Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Is the Right Wing really dead?

There's been a lot of talk since the historic events of November 4 to the effect that the right wing has suffered a fatal blow, that the crazies have been repudiated and the Republican Party is going to be on the outside looking in until it finds its way back to the center.

The hoo-hah over Illinois Gov. Blagojevich and his "pay for play" scandal is revealing. The media - including a lot of mainstream outlets - are giving it a lot more coverage than they ever devote to Republicans in trouble, and painting it as problematic (or worse) for Illinois Democrats from Jesse Jackson, Jr., to Barack Obama. And they're using it as an excuse to revive all manner of guilt-by-association innuendo against the president-elect in particular. (Did you know, they ask with a wink and a nudge, that Blagojevich once held the very House seat later occupied by Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel? Surely some corruption cooties rubbed off.)

The mainstream media, one can hope, will tire of this silly game soon. Obama, after all, not only refused to play ball, but seems to have set in motion the events that brought Blagojevich down. But they've already planted the seed. Meanwhile, the Billos and Hannitys of the far right never let a little thing like reality get in the way of a good smear campaign. They'll harp on this forever.

Truth be told, the GOP lost the 2008 elections because the economy is in the shitter, and as the party in power, they got the blame. Prosperity and economic security are the change the voters want. There are hard times coming, and when people realize Obama can't wave a magic wand and undo the damage of the last 28 years, there will be a backlash. The right-wing hatemongers need seduce only so many minds back to the Dark Side in order to get back into a position of influence; and they will never stop trying. I'd like to think America has wised up to their cynical game, but I'm not convinced. Time will tell.