alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

February 25, 2008

On the Nature of Our Civil Discourse

by @ 4:52 pm. Filed under 2008 Elections, wingnuttia

While I find right-wing sites like NRO, Captain’s Quarters, etc., poisonous in their own way, there’s another category of sites that are really too odious to discuss in polite company. So, while I’m fond of pointing out how disgusting Matt Drudge is, he’s not as sick as they go.

Still, the photo-op of Obama in terrorist knee-pants that’s making its way around the tubes today is like a Drudge 2-fer. He gets the damning visual out there- a man whose middle is the same as the last name of a former Iraqi dictator, and whose wife hates America, is fraternizing with known foriners. What comes next- compulsory French lessons? Simultaneously, the Clinton campaign be damned for the desperation of putting such a photo out there.

Meanwhile, the denizens of RedSate (RedSatan?) assure us that the lizard brain of the Republican freak show will slay the Obama campaign:

By the time it’s all over, the only defense Obama is going to have is to resort to the standard liberal playbook and scream racism when anyone dares point out his voting record. And the public we have not heard from year, the public that swings elections but generally does not engage in primaries, are going to come running to John McCain begging him to save the nation from the liberal anti-gun former cokehead whose feminist wife hates America.

America has rejected liberalism. Obama thinks he can repackage it in new rhetoric and move it to the left of Hillary. He cannot. I relish the fight against the man who has no problem with porn shops across the street from elementary schools and terrorist leaders in the White House. That’ll go over real well.

Again, as over-the-top as all this is, there’s stuff I saw that made my skin crawl. SadlyNo has done the heroic spadework.

Remarkably, Obama has weathered these attacks well, and even returned volley. That’s the point of Glenn Greenwald’s latest. Obama is not just framing the debate well for a Democratic candidate. He’s doing a great job, period.

Which brings me to what I wanted to say. After the discussion of Framing the Future from last Thursday, a few of us were sitting around in the back room of Timberlake’s when the following was put to me: (obviously, I’m paraphrasing) the idea of articulating deeply held beliefs using words that have proven to evocative is all very well and good, but it’s not going to stand up to the gale force devastation of the Republican reptilian brain. A brain evolved to use fear as effectively as his ancestors once used, well, fear. Once upon a time it may have been fear of wolves, or fear of a Roman centurion, but the idea remains the same. Do as I say or die a terrible death.

Is the invocation of fear to win elections a blatant and dishonest attempt to manipulate the voters? Well, yeah. Are Democrats apprehensive about using these kind of tactics? I’d say so. And, here we have a case where Obama campaigns without using the kinds of tactics that progressives are apprehensive of. He is doing essentially what Bernie Horn does in Framing the Future. And, it appears to be working.

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