Much of Democratic politics seems to now consist of embracing and fanning similarly comforting, but ultimately deceptive, liberal memes. Enron has fatally damaged Bush, Abu Ghraib has fatally damaged Bush, Katrina has fatally damaged Bush, Abramoff has fatally damaged Bush, the Plame investigation will fatally damage Bush--you can catch the latest allegedly devastating issue every day on Huffington Post or Daily Kos (and frequently in the NYT). If you believe the hype--if you don't compare Michael Moore's box office with Mel Gibson's box office, in effect--you'll believe that Democrats don't need to change to win. They just need to push all these hot memes forcefully. If you don't believe the hype--if you think that netroots Dems are too often like the Iraqi Sunnis who think they're a majority--you'll look for a Bill Clinton-like alternative with greater red-state appeal.Well, yeah. The Gramscian left in America has spent the better part of 50+ years attempting, with some degree of success, to re-craft the traditions and culture of America. They were initially so successful at this that they've begun to believe their own false mythology. Kaus' implication is that if they keep this up, '08 will give them the same results they got the last time they trotted this old horse out of the barn. He's right, too, but we'll never tell.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Kaus on Brokeback Dems
Slateblogger Mickey Kaus, one lib we read with regularity, has been exploring the curious case of "Brokeback Mountain," whereby relentless PR is being used to create a "meme"—or "received wisdom"—that the Dems and their issues are gaining ground. This time the meme is that the gay cowboy movie has gained traction, big time, in the red states, "proving" that red-staters will vote Democrat in '08. Or some such thing. Just the way it worked with Michael Moore's agitprop in '04, no doubt. Kaus has other thoughts:
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3 comments:
This is true, but sad. Sad because it's bad for America. Our country works best when we have strong and sharp parties competing to put forth the best ideas. When one party chooses to weaken itself, the other party gets lazy and sloppy. It only does as much as absolutely necessary to put up ideas that are slightly better than those of its opposition. It would be better for the Republicans and for America if the Democrats would step back into the fray.
Dear reach upward,
Thanks for your astute reply. Actually, I couldn't agree with you more.
FYI, my maternal granddad was quite literally a New Deal Democratic politician during the 30s and 40s. Both parents proudly regarded themselves as "Humphrey Democrats" in the 40s and 50s and were on the JFK bandwagon in 1960. But things change. We all crossed the river at some point. Couldn't take it anymore. Like Reagan said (more or less), I never left the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.
We'd have a far stronger and more cohesive country if we had a real Democratic Party again. But I don't know what it's going to take to make these people bottom out and get real.
As long as the Democrats waste time spewing invective at Republicans and frothing with Bush-hatred rather than giving Repubs credit and really finding out what it takes to win in the 21st century, they are basically out of it, give or take the odd election.
Personally, I think it will take another nationwide shellacking in 2008 before a housecleaning will begin. The worst thing for the Dems in 08 would actually be to win the presidency or one of the houses of Congress. It would give them just the excuse they're looking for to delay the final reckoning that could cause them to become a real party once again.
Good points.
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