flipping the rock
Wed Sep 07, 2005 at 10:03:11 AM PDT
We had an interesting
debate last night about how best to fight the Rovean GOP machine in the face of Katrina. It's a worthwhile read, especially for comments and dicussion which both expanded my own thinking...and pointed up a kind of consensus:
In the wake of Katrina, Democrats must stand up for justice while delivering fairness. We must struggle for equality, all the while insisting on equity and the public good.
We need to speak to ideals and innovation, even as we deliver a harsh critique.
Senator Barack Obama's speech today, posted in an overlooked diary that really should have got more attention, exemplifies the positive, idealistic side of those aspirations, and hints at making a change in Washington. But I think that we need to do something that goes further in attacking the Rove machine...
we need to flip the rock.
Imagine, for a second, that the GOP base is like a broad flat stone.
We Democrats spend all our time trying to break off parts of that stone...chipping away here, chiseling away there...
Our hope is that we can knock enough support away from the GOP to get a majority somehow. But in doing so, we act like we don't want to offend anyone. So we tiptoe when we do this...as if by being "nice" and "upright"...parts of that stone might just crumble away of their own accord.
Our aspiration is to finally, you know, get a majority somewhere and get something done. Our track record of delivering for our voters, however, is on display for the world to see.
Fuck that, we need a change.
We need to flip the rock.
Conservatism = the rock.
We need to make that rock toxic. We need to flip it so that lots of pieces break off...and its toxic underside shows. We need to turn the GOP's greatest strength...it's horde of voters flying the flag of "conservative values" into its greatest liability. We need to rebrand conservatism.
Conservatism = New Orleans.
- Did "big business" save people when they needed help?
- Did "free markets" save people when they needed food and water?
- Did "tax cuts for the rich" save people when people needed to evacuate?
- Did "compassionate conservatism" come to the rescue when people were left stranded?
- Did "faith based iniatives" come to the rescue when people were trapped in their homes?
- Did "Homeland Security" come to the rescue while an American city drowned?
There's only one way to defeat Rove, and that is to turn his greatest strength into his greatest liability.
We need to make conservatism toxic.
We can't be nice about it. We can't try to "trim a little off the sides." That won't work. We need to do the hard work and flip the whole fucking thing.
Let's get real. "Conservative values" like those of Reagan and Bush have been running this country for decades now.
This is what we get.
It links to everything. To Iraq. To Roberts. To race and poverty. To disaster relief. To the intrusion of religion into our political and private lives. To social security. To energy policy. To the environment. To fiscal policy and deficits. To heartless bankruptcy laws that if left in place would devastate the victims of Katrina.
America is so much better than Bush.
And, yes, while we need to get behind leaders like Senator Barack Obama, who can enunciate the positive side of our message...a broad recommitment to justice, to equity, to fairness, to equality in this country...to making America work for everyone again.
We also need to take on that broad flat, smooth and seamless stone that is conservatism in this country, once and for all. We need to lift it up and show the toxic underside of "conservative values" that Karl Rove is so intent on hiding behind bogus PR and muddling spin.
We need to flip the rock...
and show all the world the insects that have been writhing and fattening themselves in the dirt beneath.
