Conservatism -- The World of Self-Delusion

In the past year or so, it has been apparent that the GOP has failed to realize its potential through facts and persuasive argument. Instead the Republican Party has resorted fear mongering, misinformation, out-of-context lies, and the sabotaging of the economy. For instance, the republican party impotency revealed itself through the tumultuous primary season. A different candidate led every month.

The republican presidential debates came across as an unscripted reality television show. Often the candidates scored political points by attributing the failure and the faults of their rivals. In fact, these republican presidential debates left their conservative audiences with a sense of exultation.  Pandering to the unbridled nature of self-interest the candidates fed their base with a world of self-delusion.

The candidates conveyed extreme viewpoints often spun in partisan rhetoric, delusional commentary to assuage and justify the state of the current economy to the joy of the debate audiences. The selective memory of obstructionism and political rivalry failed to enter the discussion, instead blame, irrationality, and fear of the "other" cultivated the debates. This cultivation of fear and blame of the "other" often pointed toward President Obama, which included the perversion of ill-defined terminology of socialism and governmental expansionism.

The raucous behavior of these candidates and their audiences left the wonderment of nation in a curios befuddlement as each wrapped themselves with patriotic jingoism. The stagecraft of each debate made them surreal, lofty, and extraordinary to the political junkie and to the average conservative citizen weekly entertainment.


Eventually, the republican party found their leader in the candidate of former governor and Bain Capitol CEO Mitt Romney to take on President Obama in the November 2012 election. The Mitt Romney campaign had been efficient in distorting the truth and derailing the competition, yet finding it difficult to run rough shod over President Obama's organization. In part the lackluster nature of Mitt Romney the candidate, Mitt Romney's record leaves most observers cold and disconnected. Romney's most recent likability polls shows him heading in the wrong direction compared to President Obama's (link).

In addition, Mitt Romney's necessity to deny his own record through obfuscation left the candidate with an undefinable core. In part, due to the current state of the republicanism and its "true believers" that require the litmus test of absolution to their extreme ideals Mitt Romney has been unable to moderate his beliefs.

David Frum has cautioned his own party in its rancor on more than one occasion. On Face the Nation, Frum cautioned the republican party ideological bent was not conducive to electoral fall presidential campaign. He argues that for every minute the focus is away from jobs and the economy, the better off President Obama's positioning for winning this fall.

The clip below is unedited, which goes back and forth between talking head punditry and analysis. For instance, Michael Gerson tries impart how the minutia of the Paul Ryan's plan is a political distraction and has no (or should not) have any bearing on electoral politics of the candidates. Gerson tries to tie the similarities of President Obama's and Paul Ryan plans together -- and yet blame the president's plan for harming medicare recipients. Admittedly, both plans bring cuts to medicare but the Paul Ryan reintroduces deficits to the consumer in terms of the prescription drug benefit with repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

All rights belong to CBS News August 12, 2012

The argument for this segment of the show's panel of Ruth Marcus, Michael Gerson, Bob Shrum, David Frum, and Roger Simon came down to likability. Roger Simon makes this point clear that basically, almost all, elections have come down to a candidate being likable. This weekend Mitt Romney chose his vice president in Paul Ryan and the fact the pundits felt this choice was to solidify the conservative base after some blunders by the Romney campaign and some political gaffes by his staff. For example, prior to the Paul Ryan selection, the ever vitriolic pundit for Fox News, Anne Coulter stated that Andrea Saul should be fired for not properly defending Mitt Romney against a third-party superPac that never aired until after the raucous complaining of the political right media. Coulter proclaimed that all donations should be withheld and it was a waste of time for Fox News to support Mitt Romney because of the candidate and campaign incompetency.

The clip below is unedited, be aware of the hot rhetoric talk to follow by Anne Coulter and Sean Hannity, which will blame President Obama for the ad content by Priorities USA Action, a pro SuperPac for President Obama. The President is accused of being untrustworthy, a liar, and deceptive. Both pundits proclaim how he is responsible for what is being said by the ad. Both, of course, fail to mention that no coordination between the SuperPac, and the actual campaign are suppose to happen. Nevertheless, the Priorties USA Action had not aired until it was plastered across by the cable networks, and, then later aired in the swing states of Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and the Internet (video link here)

The reaction from the conservative pundits and the Wall Street Journal editorial board was virtually lost in despair and fret. The floundering Romney campaign, after the series of missteps at the beginning of the week for August 6 2012, needed to be redefined and establish core values where there had not been any before --- or at least it appeared that way to the Washington Belt-way media, both liberal and conservative, and the voting public. Paul Ryan selection implicitly established Mitt Romney backbone -- and his doubling down on supply side economics.

The delusion of supply-side economic comes in the form that it lacks revenue neutrality. In essence, robbing Peter to pay Paul has short-term gain, but over the long-term deficits continue to grow. As an example, under President Ronald Reagan a supply-side guru deficits grew nearly four times of  that President Jimmy Carter's. Meanwhile, under President George H.W. Bush the deficits leveled off more than $200 billion dollars. It is not until President Bill Clinton that the deficit was reduced and even had surplus afterward he left office -- only to have 180 degree turnaround a year later after President G. W. Bush took office (OMB table link) and to have twice the budget deficits of President George H. W. Bush and to have nearly 20 times the deficit of President Harry Truman in 1944.

Now, due to the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, the deficit has grown 80 times that of 1944 deficit. This due  to the fact the supply-side economics of 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, the deregulation of the financial service industry and banks, and governmental spending programs of the last decade, the wars of Afghanistan, Iraq, and unofficial actions in Pakistan. Moreover, the last three-and-half years of governmental spending has been an attempt to replace the monies lost from the financial breakdown of 2008 and 2009. In addition to these factors, a  governmental branch has placed politics over governing. The polarization over values, politics, and governing has left the public wanting for leadership.

The lack of leadership from both democratic and republican parties and to some degree by President Obama, but the obstructionism by republicans has been cancerous and selfish. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell prior to and directly after the midterm 2010 elections, declared that his and GOP political goal was to make President Obama an one-term president. The GOP did not want to assist President Obama in creating jobs, help the economy, or aid in the financial recovery of the average American citizen. Instead, the GOP believed it was (and is) more politically beneficiary to obstruct and disable the economy for their political gain to return the presidency to republican hands.


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This display of partisanship did not give the President or Americans an opportunity to take a breath from the outcomes of the midterms. This partisanship should not have surprised anyone, the filibuster in the United States Senate had been used more than anytime in history.The cloture votes, a parliamentary procedure, has brought new level of obstructionism to government and left a government barely working while smoldering in the ashes of political polarization.

The delusion and spin out of the "loyal opposition" party (republicans) has not been about providing a coherent argument and alternative policies, but dismantling and stalling improvement to the economy.  In September of 2011, President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act, a plan to boost the economy and to get people working again. Admittedly, part of this proposal was to politically position President Obama for presidential campaign for 2012, but it also was opportunity for the "loyal opposition party" to engage in policy. Instead, the self-delusion of political mandates and overzealous projection for fiscal correction overtook the core of the republican party.

The overzealous political actors, referred to as the Tea Party caucus within republican party, felt endowed by divine providence to correct the financial failings of a nation. In addition, the republican party felt it had a mandate to fix morality of unjust acts by liberal activists. One of the first legislative acts, of the United States House of  Representative was the passage of  H. R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion, and during the debate the House republican tried to redefine the definition of forcible rape (link here).


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The United States House of Representatives demonstrative hard turn right impacted governing and risked a near financial collapse of United States credit worthiness. It did not matter to the new core republicans, the Tea Party, that past presidents, such as republican icon President Ronald Reagan had co-operated with democratic party in bipartisan manner. Nor did it matter that their most recent occupant, President George W. Bush had bipartisan co-operation. What matter most to these zealots was that fiscal restraint had to be imposed. If that meant the collapsing of the United States credit worthiness, then so be it.



US House Republicans, such as Michele Bachmann, who stated that if the United States was to default on paying its bill no resulting impact would affect the country (link). Partisan veteran groups, such as OPSEC, that is anonymously funded by GOP benefactors and  has Tea Party support overtly propagandize President Obama as ungrateful for the support personnel that aided or took out Osama bin Laden. OPSEC asserts that the President Obama takes credit for the killing of Osama bin Ladin without thanking the many men and women who helped track down America's terrorist boogeyman.


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It is these delusional perspectives, such as the one by OPSEC and Michele Bachmann, that brings heartburn to the general public. The obfuscation of facts and reality watched events, such as the president's announcements of the killing of Osama bin Laden, the ceiling debt crisis, and the financial collapse of 2008 and 2009, has radicalized the political electorate and in turn propagated a world of self-delusion among conservative activists. Conservatism, in the twenty-first century, is belied in a world of delusion, paranoia, and outright lies. The cognitive dissonance that regulates the normality for the American ethos in pragmatism has become skewed and off kilter. 

The body of the electorate has become stuck mentally, physically (in the way it takes action), and financially because the true 'clash of civilization' is not within the realm of Samuel Huntington, but in the 'clash of inequities' among the post-modern civilizations.In essence, the have's and the have-not's, in terms of populism, access, opportunity, and financial security leaves a population wanting and envious.

Comments

Popular Posts