By Matthew Continetti
The omens are everywhere:
- The U.S. unemployment rate is near 10.
- Americas social insurance programs threaten to bankrupt the country.
- Iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons.
- The eurozone is in crisis.
- And most unusual the Washington Nationals are above .500.
But rest easy. None of this is distracting the Obama administration and congressional Democrats from their fulltime occupation: demonizing the political opposition.
Consider the debate over financial reform. This is a complex issue where both parties share the same (perhaps unachievable) goal: preventing another systemic financial crisis that requires massive taxpayer bailouts. And free-market conservatives have real concerns about Senator Chris Dodds legislation.
Rather than engage with these objections however the president has decided to slime the Republicans as defenders of the status quo.
Hes deployed the same army of straw men the same Manichean oratory that he used during the health care fight. In his April 22 speech at Cooper Union for instance President Obama divided the world into those who join me" and those who support the battalions of financial industry lobbyists descending on Capitol Hill."
For the president the only middle ground is where hes standing. Reasonable alternatives to his policies simply do not exist.
It is Obama alone who determines which arguments are legitimate" and which are misleading."
Its rhetorical blackmail: Agree with me the president is saying or Ill call you a liar and a hack.
Not long ago of course sophisticated opinion was offended by a president who divided the world into good and evil. But no one seems to care anymore. Nor does anyone seem particularly bothered by the presidents redefinition of political compromise.
Under the old definition an accommodation took place when both parties negotiated
over the fine points of the matter at hand.
They brokered deals such as the Gang of 14 agreement on President Bushs appellate court nominees in 2005. But the problem with the old way is that it hinders Obamas ability to score political points and rack up dubious legislative accomplishments" before the midterm elections. So its been replaced by a version of compromise that is indistinguishable from ideological surrender.
As was the case with the stimulus and health care facts are less important than hectoring the GOP. The Democratic response to dissent is a lot like their governing style: partisan arrogant and self-righteous.
In recent weeks various Democratic factotums have lectured the public about extreme" rhetoric insinuating that the Tea Party takes its cues from The Turner Diaries. Some liberals suffer from a pathological inability to refer to the Tea Party by its name preferring a crude and infantile sexual epithet.
The folks waving signs and holding peaceful rallies have been insulted as:
- fakes
- wackos
- ignoramuses
- racists
- nihilists and
- hicks suffering from status anxiety.
But when a poll revealed the Tea Party movement is better educated and wealthier than the electorate at large a prominent Washington Post
columnist summarily dismissed the movement as the populism of the privileged."
The lines of attack change but the message is always the same:
- Go home.
- Shut up.
- Let us do what we want.
Theres a word for this sort of overbearing priggish intimidation: bullying. And like a lot of bullying the Democrats behavior seems to stem from deep-seated insecurities.
Maybe the Democrats are not as confident in government as they appear.
Maybe they worry about the massive deficits and the hemorrhaging public debt.
Maybe they read the same polls we do ... the ones showing
- the public shifting right
- Republicans leading the generic ballot
- Republican-leaning independents returning to the GOP
- Congressional approval and support for incumbents at record lows and
- the conservative base in a state of wild enthusiasm.
Maybe the bully party in other words is simply acting out.
