The Saboteurs of Amerikkka
I've been saying this at DetNews for months now, but of course no listens to me, so I'm happy to see someone with a bigger megaphone, namely Steve Benen, finally point out Republicans are deliberately sabotaging the economy:
Guys like Rove, Murdoch and Koch brothers aren't stupid and neither is the GOP leadership. They didn't "convince" themselves destructive obstruction of good policy that would actually improve the economy is really in the best interests of the country. They know they're holding back economic recovery. They don't care. These guys have enough money to survive anything short of a total collapse. They know inflicting as much pain as possible on the middle class and the working poor is their ticket to power. There is no legitimate excuse for it.
But we're talking about a significantly different dynamic now. This general approach has shifted from hoping conditions don't improve to taking steps to ensure conditions don't improve. We've gone from Republicans rooting for failure to Republicans trying to guarantee failure. [...]They get away with it because so few on the left with a big soapbox will unequivocally call them out on it. Yes, I'm talking to you Kevin Drum. You're right, squishy excuses enable them and weakens the influence of the left in the public discourse.
And that, in and of itself, strikes me as remarkable. We're talking about a major political party, which will control much of Congress next year, possibly undermining the strength of the country -- on purpose, in public, without apology or shame -- for no other reason than to give themselves a campaign advantage in 2012.
Guys like Rove, Murdoch and Koch brothers aren't stupid and neither is the GOP leadership. They didn't "convince" themselves destructive obstruction of good policy that would actually improve the economy is really in the best interests of the country. They know they're holding back economic recovery. They don't care. These guys have enough money to survive anything short of a total collapse. They know inflicting as much pain as possible on the middle class and the working poor is their ticket to power. There is no legitimate excuse for it.
Labels: Corporatocracy, Media, Republican corruption, spin
posted by Libby Spencer at 8:27 AM
3 Comments:
Hardly a new strategy. Reminds me of Reagan trying for a separate peace with Iran to sabotage Carter. It's not like it's a secret either, "I hope he fails" being the verbal Fort Sumpter after Obama's election.
The way they get by with this is by the barrage of ads that their Faux news and stink tanks provide, constantly insisting that up is down and economic destruction is from social programs. The public just gets confused and diverted, while the mogul horde destroys them with their own assistance. The media's failure to report real facts is contributing to their own demise. Making us on the internet the only sources of facts.
I'm increasingly convinced the media conglomerates are the greatest threat, moreso than the politicians. And even the internet left to some extent has been co-opted I think. Time was when Kevin Drum wouldn't equivocate about this and Josh Marshall and Ezra would be saying it too. But now they're on some level beholden to the same establishment and need for access and it appears to have softened their pushback, to the detriment of the left's influence on the debate.
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