The Partisan Divide

Just when you might have thought we could move on and start setting things right after eight years of Republican missteps, familiar figures, no matter how discredited, keep reappearing to hawk their outlandish rhetorical wares. It's enough to bring on an apoplectic episode. As Yogi Berra was known to say "it's déjà vu all over again".

How did we ever imagine we could avoid the vitriol that fuels the Republican political machine? Why are we surprised at the number of hate-filled disciples who cheer on the most outrageous, virulent and insubstantial of standard bearers? Nevertheless it is rather surprising that, at a time of great economic and strategic peril, a party furious about losing Congress and the White House and in an absolute frenzy to advance its political goals would pursue an unabashedly partisan agenda whatever the cost.

The mainstream media pretends to provide a balance in terms of news coverage. But Karl Rove, Tom DeLay? Didn't we see enough of these borderline villains in the past? Why are they included at roundtables and afforded the courtesy of interviews by veteran, if vacuous, newscasters? And MSNBC's intellectually-challenged Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe appeared on last Sunday's Meet the Press as if his opinion merited special attention. David Gregory, so recently an NBC reporter, and a regular on Morning Joe now moderates Meet the Press; Joe's role seemed more incestuous than news-worthy.

And what are we to make of Mika Brzezinski, Joe's sidekick who speaks kindly of Sarah Palin and says "I love Rush", a "great communicator" and "great thinker". I'll accede to the communicator part. After all he has a huge syndicated following, but thinker? not so fast. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Mika's distinguished father, must be puzzling over her approval of such light-weight intellects having called Scarborough "stunningly superficial" during a recent guest appearance. Perhaps an item on Buzzflash from Windy City Watch explains Mika's turn to the right. She and Joe will host radio's WABC-AM 10 to noon time slot that serves as a "lead-in" to Rush Limbaugh - - check!

In the evening there is blessed relief when Keith Olbermann and Rachel Madow take over at MSNBC. Partisans to be sure, yet they are respectful enough of their viewers to comb through the detritus of right-wing punditry to get to the bottom of things, perchance the truth - - an approach more investigative than pejorative. By contrast, a mere click away, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity host the likes of Karl Rove and Dick Morris who shamelessly reinvent the recent past, accuse Obama of trying to turn the country into a socialist enclave and place the blame for a faltering economy on his shoulders.

As a general matter, there's one little difference in how partisans in the two parties operate. Actually it's rather a large difference. When George Bush was in office, Democrats weren't hoping he'd fail. Obviously he had already failed when he chose to invade Iraq; with his belated response to the plight of those roof-top survivors after Katrina (remember his trip to Arizona to deliver a birthday cake to John McCain during those early hours?) and by enacting tax cuts when the cost of military action in Iraq and Afghanistan was draining our resources. Most of us just wanted his presidency over. Unfortunately that didn't happen soon enough to prevent his failure from becoming ours.

And that of course is the point. Republicans, most especially the conservative wing, keep saying they want President Obama to fail. And try as they might to claim it is only his policies they do not support, the reality is that if his policies fail the country fails as well. No amount of flag lapel pins or flag-draped platforms can mask the underlying fallacy that theirs is a patriotic endeavor to protect the nation from massive debt and European-style socialism.

Thus was the CPAC convention over the weekend a reminder of the Stepford throng that gathered to celebrate itself. Imagine an hour and a half of Rush Limbaugh, waving his arms and jumping up and down as he warmed to the waves of audience affection he seems to crave so desperately. Outsiders could only marvel at the spectacle. The fact that there is an argument in Republican circles about who speaks for the party is an indication of how far afield the base has roamed and how bereft of actual ideas the party is.

Oh, and about that debate Rush wants with the president, it already took place - - during the campaign. And Obama won.