Mainstreaming Fringe Elements

We may have reached the pinnacle of life in the slow-witted lane - - a condition arrived at when fringe elements in Congress and the media are mainstreamed, blurring the distinction between truth and propaganda. Put lipstick on a pig and it still ruts in the mud. And a clean shirt, nice tie, pretty dress or other trappings associated with regular folks can't disguise the true nature of the race-baiting, trash-talking tyrants of the airwaves and our legislative bodies who blur the distinction between humanity and depraved indifference to honorable, fact-based discourse and the needs of the American people.

On the simplest level, as former President Bush said and Grover Norquist repeated the other day, no-one in this country is denied health care because they must be served in hospital emergency rooms. But emergency-room treatment can hardly be defined as real health care. Besides, that kind of 'care' is expensed either by charging more to paying 'customers' or by finding ways to tap into government-subsidized plans already in place.

On the other hand significant numbers of politicians enjoy health-industry contributions in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance their campaigns - - notably Senators Baucus, D.; Nelson, D.; McConnell, R.; Kyl, R.; Grassley, R.; Enzi, R; among others. Politically, and as long as medical insurance is a market-driven, for-profit enterprise, the public interest is unlikely to be served? But if serious reform is blocked perhaps the government should guarantee that no-one will lose their home or be driven into bankruptcy because their insurance fails to cover an intractable medical condition.

But as mean-spirited as the maneuvering over health care is, the incoherent blather of some against anything defined as liberal is a shameful misuse of free speech and whatever remains of legislative integrity. The resolution by the odious Thaddeus McCotter demanding that the president apologize for his remark about the Cambridge police is another thinly veiled racial broadside, like the "birthers" who question Obama's birthright; both should be repudiated by responsible members of the Republican Party.

Whatever animates the lunatic fantasies in which partisans engage, observing their efforts in full cry is an unsettling experience. Trying to make sense of a Glenn Beck as he attempts to pound the pieces of tortured political thought into something meaningful is a wearying exercise. The other night, he undertook to establish relationships among organizations he and guest, the poisonous Michelle Malkin, defined as radical elements of the Obama agenda. With none of the charm of the children's book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Beck took his purple marker and scrawled ACORN, SEIU and The Apollo Alliance, into an accusatory talking point he laid at Obama's door.

Without getting too far into the weeds, suffice it to say that these groups, however imperfectly their goals have been realized, were organized to empower the poor and resist corporate dominance of the economy. In California, SEIU's stated mission is "to improve the lives of working people and their families and lead the way to a more just and humane society." The Apollo Alliance is an energy-oriented group self-described as devoted to seeking "innovative energy solutions."

Included in a list of Alliance supporters are Barbara Ehrenreich whose book, Nickel and Dimed, recorded her experiment trying to live on the wages of a chambermaid, a waitress and a low-level Walmart employee; AFL/CIO president John Sweeney; and Jim Hightower, radio commentator and writer, who once said "Some of these CEOs are getting so rich they could afford to air-condition hell." Obviously such people are sure to raise the hackles of the right-wing. Radical is their preferred term for anyone who thinks our financial system needs restructuring, who supports the creation of green jobs rather than drilling in every corner of the country or suggests that the Bush tax cuts shifted too much wealth to the already rich who haven't let much of it trickle down from their hands.

It may have been naïve to assume that electing Obama president would magically transform a country still wrestling with its racial demons and struggling to contain an imploding economy.  But the kinds of low-minded attacks disguised as exculpatory 'policy' differences have been astonishing in their intensity. Whether Republicans are employing racism as a device or if racism itself drives a large portion of the party's base, the effect is a violation of our best national intentions and distorts efforts to heal the economy and chart a new course for the future.