March 13, 2007

The Coulterization of the American right

(H/T Carlos at Jesus politics)
Salon.com | The Coulterization of the American right: "For this isn't really about Coulter at all. This is about a pact the American right made with the devil, a pact the devil is now coming to collect on. American conservatism sold its soul to the Coulters and Limbaughs of the world to gain power, and now that its ideology has been exposed as empty and its leadership incompetent and corrupt, free-floating hatred is the only thing it has to offer. The problem, for the GOP, is that this isn't a winning political strategy anymore -- but they're stuck with it. They're trapped. They need the bigoted and reactionary base they helped create, but the very fanaticism that made the True Believers such potent shock troops will prevent the Republicans from achieving Karl Rove's dream of long-term GOP domination."

Updated a little more from the end of the post:
Yet despite their supposed beliefs, a kind of nihilism, an intellectual sterility, emanates from the Coulters and Limbaughs of the world. This is in part due to the fact that they are, at bottom, entertainers, stand-up comedians of resentment. Their riffs are so facile and endless that they devour whatever actual beliefs supposedly stand behind them. Incapable of compromise or nuance, lashing out robotically, never finding common ground or examining their own ideas, they are shills of negativity, forever battling cartoonish monsters in a lurid, increasingly unrecognizable world. And most Americans, even conservative ones who may share some of their putative positions, are tired of their glib, empty paranoia. If these are the messengers, there must be something wrong with the message.

The GOP brain trust presumably knows this -- but it doesn't have any other cards to play. And as the feebleness of the right's agenda becomes more and more apparent, we can expect the noise from figures like Coulter and Limbaugh to get louder and louder. But the tactic will not work -- in fact, it is likely to backfire. And if the Republicans go down big in 2008, conservatives will finally be forced to confront the Frankenstein monster they created -- and decide whether they dare get rid of it before it consigns their movement to oblivion. Based on their recent history, I don't think they have the common sense to take out the garbage.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uggh, that article made my head hurt, but the author makes a good point in the end. Coulter and Limbaugh are entertainers and make money by keeping their names out in the public. Didn't someone say that "there's no such thing as bad publicity."

I've long since stopped listening to them.

Streak said...

I know that many don't listen to them, but would suggest that those at the top do. When Dick Cheney wants to talk policy, he goes to Limbaugh or Hannity. That is amazing in and of itself.

Adrian said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Streak said...

For those of you who missed it, Adrian left a spam post pushing some "live chat" solution. I love the business lingo. What exactly is the problem that this "solution" is supposed to solve? Are we really just angrily posting comments but really thinking, if I could just chat with Ubub, I could convince him he is a communist?

I don't think so. Adrian, please go peddle your "solution" elsewhere. Unless you have a solution for Ann Coulter, I am not really interested.

Anonymous said...

I think I need to stick to posting on one blog.

If you were Dick Cheney, what show would you go on?

1. Hannity
2. Limbaugh
3. The Daily Show
4. Keith Olbermann

I guess I don't see much to be amazed by. I don't see Chuck Schumer or Ted Kennedy going on Rush.

I have a solution for Ann Coulter...ignore her. She thrives on this bad girl image and the media is just feeding into it.

P M Prescott said...

In 1964 when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act he said that the Democrats have lost the South for the next generation. Nixon signed up with the racists of Dixie and with Reagan the Republicans added the Religious Right and the Neo Cons were born. If the fiscal conservatives of the Republican party purge the toxic waste of hate, paranoia and conformity it is my fear that the Democrate will welcome their votes back.

Streak said...

Perhaps I am belaboring this point too much, but the President and VP don't just represent the Fox viewers or Rush's fan base. They supposedly represent us too.

And there are more options than you listed. CNN, ABC, MSNBC, etc. They could talk to Tucker Carlson or Joe Scarborough. But they see the press as a nuisance and Cheney only talks to Limbaugh because he is only interested in speaking to the base. He doesn't care a bit about what I think.

Streak said...

PM, that is a valid concern. I think we all know that the Democrats are just as prone to opportunism as Republicans. Winning is intoxicating, which is why the Dobsons and others have hitched their wagon to Bush and Cheney.

Interesting, btw, and I may have said that here before, but isn't it interesting that no one ever talks about Cheney's faith--imagined or otherwise. Bush's born-again story seems to have covered them all.