Isn’t It Rather Obvious By Now?
In the fallout from the failed crotch-bomb plot over Detroit, many have pointed out the fact that right-wingers have been particularly dishonest and hypocritical. Conservatives have been putting outright blame on Obama for the failure to catch this beforehand, whereas they blamed Clinton for the 9/11 attacks, not Bush; where Obama is to blame for an intelligence agency ignoring the father’s warning, Bush was somehow not to blame for ignoring a plethora of warning signs, several of which were delivered directly to him. Where Bush was hailed as “keeping us safe” even while the Shoe Bomber, in almost identical a fashion to the Crotch Bomber, attempted to blow up a plane to the U.S., Obama is criticized for not keeping us safe. And while Republicans excoriate the Obama administration for the lack of security, they brazenly ignore the fact that they themselves voted down more funding for airport security. Not to mention the fact that criticizing Bush on terror or security was seen as near-treasonous, while criticizing the president today is apparently not at all a problem.
I look at these criticisms and reflect on why I don’t blog on politics quite as much now: it’s all trite. Of course they’re acting like that. Of course the facts don’t matter one bit. Of course Republicans are being hypocritical, lying bags of scum; hasn’t that been all too well established? Just like it’s been established that Democratic politicians are generally weak-kneed sissies afraid of their own shadows.
The pattern is pretty simple: anything a conservative does: good; anything a liberal does: bad–even if the two acts are identical. Just claim they’re different somehow, ignore logic and consistency, blame any evidence to the contrary as an artifact of the “Liberal Media,” and there you have it. The neoconservative narrative. Throw in some social religion for further control, a few more tax cuts for the rich, disregard a few more civil liberties (while always steering clear of the control-irrelevant gun ownership), deepen the dependence on corporations, and you’re getting close to seeing the overall sheep-herding architecture of the New Conservative Society. Within that twisted framework, even Sarah Palin makes perfect sense.
Things make a lot more sense when you realize that half the population is of below-average intelligence.
Actually, given the brain-damaging effects of poor parenting/education, meth & crack, TV, lack of apparent economic opportunity and lack of class, our national IQ prolly slouches waay to the left side of the curve.
Being a bleeding-heart liberal becomes increasingly more difficult when fighting a losing battle against stupidity. Sacrificing for the unwashed masses is the right thing to do, but is tough when you’re only middle-class yourself.
The reason Democrats in office are weak is simply because the Democratic voting base is weak.
We lost the racists to the Republicans in the 1970s, so in some ways the Democratic Party is the party of distinct minorities. OTOH, 30% of this country are admitted theocrats, 15% are wealthy enough that Republican drown-the-government policy is in their best interest, 20% are old enough to either be or become rather socially conservative — there’s some overlay so we can’t just add to 65% to get the Republican base but that’s the forces in play.
I consider myself a Leftist but I certainly admire the socio-political fortress the Right has erected for itself since the 60s. Carter, Clinton, Obama — only when the Matrix glitches do we get our guy in charge.
I start to suspect that the picture of Democratic sissiness is due to the “Liberal” media which would never allow a vision of Democrats as selfsure and decisive to enter public mind.
The big question is – what can we do to project such a picture?
I guess we need to do what we’re good at.
What you’re good at, Luis, is showing – in clear, understandable and very convincing way – how deteriorated Republicans become and what Democrats need to do.
Keep up the good work!