House of Eratosthenes

Just think–there once was a time (for more than a century, actually), when the president of the United States thought it too imperious to deliver the State of the Union via a speech to a joint session of Congress, since that would smack of telling a co-equal branch of government what to do. Now we have a president not just taking rhetorical sides in a state issue, but actively mobilizing his political organization to affect the outcome(s), even though (to my knowledge) nothing that Gov. Walker or any other belated statehouse cost-cutter is doing has a damned thing to do with federal law.
:
The president’s heavy-handed involvement, along with House Republicans’ refusal to sign off on any new bailout of the states, means that this may very well be America’s biggest and most widespread political fight in 2011. It’s a cage match to determine first dibs on a shrinking pie. A clarifying moment.

This has really become a piece of “everyone’s blogging it by now, I might as well do it too,” but a hat tip is in order to Professor Mondo.

The danger involved in cage matches deterministic of diminishing rewards, of course, is the same prospect you have when you sew two felines into a burlap bag with each other and throw it in the river. In both scenarios, whoever is longing for a more “civil tone” is apt to be disappointed. Among others, Stanley Kurtz can see this is going to become much worse before it gets any better:

We are destined for still more polarization. Neither side can pull back, because the financial crunch is going to have to be resolved one way or another. We either scale back government and the power of public employee unions, or we move toward a structurally higher tax burden and a permanently enlarged welfare state. The very nature of the American system is now at stake. The emerging populist movements on both the right and left recognize this, and so cannot turn back from further confrontation.

But, as we all know by now, being a lefty means you get to invent your own reality:

It is a stunning propaganda victory when you think about it. A political movement…where its foundation is buried into the ground, full of incendiary rage and nothing else. Do it our way, or else! Nobody fucks with the union! BusHitler!

And that same movement…way up above, where its bastions and parapets pierce the clouds, we see its leaders engaging in the classic kindergarten teacher finger-waggling against its opponents. Now now…simmer down, behave. What we really need is less fighting, more peace, and for that to happen what you all need to do is obey me, me, me!

Of course, the finger-waggling isn’t really aimed at the opponents. It isn’t really intended to lecture anybody. It’s show-boating, playing to an audience of moderates.

Could they fall for it? On this question, all depends. And the likely answer, I’m afraid…and I’m reminded of this, after viewing this clip blogger friend Buck forwarded in an offline, after receiving it from Rob…is in the affirmative.

Moderate: A person who appreciates right-wing values but consistently falls for left-wing manipulation tactics.

And this is what the cage match is really all about. The Left will continue to make their pitch to people who, otherwise, would never accept their policies in a million years — but can be duped into thinking the tone will become more civil, if and only if we head left. “Duped” is the operative word. It’s a fool’s errand, because when it’s a cage match and the pie is shrinking, a civil tone is nowhere to be found in the near future, nor is any amicable mid-point compromise. You can’t find a middle ground between these two positions.

Cross-posted at Washington Rebel.

Moderate: A person who appreciates right-wing values but consistently falls for left-wing manipulation tactics.

(Deep, deep sigh.) I’ve been reading your anti-moderate rants for a while now, Morgan, and my panties are beginning to bunch up (that bein’ a figure of speech which is in no way indicative of what sort of underwear I have or don’t have on, as the case may be). Moderates generally aren’t as gullible as you want to believe, most simply disagree with some conservative points of view and prefer not to genuflect to every goddamned sacred cow that wanders down the conservative path… most especially the bulk of the social conservatives’ crap, such as the eeevils of drugs. That or they simply don’t give a big rat’s ass about things like gay marriage. We could go on but we won’t.

Yes… I AM taking this sorta personally. I suppose I shall have to refrain from billing myself as a moderate in future. Just think of me as a small-L libertarian from now on, mmm-kay? Wait. You don’t like those guys, either. Shit.

Thanks for the link, as ever! 🙂
- bpenni | 02/19/2011 @ 12:09
But what do you say when you encounter the self-labelled conservative who *also* does not genuflect before all the sacred cows? Does this not create an unworkable conundrum for your monochromatic illustration of the conservative mindset? Are they moderates who are mistakenly referring to themselves with the wrong label?

This comment about genuflecting proves my point, I think. If you read Palin’s book, you can find even she fails to achieve this lofty standard you seem to have for fidelity to conservative positions. See, you bought into an unsustainable stereotype there. Fell for the agitprop.

Conservatives are very often flexible. I, myself, have been know to step *over* the homeless lying on the sidewalksand not *on* them.
- mkfreeberg | 02/19/2011 @ 12:34
This comment about genuflecting proves my point, I think. If you read Palin’s book, you can find even she fails to achieve this lofty standard you seem to have for fidelity to conservative positions. See, you bought into an unsustainable stereotype there. Fell for the agitprop.

First: the woman in question is not getting one single freakin’ PENNY of my money. Period, full stop, end of report. I fundamentally don’t give a shit WHAT she thinks… I don’t drink that sorta Kool-Aid, thank ya very much.

Second: Your hubris knows no bounds. You have NO freakin’ clue as to what I think, beyond my scribblings at the REAL “blog that nobody reads.” I’ve moved beyond twisted panties to something resembling contempt for you points, Morgan. “Falling for agitprop,” my rosy red ass.
- bpenni | 02/19/2011 @ 16:36
Well seriously, I know all kinds of “conservatives” who are with you on the gay marriage thing. In fact, there’s no shortage of passion on the point that the Republicans who are making a real issue out of this, are pissing away an opportunity and need to be shut up good before they do some real damage. So on this point, “conservative” and “moderate” are indistinguishable; and if they are indistinguishable on this point, they’re likely indistinguishable on many others.

But it seems to me if there is a real difference, the difference is that the conservative will say, essentially, “Change the subject as much as you want, you aren’t selling me on any of that damn socialism”…which is really the attitude we need right now. But the moderate? Yeah, I do know something about this — NorCal is chock full of ’em. They say “I’m not with you on the ‘everyone has to have the same amount of stuff,’ and I really hate ObamaCare…but I’m scared shitless of a Christian theocracy, even though there’s no solid evidence we’re heading toward any such thing. But still, get me worked up enough about intelligent design, buying booze on a Sunday, War on Drugs, PATRIOT act, etc….and I’ll vote for your union goon hammer-and-sickle democrat and then I’ll act all superior to everybody else after I do it.” In other words, they embrace conservative values but then get duped. Just like I said.

You really should read some of Palin’s books though. At least, if you want to criticize her, or attach your identity to loathing the woman as you so obviously want to do, you should…
- mkfreeberg | 02/19/2011 @ 16:59

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“A Cage Match to Determine First Dibs on a Shrinking Pie”Saturday, February 19th, 2011

“A Cage Match to Determine First Dibs on a Shrinking Pie”
Saturday, February 19th, 2011