Charles Krauthammer intones from the political right.
Cable TV news reminds me a lot of the old soap operas. I say "old" because they've been phased out, right? The Guiding Light isn't there to guide us anymore.
An uncanny thing about soap operas is that they gave the impression pivotal things were happening every day. It was an illusion. Fact is, you could turn off a given soap for a time, resume watching a couple weeks later - or heck, a month later - and realize you didn't really miss anything.
It seems ditto with the cable TV news world of today. It's "news" so there's a suggestion you benefit by staying transfixed. But news is available in such abundance, from myriad sources today, it's hardly necessary to tune in for that. If it were, CNN might be the ratings leader.
CNN is treading water. Its heyday of the first Gulf War seems buried in time.
People tune in to cable news to cheerlead for one of the two partisan sides. MSNBC seems the more thoughtful, mature and fact-based channel. Then we have Fox News which is an extension of what Rush Limbaugh does in his radio empire.
It is profoundly depressing watching Fox News. Let's assume each political party has the loyalty of roughly half of America. There is a thick premise on Fox News that Democrats are ignorant, self-absorbed, atheistic, misguided and (continue with like descriptions). It's as if there's a good vs. evil dichotomy in America and the Republicans are good.
Where else on TV do we see such a clear delineation? Well, in professional wrestling of course. Which makes me wonder if the Fox News talking heads have simply assumed personalities. They are actors representing what to them is "good" and assailing the political "progressives" who are of course evil.
We have learned through history that a right wing tide can be dangerous. It was the right wing industrialists that led Japan into disaster in the mid-20th Century. General Douglas MacArthur saw the political aspect in his machinations toward reforming Japan. He spoke directly on the need for left of center positions to soften Japan's population, making them more inclined toward a passive, cooperative stance with the rest of the world.
MacArthur wanted women to vote. He wanted a sense of trade unionism.
The right wing industrialists were wiped out by the conflagration of war, just like the planter aristocrats were wiped out by the U.S. Civil War. The planter aristocrats weren't exactly enlightened on social issues, were they?
History has a way of stomping down the regressive forces and paving the way for the more humane and civilized elements. Fox News scares me in that it assumes everything right wing is good. Todd Akin has kept a good number of allies (like Mike Huckabee) even after revealing himself the most regressive and ignorant of political figures. He now flails away at Claire McCaskill using the most boilerplate right wing rhetoric.
"Let big business flourish. Let the 'marketplace' dictate everything."
The rhetoric works so well with a large percentage of the American population. Limbaugh figured that out a long time ago.
Americans do want to feel free and unfettered. Isn't that how we settled the Old West? In reality the Old West was a very harsh place in which to live. There's a reason these places had territorial governments before they became states. They couldn't quite handle civilization. Civilization means government has a monopoly on the use of force. It means government can impose itself for the sake of order, harmony and even a certain degree of happiness.
Government ought to promote an even keel that minimizes the need for conflict of all kinds including conflicts with other countries. We hear Mitt Romney now practically rattling sabers in how he talks about not only Iran but Russia.
In all likelihood this isn't the real Mitt Romney. It's posturing to get some cheers from the hard-right section of the Republican bleachers. He probably has to curry favor with the neocons.
We have to wonder: In the unlikely event Clint Eastwood, I mean Mitt Romney, gets elected, will it be George W. Bush redux? Who would Romney surround himself with? The likes of John Bolton and Karl Rove again?
Grover Norquist indicates he really couldn't care less who Romney is or what his inner feelings are, just so he has enough "digits" (fingers) to sign legislation from the conservative tent.
Conservatives have a legitimate role in putting the brakes on government from time to time. It was healthy in 1980 when Ronald Reagan got elected. But today with the likes of Limbaugh screaming through all the new media channels, and with the likes of Akin staying afloat, and with Fox News haranguing reasonable progressives around every corner, you really have to wonder about danger signs.
My main worry is how such talk erupts when a new recessionary turn develops in the economy. The specter of hyper-inflation can never be denied. My old associate Jim Morrison shakes his head about that and cites "deflation."
Heaven help us if in the throes of economic crisis, we listen to the political voices of the far right. If you think Glenn Beck is a potential despot now, well. . .
In November we'll see if a decent balance can be maintained. I pray that the hard righties can be humbled some between now and then, those who harp on social issues and intone the mantra of tax cuts (for the already well-off). I pray voting can stay open the way our Founders envisioned.
Cable news brays for anyone who will listen. We need to sift through that cacophony and stay sober.
Remember that the "Fox and Friends" cast are professional wrestlers in effect. Imagine Charles Krauthammer in the wrestling ring. They're trained seals, these people, especially Rush Limbaugh, and doing quite well financially at it.
Us voters are in the real world. Shut out the cacophony and be careful. In one corner we'll have President Barack Obama. In the other, Clint Eastwood, or rather Mitt Romney.
Let's remember what we really expect government to do for us.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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