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January 28, 2009

Why the Politics of Hate will go on Forever

A little over two months ago, in response to an LA Times story about Right wingers like Limbaugh and Hannity working to undermine President Obama’s efforts to re-unify this country, I wrote that it was time to stop the viral pandemic of extremism and hatred that “spreads easily and turns its victims into mind-numbed zombies (a.k.a. "dittoheads").”

The only safety we have is to quarantine the zombies and those who have created them. We must turn them off, tune them out, and disengage from them before they push us one way or the other into hate-filled, reactionary extremism. We must move forward with hope toward healing this divided nation. Those who choose to remain infected must be left behind.

Alas, it seems that the one I said could defeat the pandemic has instead just strengthened it. President Obama on Friday told Republicans on Capitol Hill, “You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” Or, as Fox News characterized it, “Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill Friday that they need to quit listening to Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration.” I wish Obama had simply ignored Rush, thereby eventually rendering him irrelevant. Instead, his statement reinforced the viral and divisive politics of hate.

One of the things Republicans did very effectively during their 24-year run from '80 to '04 was define who the opposition was, whether it was raising the profile of a Michael Moore or a Jesse Jackson or someone from the most liberal or divisive wing of the Democratic Party (see Ted Kennedy or Hillary Clinton). Well, it appears Democrats in general, and President Obama specifically, seems to enjoy propping up two of the more divisive figures in the Republican Party, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. The more attention a Palin or a Limbaugh gets right now, the harder it will be for the Republican Party to pitch itself as a Big Tent party again. This is a dangerous period for the GOP, the party is, well, without definition. Is it a less-government, low-tax, fiscally responsible party? It’s hard to make that case after the last decade of governing. Because it's hard to define the GOP on issues right now, it becomes easier for the Democrats to paint the GOP with the brush of a personality like Limbaugh and Palin.

President Obama has been talking like he wants to set aside partisan hate and build a bi-partisan government in which people actually work together, and I have been pleased by his efforts to reach out to Republicans. I don’t know whether this was a mistake or, as the pundit above thinks, some sort of crafty “propping up” of divisive Republicans so as to make the GOP less relevant. All I know is that as soon as President Obama brought up Rush Limbaugh, Rush – predictably – seized on it.

Here is the context of Rush’s statement that he wanted Obama to fail – in a transcript of his radio broadcast:

I got a request here from a major American print publication. "Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. We would love to include you. If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal." Now, we're caught in this trap again. The premise is, what is your "hope." My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, "Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance." Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed.

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I'd be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here's the point. Everybody thinks it's outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, "Oh, you can't do that." Why not? Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.

Clearly, Rush sees this as a them-versus-us war (“them” being the lib’ral commies and “us” being the patriotic American conservatives). He does not understand the bridge-building and unifying effort that Obama has articulated and come to represent. He is a major source of the hate virus and massively engaged in creating as many zombies as he possibly can. Zombies that write things like this about Democrats:

Here’s the deal. They don’t want you knowing what they are doing. They don’t want people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and others to express any dissent. The President HIMSELF has stated there IS not dissent. That’s the kind of talk of any Communist government. You might see and hear it, but they’ll tell you its not there. Just ask anyone who has lived under Stalin, Castro or other Communist leaders.

The other thing they do is develop an image of themselves that is god-like and sell themselves to the public as infallible. In Obama’s case, he’s got the best marketers that Hollywood can offer to create that image. Take a look at the new White House website. Its a website devoted to the admiration of Obama. Its not for the people anymore. Its for Obama. The allegiance is to Obama rather than to the country.

In response to Rush’s viral hate speech, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has done just what I warned against: launched a viral online petition for people to express their viral hatred right back to Rush. Both sides have become more angry. The hate virus has grown stronger.

And why did the Democrats decide to launch this stupid petition? I think this blogger has figured it out:

And what exactly will the petition prove? That Democrats don’t like Rush Limbaugh? Well, that’s certainly breaking news. I’m certain Rush will quake in his boots to see the list of Democratic saps who just got their names and e-mail addresses on the DCCC’s fundraising lists.

The DCCC has a pretty transparent motivation here, which is to build those lists for their 2010 election campaigns. Note that the full name, e-mail address, and zip code are required fields. They missed a step by not requiring a cell phone number; the Obama campaign used text messaging for GOTV efforts in November, and apparently had a lot of success with it. Otherwise, they’ve covered all the bases in setting a trap for the foolish and easily led.

In other words, the DCCC doesn’t dislike Rush Limbaugh. They need Rush as a fundraising gimmick.

If the great hope for change, Barack Obama, can’t even stop himself from extending this hateful, viral game while at the same time supposedly symbolizing ending it, then we can count on the fact that, just like the never-ending hatred consuming the Middle East, this game will go on forever – or at least until one side or the other is entirely obliterated.

Posted by Becky at January 28, 2009 09:06 AM