It has been three weeks since the United States Senate seat from Massachusetts held for decades by Teddy Kennedy and for several months by placeholder Paul Kirk has fallen into the hands of ex-Cosmopolitan centerfold Scott Brown. Supposedly, this event has, by reducing the Democratic majority in the Senate from 60 to 59, delivered control of America to the political party that overwhelmingly lost the last two national elections (and has, with proper accounting of such matters, lost four out of the last five presidential elections). Having done so, the numerically and deservedly minority party must now be obeyed, appeased and otherwise pleased in every single respect, lest what is left of representative government in this country fall completely apart, never to be re-assembled again.
Well, if you were Will Rogers, this is what you would know, because it would be all you have been able to read in the papers (what's left of them) and otherwise see in the media during the past few weeks. In its most hysterical (in both senses of the word) form, it reaches the heights achieved by Charles "I used to be a Democrat before I lost my mind" Krauthammer in his most recent column, in which he opines that Brown's election, in tandem with Democratic losses in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, proves that America, having knowingly elected a liberal President and a liberal Congress, is now wisely rejecting President Obama and Congressional Democrats for acting like (who'd a thunk it?) liberals.
Here's what has really happened. The Democratic Party, for reasons unknown and perhaps unknowable, nominated three spectacularly weak candidates in all of the races in question. Despite their spectacular weaknesses, they almost won two of them. Had they done so, we would be talking about the Democrats extending the winning streak they have enjoyed this past year in special elections for the House of Representatives. But of course, that narrative would have been not only depressing for Republicans, but boring for the media.
Ah, there's that word again. The media. The media that used to consider itself an independent Fourth Estate, a "branch of government" co-equal with the elected branches, that uses to report events "without fear or favor," that used to report what people needed to hear and not what they wanted to hear. And that has, since its Vietnam-Watergate era heights, has gradually slummed down to the point at which, as has been frequently said, all journalism is tabloid journalism. In that respect, they reflect the post-Reagan era perspective that, to paraphrase a Watergate-era quote and Finley Peter Dunne at the same time, Americans must follow neither the flag nor the election returns, but the money.
Perhaps the worst consequence of this lies in the fact that political reporting has been reduced to following election returns and their consequences as if they were some kind of bizarre baseball game. Obama and the Democrats lead after three! But McDonnell walks! And Christie squeezes out a bunt single! And then Coakley, proving that she really does know nothing about Curt Schilling, serves up a fat pitch to Brown! It's a three-run homer! Obama and the Dems still lead by 6, but it's a whole new ball game here on Fox, right, Tim? You got that right, Joe!
Can you honestly tell me that this hasn't been the form and substance of recent press coverage when it comes to our national politics? That's because, at the tabloid level, politics can only be understood in terms of soap-opera level versions of conflict. You're rich! You're poor! You're strong! You're weak! You win! You lose! Yay! Boo-hoo!
And that's why I think the only true winner in the past three weeks has been the media. With the aid and connivance of the Republicans, they have succeeded in manufacturing a new story-telling twist in their up and down version of public affairs. Of course, this will be followed by some other reversal, which they will then use to pump Obama back up. And then, something else will happen and Obama will again be portrayed as a loser. Who cares? People are buying, reading, watching and browsing. If you're a media baron, well, frankly, my dears, you don't give a damn about anything else.
Well, to hell with them. And to hell with what's left of the Republicans trying to manipulate them. If you're a liberal, progressive, or whatever you want to call yourself while you read this, remember one thing: progress doesn't come about by measuring who's up and who's down, but by remembering what's right and refusing to quit. It has dragged this nation forward, even against its will, and produces anomalies like Republicans, the original opponents of Medicare, now fighting to keep the government's hands off it (their words, not mine). If this is truly a center-right nation, it is only center-right in its political system. Our culture, which has truly taken over the world, is and always will be very left of center. Never forget that a conservative is simply a worshiper of dead radicals.
I believe all good things come to those who wait and work. Nearly twenty years ago, we could do no better for gays and lesbians in the military than "don't ask, don't tell." Today, we are on the verge of doing far better than that for them. If you refuse to give in, if you believe in principles and not in circumstances, all things are possible. Just ask the New Orleans Saints, and the people who support them in the town that Bush almost permitted to wash away.
As for my Republican friends (if I have any left at this point), congratulations. You've lost the right to say nothing but "no." Now do the right thing, and prove you love America by working with your fellow Americans.
Enough said. Let's get to work, everyone!
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