Last entry of the night
Demosthenes has a vision that I think is dead on:
I'm starting to have a vision of what 2004 is going to look like. And it looks like chaos. Open warfare: between political partisans, between ideologies, between movements; between groups that believe that there is literally nothing more important than winning the election in November.
…Appeals to bi-partisan consensus will likely be offered by the Republicans, who will have both 2002 and Grover Norquist's "Bi-partisanship is date rape" line thrown back in their faces. The media will focus less on the rhetoric, and more on the war. Civility is out the window; Republican calls for it will likely be quickly rebutted as well by the "Bourgeous riot" of 2000, where the Republicans proved that they have little taste for civility where it doesn't benefit them. Dirty tricks are out of bound only insofar as they might be found out.
…So we get a war. The Republican base against the Democrat base. The Wurlitzer against Dean's army. (I would not be overly surprised if we hear that term first being used in the mainstream media before the year is out.) The immovable object against the irresistable force, with no concept of civility, fairness, or restraint accepted, let alone followed. All of this, too, against a backdrop of an American populace that is newly re-engaged with politics, which understands how important this is, and which will likely be as evenly divided as it was in the past. I have a vision of the most brutal election campaign that the Republic has ever seen, and I don't think I like it, and even less like that it may be necessary.
And that's not even getting into what the anti-globo types will do. Or, God forbid, Al Qaeda.
I think he's right because we've already seen calls for Democrats to stop pretending the Conservative extremists are ever going to engage in honorable tactics. I know, because when I see them I link to them and cheer them on.
But you know, Demosthenes having laid it out like that makes me think. It does NOT give me pause. But it makes me think about the aftermath of all this. It could be so ugly that the fact that we are justified in reacting as though
it's a knife fight may not be much consolation.
Progressives must stand for progressive principles. Progressives can no longer simply accept the lies and distortions. But progressives must focus their anger on those that invoked it. We can't be ripping up Republicans in general, the citizens on the ground. We can go after their leaders and operatives. But somewhere an honest discussion about just what we need and want the government to provide, what it costs and how it can be paid for must be had, and that's the
last thing these extremists want. A narrative must be created that shows the interests of the average human that votes Republican is not being well served by the Republican party. And that narrative, which will simply be the truth, must get play somehow, be it in big media or a whisper campaign initiated on the net.
The nation needs a big dose of reality, and
then it needs to set some priorities. It may be too late to get it all in before the next Presidential election. But maybe we can get in enough to make people realize we need to finish the discussion. And if we do, the current regime is doomed.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 10:45:57 PM |
Posted by P6 at August 6, 2003 10:45 PM
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