The Driving Force in the Republican Movement...
is the need to piss us off.
I'm surprised it's taken so long for some people to realize that, but just today Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein start wrapping their heads around what I'd assumed to be an obvious truth. Republicans would lose the presidency just to piss us off, say by nominating the Marquis de Sade, putting him in only pink garters and having him address the Republican Convention talking about family values and Democratic elitism. What people mistake for Karl Rove's genius is simply his realization that you catch more flies with shit sandwiches than you do with honey, as well as the juvenile thrill people get by repeating "2+2=5" to get rid of all that faux intellectualism forced down their throats in public school (unlike the homeschoolers, who were taught 2+2 really does equal 5 and don't really get the joke even though they're the best at putting it over on others).
Now what's more worrying is that for the most part the Republicans can carry on its Theater of the Absurd *AND* get elected. So it's become a bit of bravado, which is quite frankly our only chance - if we tell the Republicans that they can't win the election by leading us into a pointless war, destroying the economy, *AND* running over the Constitution, they immediately bond together and cry, "Oh yeah? Watch this!!!" and off they go like the soulless blood suckers they are, seeking to top our hyperbolic dare with 3 hands tied behind the back. What's the new dare? Oh yeah, get the most anti-woman candidate you can find - as a female - and just blandly assume she'll take over the Democratic female vote. Don't think they didn't catch the sexist implications of this - the thought that a pro-choice woman might sing the body electric just for the chance to vote for a - oh golly gee, control the excitement already - a woman who wants to take away control over females' uteri. A family values advocate gayly (yes, next convention they'll go there) dragging her unmarried pregnant daughter and boyfriend on stage to show what exactly? IOKIYAR. It's something like Holy Water, the anointment, the baptism that erases all vestiges of sin once you're dipped in the waters of Republicanism. And now that Republicanism has become state religion, true conservatism doesn't stand a chance - it's simply not spiteful enough, can't sustain a movement. And as Bob Somersby notes, we never seem to think about fighting back - we always seem to infer that the public will come to its senses, that reason will triumph at the end of the day. I can't quite figure out why we would think that, but I'd guess it has something to with its own religiion - the religion of disinheritance, blessed are the meek. Well, good luck with all that. The best defense is an organized offense. Take them out early, take them out often. But you can't take out a high performance team with sloppy execution or reluctance to fight for the ball, and those are lessons we haven't quite mastered.
I'm surprised it's taken so long for some people to realize that, but just today Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein start wrapping their heads around what I'd assumed to be an obvious truth. Republicans would lose the presidency just to piss us off, say by nominating the Marquis de Sade, putting him in only pink garters and having him address the Republican Convention talking about family values and Democratic elitism. What people mistake for Karl Rove's genius is simply his realization that you catch more flies with shit sandwiches than you do with honey, as well as the juvenile thrill people get by repeating "2+2=5" to get rid of all that faux intellectualism forced down their throats in public school (unlike the homeschoolers, who were taught 2+2 really does equal 5 and don't really get the joke even though they're the best at putting it over on others).
Now what's more worrying is that for the most part the Republicans can carry on its Theater of the Absurd *AND* get elected. So it's become a bit of bravado, which is quite frankly our only chance - if we tell the Republicans that they can't win the election by leading us into a pointless war, destroying the economy, *AND* running over the Constitution, they immediately bond together and cry, "Oh yeah? Watch this!!!" and off they go like the soulless blood suckers they are, seeking to top our hyperbolic dare with 3 hands tied behind the back. What's the new dare? Oh yeah, get the most anti-woman candidate you can find - as a female - and just blandly assume she'll take over the Democratic female vote. Don't think they didn't catch the sexist implications of this - the thought that a pro-choice woman might sing the body electric just for the chance to vote for a - oh golly gee, control the excitement already - a woman who wants to take away control over females' uteri. A family values advocate gayly (yes, next convention they'll go there) dragging her unmarried pregnant daughter and boyfriend on stage to show what exactly? IOKIYAR. It's something like Holy Water, the anointment, the baptism that erases all vestiges of sin once you're dipped in the waters of Republicanism. And now that Republicanism has become state religion, true conservatism doesn't stand a chance - it's simply not spiteful enough, can't sustain a movement. And as Bob Somersby notes, we never seem to think about fighting back - we always seem to infer that the public will come to its senses, that reason will triumph at the end of the day. I can't quite figure out why we would think that, but I'd guess it has something to with its own religiion - the religion of disinheritance, blessed are the meek. Well, good luck with all that. The best defense is an organized offense. Take them out early, take them out often. But you can't take out a high performance team with sloppy execution or reluctance to fight for the ball, and those are lessons we haven't quite mastered.
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This will probably be a double post, but to continue,
She flaunts her family's frontier sexuality, because, after the Clinton impeachment, the Republicans know that the Progressive core of the Democratic Party are the most sexually repressed prudes in the world and too dumb to figure out how to get abortions unless the clinics are operating within 4 blocks of our house. My guess is those are Republicans in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Palin? I'm guessing it's all about pheromones.
September 5, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, I found Eyes Wide Shut so anachronistic. How could that movie possibly work post-60's/70's? But perhaps it was just too early.
September 6, 2008 1:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Um...yeah, nailed it, Des. It's a big old Fuck You to the whole nation. But, half of 'em aren't really getting it.
And what's the rest of the world thinking as they're observing this?
September 5, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Desi. Rec'd. I really think you're getting at something important about post-Atwater Republicanism.
I think it began with the conservative doctrine that self-interest can be a good thing. That idea contains a grain of truth, but it's also a doctrine that tends to attract and encourage selfish assholes. After twenty years of celebrating ruthless self-assertion, they've created a party that really is held together largely by the sheer joy of pissing off goody-goodies and bleeding hearts.
It'll be interesting to see how a party that believes mainly in the virtue of winning handles losing a couple presidential elections in a row. I'd like to imagine that they'll go through a period of soul-searching, like we did after 2004.
But I doubt it. They'll probably just dig in for trench warfare.
September 5, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's the Cheney party - they'll just find someone to shoot in the face. Look at their time of spite in the minority in Congress - quite happy to bring the system to a halt and make Democrats compromise in a humiliating fashion anyway. Really, we need to find some orneriness somewhere, even if we have to rent it. Instead of passing the torch, we need to learn some hard lessons from the grumpy old men - what you say to that, Billy?
September 6, 2008 1:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh wait, our grumpy old men are Reid and Pelosi. What to do now?
September 6, 2008 1:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, Billy's not grumpy anymore. These days he's in bed by 11, glass of milk in hand, humming Kumbaya & thinking of nice things to say to Bunny-Kitty. (That should help jump-start him, eh?)
Grumpy? You want grumpy? I got 9 months of Winter coming... kidney stones big as my fist... fists as big as my goiters... and a country of 300 million dipshits just across the border shouting FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT - led by some old dude that "Came Out Of A Box." I mean, did anyone even SEE that? Before McCain came on? They blacked out the lights & started babbling about he was "kept in a box, came out of a box, so we could get out of the box." I don't even wanna think what sortof shit they were aiming for with that, but lemme tell you... "Grumpy" kinda understated the effect it had on me. The whole "she's a joke" crowd, and their little "stay on message" crowd sound to me more & more like the first course thrown into your average horror movie.
Now, if you'll excuse me... I have some other business to attend to. Obey the kidney. BE the kidney.
September 6, 2008 2:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Won't you come and save me....?
(The man in the box)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWkPVHKwCY
September 6, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another Box, more on the dada side of things.... Super Bon Bon.
"Too fat, fat, you must cut lean. You got to take the elevator to the mezzanine, chump. CHANGE, AND IT'S ON. Super bon bon, Super bon bon, Super bon bon... Move aside and let The Man go through." (Thought you'd appreciate the "fat" references. Damned hard to find lyrics with "Bwakfat" in 'em.) ;-)
September 6, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
da
DA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPG9GcykPIY
"Oh, the shark, has, pretty teeth, dear....and he shows them, pearly white
Just a jackknife, has mccain, dear.....and he keeps it, out of sight
When the shark bites, with his teeth, dear....scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears McCain, dear...so theres not a trace, of red...
Lotte Brecht
Da
September 6, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exhibit #1: Clarance Thomas
Exhibit #2: Sarah Palin. Bad is good! Black is white! Inexperience is experience!
Exhibit #3: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/science/30profile.html?ex=1125547200&en=631977063d726261&ei=5070
September 6, 2008 9:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exhibit #1 Clarence Thomas
Exhibit #2 Sarah Palin. "Bad is good! Black is white! Inexperience is experience!"
The republican's ace in the hole:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/science/30profile.html?ex=1125547200&en=631977063d726261&ei=5070
September 6, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
We have to keep reminding ourselves that the horrific display of jingoism, hatred and elementary school playground behavior we witnessed all last week was coming from the hardest of the hardcore -- GOP delegates, the Republican faithful. This by no means reflects the thinking going on in this country today!
The cameras were rolling, and the directions to the faithful were: pep rally. Do it. Do it big, do it nasty, get the base all worked up. And yes, in the process, they get us all worked up because, well, we just can't stand to watch such a creep show. But that's all it was! We should have been prepared for this and been able to take a calm, clinical view. I admit that only the cost of my plasma TV kept me from kicking it in many times during those several days. And I should have known better. There are plenty of other things for me to be concerned about, like the hurrican bearing down on my area (that fortunately has taken a turn away from us), and the laundry list of what is wrong with this country that we heard not word one about at that televised GOP hatefest.
Now that it's over and done with, we can all take a breath, take a nice, long cleansing shower to get the filth off, and recharge for what lies ahead. I agree with McGrumpy on one thing: fight, fight, fight, only not the way he meant it. We can fight this ugly mess by working for the right side of history. Register as many people as you can -- we truly do outnumber them, we just need to get the rational masses to the polls. Donate until it hurts. Fight the smears. Spread the truth. And never, ever lose heart.
September 6, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Des:
Excellent post.
The lying at the GOP convention was more consistently blatant, shameless, and widespread than I can recall ever hearing from them before.
I began thinking about what I had just heard, and wondered why their lying had become so extreme. What popped in to my head is - they lie so much because the truth damns them so much.
Some on the left feel that the country hasn't quite yet experienced enough pain from Republican rule. That having a real Progressive renaissance will require one more disastrous GOP presidential term for a solid majority of Americans to finally "get it".
The problem with that view is it assumes the country will actually SURVIVE a McCain/Palin administration. I'm not so sure.
I do believe the GOP is on the verge of a long overdue self-destruction, but also agree with you that Democrats should be very active in pushing them there.
Rec'd
September 6, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know that there are always those who love freak shows, but the wide expanse of Americans who lap this stuff up is truly scary.
Where are all the moderate Republicans and independents out there? Hell, where are all the plain old "conservatives"?
What the Party of Lincoln has morphed into is getting too damn close to the Taliban, Khmer Rouge, the Maoists, and all the other proudly irrational national lynch mobs of history.
Their hatred for all things urban and urbane should be easily beaten by simple demographics. Who are all the non-small-towners who are going along with this?!
Please, rational Republicans, stop! Embrace you inner Eisenhower.
September 6, 2008 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
What was it Obama was saying about "Own it?" Rather than work on the "lying" angle - which is tough to say directly - why can't we see more of this? Own it, take responsibility, this is YOUR party John, you guys were in power, you voted 90% of the time - so if you're Mr Tough Truth-talker, why don't you own THIS mess? Instead, the press is pushing Obama to own his words on the Surge.
It's the "make 'em eat it" strategy you mentioned Des, but building on Obama's own lines, and McCain's own claims.
September 6, 2008 2:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Side note -- I absolutely love how Biden calls McCain "John" all the time. The subtle message is: I know John, very well. You think you know John McCain, but you really don't. I know John. I truly know the real John.
I think this is very powerful.
September 6, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nobody makes this point better than Stewart & Colbert, nobody.
September 6, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
All I can say here is that anyone who thinks the Republicans were in ANY way aiming for a reasonable/policy approach - and not playing to some deeper, more worrying stuff - wasn't paying attention during The Box.
(Check it from 7:40 to 8:26.) The resonance that part had with me was with what somebody a couple of days ago linked to, saying, the core mobilizing myth of fascism was "National Rebirth" - National Redemption. And I can find no other way to get at what precisely they were after during that section that some sort of National Renewal & Redemption - through McCain's suffering. They preceded it with dozens of references to McCain in a cell, and being in "Hell." "Five and a 1/2 years in their hell, and he chose to go back. Because... it was healing for America."
Then they turned off all the lights, so everyone's in the dark. Not just a feeling of a cell (which was constantly lit, wasn't it?), but of everyone being in a dark CASKET. Then the voice:
"When you've lived in a box... you fear no man, you know no shame... and you've FORGIVEN."
When you've lived in a box... the world becomes clear... no time for petty, no time for wrong.... just time for RIGHT."
"When you've lived in a box, YOUR LIFE IS ABOUT KEEPING OTHERS FROM HAVING TO ENDURE THAT BOX. YOU LEFT, LONG AGO, THE SHALLOW OF SELF... and put your people first, your country first."
I mean, somebody tell me what the hell OTHER response were they aiming for here? For people with whom that resonated, policy debate will NOT appeal. Nor will ridicule. The attempt at myth-making here was just massively greater than I saw with Dubya, Bush 1, Reagan, et al. You just have to hope that 51% of the voters don't work this way, because these minds are in another box altogether.
September 6, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know, Des. What I got from watching the RNC is that the GOP is in complete disarray. They are barely hanging together. Doesn't mean they can't win the WH, but the party is a total shambles. Worse by far than the Dems, and you know I'm not prone to dispensing undue praise. :-)
September 6, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink