Visit to Another Planet
I had to double-check to make sure I wasn't watching the Discovery Channel tonight.
Sometimes they run shows with realistic animations of alternate realities, like one where dinosaurs roam the planet, or where huge structures span the Bering Strait, or fleets of futuristic cloud-seeding ships combat global warming.
What I had on TV tonight certainly wasn't about my reality, here on planet Earth.
No, I was watching coverage of the Republican National Convention, live from GOP-world.
Watching tonight's speeches, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that the GOP has decided to go all-in on a campaign that relies not on issues and facts, but on an alternate reality, symbols, propaganda, lies, and repeatedly reinforced myth.
As an apt illustration, there was Mitt Romney, complaining that the sun rises in the East, and promising that it was now going to rise in the West! Sure, it was a metaphor, but as an example of the GOP's desire to deny reality and assert their own, it was priceless. The former governor of Massachussetts, a Wall St. and corporate fixture, complaining about the Eastern Elite? Seriously?
It was almost as absurd as striking out at "the media", when John McCain has been a media darling for years. He even once referred to the media as "his base," for goodness sake!
Romney went on to trumpet a standard Republican recitation about cutting taxes and freeing innovation, and, well, ... do the Republicans not realize that Republicans have been in charge in DC for the last eight years? If Republican tax theory were sound, why after 8 years of the Bush administration, aren't we all rolling in money? Somehow, on GOP-world, it has something to do with the evil Democrats' oppression.
Then we had Mike Huckabee. Apparently, on GOP-world, tens and tens of thousands of people live in Wasilla, Alaska and voted for Sarah Palin. Huckabee claimed she'd gotten more votes as mayor than Joe Biden had for President, but on this planet, Wasilla had a population around 6000 when she was mayor, and Biden got nearly 80,000 votes in his primary campaign. Either Huckabee is really, really bad at math, or (like so many of the GOP's best lines) that one was a complete lie.
(At least in this reality.)
He also seems to be living on a planet where there is some kind of Democratic Party that is committed to handing out money to people who don't work. I guess Clinton's welfare reforms didn't happen there?
Republicans, even after the disaster they've made of the country, are still running against a myth of Democratic policy dating to when Sarah Palin was a child.
Huckabee told a stirring story about honoring veterans. How very, very important it is to honor the blessings that our veterans have earned for us. Funny how that didn't seem to matter four years ago, when Republicans openly mocked one of those veterans, one who had fought and bled, on the ground, not a jet, to earn us those things Huckabee was so choked up about. I also couldn't help but notice that the conditions at Walter Reed never came up.
In my reality, both the swift-boating of John Kerry and the squalor at Walter Reed matter, and make me doubt the GOP commitment to veterans, but for Mike Huckabee, what matters is a story about a teacher (by implication a Republican) who really, really respects veterans.
(Speaking of double standards, which ticket is the one with an extra-marital affair, a divorce, and an out-of=wedlock pregnancy in the family? Yet which is the one bragging about its family values?)
Last up in the parade of also-rans was Rudy Giuliani, who excelled in his mission to crank up the crowd. He did this by appealing to their nastiest, most contemptuous nature, spinning a masterwork of propaganda and sneer. He laughed mockingly at the phrase 'community organizer' and continued to ridicule Obama.
Obama has led nothing Rudy? How about a presidential campaign that was far more successful than yours? There's no time for on-the-job training? Guess we'd better hope John McCain doesn't pull a Harrison, then, hunh?
In my world, things like this sound like insulting BS. But saying things like this in GOP-world not only makes perfect sense, it gets big cheers.
Then came the big headliner: Sarah Palin. Charming. A loving mom. She gives a good speech, having improved quite a lot since her time as a sportscaster.
On my planet, most of the things she takes credit for in Alaska are, through the peculiar configuration of Alaska politics, traditionally 'Democratic' actions, from throwing out Republican cronyism right down to the windfall profit taxes on oil companies. She had a bunch of zingers, which were well written, but she didn't deviate from the tone of the evening which was long on snide quips, contempt, sarcasm and just plain insulting nastiness. Oh, and of course, outright lies. (I would have thought the country was tired of sneering and arrogance after 8 years of W, but apparently the GOP is just warming up.)
She also has the evening's new-found respect for Vietnam service, which was strangely missing last convention, what with those purple-heart bandaids and all. I also had to laugh out loud when she spoke about lobbyists, as if the McCain campaign weren't well-stocked with lobbyists from the start, and she herself hadn't hired a lobbyist working for Jack Abramoff to bring almost $27 millions in federal earmarks to Wasilla. On GOP-world, it only matters that you say you hate lobbyists, I guess.
It was refreshing to see such an articulate and engaging representative for working-class Americans in small towns. But why she thinks the Republican party is the one that will make lives better for folks like her I just don't get at all. On my planet, Republican economic and regulatory policies have been working against her people for years now. Sadly for the Democrats, she is not alone.
It's not Democratic tax policy or regulation that has allowed WalMart to destroy the economy of small-town America. It wasn't Democrats who earned the big bucks shipping jobs overseas. It wasn't over-regulation and oppressive enforcement that contributed to mine disasters like Crandall Canyon, or lead in childrens' toys. And it isn't Democrats who, as owners of the oil company supplying fuel to gas stations like the one just opened by her relatives manipulate pricing to independent owners.
But I forget: I don't live on GOP-world. I guess all that makes sense there.
I only hope the majority of voters this year live on Earth, not GOP-world.
Sometimes they run shows with realistic animations of alternate realities, like one where dinosaurs roam the planet, or where huge structures span the Bering Strait, or fleets of futuristic cloud-seeding ships combat global warming.
What I had on TV tonight certainly wasn't about my reality, here on planet Earth.
No, I was watching coverage of the Republican National Convention, live from GOP-world.
Watching tonight's speeches, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that the GOP has decided to go all-in on a campaign that relies not on issues and facts, but on an alternate reality, symbols, propaganda, lies, and repeatedly reinforced myth.
As an apt illustration, there was Mitt Romney, complaining that the sun rises in the East, and promising that it was now going to rise in the West! Sure, it was a metaphor, but as an example of the GOP's desire to deny reality and assert their own, it was priceless. The former governor of Massachussetts, a Wall St. and corporate fixture, complaining about the Eastern Elite? Seriously?
It was almost as absurd as striking out at "the media", when John McCain has been a media darling for years. He even once referred to the media as "his base," for goodness sake!
Romney went on to trumpet a standard Republican recitation about cutting taxes and freeing innovation, and, well, ... do the Republicans not realize that Republicans have been in charge in DC for the last eight years? If Republican tax theory were sound, why after 8 years of the Bush administration, aren't we all rolling in money? Somehow, on GOP-world, it has something to do with the evil Democrats' oppression.
Then we had Mike Huckabee. Apparently, on GOP-world, tens and tens of thousands of people live in Wasilla, Alaska and voted for Sarah Palin. Huckabee claimed she'd gotten more votes as mayor than Joe Biden had for President, but on this planet, Wasilla had a population around 6000 when she was mayor, and Biden got nearly 80,000 votes in his primary campaign. Either Huckabee is really, really bad at math, or (like so many of the GOP's best lines) that one was a complete lie.
(At least in this reality.)
He also seems to be living on a planet where there is some kind of Democratic Party that is committed to handing out money to people who don't work. I guess Clinton's welfare reforms didn't happen there?
Republicans, even after the disaster they've made of the country, are still running against a myth of Democratic policy dating to when Sarah Palin was a child.
Huckabee told a stirring story about honoring veterans. How very, very important it is to honor the blessings that our veterans have earned for us. Funny how that didn't seem to matter four years ago, when Republicans openly mocked one of those veterans, one who had fought and bled, on the ground, not a jet, to earn us those things Huckabee was so choked up about. I also couldn't help but notice that the conditions at Walter Reed never came up.
In my reality, both the swift-boating of John Kerry and the squalor at Walter Reed matter, and make me doubt the GOP commitment to veterans, but for Mike Huckabee, what matters is a story about a teacher (by implication a Republican) who really, really respects veterans.
(Speaking of double standards, which ticket is the one with an extra-marital affair, a divorce, and an out-of=wedlock pregnancy in the family? Yet which is the one bragging about its family values?)
Last up in the parade of also-rans was Rudy Giuliani, who excelled in his mission to crank up the crowd. He did this by appealing to their nastiest, most contemptuous nature, spinning a masterwork of propaganda and sneer. He laughed mockingly at the phrase 'community organizer' and continued to ridicule Obama.
Obama has led nothing Rudy? How about a presidential campaign that was far more successful than yours? There's no time for on-the-job training? Guess we'd better hope John McCain doesn't pull a Harrison, then, hunh?
In my world, things like this sound like insulting BS. But saying things like this in GOP-world not only makes perfect sense, it gets big cheers.
Then came the big headliner: Sarah Palin. Charming. A loving mom. She gives a good speech, having improved quite a lot since her time as a sportscaster.
On my planet, most of the things she takes credit for in Alaska are, through the peculiar configuration of Alaska politics, traditionally 'Democratic' actions, from throwing out Republican cronyism right down to the windfall profit taxes on oil companies. She had a bunch of zingers, which were well written, but she didn't deviate from the tone of the evening which was long on snide quips, contempt, sarcasm and just plain insulting nastiness. Oh, and of course, outright lies. (I would have thought the country was tired of sneering and arrogance after 8 years of W, but apparently the GOP is just warming up.)
She also has the evening's new-found respect for Vietnam service, which was strangely missing last convention, what with those purple-heart bandaids and all. I also had to laugh out loud when she spoke about lobbyists, as if the McCain campaign weren't well-stocked with lobbyists from the start, and she herself hadn't hired a lobbyist working for Jack Abramoff to bring almost $27 millions in federal earmarks to Wasilla. On GOP-world, it only matters that you say you hate lobbyists, I guess.
It was refreshing to see such an articulate and engaging representative for working-class Americans in small towns. But why she thinks the Republican party is the one that will make lives better for folks like her I just don't get at all. On my planet, Republican economic and regulatory policies have been working against her people for years now. Sadly for the Democrats, she is not alone.
It's not Democratic tax policy or regulation that has allowed WalMart to destroy the economy of small-town America. It wasn't Democrats who earned the big bucks shipping jobs overseas. It wasn't over-regulation and oppressive enforcement that contributed to mine disasters like Crandall Canyon, or lead in childrens' toys. And it isn't Democrats who, as owners of the oil company supplying fuel to gas stations like the one just opened by her relatives manipulate pricing to independent owners.
But I forget: I don't live on GOP-world. I guess all that makes sense there.
I only hope the majority of voters this year live on Earth, not GOP-world.
posted by Paul at 8:36 PM |
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