I’m going to the Rally to Restore Sanity. I’m going as a Democrat who has become seriously concerned about the swing to the right that this country is about to take. However, I know that this rally is not about supporting one political view. I’ve been reading the signs posted online, and it is clear that many of those who will be at the rally come from a variety of political opinions. However, all of us will be expressing a common theme: that we do not like the rhetoric, anger and lies that have been thrown about in this election.
Most of that is coming from T.E.A. party candidates and their supporters. Their movement owes its strength to Fox, a media organization whose owner, Rupert Mudoch, decided to use as an organ of the Republican Party and the conservative right. As a former journalist and a former journalism professor, I am saddened that a media company would choose to put a political agenda above the dispassionate reporting of the news.
Fox has given Glenn Beck a daily platform to spew an extremist view and connect the dots on nonsensical conspiracy theories that can be traced back to the John Birch Society. For more on that, I recommend an article in the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/18/101018fa_fact_wilentz?currentPage=all
The article is seven pages long but spells out the history of Glenn Beck’s philosophy, and it is well worth reading. Know what philosophy you are supporting before you pull that lever.
As we try to restore sanity, I would say that much of the responsibility for the insanity we see today is because of Fox. I would also blame what I call the “wedgy Web” politics of today. And I would also put some blame on the Democrats political strategy, which is a result of the Wedgy Web politics.
First, to talk about Fox. While other media organizations try to play by the rules – such as banning their reporters from attending the Rally to Restore Sanity unless they have been assigned to cover it – Fox shamelessly works for the conservatives. And really, the strongest antidote to their propaganda has been Jon Stewart and the Daily Show.
Jon Stewart may only be a comedian, but he is a smart comedian and commentator on the news. He is also a thorough and fair interviewer, and he asks hard questions when hard questions need to be asked. That was very clear when he interviewed President Obama on his show Wednesday night.
I expect that many Democrats will not like everything that Jon Stewart has to say at the rally, but I know I will respect what he says and does.
The other part of the insanity comes from wedge politics, which I trace to Karl Rove and George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. The tactics that were used undercut John McCain’s bid for president included a phony poll to voters in South Carolina, asking “Would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain...if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" http://www.thenation.com/article/dirty-tricks-south-carolina-and-john-mccain. If you read the article, you get a sense that this incident not only cost McCain the nomination, but permanently changed his stance in the Republican party.
Rove may deny his involvement in the scheme, but it is his style of politics. It began a new era of win-at-any-cost strategies in politics, and it has reached a fever pitch today. In the current campaign, misleading and deceptive attack ads are running in Congressional districts with tightly contested races, without any check on accuracy and without having to declare where the funds for these ads came from. The more money you have, the bigger lie you can make in a TV ad.
Wedge politics goes to a new level on the Internet, what I call “wedgy Web politics.” During George W. Bush’s presidency, he bypassed the traditional media and communicated directly to his base via e-mail and the Internet. So, while most of the country did not know his positions or plans, his base had what they needed to do what was needed to keep him and the GOP in power. It has gone to new levels today, and both sides are using this tactic now.
I am on many e-mail lists from the Democrats, and I receive frequent e-mails with requests for money, updates on campaigns and inspirational memos from leaders. While I agree with and appreciate most of these e-mails, my concern is that so much of the political discourse is happening underground. Each side gets filled up on talking points from their leaders, and when we encounter someone from the opposing side we don’t so much discuss but spout a party line. That does tend to turn the political process insane.
It’s also not pragmatic. Elections are won by persuading the voters in the middle, the undecideds. Getting out the party faithful is part of winning an election, and it demonstrates a political strength. However, the true test in politics is in making a thoughtful and resounding argument to the nation as a whole.
I don’t hear thoughtful argument from the T.E.A. party candidates because they shout too loud without thinking out their positions. And the Democrats are making their own case so quietly they are not being heard. We'll know what the middle thinks on election day.
So, what has happened?
Wedge politics got George Bush elected in 2000 and 2004. The GOP used every political trick to hold onto and expand their power throughout his presidency. But he also abandoned key Republican principles such as fiscal responsibility. He expanded government and governmental spending and increased the deficit. (It was a surplus when Clinton finished.) GOP laissez-faire rules and and a lack of oversight also allowed greed on Wall Street to expand so that the entire system very nearly collapsed and almost caused a second Great Depression.
In response to the policies of the Bush administration, we elected Barack Obama as president and gave him an overwhelming majority in Congress. This also marked a collapse of the traditional center of the conservative movement, which has now been filled by T.E.A. party radicals.
But even after Bush left office, the wedge politics remained. Because either the Republicans wouldn’t cooperate, or the Democrats did not pursue it far enough, bipartisanship did not emerge. Instead, Democrats decided to go it alone, and pushed through their agenda on the bailouts and health care. What emerged was legislation without any Republican backing. Aside from Fox, the lack of bipartisanship has been another major driving force for the T.E.A. party movement. Check this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/25/AR2010102502408.html
Were the T.E.A. party candidates to take charge, we would be no better off. We would just see more power plays, this time with the right in charge instead of the left. But it would be worse because these are candidates who have ideas that go beyond just cutting taxes. They actually want to dismantle major programs of the federal government and undo key principles of our constitution. Check this link: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/17/how-tea-partiers-get-the-constitution-wrong.html
What do we need? We need a middle again.
I believe government can be fiscally responsible and have a social conscience. If we are to have social programs that can save Americans from the crises that can destroy lives and keep people in poverty, we need to agree on how to pay for it. That is not easily done, and it is not going to be solved by shouting slogans or electing extremists. It could be done by having the moderates from each party work together. We need to honestly accept that there are social issues that need to be solved and find a reasonable way to solve them.
So, I am going to the Rally to Restore Sanity. I do not know whether this rally will have any impact on next week’s election, but it is a message that I hope the country listens to. Let us hope we find the sane choices.
1 comment:
Ed, You believe that government can be fiscally responsible and, at the same time, have a social conscience? I am voting for you as a write-in candidate!!
Seriously, have a great time at the rally. Look forward to your report on it.
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