America's vaunted 'shift to the right' may well be more illusion than fact

[Stinky The Clown]

How far to the right is America, really?

Here's how I see it ...........

First of all, the 'right' isn't some monolithic bloc. Rather, it is a tenuous (at best) coalition of various groups, each with more or less of a pure right ideology. We have the neocons - ideologues bent on world domination through force and corporatism. Then we have the corporatists - suits bent on a complete rollback of corporate controls; a return of the robber barons; profit uber alles. Then we have the efungelicals - a group of single issue voters worked into a lather by their far less principled, money grubbing 'leaders'. Lastly we have the delusional slackers commonly known as dittoheads - they stand for nothing, really, have no deeply held convictions, and are as intellectually deep as some home-team-colors-wearing, logo-tattooed sports fanatic.

Can you imagine any circumstances where the local god fearing church lady is going to find common ground with a Rush-listener who uses his spare time to surf for wank-worthy internet porno?

Even on the political level, what commonality is there between, say, Tom Delay and, let's say, Chris Shays?

The Reagan Revolution may have had some basis in fact.

The Bush years? All illusion and more than a touch of pure criminality.

Now add in the media. The only way I can explain the media's clear rightward prejudice (it is far, far beyond what the word 'bias' implies) is to conclude corporatism. The business policies of the right are far more favorable for the media owners than the policies of the left. It is pure self-interest. If all else were equal, but the pro-corporate stance was the province of the left, then the media would be leftward biased.

Now enter the bush-the-lesser gang. Completely amoral, they would do anything to win. And they did. In 2000, they manipulated enough votes to get close enough to go to court. Gaming the court was payback to bush-the-greater and his whole crime family. Along the way, they shamelessly worked the system in a way that nullified many people's right to cast a vote and have the vote counted. If not an outright crime, it came damned close.

In 2004, they were even more blatant about it. And their supporters cheered. And their media ignored facts and reported the lie as if it were the truth.

So that's how they gained and maintained power. What did they do with that power? Again, by thuggery and deceit, they cut taxes on the rich, effectively raised them on the masses, cut the social safety net for millions of the citizenry, and waged a war in the cause of corporate oil interests. Interests facing down the end of their ride as the world's oil supplies slip into decline and at the same time demand outstrips capacity. Collaterally, they discourage research into alternate energy sources.

And now? Now we see the wheels coming off their getaway car as they race ahead with their agenda.

Crimes. Cronyism. Complicity. The news is all bad for them. The very seat of power is about to be damaged irreparably.

Meanwhile, their supposedly solid base is screaming for payback.

The efungelicals want abortion banned.

The neocons are angry because their war has been badly bungled.

The corporatists just want a change. They want less heavy-handed, more smarmy and slick leadership. The thuggery of the past 5 years is simply not their style. But they're patient. They'll back a hiatus in their influence by allowing a short time of Democratic power. It suits the suits because it allows them to appear, well, benign.

I'm thinking the smoke generator runs on oil ...... and its low on fuel.

I'm also thinking the mirrors have all been broken. A sea change in the country now, with three years left for this administration, and a one term Democrat to follow in in '08 and there's the full seven years bad luck.

....... or ...... The Democrats can actually get their act together and seize the moment.

Our message not only has genuine populist appeal, it is based on fact. It can be sold honestly. It can can be embraced willingly.

We, the Democrats, are the anti-illusion.

Now is our time.

[Cary]

1. This too shall pass. . .

You're correct to expect that "our time" will come. Whenever anyone thinks they have somehow arrived, as our illustrious ideologues thought when they gleefully declared the death of the left, you can accurately predict a dropping of the proverbial other shoe.

That's life. Remember that lesson and don't think it doesn't apply to you too.

Anyway it is only "our time" if we can capitalize on this, and that's going to require having the right people in the right place at the right time.

In other words, cross your fingers and don't be over confident.;)

[acmejack]

2. BZ shipmate

?

[MADem]

4. Ha--haven't seen that expression in a while nt

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Ha .... that brings back memories!

Were you a signalman?

[acmejack]

18. Sonar Tech!

Sts get to play with everything though.

[MADem]

3. And DIEBOLD, et. al. no doubt helped with that shitty illusion! nt

[Stevepol]

15. Didn't just helped: they provided the main support.

Gore beat him by 500,000 votes and would have won FL with a half-way fair vote there.

And I'm supposed to believe that Bush in 04, after 4 years of failure, with many fewer newspapers and others supporting him, with the demographics all favoring Kerry, an energized Dem Party, breaking records of new Dem registrations, etc., etc., suddenly, inexplicably wins by 3 million votes?

Come on.

[Awsi Dooger]

6. The country is not moving to the right

It shifted somewhat to the right in the '80s. 9/11 caused a knee jerk shift in party identification in the GOP's favor due to national security concerns, but that's hardly a philosophical rethinking and is probably soft and short term.

[BillZBubb]

7. I think the shift right is very real.

Even with Diebold, there is NO WAY IN HELL a miserable failure like Bush could have gotten a second term unless the politics of the country was leaning rightward.

The right wing controls the discussion. That's why the population is more to the right. We argue on their terms and with "spokespeople" who are all over the map (Biden, Lieberman, Hillary, Gore, Bill, Kerry...) and often undercut each other on issues.

Repugs have hate radio, they have the corporate media, they have a unified, cohesive message, they get their points across framed exactly as their focus groups tell them.

Once they lose control of the dialogue we will win. Until then, they'll continue to control things.

[Stinky The Clown]

What you say is true ....... but ........

..... what's implicit in your point is not that the country is rock solid right, but that it has been tricked, coerced, inflamed or lied to in making for the rightward shift.

I agree more than you can imagine with the notion that it is all about the media. If the media were simply fair and honest (instead of the charade of fair and balanced) the country would quickly see things as they really are and adopt a more moderated tone and then see the true light and move to the left of center.

I honestly think there are people on the right who are there by dint of honest intellectual consideration. And that's fine. But there are likely as many of them as there are uberlefties. I think the vast majority of the country is, if honestly considered, about 3.5 on the old 1-10 scale.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. No, it's the machines that are crucial.

Bush was well and truly pasted in the election.

Not that that means making the MSM half-honest again shouldn't be one of the very first priorities, of course.

[intheflow]

8. Shift to the right manufactured by Corporate Media.

Why focus on Clinton's sex life and not the Chimp's illegal war? Just look at what's still making headlines: missing young white women. When CM decides what to air and what not to air, they invariably swing the national attention to a more conservative bend because they severely limit how much progressive thought gets broadcast. Calling themselves the "liberal media" is an Orwellian a move as you can get.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Completely true

[Joe Chi Minh]

11. People didn't buy into their Clinton

witch-hunt, though, did they?

Every evening, CNN's bent politicos were humiliated by the stubborn sense of proportion and reality of the American people, who always gave the "wrong" answers to their polls. A very amusing time.

[applegrove]

12. It is a small group with various actors & players to make it look like

it is the norm. Journalists are not allowed to cover Liberal stories - but fine if they are blatantly neocon or pro-bush. They are just "loading" the reality and expected people to follow like sheep.

Well it seems most americans are not sheep.

[niallmac]

13. I totally agree but am offended

by your association of 'wank worthy porno' with the likes of Rush Limbaugh ditto heads.
Don't drag wank worthy porno thru that kind of mud if you don't mind.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. Hahahahaha

:thumbsup:

Gotcha!

[nvliberal]

16. The voters aren't "far right," but as of 2000

they cease to matter.

This is the most radical right government in the history of the United States, and they won't be done until they destroy everything we hold dear.

[autorank]

17. "Now is our time." Lets tell the leadership!

"The corporatists just want a change. They want less heavy-handed, more smarmy and slick leadership. The thuggery of the past 5 years is simply not their style. But they're patient. They'll back a hiatus in their influence by allowing a short time of Democratic power. It suits the suits because it allows them to appear, well, benign.

I'm thinking the smoke generator runs on oil ...... and its low on fuel.

I'm also thinking the mirrors have all been broken. A sea change in the country now, with three years left for this administration, and a one term Democrat to follow in in '08 and there's the full seven years bad luck.

....... or ...... The Democrats can actually get their act together and seize the moment."
======================================================================
Husb, you do belong on "The Greatest Page" with this one. It's utterly brilliant. We don't have a real opponent, we have a coalition of self-interest, which is, indeed, unraveling.

The idea that the "corporatists" don't like *'s style is true. In fact, he scares them. After all, if we all work at Wal-Mart, who will buy the homes, cars, electronics, and upscale items? Nobody and they're starting to realize that their short term greed will end with long term extinction.

* and company want to turn the US into "Prison Planet."

Lets seize the time and let the folks at the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee know it is.

For general information email [e-mail]

Let the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee know too:

if you have ideas of how you or others can get involved, please send it to us [e-mail].

No more wimpy campaigns, no more traitors to our cause like Feinstein who vote for the farking Bush tax cuts. Wake up about the health and education needs of Americans. How about some damn jobs, please, with good pay and benefits for all these people we're graduating from colleges and technical schools.

And no more surrender monkey Democrats.

I'm going to ask them how far down Bush has to go before they get together as a unit and fight.

They're the only game in town for us. Lets make them work for us.

Way to go Husb!

[sendero]

19. I think...

.... the nascent failure of the American economic system is driving lots of desparate folks to religion, and the systematic destruction of the economy as practiced by the Bush** gang is designed to drive more there.

[Career Prole]

20. You're breakin' my heart, man...

"as intellectually deep as some home-team-colors-wearing, logo-tattooed sports fanatic"

You take that back! ;)

[Stinky The Clown]

21. The surfers for ......

wankable porn were okay with you, then .... ?

:)

[Career Prole]

22. I can only speak for my tribe...

The team colors-wearing, logo-tattooed sports fanatics (of America, Inc.)

The wanker spokesman should be in touch with you shortly. :D