Even political parties have their poopers
By SCOTT CAWLETI, For The Courier
Every party sports someone whom other partiers wish would go away. He or she laughs too loudly at too little, stays too long, blurts inappropriate comments and gossip, discloses personal secrets. They can ruin a perfectly good party.
Party-poopers, they're called.
Similarly, political parties struggle with poopers too. The Democrats have James Carville, Nancy Pelosi, Jesse Jackson.
They're nice people personally, good at focusing attention on certain issues, but as leaders they divide their party, allowing it (potentially) to be conquered. That's what party poopers do best.
Currently, Republicans' version of poopers far outdoes Democrats'. The GOP now borders on becoming the party of poopers, led by the biggest of all: Rush Limbaugh. It's the Grand Old Pooper party.
Here's a guy who's loud, narcissistic, racist ("Take that bone out of your nose and call me back"--- he blurted over the phone to a black caller) and fervently hopes that Obama will fail. As if that wouldn't affect the country.
Concerning that "hope he fails" comment. Limbaugh says he meant that Obama's liberal policies deserve to fail, though that's not how he put it. He's an attention junkie, and invariably spouts phrases that keep him front and center. Not only is his language inflammatory, it's often factually wrong, as a quick Internet search will show. He spreads disinformation like a virus.
David Frum, former speechwriter for Bush II --- the guy who wrote the phrase "axis of evil" and a lifelong Republican --- wrote a cover story for the March 16 Newsweek. The cover photo shows an extreme closeup of Limbaugh with a squinty-eyed look, his mouth covered with a blackout rectangle on which "Enough!" is printed.
Frum writes, " from a political point of view, Limbaugh is kryptonite, weakening the GOP nationally. No Republican official will say that; Limbaugh demands absolute deference from the conservative world, and he generally gets it. When offended, he can extract apologies from Republican members of Congress, even the chairman of the Republican National Committee. And Rush is very easily offended."
That's another trait of party poopers: They take everything personally, so they're constantly taking offense. Every comment or look that they don't agree with makes them either pout or attack. It's all about them, all the time.
Frum goes on to explain that when he suggests in public that Republicans need to admit that the "Reagan Era" is over, he receives hundreds of attack e-mails --- thanks to Limbaugh and his dittoheads.
As Frum puts it, "Most of these [negative] e-mails say the same thing: If you don't agree with Rush, quit calling yourself a conservative and get out of the Republican Party."
Frum finds that suggestion ironic, since he's been an influential Republican and serious conservative his entire life. More importantly, since when must a political party consist only of those who agree?
That's a recipe for an echo chamber, not a viable political force.
Agreeing to disagree informs all good debates.
As Frum asserts, Limbaugh teaches: "we want to transform the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a party of unanimous dittoheads --- and we don't care how much the party has to shrink to do it.
"That's not the language of politics," Frum insists. "It's the language of a cult."
So what's to become of the GOP, the party that's now riven with party poopers and election losers? The knee-jerk reaction: Let them go down the drain where they belong. But that's too easy, and in fact wrong. The country needs a strong opposition party, not a gaggle of disgruntled dittoheads. Encouraging Limbaugh as a political leader is not a good idea, really.
Democrats need to pull for a GOP that relegates its old-school Limbites to the far right corner. The era of moderate Republican opposition needs to begin, and writers and thinkers like Frum and David Brooks might lead the way. Others need to come forth as well, less entertaining but more real. Reformers, not traditionalists, to use Brooks' terms.
Their first order of business: Ignore Rush. Most Americans do. Second order: Start compromising in spite of Democrats' own party poopers. And third: Replace hard-right inflammatory rhetoric with genuine dialogue and debate.
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