digby: The Art Of The Hissy Fit

[babylonsister]

The Art Of The Hissy Fit

How the hypocritical conservatives use ritual humiliation techniques to keep the Democrats walking on eggshells.
Submitted by Digby on October 23, 2007 - 10:53pm.

I first noticed the right's successful use of phony sanctimony and faux outrage back in the 90's when well-known conservative players like Gingrich and Livingston pretended to be offended at the president's extramarital affair and were repeatedly and tiresomely "upset" about fund-raising practices they all practiced themselves. The idea of these powerful and corrupt adulterers being personally upset by White House coffees and naughty sexual behavior was laughable.

But they did it, oh how they did it, and it often succeeded in changing the dialogue and tittilating the media into a frenzy of breathless tabloid coverage.

In fact, they became so good at the tactic that they now rely on it as their first choice to control the political dialogue when it becomes uncomfortable and put the Democrats on the defensive whenever they are winning the day. Perhaps the best example during the Bush years would be the completely cynical and over-the-top reaction to Senator Paul Wellstone's memorial rally in 2002 in the last couple of weeks leading up to the election.

With the exception of the bizarre Jesse Ventura, those in attendance, including the Republicans, were non-plussed by the nature of the event at the time. It was not, as the chatterers insisted, a funeral, but rather more like an Irish wake for Wellstone supporters — a celebration of Wellstone's life, which included, naturally, politics. (He died campaigning, after all.) But Vin Weber, one of the Republican party's most sophisticated operatives, immediately saw the opportunity for a faux outrage fest that was more successful than even he could have ever dreamed.

By the time they were through, the Democrats were prostrating themselves at the feet of anyone who would listen, begging for forgiveness for something they didn't do, just to stop the shrieking. The Republicans could barely keep the smirks off their faces as they sternly lectured the Democrats on how to properly honor the dead — the same Republicans who had relentlessly tortured poor Vince Foster's family for years.

It's an excellent technique and one they continue to employ with great success, most recently with the entirely fake Move-On and Pete Stark "controversies." (The Democrats try their own versions but rarely achieve the kind of full blown hissy fit the Republicans can conjure with a mere blast fax to Drudge and their talk radio minions.)

more...

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/art_hissy_fit?tx=3

[TwilightGardener]

1. Digby rocks--she totally nails it. This should be required reading for our Dem leadership

in Congress. K/R.

[Tyler Durden]

2. Copies should be sent to Pelosi and Hoyer.

Since they obviously need some hints on how to do their jobs.

[bbgrunt]

3. we definitely need some hissy-fitters of our own.

Their tactics are similar to "softening up the referee" by having a coach always contesting every adverse call--only they have softened up the whole national discourse.

[Tyler Durden]

4. Not really.

Every time I try around here, someone is waiting to PISS on me from a "Great Height." Gets boring.

[pansypoo53219]

6. how about some

RIGHTEOUS outrage at what georgie and his masters are doing to america.

[Tyler Durden]

7. You want the URL's?

I've got at least 3 from the last couple of days out there.

On second thought, the degeneration from the nit picking that followed was pretty depressing.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Regarding this sentence

"But they did it, oh how they did it, and it often succeeded in changing the dialogue and tittilating the media into a frenzy of breathless tabloid coverage."

I believe it was more cold calculation from the beginning by the corporate media heads as opposed to being whipped in in to a frenzy of breathless tabloid coverage by the Republicans. Before the extramarital affair and fund raising, it was White Water, the common denominator of all these issues is integrity , keeping this issue out front and center for so long, made it a cinch for them to transfer the integrity question to Al Gore ie: "he claimed to have invented the Internet", (which of course was a slander on their part}, one of many. so Al Gore must be a serial liar as well. Bush's cronies had enough sense to pick the ball of integrity up and run with it, he was going to (restore honor and integrity to the White House).

I believe the corporate media's primary target was Al Gore all along, because they didn't want the primary champion of the Internet as President. Bill Clinton only helped them in this regard, on three occasions before Al Gore ever took the podium at the convention which was to nominate him for President. The corporate media saw the Internet as a growing threat against their monopoly on information, information = power, money and influence and as the Internet grew in power and influence, they came to resent Al Gore, I call it the Prometheus Effect.