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Edited on Wed Sep-07-11 03:17 AM by McCamy Taylor
The left is more creative than the right. We know this from psychological studies. We see this in our daily life. Part of the problem, for the right, is that they look at history and say to themselves “If I put person X in place Y at time Z, the same thing will happen that happened twenty years ago.” Because they like the world to be orderly, predictable. They want to believe that God said it and the King did it and that is that. As Barthes wrote, they mistake history for nature.
Never mind that no one---especially not the right---is clear sighted enough to know exactly what happened twenty years ago. Or twenty minutes ago. Show three people the same scene, and you will get three different stories. Ask them tomorrow what they saw today, and you will get three more (different) stories, the progression multiplying like the limbs on a Hindu deity----
But let’s pretend, for a moment, that we have a third eye like Shiva, capable of seeing through a mountain of bullshit. Say we look at the political landscape in the United States with a “mind of winter” and see nothing of ourselves. Forget about which candidates we want to win. What is Election 2012 all about?
One thing it isn’t about is Carter-Reagan, 1980, never mind what the Republican strategists say. Oh, they tried their hardest. They anointed Obama as the “Change” candidate, straight out of Carter’s 1976 “A Leader for a Change” Campaign. Then, they engineered an economic crisis. Then, their corporate media lackeys spread the word that Obama hates Democrats---and the feeling is mutual. Now, all they have to do is topple a U.S. friendly dictator in some Middle Eastern country, persuade Obama to give the ex-dictator sanctuary, encourage the citizens of that country to take U.S. embassy workers hostage and lock Obama in the White House rose garden for the duration of the campaign. Piece of cake. Except that America has 1001 things it can do each night besides watch Ted Koppel tell us that we are being held hostage.
If Shiva was to open that fiery third eye, what would he see right here, right now?
Money. Forget the proverbial suitcase full of cash. This election, the Supremely Stupid Court has given us mountains of money and oil tankers stuffed with cash. Remember Scoop Jackson, the Senator from Boeing? This year, corporate America will not settle for a Senator. It wants its very own Republican presidential nominee. And so does corporate China. And India. And the Saud Family in Saudi Arabia has a wish list, too.
If Karl Rove, who organized the first Super Pac before the ink was even dry on the Supreme Court ruling had been a little bit more prescient, he would have considered the problems which the party out of power faces when it is swimming in corporate money at the start of its presidential primary. Think about what Citizens United money does. It can not advocate for a candidate----not directly. Instead, it has to tear down its chosen candidate’s opponents. So, there goes the old rule that Republican never savage each other in the primaries. With the first votes still months away, we have seen Perry score points on Mitt, Mitt tear into Perry and Bachmann take aim at both of them. Then there is John Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and a whole bunch of others. I am not counting Ron Paul, because his chances of being offered a tanker full of cash is zip. And Tim Pawlenty, who is running for Vice President has wisely withdrawn from the race, before his Super Pac has a chance to say something unfortunate about the person who will end up the nominee.
Somewhere, a bunch of Republicans in a smoke filled room are desperately trying to think of a way to anoint a candidate. Big Oil has set its sights on Rick Perry, a known quantity from Texas who never met a petrochemical company that he would not bend over for. However, the needs of Big Oil are not the needs of the rest of the world business community. And I do mean the world business community. Because, as Justice Stevens pointed out (with a great degree of prescience) Citizens United v. FEC has a loophole big enough to drive the Taj Mahal through. It allows foreign donors to pump billions of dollars into U.S. federal elections.
The result will be something like Marvel vs. Capcom. In this corner, a rich Indian businessman wants to get more U.S. jobs outsourced to his country, so he buys----excuse me, backs a candidate who will not penalize companies that move overseas. In that corner, retailers like Wal-Mart have (belatedly) realized that if they go along with the New Federalists grand scheme to turn 99.9% of Americans into serfs, no one will buy their made-in-China-by-sweatshop-labor-products, and so they want to see more jobs at home---just not the jobs that make their cheap stuff in China. Big Oil wants to see prices rise, while squashing alternative energy and fuel efficiency in the bud. This makes it a likely tag team partner with either the Saud Family, which also wants oil prices high or the Banking Industry, which wants to be able to speculate on oil prices. China wants to make sure that no effort is made to stop it from dumping its mercury containing products on the U.S. market. Big Pharm---which is divided equally between the U.S. and Europe---does not want to see the gravy train called Medicare Part D come to an end. On the other hand, the health insurance industry wants to be allowed to cherry pick seniors, charging those who only accrue $3000/year in medical expenses $10,000 in premiums, most of which will be paid by the federal government. This will lead to the highly entertaining spectacle of Blue Cross/Blue Shield attacking Medicare as unAmerican, while European pharmaceutical companies including Glaxo-Smith-Kline (UK), Novartis(Switz.) and Sanofi (France) assure us that Medicare is so American---
The money making possibilities are endless, and so are the number of Republicans lining up to represent the corporate Super Pacs.
Now, ordinarily, giving Big Business and the Uber-wealthy this kind of control over an American election would ensure a Republican victory. However, even those rolling in dough like to think that they will get a return on their investment. If there are a dozen or so well funded GOPers slugging it out and only a single (incumbent) Democrat, the smart money goes with the Democrat. The trick for Axelrod will be re-creating something like the rainbow coalition of Democratic groups (gays, Blacks, Latinos, women, unions) except this one will be a corporate rainbow, and its composition will likely be determined by the identity of the Republican who survives the battle royale. For instance, if Perry gets the nod, look for anti-oil businesses like General Electric (manufacturing and alternative energy), transportation, retail and travel to seize onto Obama.
The orgy of special interest spending will eventually capture the attention of angry corporate media CEOs, who, in previous years, were able to affect the outcome of federal elections by throwing a few crumbs to their workers. Now, they will have to compete with airwaves packed full of political advertising. While they will enjoy the extra profits in the short term, they will be less than amused if someone like a Mexican television mogul worth billions is allowed to select the next FCC chair. Therefore, expect to start seeing stories that go something like “Mitt Romney’s Super Pacs have now spent enough money to buy health insurance for everyone in North Dakota” and “The Saudi Royal Family Gives Big to Rick Perry”----
What’s that you say? No candidate would ever admit to being in the debt of the Sauds? You forget about hackers. This election, there will be no secrets. The White House has its warrantless wiretap. AT&T also has its warrantless wiretap. China knows what you are going to post about Tibet before you even form the words in your head. A handful of guys in Belarus will see the blackmail possibilities. And, of course, News Corp knows all about hacking.
Speaking of blackmail, remember Halliburton's new headquarters in Dubai? Somewhere in that building, there is a room with all the info Cheney obtained during his eight year blackmail ops (that started before 9/11). When the GOP infighting gets fierce, expect to see Big Oil begin to take out Rick Perry’s opposition. Or, if Perry’s extreme stupidity causes him to stumble, some other Big Oil anointed candidate---the Koch Brothers will not put all their Dixie Cups in a single basket.
Oops! Don’t forget election fraud. This time, the DOJ will be breathing down the neck of local Republican officials, which ought to make for some very nervous local Republican officials. Remember how Juanita Yvette Lozano threw herself on her sword like a good little Republican and took full blame for mailing a Bush debate tape to Al Gore? She went to jail. This election, a whole bunch of small fry will face jail time. This will not stop them from cheating. It will just make them meaner and more likely to beat the shit out of any nosy reporter who comes knocking on the locked door where they are tallying vote totals.
Now, does not this sound like fun?
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