Getting Things Done
Back in the days when Hitler comparisons were verboten, that is, when we had a far-right President whose social, military, and civil liberties policies looked a lot like Der Fuhrer, I often got a laugh out of them. Hitler, after all, in addition to making the trains run on time, hosted a successful Olympics, built numerous monuments, and conquered most of Europe, while Bush was nearly brought down by a pretzel, among many other things. As far as competence goes, at least, comparing the two was probably more insulting to Hitler than it was to Bush.
But in retrospect, both of them “got things done,” despicable things though they were, something of which the new Hitler, (at least according to Fox News) President Obama, can’t match. Bush, who had been a conspicuous and disastrous failure his whole life, was able to accomplish the right’s most fevered wet dreams: massive tax cuts for the wealthy, elimination of significant chunks of the Bill of Rights, massive giveaways to Big Pharma, permanent war, the abject fealty of the media, and have two tainted, squeaker elections treated as historic mandates for all of it. Obama’s only “victories” so far have been in strong-arming his giant majority into, well, acting like a minority, and cementing Bush’s radical and destructive policies as inescapable reality. Change we can believe in, indeed.
Back in the days of Bush, for which I continue to feel unaccountably nostalgic, I could blame a corrupt, bought-and-paid-for Right, and still feel hope that their defeat was coming, and our ship of state could right itself. Not so much these days. Not one meaningful Bush policy has been reversed, and many have even been extended, and the Democratic victories of 2006 and 2008 have laid bare the brokenness of the American political system that first reared its head under Clinton. It is no longer possible to have an even nominally “Liberal” government in the US; the Media and the corporations decided against that long ago. What we get is either the faux-earnestness and morality of the Democrats, or the open belligerence and proud STFU of the Republicans; we weren’t at the meeting where the actual policies were decided.
The infuriating part of all this is that in the new game, nothing is too far right for the conventional wisdom to embrace, and Democrats face a withering and unanimous barrage of horror for any idea to the left of, well, Hitler himself, and the vestigial remains of the American “left” get slammed even when they show up on, say, Daily Kos. What liberals, including myself, but unfortunately NOT including our President and a good chunk of or “representatives” in congress, failed to realize that the game was already over, probably even before Sept. 11, but that little something certainly sealed the deal, and the goal posts that had been moved so startlingly far under Bush have become embedded into the new rules of the game.
Failure, in today’s Washington, is the new success, and Obama is the embodiment of that. Good thing we lost the Olympics, and nobody’s suggested that Obama try to influence train schedules. Those now ubiquitous and suddenly unsurprising Hitler comparisons would again be unflattering.
I always felt sorry for the Hitler family for little Adolf being compared with such a ridiculous imbecile as Dubbya.
As far as the Kumbaya regime is concerned. I feel simply sad. They sure could use a little inspiration from the likes of Goeppels, Rove and other master minds of political strategy. Classic example is health care. Why not stick it to the Right in capital letters that 30% of Americans can’t have health insurance because of them. Have weekly press conference and 15 ads on Fox every evening finger pointing the Senators and Congress men who are personally responsible for blocking universal coverage. Smear them good. Let’s see what the next elections in the south look like after that. Is this so bad of a thought?
Well tell you what. It is not even bad enough. A Karl Rove consulting for the Dems would somehow finagle a situation where Obama withdraws the troops and then brings the unwashed masses to the conclusion that Republicans are to blame for losing the war in Afghanistan because they hate America. Just hammer it in their soft brains until it is accepted as common knowledge. It worked with “The Jews are to blame for Germany’s humiliation” or later with “Reagan defeated communism” with “They hate us for our freedom” – it will work all the time. Always has, always will. How much would Rove charge for consulting, you suppose?
Well, I’m not so sure there are more than a dozen or so Democrats who aren’t total sellouts, too, so even a Rovian mastermind would probably only bring us more of the same. As Alan Grayson said on Thom Hartmann’s show today, “For a lot of these people, it isn’t even the money. They’d do it for free, because it’s the way they are.”
Makes total sense to me, Heel. But, I wonder if the reason the Democrats don’t use this tactic is really because they lack the killer instinct or imagination. I think the Democratic party is filled with more creative people than the Teabag party.
No, the reason is the majority are protecting the status quo. The only thing that has “changed” is the party in power. Everything else is pretty much the same, because this is what they want.
The revolution will have to come from outside the political systems, outside the parties, and definitely outside the beltway.
Hmmm, revolution?
As long as we are all fat and happy and entertained, no revolution is conceivable.
And while I agree that more creativity could be found on the Dem side, it doesn’t help if some fundamental rules of pragmatism are violated. All those creative folks with good intentions seem to rarely get a shot at things and as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The end (often) justifies the means and when do you think will Dems have a President and at the same time the majority in both houses again? If they don’t do the bold stuff ASAP, nothing at all will happen.
If your revolution ever gets off the ground (i.e. the status quo gets unbearable), send me a mail and I will get the old ax out…
Count me in, too. I’ll put a brick in my purse.
Another case of literary sensory deprivation. Is there an idea in there somewhere? A concept? A critique? An intelligent thought, even? What are you saying, other than “I’m dissatisfied”? Is this all just groaning through a keyboard? Even e.e. cummings made more sense. Do a little studying on how an essay is structured, come up with an intelligible thought, and try again.
I take that as both a compliment and a testament to your lack of reading comprehension, Tom.
Tommy, Tommy,
what are we going to do with you?
The idea is that Dems should play the dirty but proven successful tricks the W regime played.
The concept would be to withdraw from the middle east, spend the money on health care and other good uses and blame the other side for every conceivable downside or negative aftertaste by branding them as freedom haters / America haters.
The critique is that the Dems are lame and spineless pushovers.
It certainly doesn’t matter whether you consider my thoughts intelligent or not.
Now go away and let us dumb boys have fun here. Your contributions today don’t even qualify as stirring the pot.
You don’t like e e cummings, Tom?
What. A. Philistine.