I fortified myself with vodka and tuned in C-Span to watch the first McCain-Obama debate. John McCain showed up, imagine that, but he looked stiff and constipated; Obama looked presidential but once the debate got underway he missed a number of opportunities to thump McCain. McCain tried to emphasize his experience by dropping names and recounting how he had tramped the terrain of Afghanistan (with Alexander the Great, perhaps), and therefore knew in his bones how a war there should be fought. McCain claimed that the US is on the way to Victory (McCain loves the word) in Iraq, though very few Americans know what victory in Iraq might actually look like. Perhaps we should ask the suffering Iraqis what an American victory would look like to them. I have the feeling that a total withdrawal of all foreign troops would figure prominently in Iraqi thinking.
At times Friday night McCain reminded me of the old uncle who gets invited to Thanksgiving dinner out of pity, is placed in a corner of the den with a TV tray and the remote control, and is ignored while the rest of the family tries to enjoy turkey with all the trimmings. Only in McCain’s case he won’t be ignored. “Let me tell you,” he says over and over before launching into a ramble that no one can follow.
On the economy, McCain was clearly out of his depth. He reiterated his empty claim that he believes in and supports the American worker, but of course his actions over the past eight years – and let’s not forgot, as McCain conveniently has, that for six of those years, the Republicans, McCain’s party, had total control of the government – make a mockery of the claim. McCain aided and abetted the Titans of Finance who plundered and profited before the house of cards collapsed. American workers have been hurting for a long time; odd how McCain only now notices.
It was particularly infuriating to hear McCain talk about cutting “runaway” spending. First of all, the misbegotten Invasion and Occupation of Iraq is the primary example of a Republican Administration drunk on spending; the cost of this misadventure is climbing towards the trillion dollar mark, and yet McCain’s Jockey briefs get wadded up about congressional “earmarks.” Give us a break, John. Your party is the culprit here. Two wars – one of them completely unnecessary – a financial system built upon greed and fraud, a decimated manufacturing base, budget and trade deficits, ceaseless borrowing from foreign banks to cover our economic weakness, absurd tax policies -- the list goes on and it has all come to a head courtesy of McCain’s Republican Party.
Pork barrel spending is the least of our fiscal problems.
Don’t get the impression that I was bowled over by Senator Obama because I wasn’t. Obama missed numerous opportunities to hammer McCain, and the senator’s assertion that we can rely on nuclear power and clean coal technology was simply political silliness. Given our current financial mess, the United States cannot afford to build more nuclear power plants, and even if we could, we shouldn’t.
But at least Obama had facts at his command and an understanding that the country has entered a new era. Neither candidate will admit it, and McCain is too old and nostalgic to recognize it anyway, but the United States is no longer the baddest bully on the playground; we exhibit classic symptoms of a decrepit empire. Thankfully, Obama has a sense of this and perhaps the intelligence and political skill to do something about it.
Watching McCain ramble through his talking points brought to mind Sarah Palin’s disastrous interview with Katie Couric on CBS. If you missed that, it’s definitely worth a look. Palin is a train wreck, a small town mayor trying desperately to play on the big stage and failing miserably. Palin is so inept that she makes Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle look competent.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Flight of the Owners
“Since becoming President of the United States in 2001, President Bush has worked with the Congress to create an ownership society and build a future of security, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.” Official White House Website
That’s rich, isn’t it, given that the “owners” are currently running to the Federal government and lining up for a taxpayer-funded bailout. Rich but hardly surprising -- the fact that this nonsensical blurb remains on the White House website is testament to the Bush Administration’s staunch refusal to recognize reality.
The Ownership Society was always a codeword for supporting the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and the poor. Bush and his posse of radical ideologues pretended that the Ownership Society was open to all, but of course the front door was guarded and only the “right” people were allowed inside. Bush & Co. wrecked the economy by misplaced faith in the “free market” and by dismantling the regulatory framework that was created to curb the schemes and shenanigans of greedy capitalists.
We’re experiencing the end result of Bush’s disastrous blindness and incompetent leadership: a $700 billion Government bailout. Lo and behold, the Market God is neither infallible nor immune to manipulation and gaming; now the Federal government is poised to become the not-so-proud owner of billions of dollars worth of paper – much of it of unknown or dubious value. That there is no place to turn except the Government must make the Bushies squirm and retch; they have nothing but contempt for Government, and to watch their cronies, political allies and campaign contributors run to Government for aid must gall them no end.
Or perhaps it galls them not at all. Introspection has never been a Bush Administration strength.
The meltdown in the financial markets pushed a lot of things off the table last week. I lost track of GOP-darling Sarah Palin while her running mate was stumbling for words to explain his economic flip-flops. I assume Palin was closeted with advisors and tutors, learning the capitols of the world, the names of heads of state, and the major exports of India, Saudi Arabia and China. By now, I’m sure Palin can recite the Bush Doctrine forwards and backwards.
Ah, folly, you twisted devil. Regardless of who he claims to be as Wall Street burns, John McCain is one of the best legislative lackeys that bankers, investment houses and hedge fund operators ever had. McCain’s claim to carry the banner for improved regulation of the financial sector is contradicted by his voting record.
McCain keeps trying to reinvent himself as someone he’s not, hoping, I suppose, that the media will ignore his record and let his blatant lies pass. If you believe that John McCain can “reform” the corrupt culture he helped create in Washington, then you might as well bet your house on the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the World Series next season. The truth is that McCain has assiduously championed the interests of his corporate benefactors, and to believe that he has changed is pure fantasy.
Crude oil is up, the DOW is down and the US Government can always tap taxpayer money for ill-advised wars or to rescue wayward corporations. We can’t find ten bucks to provide health care for the uninsured or to educate our children properly or to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, but we can wage wars and rescue the wealthy with hardly any debate at all.
That’s the American Way in this age of perversity.
That’s rich, isn’t it, given that the “owners” are currently running to the Federal government and lining up for a taxpayer-funded bailout. Rich but hardly surprising -- the fact that this nonsensical blurb remains on the White House website is testament to the Bush Administration’s staunch refusal to recognize reality.
The Ownership Society was always a codeword for supporting the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and the poor. Bush and his posse of radical ideologues pretended that the Ownership Society was open to all, but of course the front door was guarded and only the “right” people were allowed inside. Bush & Co. wrecked the economy by misplaced faith in the “free market” and by dismantling the regulatory framework that was created to curb the schemes and shenanigans of greedy capitalists.
We’re experiencing the end result of Bush’s disastrous blindness and incompetent leadership: a $700 billion Government bailout. Lo and behold, the Market God is neither infallible nor immune to manipulation and gaming; now the Federal government is poised to become the not-so-proud owner of billions of dollars worth of paper – much of it of unknown or dubious value. That there is no place to turn except the Government must make the Bushies squirm and retch; they have nothing but contempt for Government, and to watch their cronies, political allies and campaign contributors run to Government for aid must gall them no end.
Or perhaps it galls them not at all. Introspection has never been a Bush Administration strength.
The meltdown in the financial markets pushed a lot of things off the table last week. I lost track of GOP-darling Sarah Palin while her running mate was stumbling for words to explain his economic flip-flops. I assume Palin was closeted with advisors and tutors, learning the capitols of the world, the names of heads of state, and the major exports of India, Saudi Arabia and China. By now, I’m sure Palin can recite the Bush Doctrine forwards and backwards.
Ah, folly, you twisted devil. Regardless of who he claims to be as Wall Street burns, John McCain is one of the best legislative lackeys that bankers, investment houses and hedge fund operators ever had. McCain’s claim to carry the banner for improved regulation of the financial sector is contradicted by his voting record.
McCain keeps trying to reinvent himself as someone he’s not, hoping, I suppose, that the media will ignore his record and let his blatant lies pass. If you believe that John McCain can “reform” the corrupt culture he helped create in Washington, then you might as well bet your house on the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the World Series next season. The truth is that McCain has assiduously championed the interests of his corporate benefactors, and to believe that he has changed is pure fantasy.
Crude oil is up, the DOW is down and the US Government can always tap taxpayer money for ill-advised wars or to rescue wayward corporations. We can’t find ten bucks to provide health care for the uninsured or to educate our children properly or to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, but we can wage wars and rescue the wealthy with hardly any debate at all.
That’s the American Way in this age of perversity.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
John McCain, Working Man
“Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.” John Stuart Mill
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an important announcement. Are you ready? Hold onto your butts now because this is huge: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has discovered -- the American worker!
Yes my friends, it’s true, I heard old man McCain singing the praises of the American worker with my own ears. There was McCain on one of the morning propaganda shows answering questions (well, sort of) about the Wall Street meltdown and what it means for the nation. Not only did McCain call for a blue-ribbon commission to investigate Wall Street’s abuses (why do politician’s always call for a blue-ribbon commission?), he also said he believes in the ingenuity of the American worker.
How rich is that? For twenty-five years, the Republican Party and John McCain have undermined American workers in every way possible, from relentless deregulation, to off-shoring American jobs to China, to busting unions, to supporting tax and trade policies that favor Capital over Labor.
Now, as Wall Street swan dives into the proverbial toilet, McCain wants to wrap himself in the tattered flag of the American worker, as if working Americans have had anything to do with the swindles that pass for business-as-usual on Wall Street.
The man has no shame whatsoever and must be exposed for the liar that he is.
The sad truth is that many voters believe McCain’s spiel, even when the facts of their own lives tell them that he is wrong. I happened to catch a TV interview with an unemployed Michigan autoworker the other day, and was flabbergasted when this poor man said that when it comes to the economy he trusts John McCain more than Barack Obama. Dear, suffering man, the problems of Michigan and the hardships faced by average working people all across America are directly related to a quarter century of Republican ideology: the “you’re-on-your-own, rugged individual, government-is-the-enemy, taxation-is-theft, and the Market-knows-best” bullshit that we’ve been force fed. Why any person with a pulse – particularly someone from a state as beleaguered as Michigan -- believes that the Republicans have an answer for our economic woes is beyond me.
Word up, Michigan: a vote for McCain is a vote to continue the disastrous policies that produced the economic suffering you’re experiencing.
How does John McCain explain the fact that the real wages of American workers fell or remained stagnant while productivity soared? How does he explain his staunch opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act – legislation that would make it easier for American workers to join unions and bargain collectively? How does he explain his steadfast support of a tax system that favors capital over labor, or the fact that his dear friend and former economic guru, Phil Gramm, authored the legislation that deregulated the financial services industry and ushered in an era of greed, excess and corruption? If McCain is so pro-worker, why is his campaign riddled with corporate lobbyists?
To hear John McCain extol the virtues of American workers is like listening to a street whore in Bangkok extol the virtues of abstinence-only sex education; it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t work, and it sure as hell doesn’t make a shred of sense.
John McCain and his Republican allies (does the name Alan Greenspan ring any bells?) are responsible for the collapse of our financial system. The facts are clear, the proof irrefutable; to lay the blame anywhere but at the feet of a failed ideology is to believe that that infamous bridge in Alaska leads somewhere.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an important announcement. Are you ready? Hold onto your butts now because this is huge: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has discovered -- the American worker!
Yes my friends, it’s true, I heard old man McCain singing the praises of the American worker with my own ears. There was McCain on one of the morning propaganda shows answering questions (well, sort of) about the Wall Street meltdown and what it means for the nation. Not only did McCain call for a blue-ribbon commission to investigate Wall Street’s abuses (why do politician’s always call for a blue-ribbon commission?), he also said he believes in the ingenuity of the American worker.
How rich is that? For twenty-five years, the Republican Party and John McCain have undermined American workers in every way possible, from relentless deregulation, to off-shoring American jobs to China, to busting unions, to supporting tax and trade policies that favor Capital over Labor.
Now, as Wall Street swan dives into the proverbial toilet, McCain wants to wrap himself in the tattered flag of the American worker, as if working Americans have had anything to do with the swindles that pass for business-as-usual on Wall Street.
The man has no shame whatsoever and must be exposed for the liar that he is.
The sad truth is that many voters believe McCain’s spiel, even when the facts of their own lives tell them that he is wrong. I happened to catch a TV interview with an unemployed Michigan autoworker the other day, and was flabbergasted when this poor man said that when it comes to the economy he trusts John McCain more than Barack Obama. Dear, suffering man, the problems of Michigan and the hardships faced by average working people all across America are directly related to a quarter century of Republican ideology: the “you’re-on-your-own, rugged individual, government-is-the-enemy, taxation-is-theft, and the Market-knows-best” bullshit that we’ve been force fed. Why any person with a pulse – particularly someone from a state as beleaguered as Michigan -- believes that the Republicans have an answer for our economic woes is beyond me.
Word up, Michigan: a vote for McCain is a vote to continue the disastrous policies that produced the economic suffering you’re experiencing.
How does John McCain explain the fact that the real wages of American workers fell or remained stagnant while productivity soared? How does he explain his staunch opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act – legislation that would make it easier for American workers to join unions and bargain collectively? How does he explain his steadfast support of a tax system that favors capital over labor, or the fact that his dear friend and former economic guru, Phil Gramm, authored the legislation that deregulated the financial services industry and ushered in an era of greed, excess and corruption? If McCain is so pro-worker, why is his campaign riddled with corporate lobbyists?
To hear John McCain extol the virtues of American workers is like listening to a street whore in Bangkok extol the virtues of abstinence-only sex education; it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t work, and it sure as hell doesn’t make a shred of sense.
John McCain and his Republican allies (does the name Alan Greenspan ring any bells?) are responsible for the collapse of our financial system. The facts are clear, the proof irrefutable; to lay the blame anywhere but at the feet of a failed ideology is to believe that that infamous bridge in Alaska leads somewhere.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Serious Times, Serious People, Really
To prove that the McCain Campaign isn’t sheltering Sarah Palin from media scrutiny, John McCain and Palin are hitting the campaign trail and speaking with reporters – at least those reporters screened by Blackwater for Liberal tendencies, anti-McCain attitude or fact-based skepticism. What follows is the transcript of a press conference that took place recently in eastern Ohio.
Fox News: Governor Palin, what shade of lipstick are you wearing today?
Palin: This is hardwood-rose, a good outdoorsy shade, don’t you think?
Fox News: It’s lovely, Governor. How do you feel about taxation?
Palin: Taxation is bad. I support lowering the tax burden on hard working Americans.
CNN: Governor, do you think women who supported Hillary Clinton will support you?
Palin: I don’t see why not. They’re women, I’m a woman, so I expect they’ll vote for me.
McCain: I want to remind you that my opponent never spent time in a North Vietnamese prison camp.
Palin: And let me add that I read about North Vietnam on Wikipedia.
Correspondent from the Nation magazine, sneaking past Security: Excuse me, can we talk about the economy, please.
Fox News: Who let that leftist agitator in? Governor Palin, how do you juggle your official duties and a large family?
Nation Correspondent, before being assaulted with pepper spray: What about Iraq, the illegal invasion and occupation…you bastards – get your hands off me, this is still AMERICA!
Palin: Well, my husband, the First Dude, is really good about helping out around the house. He doesn’t cook, but he will wash windows and do laundry.
CNN: Isn’t she wonderful!
Fox News: She’s electric! She has single-handedly re-energized the Republican Party! McCain is a genius for selecting her as his running mate!
NBC News: John, good to see you again. Do you believe – as President Bush does – that the fundamentals of the economy are strong?
McCain: The economy is robust, the envy of the world. And did I mention that I served time in a Vietnamese POW camp? Let me just say this: Republicans put America first. My opponent will coddle America’s enemies. My opponent doesn’t know what it’s like to survive in a POW camp.
Palin: I gave every citizen of Alaska a tax rebate!
CNN: Governor, I’m sorry to ask this question, forgive me, but did you support the infamous Bridge to Nowhere?
Palin: I did not – I fought against that silly bridge. I don’t know why the Liberal establishment keeps insisting that I supported the Bridge. Clearly, the Liberal establishment is against me – and against women in general.
CBS News correspondent, second row, whispered to ABC News correspondent: I love her but she’s lying. She supported the Bridge and tried to secure more Federal dough for similar projects. She only opposed it when it became a political embarrassment for Senator Stevens. I should do my job and ask a tough follow-up, but isn’t she just wonderful?
Fox News: John, is this election about character?
McCain: Absolutely. And unlike my opponent, my character was molded during my years in a POW camp.
Palin: It’s more important to have character than to be a character. I read that in a book, actually.
Fox News: Governor, the Obama Campaign has made a number of scurrilous attacks against you for an alleged lack of experience in foreign policy. How do you respond?
Palin: First of all, there’s no tougher species of female than a hockey mom. Second, I am the commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard – the front line of America’s defense against a Russian invasion of our glorious nation. I have a uniform and everything. If the Russians want a fight, the ANG is ready for them. Bring ‘em on Vladimir is what I say. Did you know that you can see Russia from Alaska?
Fox News: OMG! OMG! I’m so excited I think I just soiled myself.
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now Host, shoving past Security: This is supposed to be a serious press conference about serious issues! What do either one of you have to say about the trashing of the Constitution, illegal spying on American citizens or the shameful treatment of our veterans?
(Seconds after she asked this question Goodman and her film crew were tasered by State Troopers and arrested.)
Palin: I think I believe in Law & Order, and I’m pretty sure I read the Constitution when it came out in paperback. And I just watched my son ship off to serve his country in Iraq – against the very people who plotted and launched the terrible attacks of September 11.
ABC News correspondent whispered to CBS News correspondent: Oops. I guess Sarah missed the memo from Karl Rove. Well, she’s still amazing even though she doesn’t seem to understand that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Smarts are overrated in politics anyway.
McCain: I don’t feel the need to respond to insolent questions. After all, I was a POW.
Fox News: Governor Palin, what shade of lipstick are you wearing today?
Palin: This is hardwood-rose, a good outdoorsy shade, don’t you think?
Fox News: It’s lovely, Governor. How do you feel about taxation?
Palin: Taxation is bad. I support lowering the tax burden on hard working Americans.
CNN: Governor, do you think women who supported Hillary Clinton will support you?
Palin: I don’t see why not. They’re women, I’m a woman, so I expect they’ll vote for me.
McCain: I want to remind you that my opponent never spent time in a North Vietnamese prison camp.
Palin: And let me add that I read about North Vietnam on Wikipedia.
Correspondent from the Nation magazine, sneaking past Security: Excuse me, can we talk about the economy, please.
Fox News: Who let that leftist agitator in? Governor Palin, how do you juggle your official duties and a large family?
Nation Correspondent, before being assaulted with pepper spray: What about Iraq, the illegal invasion and occupation…you bastards – get your hands off me, this is still AMERICA!
Palin: Well, my husband, the First Dude, is really good about helping out around the house. He doesn’t cook, but he will wash windows and do laundry.
CNN: Isn’t she wonderful!
Fox News: She’s electric! She has single-handedly re-energized the Republican Party! McCain is a genius for selecting her as his running mate!
NBC News: John, good to see you again. Do you believe – as President Bush does – that the fundamentals of the economy are strong?
McCain: The economy is robust, the envy of the world. And did I mention that I served time in a Vietnamese POW camp? Let me just say this: Republicans put America first. My opponent will coddle America’s enemies. My opponent doesn’t know what it’s like to survive in a POW camp.
Palin: I gave every citizen of Alaska a tax rebate!
CNN: Governor, I’m sorry to ask this question, forgive me, but did you support the infamous Bridge to Nowhere?
Palin: I did not – I fought against that silly bridge. I don’t know why the Liberal establishment keeps insisting that I supported the Bridge. Clearly, the Liberal establishment is against me – and against women in general.
CBS News correspondent, second row, whispered to ABC News correspondent: I love her but she’s lying. She supported the Bridge and tried to secure more Federal dough for similar projects. She only opposed it when it became a political embarrassment for Senator Stevens. I should do my job and ask a tough follow-up, but isn’t she just wonderful?
Fox News: John, is this election about character?
McCain: Absolutely. And unlike my opponent, my character was molded during my years in a POW camp.
Palin: It’s more important to have character than to be a character. I read that in a book, actually.
Fox News: Governor, the Obama Campaign has made a number of scurrilous attacks against you for an alleged lack of experience in foreign policy. How do you respond?
Palin: First of all, there’s no tougher species of female than a hockey mom. Second, I am the commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard – the front line of America’s defense against a Russian invasion of our glorious nation. I have a uniform and everything. If the Russians want a fight, the ANG is ready for them. Bring ‘em on Vladimir is what I say. Did you know that you can see Russia from Alaska?
Fox News: OMG! OMG! I’m so excited I think I just soiled myself.
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now Host, shoving past Security: This is supposed to be a serious press conference about serious issues! What do either one of you have to say about the trashing of the Constitution, illegal spying on American citizens or the shameful treatment of our veterans?
(Seconds after she asked this question Goodman and her film crew were tasered by State Troopers and arrested.)
Palin: I think I believe in Law & Order, and I’m pretty sure I read the Constitution when it came out in paperback. And I just watched my son ship off to serve his country in Iraq – against the very people who plotted and launched the terrible attacks of September 11.
ABC News correspondent whispered to CBS News correspondent: Oops. I guess Sarah missed the memo from Karl Rove. Well, she’s still amazing even though she doesn’t seem to understand that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Smarts are overrated in politics anyway.
McCain: I don’t feel the need to respond to insolent questions. After all, I was a POW.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Masters of Deceit (or How to Run a Campaign when you have Nothing to Run On)
Rovian logic. If the economy stinks for most Americans and portends to worsen before it improves – talk instead about illegal immigration, abortion, or something nebulous, like “character.” Whatever you do, don’t talk about the real world issues impacting real people’s lives – the issues your party is largely responsible for creating.
Talk about reforming politics in Washington as if your party has not been in total command of all three branches of government – and still controls two – for six of the past eight years. Talk about how you are the one to take on the Establishment even though you yourself are a pillar of that Establishment.
Talk nostalgically about small towns and families while vowing to continue the policies that are destroying small towns and families.
Above all, paint your opponents as unpatriotic and un-American while your party undermines the Constitution, runs roughshod over the rule of law and strains relationships with America’s traditional allies. You don’t need a comprehensive plan or vision for the country, you just need to lie compellingly about your opponents. Run on your biography, not the actual record, and invoke your stint as a POW at every opportunity – even when it’s irrelevant to the topic at hand.
If you watched any part of the GOP Convention you know that the Rove Playbook is still widely read and that Republicans are clinging to George W. Bush’s illusions. If the American electorate was more sophisticated and harder to dupe, the GOP would be packing bags, shredding documents and preparing to depart Washington D.C., because after eight disastrous years of Republican misrule, logic says there’s no way John McCain can beat Barack Obama.
Think about it. Is the Republican ticket running against Barack Obama and Joe Biden or are they running against the long, dark shadow cast by George Bush and Dick Cheney? The crux of the matter is that McCain and Palin must run against their own party’s disastrous record without turning off or alienating the party faithful.
It’s a trick worthy of Houdini, but it’s also a stage show the Republicans have perfected – after all, George Bush made it to the White House twice, which proves that American presidential elections are about images and emotions and distortions, not facts, policies or truth.
For the Masters of Deceit, Sarah Palin is a smart choice (even though her right-wing policy positions and staggering absence of experience make her a ridiculous choice) because she’s enough of a circus act to divert attention from the stiff old man she’s running alongside. The mainstream media took Palin at face value, got caught up in the hype and announced that Palin “electrified” the GOP convention and “energized” the base. Palin is good copy and next to the sclerotic McCain, the dull Fred Thompson and the rabid Rudy Guliani, who wouldn’t look fresh and chipper?
The disciples of Karl Rove will spend the next two months trying to induce gullible voters to forget the policy failures of the past eight years: a failing economy brought on by Republican blind faith in a benevolent Market God; two wars, one of them completely unnecessary; a failure to address America’s energy needs or come to grips with the serious implications of climate change; indifference to citizen concerns about the affordability of health care and higher education; and the erosion of Constitutional protections.
The cynicism of Karl Rove and the GOP would be amusing if it wasn’t deadly serious.
Talk about reforming politics in Washington as if your party has not been in total command of all three branches of government – and still controls two – for six of the past eight years. Talk about how you are the one to take on the Establishment even though you yourself are a pillar of that Establishment.
Talk nostalgically about small towns and families while vowing to continue the policies that are destroying small towns and families.
Above all, paint your opponents as unpatriotic and un-American while your party undermines the Constitution, runs roughshod over the rule of law and strains relationships with America’s traditional allies. You don’t need a comprehensive plan or vision for the country, you just need to lie compellingly about your opponents. Run on your biography, not the actual record, and invoke your stint as a POW at every opportunity – even when it’s irrelevant to the topic at hand.
If you watched any part of the GOP Convention you know that the Rove Playbook is still widely read and that Republicans are clinging to George W. Bush’s illusions. If the American electorate was more sophisticated and harder to dupe, the GOP would be packing bags, shredding documents and preparing to depart Washington D.C., because after eight disastrous years of Republican misrule, logic says there’s no way John McCain can beat Barack Obama.
Think about it. Is the Republican ticket running against Barack Obama and Joe Biden or are they running against the long, dark shadow cast by George Bush and Dick Cheney? The crux of the matter is that McCain and Palin must run against their own party’s disastrous record without turning off or alienating the party faithful.
It’s a trick worthy of Houdini, but it’s also a stage show the Republicans have perfected – after all, George Bush made it to the White House twice, which proves that American presidential elections are about images and emotions and distortions, not facts, policies or truth.
For the Masters of Deceit, Sarah Palin is a smart choice (even though her right-wing policy positions and staggering absence of experience make her a ridiculous choice) because she’s enough of a circus act to divert attention from the stiff old man she’s running alongside. The mainstream media took Palin at face value, got caught up in the hype and announced that Palin “electrified” the GOP convention and “energized” the base. Palin is good copy and next to the sclerotic McCain, the dull Fred Thompson and the rabid Rudy Guliani, who wouldn’t look fresh and chipper?
The disciples of Karl Rove will spend the next two months trying to induce gullible voters to forget the policy failures of the past eight years: a failing economy brought on by Republican blind faith in a benevolent Market God; two wars, one of them completely unnecessary; a failure to address America’s energy needs or come to grips with the serious implications of climate change; indifference to citizen concerns about the affordability of health care and higher education; and the erosion of Constitutional protections.
The cynicism of Karl Rove and the GOP would be amusing if it wasn’t deadly serious.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
One Small Step Closer to the Gulag
On the day I begin re-reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Democracy Now host Amy Goodman is arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota for protesting the arrest of two of her colleagues. All three have journalist credentials and Press ID, and yet police in riot gear manhandle them as if they’re members of the Weather Underground. Fortunately, some alert soul captures this outrage on video and posts it on YouTube.
For all of Barack Obama’s soaring and inspiring rhetoric, we didn’t hear much in his convention speech about restoring civil liberties. I wonder if Bill Clinton’s call for restoring the American Dream at home also meant turning back the emerging American police state.
The police state will prevail unless and until the arrest of a journalist as prominent as Amy Goodman is front-page news. As of this morning, at least on the New York Times and Los Angeles Times websites, it’s not even worth a mention. I don’t suspect that Diane Sawyer or Matt Lauer will lead with the story, either, though in the grand scheme of freedom and liberty, the arrest of Amy Goodman and the systematic stifling of dissent in this country is more important than Hurricane Gustav or the hypocrisy of Sarah Palin.
Dissent is as fundamental to a real democracy as free and fair elections. The Constitution still guarantees the right of free speech and free assembly, but when peaceful protestors – with a permit -- are met by police in full riot gear and journalists trying to do their jobs are arrested, one wonders what the Constitution means.
I first read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 1979. Back then America seemed as far from the Gulag as the moon is from Pluto. Today the distance is far shorter. We’re in the process of trading some of our most precious civil liberties for a false sense of security. No nation on this planet jails as many of its citizens as we do; we torture prisoners and invade countries that pose no threat to us. And, like Pravda in the days of the Soviet Union, the American media feeds the population a steady diet of half-truths, whole lies, and mind-numbing trivia.
We can ignore what happened to Amy Goodman in St. Paul, but not for long. Tyranny happens gradually.
For all of Barack Obama’s soaring and inspiring rhetoric, we didn’t hear much in his convention speech about restoring civil liberties. I wonder if Bill Clinton’s call for restoring the American Dream at home also meant turning back the emerging American police state.
The police state will prevail unless and until the arrest of a journalist as prominent as Amy Goodman is front-page news. As of this morning, at least on the New York Times and Los Angeles Times websites, it’s not even worth a mention. I don’t suspect that Diane Sawyer or Matt Lauer will lead with the story, either, though in the grand scheme of freedom and liberty, the arrest of Amy Goodman and the systematic stifling of dissent in this country is more important than Hurricane Gustav or the hypocrisy of Sarah Palin.
Dissent is as fundamental to a real democracy as free and fair elections. The Constitution still guarantees the right of free speech and free assembly, but when peaceful protestors – with a permit -- are met by police in full riot gear and journalists trying to do their jobs are arrested, one wonders what the Constitution means.
I first read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 1979. Back then America seemed as far from the Gulag as the moon is from Pluto. Today the distance is far shorter. We’re in the process of trading some of our most precious civil liberties for a false sense of security. No nation on this planet jails as many of its citizens as we do; we torture prisoners and invade countries that pose no threat to us. And, like Pravda in the days of the Soviet Union, the American media feeds the population a steady diet of half-truths, whole lies, and mind-numbing trivia.
We can ignore what happened to Amy Goodman in St. Paul, but not for long. Tyranny happens gradually.
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