The Props

by digby

Atrios asks:

I really do wonder what it would take for the Villagers to realize people don't like Republicans and their stupid shit anymore.


Who are these "people" he speaks of, I wonder? The Villagers are the representatives of Real America, especially when real Americans refuse to live up to the values and expectations the villagers have assigned to them. They decide for us who our candidates should be and then they decide whether or not what they do once they are elected is popular. We don't need to worry our pretty little heads about all this except to watch their shows and be impressed by their vast knowledge of everything. (In fact, if it weren't for that ridiculous nonsense about requiring that actual "people" vote in elections, we could dispense with any real participation at all and just turn Washington into a reality TV show and a web site.)

One would think that ridiculous nonsense would affect politicians, who do have to answer to their constituents, but the Republicans don't play that way. They have a much more important constituency of brainwashed dittoheads who live in a conservative feedback loop of wingnut propaganda and resentment guiding their decisions. They think in bigger terms, giving themselves permission to demagogue and lie with impunity, often confusing their constituents so that they think the Republicans actually care about them.

It doesn't always work, however. The current crop of Republicans think their comeback requires a reprise of the Republican Revolution. (One of the hallmarks of conservatism is, after all, living in the past.) But, if the polls Atrios references are true, they may be making the same mistake they've often made, which resulted in huge losses of approval in the public . In fact, if it weren't for the village media pimping their scandals and covering for them, we wouldn't have had George W. Bush for the last eight years to leave us in this mess .

I think that we may have begun to make some headway on the election front, what with these internets and tubes and all. But I'm not as sanguine about any effect on the political establishment. Their self assurance is awesome and as we've seen these past three weeks, their ability to influence actual governance is as powerful as ever. I'm not sure what the answer to that problem is, but it's clear to me that until the beltway establishment is challenged and its power dispersed, the status quo will remain intact.


BTW: The media is resurrecting the word "shrill," which really takes me back. In fact, there is a lot about this period that strangely reminds me of the run-up to the war. It's that disorienting sense you get when lots of folks are telling you that you're hysterical and overwrought for noticing that "serious" people are either outright lying or are completely full of shit.

I remember a good friend of mine telling me flat-out back in 2002 that "they" would never let George W. Bush invade Iraq. Another one told me just the other day that there was no way that the Obama administration could ever get away with cutting the safety net. It sure seems like it should be true.

.