Democrats Are the Kwisatz Haderach

 

 

"There is a place...terrifying to us. To Republicans. It is called The Past. It is prophesied that, a different party will come. One that will go where we cannot. That can look into the Past and not be destroyed."  -- “How the Republican Party Fucked Itself Into Extinction” by the Princess Irulan

They did it to themselves.  And they didn't have to.  For 50 years, they had so many different paths open to them, but always they chose the Dark Road.  The allure of power was too much for their mingy souls and shoddy moral compasses, so down the Dark Road they walked, then jogged, then sprinted, laughing at every warning sign they breezed past until it was too late.

And once it was too late -- far too late -- a few of them began stumbling around in the dark, demanding to know how could this have happened?  And who was to blame?  Except they didn't really want answers, because those answer could only be found in that terrible place they dare not go.  

So today we’re going to talk that graphic at the top of this post. “No Fair Remembering Stuff”.  Where is came from and why it is so incredibly relevant to how the Republican and Democratic campaigns are shaping up.  

It’s a phrase I've been tossing around for decades, because it sums up one of the most important unwritten but unbreakable rule of both the elite media and the Republican party.  The minute the past becomes a burden, bury it.  And anyone who dares speak of the past or tries to draw a line from the past to the present must be ignored, mocked or otherwise silenced.  

I could spend another 100,000 words just listing examples of the No Fair Remembering Stuff rule in action, from David Brooks in the pulpit of the Hammerschmidt Chapel in Elmhurst Illinois lying about what he wrote about the Iraq War ("All The Lies That Are His Life"), to Joe Scarborough lying about his early and enthusiastic support for Donald Trump, to the Republican base putting on stupid hats, calling themselves a Tea Party and lying about having ever supported George W. Bush.  

When the past becomes too inconvenient they have one, go-to move:  use their huge megaphones to work the refs and wipe it out.  

This was also key to Donald Trump winning the hearts and minds of the Republican base, who wanted more than anything else to have their pasts washed away.  

In 2016, Tim Miller and his crack campaign team thought running George Bush’s brother was a genius idea.  After all, they had a massive war chest, name recognition,  and a record in Florida to run on.  But what they refused to recognize was that the Republican base hated George W. Bush.  Or, more specifically, they hated being held responsible for supporting Bush.  Bush had humiliated them, in front of the Liberals!  Bush’s fuck ups had put Barack Obama in the White House.  And now here comes the GOP elite, trying to shove another Bush down their throats whether they liked it or not.

And it was Donald Trump who offered them a way out.  At a 2016 Republican Primary debate, while looking right at Jeb!,  he called the Iraq War a stupid mistake and pinned it all on Dubya.

I wrote this 15 years ago about the Republican base:  

Like German soldiers after the fall of Berlin, they have stopped running away from the catastrophe they created only long enough to burn their uniforms.

Almost exactly 19 years ago -- August 10, 2006 -- I was describing the Republican base as "reprogrammable golem shock troops".   And that’s the word I’ve been using ever since. “Reprogrammable”.  And we’ve watched it happen over and over again.   Whatever Fox News shits into their skulls on a Monday comes out of their mouths as gospel on Tuesday.  And like human Etch-a-Sketches, when reality catches up with that lie, Fox News just gives them a shake-shake-shake and it’s all forgotten and a brand new lie is shit into their skulls.

The Republicans party’s greatest weapon has always been its reprogrammable meathead base.  It's a doomsday weapon, but it's a doomsday weapon without an "Off" switch, and at the Democratic National Convention we saw how their greatest weapon has become their greatest weakness.  

There were an abundance of individual speeches which were amazing, but for the moment, consider the three different Democratic presidents who spoke on three different nights.  

Wednesday night, there was Bill Clinton, who was a little hoarse and rambly, but he did just fine.  This was a successful, two-term Democratic president who had to spend much of his administration cleaning up Republican failures while Republicans tried to block and sabotage everything he tried to do.   Clinton reminded the crowd that he had been coming to these things since 1972.  And...

Let me say – not a single day goes by, even though I've been gone for well over 23 years from the White House, not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what it meant.

Tuesday night, there was Barack Obama, who did a great job, but should never have tried to follow Michelle, who was flat out brilliant.  We clicked over to PBS to check out the reaction to Michelle Obama, and Jonathan Capehart was literally speechless and in tears. 

Barack Obama was a also successful, two-term Democratic president who also had to spend much of his administration cleaning up after Republican disasters while Republicans once again tried to block and sabotage everything he tried to do. 

Monday night was President Biden’s farewell.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and this came near the end of his remarks

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you. For 50 years, like many of you, I’ve given my heart and soul to our nation. And I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the support of the American people. 

I’ve either been too young to be in the Senate because I wasn’t 30 yet or too old to stay as President. But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you. 

I can honestly say, and I mean this from the bottom—I’ll give you my word as a Biden—I can honestly say I’m more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States Senator. I mean it. 

Collectively this was, over the course of three nights, nothing less than a supersized version of Don Draper’s “Carousel” pitch from Mad Men.

And Democrats can pull this off and make the crowd feel joyful and, as Bill Clinton said, feel proud to be a Democrat because we have something the Republicans don’t have.

We have a past.  

We are the Kwisatz Fucking Haderach.  

We can look where the Republicans dare not look and go where they cannot go…because they’ve spent the last 40 years denying their history.  Lying about it.  For them, history began in 2016 because they burned everything else down because their failures made them feel stupid and weak.  So for them there can be no president before Donald Trump, and there can be no president after Donald Trump.  

They have no past, and they have no future.

They’re trapped in the cage they made for themselves.  

We, on the other hand, have this deep reservoir of shared history and accomplishments to draw on.  And, broadly speaking, an expansive and kind vision of the future.  

Once again, Bill Clinton.

...if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air, you will be proud of it for the rest of your life. Your children will be proud of it. Your grandchildren will be proud of it.  

And on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Illinois, we got a look at what that future could look like.  

Democrats have also made room for converts, unlikely allies and disagreements.

This is from Michelle Obama’s fantastic speech: 

Kamala and Tim, they have lived amazing lives and I am confident that they will lead with compassion, inclusion, and grace. But they are still only human. They are not perfect. And like all of us, they will make mistakes. But luckily y’all, this is not just on them. No, uh-uh. This is up to us, all of us, to be the solution that we seek. It’s up to all of us to be the antidote to the darkness and division. Look, I don’t care how you identify politically—whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or none of the above. This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right.

But Republican doctrine does not allow for even the smallest mistake, unless that mistake is a confession that somehow you weren’t cruel enough or callous enough. Which means the crazier and creepier Trump gets, and the more ridiculous his lies become, the more the base is stuck shrieking that it's all Fake News.  

Stuck denying everything and pretending that their orange rapist fascist convicted felon leader was sent by God.

Trapped in the cage they made for themselves.  

Burn The Lifeboats