Armchair Pundits

They still don't get it

For the past week, I have been wading through the post-election analysis and it seems that conventional wisdom has MSM as the big losers in 2004. I have to concur with this synopsis. Sunday’s OP EX pages in the Minneapolis Star Tribune demonstrate the severity of the $250 million dollar hangover that democrats are experiencing throughout the country. Was it campaign management? Was it the almighty swing voter? Was it the religious right harkening back to the glory days of 1950’s Americana, e.g., the impossibility of fathoming a world where gays marry and late term abortions are treated as birth control? How about the 527’s? Could it have been the Hollywood elite? Was it the economy? Iraq? Moral values. They didn’t see that one coming did they? A popular graphic making the rounds on the web has the red states depicted as Jesusland, http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzkultur/0,1518,grossbild-405553-326686,00.html and the NY Times has been filled with the disillusionment from the left coasts. One such article decries Manhattan as “a little island off of Europe” all the while elucidating the cultural divide between it and middle America. Poor Lawerence O’donnell is beside himself calling for secession; while Maureen Dowd, Eleanor Clift, and the rest of the media elites find themselves stuck in repose reminiscent of a post-traumatic stress survivor.

The discussion about moral values and the evangelical vote has been fascinating. The prudishness of middle America as some indignantly called it or anti-enlightenment as still others. Fascinating. They still don’t get it. My favorite thus far has been “Bush stole it again!” The net result of such thinking is the blatant dismissal of the vast majority of Americans (who constitute both parties) and is demonstrative of the fact that many on the left are completely unwilling to take the introspective look at what’s wrong with their party and their thinking. Psychologist-speak terms this denial. Take for instance the preoccupation with the Bill Maher’s and Michael Moore’s of the party. The fervor with which they clamor for these iconoclastic blowhards matches the zeal of the twelve for their Messiah. It doesn’t make sense. The most casual of observers is able to poke holes in the thinking and works of these Marxist companions. The persistence of such belief is why Hugh Hewitt’s employment of the term “fever swamp” leaves such an indelible impression.

Interestingly, when broken down by county across the nation, we see this http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

It really makes a lot of sense that all of these Americans were bamboozled doesn’t it? Now certainly, blue voters live in red states and red voters in blue; there are democrats who voted Bush, and Republicans who voted Kerry, meaning that Americans are probably less polarized on many issues than those beating the drums would have us believe. Again, there are people of similar values in both parties. Could it be that these Americans are not stupid xenophobes as Moore describes, but rather astute observers of spin? Think about it. Fahrenheit 9/11, CBS and the forgeries, the exclusion and marginalization of Swift Veterans for Truth, the blatant vitriol for the president in countless stories, and the blatant undermining of the war effort and denigration of the sacrifices our military is making. What about Cameron Diaz crying that a vote for Bush is a vote for rape, or John Edwards saying that a Kerry administration will cure the Christopher Reeve’s of the world? On and on and on it goes. The reality of life in these United States is that the best scientific minds of our age say that we are a generation away from such medicine. Not to mention, that embryonic stem cell research (since 1981) has yet to yield a worthy application. Keep in mind that cord blood and adult cells have produced over 300,000 applications/cures to date. Keep in mind that most sensible people recognize the destruction of a child via partial birth abortion as a scourge on humanity. Keep in mind the lunacy of Hollyweird. The homosexual marriage issue is not about religious Americans stifling the freedoms of a group of our fellow citizens. It is about sensible people wanting a voice in the matter before redefining a centuries old institution. It is thinking clearly about the meaning of natural rights. Go read Lileks: http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/04/1104/110804.html
Aside, from the moral issue surrounding abortion, perhaps one of the reasons this remains so divisive is that the collective voice of Americans has not been heard on this issue. One party prefers to govern through judicial fiat, the other through legislative process. I like many conservatives, have faith in the American people to be discerning. Democratic elites do not.

Here’s the problem. Media and Hollywood elites put the face of the Democratic Party before America. What they show is the far left of the party as opposed to those who represent the center left. So to the leftist I say, great! Keep doing that and you will never win again on the National level. The reason is obvious-you have abandoned the sensible for the manic. You have hijacked the party of FDR, Truman, and Kennedy and are out of the mainstream concerning values that are uniquely American. So by all means, persist in the nonsense that tells you that voters want to learn about values and politics from the likes of P-Diddy, The Boss, and Michael Stipe & Co. Persist in the foolish notion that the president who one more votes than any other in our nation’s history stole another election. Bear in mind, as Hugh has pointed out so astutely, “if it’s not close, they can’t cheat”. It is killing you. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=239735&page=1
In Tapper and Miller’s article they quote Doug Chapin, election analyst, as follows:

“Before the election in many places you saw people questioning the process because they were concerned about the result," said Chapin. "And now there are people looking at the result and using that as a basis to question the process."

I see. Not the result you wanted, couldn’t be the will of the people now could it? I understand. A national repudiation smarts a bit. Sublimating rage are we? That’s it persist in your adolescent denial. The adults are still running the country.

posted by Grisby @ 5:10 PM