Jeff Goldstein, on how he learned to stop worrying and love the f-bomb:
if, as I’ve argued, political realism as a strategy is doomed — not because we can’t be more careful with our words, but rather because it is not always rhetorically effective to do so, nor does such care prevent us from being misrepresented, no matter how precise we try to be — what is the alternative? As many pundits will patiently explain to you, ideological purity and idealism doesn’t win elections, so if not pragmatism, what?
To which I reply, pragmatism is fine. But why not use our idealism pragmatically — which is to say, why not make it our strategy to use idealism as our cudgel against the media and the left in such a way that their tactic of misrepresentation and outrage no longer pays dividends? Why not make it our strategy to destroy their tactics — and in so doing, reaffirm the very principles at the heart of classical liberalism?
The fact of the matter is, for all of Limbaugh’s provocation, his statement, having been carefully and purposely misrepresented by the media as a way to demonize him and drive a divide between conservatives and more moderates within the party, has had the rather happy effect of getting us talking and arguing about what we as a movement should do next. And it was precisely his choice of language that baited the press and the left (and, more frightening even, the White House) to engage him, and to force the ideas of conservatism center stage.
We have to continue to fight to take back the media, and the language, regardless of the demagogues, semioticians and word twisters.
[Tuesday morning update]
More lies about Limbaugh. This is as stupid as Harry Reid’s continuing moronic accusations that he disrespected the troops. Kaus offers some advice, which they’ll be too stupid to take:
The whole Begala-Carville coordinated campaign against Limbaugh seems misguided when Obama is supposed to be leading the nation out of crisis (see Warren Buffett’s comments, below). Quite apart from whether it’s a good idea to take one of your smarter opponents and build him up, the campaign seems petty, partisan and poll-driven — not designed to produce any kind of national pulling-together. If Begala weren’t around I’d suspect Chris Lehane of thinking it up.
I too am shocked, shocked, that when Warren Buffet is critical of The One, suddenly no one in the media is interested.
But in typical fashion, NO ONE has called their hand on the misquote.
Pelosi, Reid, BOHICA mouth pieces, et. al. have had ample face time to repeat the misquote. Not one Conservative has come out to attempt to set the record straight that I’ve seen or heard. Not even the talking heads at, supposedly Fair and Balanced, FOX has taken them to task over it.
The Party Line is that IF the Conservatives, Libertarians, non-liberals start being out front, telling the truth, calling the Dems on their lies, then the Conservatives, Libertarians or non-liberals will get no air time, no magazine or newspaper coverage. First, I don’t believe that. Here’s what the Conservatives, Libertarians, and non-liberals call a news conference to say,
“Starting today, we’re going to call the Liberal Democrats on their lies. And if the MSM refuses to cover this, FINE. We’ll just use C-Span in both houses of Congress to set the record straight.
If, after this news conference, you stop covering ANY of us because of this stand, be aware, eventually your viewers and readers will wonder WHY you’ve got no stories or quotes from us. At some point even the liberal viewers and readers will begin to ask why the Conservatives, Libertarians, and non-liberals have disappeared from coverage. They’ll want coverage of us in the media too, they’ll demand coverage so as to be informed about our country and our government.
If after this news conference, you cease to cover us it’s your right. But by notified, in the future at the point where you begin to cover us again after the demands come in from your readers and viewers, we’ll throw YOU under the bus along with the Liberal Democrats who have lied. No quarter will be given to MSM outlets that print lies and half truths or who try to silence us through non-coverage.
So cover us NOW or cover us LATER, but starting today, we go on the offensive against lies and half truths, regardless of where they originate. Thank You.”
It won’t happen, but I’d cheer if it did. If their fear is that standing up to the MSM will get them bumped from the media, so what? They don’t use the media to get any message out or get the TRUTH out anyway. Where’s the loss?
I hate spinelessness.
For me, seeing Carville and Begala and the rest of the Clinton “War Room” prominent is one of the biggest betrayals to Hope And Change™ that The Big Zero! could have perpetrated. Why is He letting those has-been troublemaking relics take such a prominent role in an administration which was supposed to be about “coming together”? Did he make the deal with St.Hillary to get access to those clowns, or was he forced to take them in as part of the deal?
(For that matter, the real regret among Dems must be seeing St.Hillary not in charge. If she was, they’d have the same people and same policies, but without all the personal incompetence in which the Big Zero! seems to specialize.)
It wil work fine, Rand. The purpose is not to take down Rush Limbaugh, any more than Ahmadickhead thinks that he can take down the Great Satan by ranting on about how he’s gonna push all the Joos into the sea, followed by their American pig-dog enablers.
In both cases, the purpose is simply to buy time by distracting the domestic audience. When oil prices take a tumble, or some mullah is caught eating sliced ham off the taut naked buttocks of an underage Jewish male prostitute wearing a T-shirt with the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons on it, Ahmadickhead needs to distract wavering supporters at home. Look! Over there! The Great Satan! Paris Hilton! Shiny things! Pay no attention to the fuss going on behind the curtain!
Similarly, Team Obama needs to distract domestic attention from (1) the shameful omnibus bill, (2) the fact that Stimulusaurus isn’t working, (3) the continuing problems filling top jobs, (4) the Keystone Kops routine at State, (5) the test by the Chinese that they don’t know what to do about WTF? Everyone was supposed to love us! Help! And so forth. Look! Over there! The Great Satan (Rush)! Shiny things! Pay no attention to the latest White House pratfall. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for!
The most important issue is the economy. They have faith — a remarkably ironic faith, given their hateful rhetoric — that those evil businessmen and bankers will pull the chestnuts out of the fire soon enough, resume their dirty jobs making piles of money that need to be redestributed, and the economic numbers will tick up.
After all, they ticked up quite promptly for that stupid evil bastard Bush, after 9/11, didn’t they? The Universe simply cannot be so perverse that they won’t jump up for The One.
So as long as they just stretch things out a bit, marking time, until the economic indicators head up, they will, first, have gotten awaay with Stimulusaurus and other obscenities, and, second, can turn their attention to the real important things, like nationalizing health care, education, and shoveling money into various green
scamsinvestments.“For that matter, the real regret among Dems must be seeing St.Hillary not in charge. If she was, they’d have the same people and same policies, but without all the personal incompetence in which the Big Zero! seems to specialize”
Let me, Michael Puckett, here in March of 2009, be the first to predict Hillary’s resignation in a couple of years and a challenge for the nomination in 2012.
Thus completing the Carter on Steroids endgame.
Never, Mike. Look, you’ve got two possible scenarios here:
(1) Brack and the Donks in Congress really screw the pooch. I think the stakes are higher than 1980. In this case, the Democrats need a Bob Dole or John Kerry to hold the flag steady while their ship founders in heavy seas. It will be a Republican Night of Long Knives. Ideally, they need someone so clueless that he can be repudiated with contempt in 2016. John Kerry and John Edwards (or the reverse) would be perfect, except they’ve already done it.
But it’s hard to see Hilary being that stupid. Resignation, yes, preferably about a month before Brack loses. Then elder statesmanship, serving on bipartisan Truth Committees, et cetera, until emerging tanned, rested and ready in 2016.
(2) Brack doesn’t screw up as badly as he might. He has Pelosi and have a dozen top Democrats shipped to the South Pole on a fact-finding mission, then forgets to have the heat turned on. Special elections return lots of Blue Dogs, and the Republic is saved.
In this case, Brack is unbeatable in 2012, and Secretary Clinton is reduced to egging Vice Prez what’s his name into committing some really outrageous mistake that lets her take his place, but more probably she’s frozen out by Team O, which wants her dead anyway, and she has to hope for some incredibly major treating signing sometime this term, before she’s told to resign to spend more time with her cat, that people will remember 6 years later. You know, the Vulcans discover us or something, and Clinton negotiates the interstellar treaty that gives us the warp drive.