At the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson writes about “The Meltdown We Can’t Even Enjoy.”
It’s frustrating. The three overlapping forces that have sent this country in so many wrong directions — the conservative movement, the neoconservative movement and the Republican Party — are warring among themselves, doing their best impression of crabs in a barrel, and sensible people can’t even enjoy the spectacle. That’s because it’s hard to take pleasure in the havoc they’ve caused and the disarray they will someday leave behind.
“Crabs in a barrel” — what perfect imagery! Can’t you just imagine all the righties, all the Bush culties and fundies and neocons and Big Gubmint-hating quasi-libertarians confined together within their shared lies and resentments? And as the reality of their failed ideologies closes in, see how they pull in their eyestalks and scramble for whatever crumbs of self-validation they can find?
Today the Right Blogosphere is swarming over the critical news that Borders Books refuses to stock a magazine that published the Danish Mohammed cartoons. Other recent blogswarms involved displays of the Mexican flag. For the past couple of days righties have labored mightily to assure themselves that the opinions offered by some retired FISA judges was the opposite of what the judges actually said it was. They’re still picking through the intelligence garbage dumped by John Negroponte. John Podhoretz of the National Review criticizes the just-released Jill Carroll for not being anti-Muslim enough. And for the past several days a number of them, led by John Fund, have been obsessed over a former Taliban member enrolled at Harvard.
Crumbs, I say. The same people who spent the past several years congratulating each other for their grand “ideas” are running (sideways) from big issues as fast as their scaly little legs can scramble. Robinson continues,
It would all be entertaining if the stakes weren’t so high. Iraqis and Americans are dying; the treasury is bleeding; real people, not statistics, are at the center of the immigration debate. Iran is intent on joining the nuclear club. Hallowed American traditions of privacy, fairness and due process are being flouted, and thus diminished.
Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a gloomier look at the Big Pcture —
It’s not merely that the Bush administration has run aground on its own illusions. The real problem runs deeper, much deeper, and at its core, I think, lies the fact that out of fear and laziness we insist on trying to address new problems with old ideologies, rhetoric and mind-sets.
To put it bluntly, we don’t know what to do, and so we do nothing.
Run through the list: We have no real idea how to address global warming, the draining of jobs overseas, the influx of illegal immigrants, our growing indebtedness to foreign lenders, our addiction to petroleum, the rise of Islamic terror . . .
Those are very big problems, and if you listen to the debate in Congress and on the airwaves, you can’t help but be struck by the smallness of the ideas proposed to address them. We have become timid and overly protective of a status quo that cannot be preserved and in fact must be altered significantly.
The Republicans, for example, continue to mouth a cure-all ideology of tax cuts, deregulation and a worship of all things corporate, an approach too archaic and romanticized to have any relevance in the modern world, as their five years in power have proved.
The GOP’s sole claim to bold action — the decision to invade Iraq in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 — instead epitomizes the problem. The issue of Islamic terrorism is complex and difficult, and by reverting immediately to the brute force of another era, we made the problem worse.
Yet in recent years the Dems in Washington have offered little else but tweaks to the Republican agenda.
It’s not as if the big, bold ideas needed to address our real problems don’t exist. Sure, they exist — among people with no power to implement them. And thanks to the VRWC echo chamber, those people are painted as dangerous, radical, impractical loonies by just about everyone in both parties and in major news media. Eugene Robinson calls on the Dems to “put together an alternative program that will begin to undo some of the damage the conservative-neocon-GOP nexus has wrought.” But the party as it exists now hardly seems capable of such a challenge. It’s too compromised, too tired, too inbred.
What’s a progressive to do?
As a practical matter, the way Americans conduct elections makes third parties irrelevant. If we had run-off elections or a parliamentary system, I’d say abandon the Dems and form something new. But our system marginalizes third parties; there’s no way around that. Our only hope is to reform the Dems.
Meanwhile, conservatives are being challenged to choose between loyalty and principle. On the Blogosphere, loyalty seems to be winning out. And the righties scurry to hide inside fantasies that George W. Bush is a great leader, and the majority of the American people are still behind him. Snap snap snap.
the Dems in Washington have offered little else but tweaks to the Republican agenda.
The new Democratic platform is little more than “what the other guy said, but we really mean it”. I am a lifelong Democrat – not just a yellow dog Dem, but a dead dog Dem – and I am sorely disappointed in the Beltway crowd.
This was a chance to offer some moral clarity and leadership if there ever was one. Why not come out and say “Warrantless wiretaps on Americans are a crime. The preventive war against Iraq was not just a crime but a blunder”? Why not show the base that they are listening? Why not prove to the independents that they have the guts to stand up to the terrorists by having the guts to stand up to the Republicans?
This was a golden opportunity to swing for the fence and they chose to bunt.
“crabs in a barrel” best line yet!
All the rats have scurried away and are jumping ship( and written their ‘I was for the war before I was against it’ confessions) and now all that is left is a barrel of scorpions trying to out sting each other. All they have is a worn out playbook and no idea of or desire to do what needs to be done.
If we had run-off elections or a parliamentary system, I’d say abandon the Dems and form something new.
I’d be right behind you.
A little more “crabbiness”:
Laura the War Whore Ingraham said this A.M. that, and I quote, “Not all Marxism is bad.” THIS is how badly the immigration issue has scrambled the wingnut brains.
It’s not as if the big, bold ideas needed to address our real problems don’t exist. Sure, they exist — among people with no power to implement them.
I was gonna say… I disagree with Bookman because I know there are people who have big ideas to solve all of those problems mentioned, but those people have little or no political power. He is right that we need to do big things to fix those problems; small changes aren’t gonna do it.
The only problem I think we still aren’t sure how to deal with is how to exit Iraq gracefully, but it’s probably too late to do that anyway. And maybe that’s the most frustrating thing; we took to the streets and shouted not to go to war and we knew all along it was a bad idea, and now that the perpetrators are getting their comeuppance, we can’t enjoy it because the outcome is far worse than we predicted, and now we’ve got this “quagmire” and someone has to find a solution, because the president sure doesn’t seem to be working on that.
Somehow, when you talk about the conservatives
‘swarming’ over news they find juicy, I can’t help visualizing maggots. Fly away, fly away, little wingnuts.
“Crabs” is so apt. Ugly, small-minded, fearful, mental midgets.
The thing we progressives must do is prune the immense amount of dead wood out of our party. I’m impressed for example at the head of steam Ned Lamont has built in his quest to eject Joe Lieberman. I’m looking forward to the big cheer that’s going to rise up in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party when we can start to retire these compromising sell-outs.
I was personally appalled at the news of Barack Obama giving a Connecticut Democratic gathering speech in which he came out for Lieberman. Geez.
There is no nastier, nore fierce critter than a blue crab, a basket of them indeed!
I respectfully disagree with you about the third party comment.
The time has arrived. There are many ex Bush supporters who would get behind a common sense candidate, many rue the day they voted for Smirk ‘n Sneer.
There is one brave man who could turn this thing around, he has fought for safety and against corporate bagmen since the sixties.
He should have been elected in 2000, we’d be far better off.
The time has arrived.
The time can arrive all it wants to; it’s not going to happen until we change the way elections are conducted. Pigs will fly first. Hell, Ralph Nader, who sold out to the Right as far as I’m concerned, will fly first.
What crabs in a barrel means in a native American community is that people are envious of each other and won’t let even one get ahead…as soon as one crab climbs to the top to escape the barrel another grabs him and pulls him back down, they are all doomed. I would imagine it means the same thing in the black communities. It’s an odd phenomenon, some people just don’t like to see others better themselves, especially if they can’t or won’t do it for themselves. I think this article is alluding to that, each faction is envious of the other and determined to be the arbiter of conservatism. The divisiveness and infighting would be amusing if it didn’t come at such a high price.
Ralph sold out to the right? I am not aware of that, please explain…
Re Nader’s connections to the Right:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20041004/alterman
http://www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2004/07/26/Opinioneditorials/From-The.Daily.Phony.Funding-1424505.shtml
A conservative on Nader’s conservtive roots:
http://www.ncpa.org/oped/bartlett/sep2000a.html
How Nader lies like any other politician:
http://www.reason.com/0205/cr.mw.speaking.shtml
Ralph’s possibly every bit as self-deluded as Bush, but with less voter appeal.
“(W)e don’t know what to do, and so we do nothing.” – Jay Bookman
Yet it will get done — and we won’t like it. – Hostile Elder
Thanks for the links Maha.
Most of the links seem to point out Nader was a “spoiler”, stealing Gores’ votes. Admittedly, Nader isn’t perfect, and far from it, but the Republicans, except for (perhaps) Chuck Hagel and Ron Paul are totally detached from reality. The Democrats have Hillary ( a turd in the hot tub) Kerry/Edwards (Rocky and Bullwinkle), and who else?
We “appear” to be totally screwed. If I could move off to some far away place and watch the disintegration of America from afar, I’d do so….
But NOBODY wants a 51 year old white boy that ain’t rich.
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Most of the links seem to point out Nader was a “spoilerâ€, stealing Gores’ votes.
It’s more than that, although by now anyone who still thinks Ralph was right in 2000 — that it didn’t matter whether we had Bush or Gore for President — needs a serious time out. Ralph allowed himself to be a tool for the Right by accepting corporate and Republican campaign money. Further, he has a tin ear for women’s issues; he’s pooh-poohed the rightie threat to Roe v. Wade for years. I admired him when I was a college student, but that was a couple of centuries ago. I don’t have any use for him now.
Interesting arguments Maha, looks like I need to do a bit of homework, but please explain “that it didn’t matter whether we had Bush or Gore for president”.
They “appeared” to agree on most things during the 2000 debates, Bush insisted on a “humble” foreign policy, we had the moronic “lock Box” issue regarding S.S.
I think it would have made a world of difference if Gore had won, ahem, I mean if Bush had not been appointed.I think the attack on 9/11 would NOT have happened, and Iraq would be under a second wave of brutal sanctions with weekly aerial bombardment.
The Republicans were well on the way to having a majority in both houses, and Gore would have had a very rough time.
The irony is that by getting the full load, the Republicans have shown how truly corrupt the party is.Crabs in a barrel, ultimate karma.
Your point about Nader accepting Corporate and republican money…Does that make him a tool, or was he using them as his tool?
Guess we’ll never know….
So come on Maha, any input on who can take the Presidency back
from these creeps?
Well, I don’t agree that the attack on 9-11 would not have happened on Gore’s watch. I think it still would have come, just the response would have been radically different. The Neocons would still be huddled in their hamster holes, and Gore would not have touched Iraq other than with UN inspection teams. It would be a radically different world right now, if not for the Renquist Five.
Interesting arguments Maha, looks like I need to do a bit of homework, but please explain “that it didn’t matter whether we had Bush or Gore for presidentâ€.
That was Nader’s campaign message in 2000. He was wrong.
They “appeared†to agree on most things during the 2000 debates, Bush insisted on a “humble†foreign policy, we had the moronic “lock Box†issue regarding S.S.
The way they were presented by news media blurred the distinctions, yes, but *I* knew how different they were. Which leads me to suspect that anyone paying attention ought to have known how different they were. Nader’s claim that both Gore and Bush were equally evil and corrupt was pure demagoguery.
I think it would have made a world of difference if Gore had won, ahem, I mean if Bush had not been appointed.I think the attack on 9/11 would NOT have happened, and Iraq would be under a second wave of brutal sanctions with weekly aerial bombardment.
The 9/11 attack might have happened, although Gore and his team (assuming he kept at least some of Clinton’s anti-terrorism team) would have been far more alert to the warnings in the summer of 2001 than the Bushies were. The Bushies had dismantled a lot of the anti-terrorist policies of the Clintons, which left us more vulnerable. It’s possible the 9/11 plot would have been stopped, just as Clinton stopped the Millenium bomber. We’ll never know. We do know that a Gore team wouldn’t have invaded Iraq, however.
I see Nader as being morally bankrupt. Just an over-inflated ego eager for glory. He disgusts me.
So come on Maha, any input on who can take the Presidency back from these creeps?
WE can do it. If we sit around and wait for a white knight to rescue us, we’re going to be waiting for a long time. WE have to take our country back, and WE have to put the politicians on notice that they answer to US.
Thanks for your answers.
However, WE cannot do it. There are no more white knights, I don’t believe in heroes, all men and women are with flaws and corruptable. What We must do is find a less corrupt individual, when it has reached the point that a person has to be a millionare to get into politics, the picture is mighty grim, we are at that point.
When I asked who could take back the power from these creeps,Iwas serious, I don’t know who in the political community is capable.If you have a suggestion, let me know…Please.
I say again, we have to do it. Leaders and followers create and define each other. We have to find good people to vote for, and then get those people elected, and once those people are elected we have to keep pushing them toward doing the right thing. Politicians feel pressure from many sides; they have to feel secure that if they take a gutsy stand they will be supported. I think one of the reasons the Dems got so timid is that we ordinary people out in the boonies weren’t able to watch them and react to what they were doing. So they got insulated and isolated. That’s what has to change.
Actually, I had zero interest in politics until Bush senior got in with his “thousand points of light” nonsense.I voted for him because of one issue…Capital gains.I was selfish, paid the price for my chioce, and learned a valuable lesson I now realize that most of our fellow Americans also didn’t care much about politics, but George W has changed that profoundly. Perhaps the tide is turning, Catherine Harris’ campaign for congress has crashed and burned.Of course a large part of the damage came as a result of her party dumping her, the football team had their way with the cheerleader, and as the song goes, “there’s got to be a morning after”. Jebbies’ term is running out, she is weak against the incumbent, and she has the allure of a ten dollar street walker.
Whomever gets in next will have quite a mess to clean up.
Our local paper had a letter to the editor from reps. Feeney and Brown-Waite stating the Republicans are the “adults” in the political world.Wow…….
Until next week……