Sore Losermen

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/11567

Sore Losermen

by David Michael Green | Dec 14 2007


The last time the American public was so disenchanted with the state of national politics, there was a war going on and near civil war at home.

Indeed, so surly is the current public mood about the country being on the wrong track that you'd almost think there is a war going on now! But, of course, since there's no draft, no tax increase, and no pictures of battle, or of bodies coming back to Dover Air Force Base, I'm sure I must be mistaken about that.

So what gives? Why are people so dissatisfied, telling pollsters in record numbers that the country has gone astray?

There's a simple answer, but the regressive right is desperate that you not hear it or think about it. You see, there's been an ideological revolution going on in America. It began in the 1980s with Reagan kleptocracy (in that sense, it's been a bit of an evolutionary revolution - however oxymoronic (or just plain moronic) that idea may be), but has really hit stride in the seven tortuous years of the Little Bush regime.

And the thing is, people don't like it.

Indeed, one could explain the public mood quite succinctly, as follows: The right sought power in America. They got it. They implemented their agenda. Unfettered. It sucked. People hate it.

That's really just about it.

snip//

In November and December of 2000, the right did something very clever, which undoubtedly resulted in them being able to shove their candidate across the finish line in that (s)election. They got Bush to be declared the presumptive winner, then they made 'resolving' the Florida problem seem like an urgent crisis that needed quick attention. This turned the clock into their friend as the meter ran down, and it made the Gore-Lieberman campaign appear to be petulantly trying to undo valid election results. Among their ranks, a very clever, though disgustingly cynical sign appeared at that time, mimicking in language and design the Democratic election banner. It said "Sore Loserman", and it helped win the battle of perceptions that got Bush into the White House. Cute, eh?

Ah, but now the tables have turned. The right won, but winning has turned into losing. And the depth of the political price ultimately to be paid for supporting eight years of Bushism is still unknown. Virtually everyone, domestically and internationally, who associated themselves with this monster has paid for it in the form of political suicide. It is quite possible that the Republican Party itself could go down that same path, especially as the price and crimes of the administration become clearer over time, when they're more exposed, least protected from investigation and prosecution, and when long deferred costs come slamming upside the body politic with a real vengeance in the coming decade.

If regressives whine about their disintegration in the face of an angry public, I'll be there, big smile on my face, just silently waving a little sign in my hand.

Can you guess what it will say?
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