to the nation. In this world, they're still ready to fit us for straitjackets. I'm wondering what we have to do to change that; stand on our heads and make sparks shoot out our collective ass, perhaps?