Oiled Up And Ready To Go

by digby


One of the points I probably failed to adequately make on my Netroots Nation panel with Perlstein, Atrios and Krugman about the media's relationship with the right is the fact that the professional right wing noise machine exists on a number of different levels and is at its most effective when it operates in opposition to power. It's an industry that exists across all communications fields and operates on its own logic. They don't even have to talk to each other. They have a synergy built in, a common worldview and vocabulary that enables them to work in tandem without actual coordination.

So, we see McCain putting out a bunch of ads that basically say Obama is a phony, messianic, presumptuous, vapid, anorexic starlet who ruthlessly plays the race card. Right on the heels of this blitz comes two wingnut books, one by Swiftboat liar Jerome Corsi called Obama Nation and the other called The Case Against Barack Obama both of which purport to reveal the "real Obama" --- who happens to be a phony, messianic, presumptuous, vapid, anorexic starlet who ruthlessly plays the race card.

And then there's this, from my favorite wingnut bottom-feeder David Bossie:


HYPE: The Obama Effect

A movement is sweeping the nation. Frenzied crowds gather in every state. Young people chant and sing. Women swoon. The result is record voter turn out and a rare political enthusiasm. At the head of this unprecedented phenomenon stands a charismatic figure intent on becoming the President of the United States.

"I'm asking you to believe."
"We are the ones we have been waiting for."
"Yes, we can!"
"Change."
"Hope."

These words, from Barack Obama, have inspired everything from outrageous videos to the largest campaign fundraising success in history. He has taken what was considered a sure bet Clinton machine and turned it on its head. His supporters claim he is the new Martin Luther King, Jr. He is hailed as this generation's John F. Kennedy. This documentary explores the HYPE behind Barack Obama.






All these themes reinforce each other, culminating in a vague sense that the Democrat -- in this case Obama --- is somehow an illegitimate leader, unworthy of the presidency, a fluke, a phony (and a fascist.) It might help McCain on the margins, but I don't think that's what this is really about; it's about setting the conditions and frame for Obama's ability to govern if he should win. It's what he will be fighting from the minute he takes the oath of office.

Oppositional politics is what the modern Republicans really do well. (It's the only thing they do well besides starting wars and pillaging the treasury.) They have a gift for making the Democrats dance on the head of a pin with the most simple-minded kabuki.

Obama will be seen as the interloper who stole the election from its rightful owner by fooling the nation into thinking he was something he wasn't. "He's a chameleon, a changeling, he's not quite right." Whether he wins big or by a hair, he'll still be an illegitimate president who must be stopped from doing anything until they can restore the White House to its proper occupants --- the Republicans. It will be the basis of their rationale for total obstructionism and ongoing character assassination.


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