R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The movie "Roxanne" is Steve Martin's modern retelling of Cyrano DeBergerac. One of the best scenes in the movie is where Martin, playing the Cyrano character, big nose and all, is insulted by a bar patron. The patron's insult? "Hey, Big Nose!"

Martin scoffs at his detractor's lack of insult skills. "Is that the best you can do? 'Hey, Big Nose'?". The man challenges him to do better. Martin does him even better. He comes up with TWENTY insults that leave his opponent in the dust (my personal favorite, "Finally! A man who can satisfy two women at the same time!")

I am reminded of this by this post at DailyKOS in which the question of "respecting your opponent" is discussed. Specifically, the principle of good sportsmanship that says that, when you are obviously going to win, you don't add insult to injury by blowing out your opponent. It's a good lesson to teach your kids. It's a good lesson we all could learn.

But there are times when the situation demands that you not just defeat your opponent but that you crush them. Specifically, when your opponent is someone who has no sense of honor, no sense of respect and shows every indication that a mere defeat will not be enough to teach them a lesson. When your opponent is a vampire you don't just push them back in the shadows with a cross. You drive a stake through their heart, chop off their head and scatter the dust to the far corners of the Earth lest they ever come back to haunt you again.

This election and what comes next (assuming the Dems win) is just such a situation.

Respecting your opponent only works when your opponent is someone who is worthy of respect. When such is not the case you bury the mother-fucker!