Thursday, November 18, 2004
No joy in Mudville & how to fix the growing political imbalance
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Shortly after the election, Dr. Paranoia, eager to get the Republican slant, hied to the Midtown bar where the Texan who knows holds court. He was there, just finishing a barside dinner (very popular among the doers nowadays), and spoke, without waiting for the question.
“So, mighty Kerry struck out. It is the moral values, stupid, as James Carville would say, if he did not have a lost election foot in his mouth. But moral values is really a code phrase for something else, and do not assume it is ignorance and irrationality. It is what ACLU in its “take no prisoners” wisdom would call bigotry. Primarily it is unwillingness of a majority of Americans, including Liberals, to sacrifice the traditional concept of marriage. A Liberal friend, father of sons, voted for Bush because he did not like the prospect of his boys going to camp with a gay counselor. The ACLU’s stopping the use of schools and public facilities for Scout meetings galled him, a man who has pleasant relationships with gay colleagues and friends and who supports the social rights for domestic companions. Just look at the margins of vote in the 11 states authorizing their heterosexual marriage amendments to their constitutions! This could be the death knell to FDR’s party, unless they learn to dance.
“Those four activist judges really doomed the Democratic Party, already balancing on the edge of the knife, not willing to give up on the extreme civil rights leftists' and the antiwar lot's positions. They staked Bush with an unexpected potent platform to launch a campaign issue that may have given him a 3.5 million-vote majority, despite his ruinous Iraq strategy and his plutocrat-driven economic and environment policies. You can expect more. And it was not launched by the Religious Right. The latter, spurred by the al-Qaida condemnation of our moral decay, drove a few more nails in the coffin, getting Bush votes by objecting to stem cell research (a surprisingly heavily protested issue, drawing on a fear that embryos will be created for research) and to legal abortions, and expressing revulsion against shock jocks and to sex on TV and in movies. In the South, the code phrase also blurred the heavy remainder of the Dixiecrat morality, which is probably why the Massachusetts abolitionist Kerry’s personal religious and social beliefs did not cut any swath. Edwards the rip-off lawyer, a bad choice, did not help the image.
“Can the Democrats regain ground? Not unless the Pres really messes up, I mean royally, or reopens the draft. No, they cannot offer a clear simple program, a la Bush, there’s too much diversity in your flip-flop party, as the Bushists would characterize it. Hillary, a war supporter, has a small advantage, and also negatives of her own.
“No, the Democratic best hope is in a split of the Republican party, a Ross Perot-like reform faction spoiling the unity. There are many of us Conservatives, who voted for Bush with one hand while holding our noses with the other. We have the Budget savers, the graduated income tax believers and the environmentalists, all of whom hating the plutos that ruin the party, those businessmen and CEOs who do not care for long-term national, stockholder and client service and push disastrous policies that will earn them bonuses. We also have people who believe in the world cooperating in the fight against terrorism, not the “if you are not with me, you are against me” Bush doctrine. Clinton was a middle-of-the-road non-welfare moderate internationalist Republican type, and he won.
“This George Soros is one of our type, a non-doctrinaire, a mostly conservative capitalist. Maybe he should quietly look to support the Republican protesters, John McCain, or whoever else comes forth; the Giulianis and Patakis are too career-driven to jump up and foster any Reform movements. That’s all. I’ve got to go.” And the Texan left.
Dr P. and the bartender were speechless, staring at each other. “Let me give you a tip,” finally the man spoke while wiping his bar.” He’s worried that this Presidential term may be the a doomsday event for the Republican Party, with a forever war that drags on and that kills Americans and Iraqis, with no volunteers joining to be exposed to death in the Middle East. We’ll have to withdraw, or reinstitute the draft. Only the Dixiecrats and Christian Coalition will have won, if they install their judges. Even your Texas buddy has no hopes of stopping that eventuality. And don’t bother tipping me, save your money to cover the new Bush sales taxes you middle-class types will have to pay.”
Shortly after the election, Dr. Paranoia, eager to get the Republican slant, hied to the Midtown bar where the Texan who knows holds court. He was there, just finishing a barside dinner (very popular among the doers nowadays), and spoke, without waiting for the question.
“So, mighty Kerry struck out. It is the moral values, stupid, as James Carville would say, if he did not have a lost election foot in his mouth. But moral values is really a code phrase for something else, and do not assume it is ignorance and irrationality. It is what ACLU in its “take no prisoners” wisdom would call bigotry. Primarily it is unwillingness of a majority of Americans, including Liberals, to sacrifice the traditional concept of marriage. A Liberal friend, father of sons, voted for Bush because he did not like the prospect of his boys going to camp with a gay counselor. The ACLU’s stopping the use of schools and public facilities for Scout meetings galled him, a man who has pleasant relationships with gay colleagues and friends and who supports the social rights for domestic companions. Just look at the margins of vote in the 11 states authorizing their heterosexual marriage amendments to their constitutions! This could be the death knell to FDR’s party, unless they learn to dance.
“Those four activist judges really doomed the Democratic Party, already balancing on the edge of the knife, not willing to give up on the extreme civil rights leftists' and the antiwar lot's positions. They staked Bush with an unexpected potent platform to launch a campaign issue that may have given him a 3.5 million-vote majority, despite his ruinous Iraq strategy and his plutocrat-driven economic and environment policies. You can expect more. And it was not launched by the Religious Right. The latter, spurred by the al-Qaida condemnation of our moral decay, drove a few more nails in the coffin, getting Bush votes by objecting to stem cell research (a surprisingly heavily protested issue, drawing on a fear that embryos will be created for research) and to legal abortions, and expressing revulsion against shock jocks and to sex on TV and in movies. In the South, the code phrase also blurred the heavy remainder of the Dixiecrat morality, which is probably why the Massachusetts abolitionist Kerry’s personal religious and social beliefs did not cut any swath. Edwards the rip-off lawyer, a bad choice, did not help the image.
“Can the Democrats regain ground? Not unless the Pres really messes up, I mean royally, or reopens the draft. No, they cannot offer a clear simple program, a la Bush, there’s too much diversity in your flip-flop party, as the Bushists would characterize it. Hillary, a war supporter, has a small advantage, and also negatives of her own.
“No, the Democratic best hope is in a split of the Republican party, a Ross Perot-like reform faction spoiling the unity. There are many of us Conservatives, who voted for Bush with one hand while holding our noses with the other. We have the Budget savers, the graduated income tax believers and the environmentalists, all of whom hating the plutos that ruin the party, those businessmen and CEOs who do not care for long-term national, stockholder and client service and push disastrous policies that will earn them bonuses. We also have people who believe in the world cooperating in the fight against terrorism, not the “if you are not with me, you are against me” Bush doctrine. Clinton was a middle-of-the-road non-welfare moderate internationalist Republican type, and he won.
“This George Soros is one of our type, a non-doctrinaire, a mostly conservative capitalist. Maybe he should quietly look to support the Republican protesters, John McCain, or whoever else comes forth; the Giulianis and Patakis are too career-driven to jump up and foster any Reform movements. That’s all. I’ve got to go.” And the Texan left.
Dr P. and the bartender were speechless, staring at each other. “Let me give you a tip,” finally the man spoke while wiping his bar.” He’s worried that this Presidential term may be the a doomsday event for the Republican Party, with a forever war that drags on and that kills Americans and Iraqis, with no volunteers joining to be exposed to death in the Middle East. We’ll have to withdraw, or reinstitute the draft. Only the Dixiecrats and Christian Coalition will have won, if they install their judges. Even your Texas buddy has no hopes of stopping that eventuality. And don’t bother tipping me, save your money to cover the new Bush sales taxes you middle-class types will have to pay.”
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 7:05 AM 
