I fully agree with the author of this piece, and I can add nothing to his analysis. My concern is with it's jaunty tone.
Cohen comes off as a wry observer with a "What will these wacky Republicans come up with next? They are such scamps!" attitude that serves not only to underestimate the Republicans, but to radiate an air of overconfidence that spells trouble for the country at large.
Look, it's clear that the Republicans have no qualms about running second rate intellects, see Reagan-Bush-Bush2. Hell, that's when they have their most success. It's the handlers and string pullers who do the damage behind the scenes in the names of these Republican lightweights.
The Democrats need to stop counting on Republican stumblebums to implode. That tactic won't work again because the media has forsaken it's responsibility to deliver unbiased facts and information to the electorate. We can never rely on news organizations to do anything other that to regurgitate press releases, and mold their reporting to fit some predetermined narrative. The Democrats must do their own heavy-lifting now, and forevermore.
Democrats must clearly and specifically define for one and all how it has been their policies that have pulled this country back from economic chaos, and illustrate in the same clear terms why it must be their policies going forward that make the most sense for our country.
The political game, as played in the 21st century does not favor mature and sober leadership in the handling of matters of state. It's not fair, but that's simply the way the world is now. The Democrats must wake up to this fact now if they are to fend off the Teabag barbarians, and their Republican puppets.
From washingtonpost.com comments section:
ReplyDeletejerzyrhodes wrote-(in response to me)
In 1776 the British king and parliament no doubt felt just as you do, and twelve years later the French aristocracy must have also felt quite the same. Who are these silly, stupid peasants with their mop hats!? How dare they presume to demand change? How dare they challenge our smug intelligence? Don't they understand that we know better than they do? We know better what they want and we know better what they need? Why should we allow them a voice when we know so much more and have all of the answers that they are just too stupid to understand?... those peasants, those know-nothing fools!!! Those ignorant puppets!!!
The truth is that most of us have the common sense to know that the left and the right are equally to blame for the state this country is currently in. And since the media is not saying everything you want to be hearing, you condemn the media, and look for other ways to hone your message of what a beautiful world it would be if the Democrats/liberals/progressives controlled it. Of course that requires a little old-fashioned propaganda, because as anyone can see you don't have all of the answers, and obviously neither do the Republicans. Your particular disdain for "the masses" is all too clear, and it is this attitude that creates the negative response that results in the kind of whipping the Democrats got at the polls this past November.---------
It's not 1776 any longer, it is 2011. The state of things is as follows: 48% believe in ghosts, 41% Republicans don't believe Obama is a U.S. citizen, nearly 50% don't believe in climate change. You can correctly blame both parties for getting the country into it's current morass, but relying on the goofballs on the radical right will not get us out of our difficulties. Mislabeling policies as propaganda is a very common technique of the radical right to misdirect the debate.