Taking Charge...of the Massive Mess


I've been wondering over the past few days if some of the GOOP complacency over the Election Day "thumpin'" might be due in no small part to their assuming the public has a limitless capacity to forget just who got us where we are today. In this scenario, pretty much everything coming down the pipe over the next few years--the end game in Iraq, the reckoning of the economic costs resulting from that war, the Afghanistan war, the wholesale looting of the Treasury, etc. etc., can then be blamed on "the liberals." OK, so I'm a pessimist...but I'm also a realist, and I sure as hell don't foresee the day when yer Rethuglicans EVER fess up to so much as an iota of responsibility for the consequences of the ever more absurd/deadly follies (with more than a bit of assistance from their media lackeys).

The essence of the GOOP attack machine is to, well, attack. And just as Jimmy Carter became the whipping boy for what was essentially the price of Vietnam--the stagflation of the late 70's--I expect the GOP to attack the "liberal" 110th Congress...and a "liberal" president in 2009, assuming a Democrat wins (note: "liberal" in this usage is a perjorative by default--it doesn't really matter whether the Democratic Congressperson, Senator, or President actually IS considered liberal by any reasonable definition. To the GOP, "liberal" is a loaded word--they use it in the same way their forebears once used a certain term to describe African Americans).

The Democratic Party, then, should counter with its own offensive--as many have already noted, one benefit of controlling Congress is the ability to conduct official hearings and issue subpeonas--and it's high time to make Rethuglicans answer for their actions. The dual benefit here is that one, it keeps the public focused on the GOOP's less-than-stellar record (to put it mildly) and two, it puts THEM on the defensive, effectively limiting their ability to attack. And while it won't mitigate the damage, there's the possibility that it'll keep the public aware of just who CAUSED it.

Remember, the Rethuglicans are like the proverbial child who murders his parents, then begs the court for mercy on grounds of orphanhood. Hell, they wouldn't just beg: they'd DEMAND pardon, then bitch to high heaven at even a reduced sentence...while going out of their way to paint ANY opposing viewpoint as the embodiment of treason.

So, the only real option is to keep them squirming...preferably under a bright spotlight (which, as I pointed out the other day, is something cockroaches seem to especially hate).