Joe Wilson Is Only The Tip Of The Conservative Iceberg
When Joe Wilson pointed his finger at the President and called him a liar last Wednesday, a simultaneous wave of shock, disgust and resignation swept over me. When you look at the video tape of the event I think that Pelosi, Biden and the President all three echoed those very same emotions. Shock because it was a totally unexpected and unprecedented event. Disgust because no President should be treated in such a disrespectful manner, especially in that setting and on national TV. And resignation, because this type of unacceptable behavior has become all too common.
Throughout the last eight months, the Republican Party and the modern conservative movement have become trapped in a slow spiral of death. Their leadership remains undefined and their message continues to be lost among the shouts and yells of the angry, politically dispossessed mobs. They have embraced every wild theory that had any possibility of harming the new, popular President. They have called him socialist, fascist, un-American and non-American. They say he is dangerous, irresponsible and out to destroy the American way of life. They claim his health care reform proposals would “pull the plug on grandma” and set up “death panels” that will literally have the power of life and death over you and your loved ones. They are afraid he is going to take away their guns, their liberty and their kid’s minds through hypnosis. They have refused to accept orders from him as their Commander in Chief and carried loaded weapons to his Presidential events. They have called him disingenuous, dishonest and now, famously, a liar.
In the past, this kind of angry and bitter rhetoric has been confined to the outside elements of the political spectrum. In the last 15-20 years, however, the radicals and the wing-nuts have become mainstreamed. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. Easy access to the internet to voice your opinions and theories is certainly a contributing factor. The rise of talk radio is another piece of the puzzle. Rush Limbaugh literally built his career on the back of his animosity towards Bill Clinton and spawned hundreds of even more extreme imitators. FOX News ups the ante with its profitable formula of gut level patriotism and knee jerk reactionary fear that is pumped into millions of homes 24 hours a day.
This high profile media machine has become an irresistible attraction to those elected officials in the Republican Party who are desperately searching for some kind of compelling message. Unfortunately, they have confused the rhetoric for responsible political ideas. Worse than that, they have become afraid to think for themselves or publicly reject the lies, even when they know better. They have failed to denounce the birthers and refused to debunk the idea of “death panels”. They have let the fear of the President and anger about his election run wild. They have now come to a point where the Party has no new ideas of any substance. Strict, dogmatic opposition to the President on any and all issues has become their sole driving force. As a result, they have ceased being the Republican Party and instead have become the Anti-Obama Party.
When Joe Wilson lost control during the President’s speech, it wasn’t really about the facts or the policies. He was simply giving voice to the collective primal scream that has occupied the right wing hate machine since the election.
