And politicians have proven yet again how child souls hide within grownup clothes, meanwhile a Dylan song modification sways softly in the background: the times they are a-changin' -- barely. When the last industrialized country on earth adopts a type of heathcare reform that has only the fingertips of government regulation in its neck, we have politicians on the right shouting "baby-killer!", "nigger!", and even witness spit being fired out on a Democrat (arguably the most substantial thing a Republican has done during the debate).
Yeah, it's both ways, undoubtedly. Many Democrats are children too, who hide their contempt behind pseudo-intellectual chants rather than visceral verbal lynchings. Oh well. But this doesn't mitigate the fact that this is one of the most violently partisan times in America's history, and after flipping through the pictures of hatred and contempt scattered around the web, I'm wondering where it comes from.
Part of the answer can be found in a somewhat dated article in the New York Times called "The Obama Haters' Silent Enablers", which profiles the acid talk spewed at Obama from a certain rightwing cable news station (Foxy, but oh so unsexy) -- a medium that does have the most viewers (fallaciously gung ho'd by them as proof that veracity hides where the crowd doth clamor) with regard to cable news, and invites (to speak tautologically) the hyper-rightwing bloodstream up the arm of America with 102 million households worldwide. Nevermind that watchdog groups such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting have recorded a dirty history with these guys, and that Fox is clearly the arm of the GOP against the Obama administration (with a vice president of programming who has said quite blatantly that Fox is the "voice of opposition" against it), or that John Stewart has done such an awesome job of impersonating its rhetorical psychotic walking entertainment center, Beck. Or the fact that it doublespeakedly both supports and denies support of Tea Party get-togethers.
Am I saying that Fox News is the problem? Well, yes. It's the main reason for perpetuating contempt for Obama based on too much faulty argumentation, and incites rebellion through programming dedicated to fearmongering and therefore a call for a cuddle up with the ragged neoconservative teddy bear. Meanwhile, all media outlets forget that there are other gargantuan fish to fry: the military-industrial complex, the dictatorship of the dollar through lobbying, the imperialist flavorings of US foreign policy (with 130 different countries occupied). We also forget that people on the left -- real leftists, not just centrist-leaning Maddows or Olbermanns -- such as Edward Hermann have bewailed Obama's drift to the right: "Obama has no provided change, but continuity, and has served the financial/corporate community and [military-industrial complex] rather than the interests of his mass base. This was evident, in advance of his election, with his support of the Bush financial bailout, his choice of Cold Warrior Joe Biden as his running mate, and his explicit commitment to an escalated Afghan war" (Z Magazine, March 2010). Add to the fact that Obama crushed McCain when it came to contributions from corporations (silly socialists). Yes, this mangled, watered down bill on healthcare reform (which won't even reduce premiums by any significant amount) will help people out, and it is a step in the right direction, but this doesn't mean that you shouldn't take the financially savvy option and start investing in insurance stock. Just sayin'.
So it's Fox to blame, but this only affects an otherwise less corrupt, less ignorant population in supporting the "conservatives" in Washington who already ideologically oppose reform on all fronts. The n-word shouts reveal a stuttering fear of change inherent in the conservative temperament. You see it all over the place, and no amount of information manipulation could possibly make things as bad as a middle-aged woman who tearfully, frighteningly confronts her congressman about the terrible state this country is heading towards during a town hall meeting back in August, or a probably racist Tea Party group that oscillates between painting the president in fascist and communist colors, or (in the words of an online forum member) a guy at a Wendy's drive-in who is verbally harassed by a driver from his car window behind him because of an Obama/Biden bumper sticker still left hanging from a finished election.
We also have to add to the fact that conservatives are simply people who are psychologically, emotionally, and culturally constituted to be reluctant to change. That's not a bad thing at all, necessarily: historical conservatism (a la Burke) is all about a healthy non-ideological skepticism towards parties and political movements coupled with a pragmatic, cautious willingness to change. But we don't see this today: people aren't reluctant; they're downright terrified of it. And this leads to the other thing we haven't put together yet: by historical and especially world standards, this adaption of healthcare reform is nothing less than terribly, terribly conservative. If only Limbaugh really knew this when he promised to leave if it succeeded. Where would he go in the industrialized world that isn't lightyears ahead of us with regard to the subject we're mutilating with our stupidity? We're the caboose on the world train of political change.
This super-partisan divide wasn't always so. There once was a time when the left and right could actually agree on something. My question despite all these limited explanations is: can we ever hope to get along again? In the short term, I don't think we can.
