"You gotta think like they think, Bernie," said Shallow Throat, "not how you'd like them to think. So they've got no positive program, no ideas the public really wants to accept; that's all true. But they also came just inches away from breaking Obama and the Democrats with their policy of obstructionism, demagoguery, outright lies, stirring up the militias and Tea Party rabble. Why shouldn't they go all in, to use the betting terminology?
"In addition, they're anticipating huge gains in the November election, maybe even taking over the House again. Why shouldn't they just continue doing what they're doing?: More crazy talk from their shock troops (Beck, Limbaugh, Palin, Hannity, Coulter, Savage, Malkin, Bachman, et al.) More demogaguery from the Congressional Hard Rightists. More incitement of the militias and Tea Party types, you never know what might happen.
"Besides, you're missing the point. If you can't assume power until sometime down the line, you mess up the other guy's game so that he can't govern. Remember? The Republicans did that to Bill Clinton; if they had been lucky enough to convict him in the Senate, great. But by impeaching him they had accomplished their main goal of breaking whatever momentum Clinton had and made sure he couldn't be an effective president. Obama is the current target. Mess him up, cripple his programs, refuse his nominees, drown him in major and petty complaints and smears, take him to court, whatever. If and when he falters, push him into the mud and make sure he stays there."
RIDING THE EXTREMIST TIGER
"And is that where he was supposed to be," I asked, "as a result of his anticipated defeat on health-care reform?"
"Exactly," said Shallow Throat. "That was to be the first foundational stone to be removed; the rest would follow. Now I have no idea if his health-care reforms and savings will pan out over time -- my guess is that many of them won't. But that wasn't the point. It was the spear thrown into the Obama/Democratic gears that was at issue. Even you disgruntled, angry lefties eventually came around and supported the bill; you finally saw that health-care reform had become the central battleground and that if the Dems lost on this one issue, you all would have lost a lot more than that. Besides, the principle of a right to decent health-care is now inside the tent of normal politics, and more progressive changes can be made over the years.
"Provided, that is, you Dems survive, and can figure out a way to properly frame the extremist Republican shitstorm that's coming your way. And whether and when the Republicans get eaten by the violent, dangerous tiger they're riding that they've called into existence."
And with that, Shallow Throat ran out of the park, leaving me there pondering what I think was Good News mixed in with some Very Bad. #
**To read more 2002-2009 conversations with the Shallow Throat character, go to: >>www.crisispapers.org/weinerpubs.htm#shallow
Bernard Weiner, a poet/playwright and Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle for two decades, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org). To comment:>>
Copyright 2010 by Bernard Weiner.
First published by The Crisis Papers 3/24/10.
>>www.crisispapers.org/essays10w/potomac.htm
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