Interesting analysis here.
The Daily Brew
Friday, January 4, 2008
The Republican Divorce
It is hard to get inspired by politics when Harry Reid is scheming to
figure out a way to excuse the nation’s telephone companies for
illegally spying on us. So if you missed Obama’s speech last night, do
yourself a favor and watch it.
As pathetic as it is to admit, about the only the thing that can get me
to set aside my cynicism and contempt for our elected overlords is the
soaring rhetoric of speeches like Obama’s. I know it is stupid, but
like Pavlov’s dog, when I hear the voice of the America I believed in
during my youth, it gets me every time. My head tells me its an
illusion, but my heart rules. I guess I still want to be proud of my
country badly enough that when the right notes are played, the chord
still strikes.
So I loved Obama’s speech. At the same time, I think it is still too
soon to accurately gauge the impact of his historic victory. Time will
tell if he can seal the deal. I don’t feel the same way about the
Republicans, however. Regardless of who wins the nomination, Mike
Huckabee’s win last night is going to rock their world.
Even though Huckabee will likely lose in New Hampshire, by winning last
night on the wings of Iowa’s evangelicals, he now has South Carolina in
the bag. Ever since Lee Atwater was teaching Karl Rove how to forge
government letterhead, the South Carolina primary has been the GOP’s
Alamo. Anyone not pre-approved by the money guys was buried in the
fever swamps behind the South Carolina firewall.
The pawns in this process are and always have been the most gullible
members of the party. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the
time. While they might believe that Bennie Hinn can cure cancer, there
is a limit to their credulity. Specifically, nobody is going to ever
convince these people that they are better off voting for a Mormon (or
a New York Mayor in drag) than a Baptist pastor. As a result, Huckabee
has set the immovable object of the GOP, of huge bags of cash
controlled by their plutocrats, directly in the path of the
irresistible force, the foot soldiers of the Christian right.
These two camps got married in the 1980s to form a union of the true
believers. Except like so many shotgun weddings, the two sides didn’t
really see eye to eye. One side believed in money, or more
specifically that the divine right of Kings that decreed that they
should always control it. The other side believes in God. Or at least
the version of God that hates gays and thinks women are property.
For the past two decades, they’ve stayed together for the three kids of
different fathers, abortion, gay marriage and tax cuts. But now
Huckabee won’t dance, at least to the plutocrat’s tune, so they are
about to get divorced. The money guys know that if they don’t stop
Huckabee before South Carolina, there is a good chance they won’t be
able to stop him at all. And if Huckabee wins the nomination, the
plutocrats could lose control of the GOP.
So Obama should enjoy his moment in the sun, but he ought to pay
careful attention to the shitstorm that is about to rain down on Mike
Huckabee like the battle of Armageddon. Because if Obama is can sing
his song sweetly enough over the next month and a half to win the
Democratic nomination, that same storm is fixin’ to rain on his parade
next.
__________________________________________________________________
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P.S. Please don't shoot the messenger.
It makes him cranky.
;-)
trof
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