The frog, the pot and Scott Walker

[bdf]

Folklore has it that if you put a frog into a pot of cold water and slowly bring it to the boil, the frog will not notice. This is probably apocryphal. But what is true is that small changes tend to go unnoticed—take a look at the way most bachelor apartments deteriorate over time because the day-to-day change is not noticed and regular cleaning is not a habit that many men have.

It is because of this behaviour that Scott Walker has actually done the left a great service. The US has been descending into fascism (see Lawrence Britt's "Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism"). One can argue Nixon took baby steps when he extended the Vietnam War into neighbouring countries. Reagan (or rather his underlings, for the most part) accelerated the pace. George HW Bush broke into a trot. Dubya ran full speed ahead.

The tea party and the insane wing of the GOP have sped things up some more. Attacking birth control and abortions. Taxing the poor to give to the rich. Cutting gov't spending in a recession (the very opposite of what is needed to end the recession quickly). Renewing most ofthe US PATRIOT Act. Go read Britt again and see how much you recognize.

The change is happening far more rapidly now, so you'd think more people would notice. But it's seen as "more of the same." Perhaps the constantly increasing rate of change of new technology has desensitized us and we expect things to change at an ever-increasing rate. Perhaps it's simply that about 30% of any population actually want to be ruled by right-wing dictators (true, sadly).

And so Scott Walker has done us a great service. His ham-handed, moronic attack on the unions has finally brought it home to all on the left and many on the right. Many right-wing voters are working/middle class and they understand they'll suffer if Walker gets his way. All the other GOP attacks upon them went unnoticed or were rationalized away because the GOP said they'd benefit from less tax on the rich, etc. Walker, by contrast, is dropping the frog into a pan of boiling water.

This is probably the last chance the US has to reverse the descent into fascism. A chance it would not have had without Scott Walker. He may be an evil catspaw of the Koch brothers, but he may accidentally have done some good. If, that is, the voices of sanity and democracy prevail.