Monday, February 22, 2021

Who Declared the Culture War? Who's Fighting It? Who Cares?

 Gotta confess ... I'm a sucker for populist rhetoric. 

But if ever there was an illustration of how populist rhetoric can translate to a huge letdown on the fulfillment end, it was the '16 election. 

In Bernie and Trump, you had essentially the same "populist disruptor" campaign with differing ideological tilts. Both were based on wooing the voters who felt their voices weren't being heard. As we've seen, the "angry old white people" side of the argument held sway ... in just enough "persuadable" swing state districts. 

November 2016 marked the amplification of the so-called "culture wars." How do we know war has been declared? Because the Hannity Gang says so. But is '16 when warfare began? Probably not. 

In '08 we were jubilant, for good reason, that we elected our first African American president. Good for us! And good for Barack, too, as he was honored with a Nobel Prize without even breaking a sweat in his first year. Hmm...trouble brewing. 

In the 2012 campaign, Mitt Romney got caught telling the truth to a fundraiser crowd when he noted that 47% of folks had their minds made up on both sides, so it's time to work on the middle. Apparently the truth does not always set you free, as a perfectly plausible moderate Republican candidate failed to win enough hearts and minds. 

Through Obama II, the Progressive Left got drunk with its (perceived) power and heightened its platform of "pay attention...we know what's best for you." The result was the sluggish Dem campaign in '16 that was outfoxed by perhaps the sharpest marketing mind in the history of presidential politics. 

But while he exerted massive authoritarian power in the first three years of his term, The Donald and his team apparently ignored or forgot that he had a 47% ceiling, a truism proved again in November 2020. 

Oh, but wait ... back to the war, the great Culture War matching The Working Class vs. the Intellectual Elites. Regrettably, the highest number of casualties are among the sensible Moderates in the middle who are drowned out by the shrill extremist voices on both ends. 

On the Left, do the Progressives really think that most people want to cancel out George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Skip right past gender-neutral and go to genderless society? Or forgive the debts of people positioned to earn higher wages than "essential workers?" Ehh, maybe not so much. 

But when faced with a choice between that and gun-toting, Confederate flag-waving militants, the masses swarming into the Atlanta suburbs, which should have been fertile ground for traditional Republicanism, made the more rational choice. And that's how a traditional Red state swings over to the Blue column. 

So as the war rages on, do traditional Republicans honestly think there are enough Proud Boys to hike the Trumpkin ceiling beyond 47%? Apparently they must, as they continue their cowardly kow-tow to the man who sold The Big Lie. 



Monday, February 8, 2021

The Boss Sends a Message to the Voiceless Middle

When it comes to idol worship, I resolutely confine mine to entertainers in industries like sports, publishing, and music. At the same time, I equally resolve to limit my favorite political leaders to mere admiration, not idolatry.

So when The Boss, with the support of an auto manufacturer, sent a message to those of us in the middle, I paid rapt attention as others tuned out as soon as he referred to a desolate spot in Kansas as the heart of the nation.

I recognized the voice; I remembered his heart; I knew where his message was headed.

You see, those of us in the middle, the ones with the quiet and too-often unheard voices, demonstrated in November our grounding rod value. The obvious sign is that we rejected the cultish authoritarian approach of the former leader. The not-so-obvious was the rejection of authoritarianism at the other end of the spectrum.

Just as the former president’s dull-witted son-in-law didn’t recognize the Republican-leaning voters in the Atlanta suburbs, the Progressives didn’t recognize the middle class Moderates, and still don’t, as Democrat-leaning voters. As a result, that unlikely cabal of “leaners” spoke forcefully to both wings.

And you know what? The wings still are not listening!

Huge numbers of Republicans still quake in fear of the authoritarian who managed to be the only single-term president since Hoover to lose the popular vote twice, lose the White House, lose the Senate, and lose the House. Wow, what a strong track record, right!?

Meanwhile, the Progressives haven’t caught on that declaring war on Moderates was and is a foolish political play. As a case in point, Progressives may perform admirably as legislators, but immaturity in the larger political arena only fuels the right-wingers. Burning Portland and cancelling Washington and Lincoln are not good looks for the Democratic Party.

Biden seemed to be the only one not pandering to either extreme.

So here’s an alert to both worn-out major parties.

Dems: While you were distracted, the Rs stole the working class away from you. Please recognize that economic policy planks that move the needle for the middle class do more for racial justice and equity than the tantrums of young white libs begging for acknowledgement of how much they care, all the while appropriating, and diluting, legitimate causes. (Yikes! A 44-word sentence!)  

Republicans: It’s much simpler. A commercial real estate guy hijacked your party – so take it back! If you don’t … well, don’t bother knocking.

Oh, and by the way … maybe I need to check on whether Jeep makes an SUV hybrid.