Conservatives Beware - It's A Trick

I mentioned recently I've become a bit jaded and suspicious of viewing things for what they seem on the surface rather than discovering what really lies beneath. Such is the case with the seeming chaos on the left since the Brown win in the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate.

While it's true that they could be thrown off balance by the 'surprise' win by the GOP. They could be in disarray and at each others' throats over the loss and over what to do next. It certainly seems that way.

Then again, it could be a crafty ploy. Okay, it's probably not. But when in history have you seen Keith Olbermann taken to task by Jon Stewart? Or Howard Dean by Chris Matthews? Or other examples, with such frequency? When did Nancy Pelosi start saying she hasn't got the votes? It's suspicious.

Maybe they've got their plans for next steps drawn up already. Surely they had a plan B for health care and are getting it ready to spring it on us? Alright, that does sound paranoid. But there is something to be said for conservatives staying engaged and ready. November is still over 9 months away. It's easy to become complacent and to end up caught off guard. Just ask the Democrats. The real lesson for conservatives to be taken from the fallout of the Massachusetts election is to keep the momentum going, and to keep the effort up. In football terms we just got a first down, but the end zone is still November.

Even if it isn't a trick, we needn't start fooling ourselves the way the liberal Democrats did. For that same reason, I'm not buying the fact that they haven't learned some sort of lesson from their defeat last Tuesday.

Just as the summer and fall of 2009 were the battle of health care, so too will the spring and summer of 2010 shift to a new battle ground. Be ready. The next big battle will be about jobs, and economic solutions.  It will last throughout 2010.  The Democrats' approach; populism. The White House has remembered there's a bigger villain than themselves in the public's eyes - the banks. Prepare to see them villified. It puts the GOP in a tough position. Obama is going to try very hard to be a populist and get the focus on the big bad banks instead of Democrat shortcomings. The GOP can fight it and look like they're defending the bad guys, or hop on board and let Obama suddenly look post-partisan and able to get things done by reaching across the aisle. Think of that win - we've learned, so now you can trust us now. You still can't trust Republicans. But, oh yeah, we can work with them.

How does the GOP counter that? By not joining and not fighting either. They've got to agree that there is a problem. They've got to say the real reason for the problem is not regulation or de-regulation, the problem is the type of rules that have governed the banks and more particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They've got to put forward, vocally, continuously and simply, their own positions and their own solutions, and make sure the focus stays on the root cause of the bad legislation. This is a problem caused by liberal policies. Those policies still need to be changed.

Okay, so, I'm jaded.

Maybe it's just that I've become jaded, but give me a break, I think we've all earned a right to be, having suffered through the last year. The problem is that it has trickled out of my political observations into other areas.

I first became aware of it in 2008 when Joe The Plumber became the object of ridicule and suspicion by the press instead of then candidate Obama's 'spread the wealth' answer to his question. Prior to that I knew there was a clear bias - I was not naïve - but active unapologetic partisan effort during a campaign? The basic rules of the game, including fair play, were gone.

But that's old news. The press is in gotcha mode with Sarah Palin. It's no longer eyebrow raising. Cheer leading Obama? Yawn. Spinning the news? Par for the course. Nobel Prize for President Obama in week 2? Whatever. The Nuclear clock moved back away from midnight for the first time ever because of Obama? I guess they've not heard about Iran.

Where I find myself surprised now is at my own suspicion about other news. Jay Leno is fighting with Conan O'Brien? I bet it's great for the sagging ratings. You don't suppose it was planned do you? I do. There's a big argument on Cake Boss? They DO know the cameras are on. (I still like the show though). A boy mysteriously ends up in an untethered home made balloon and his parents are somehow connected to a reality show? Hmmmm. Search now but ask a lot of questions.

It's sad. Being jaded about politics is fine. The government needs suspicion. But being jaded about other things pretty much sucks. It doesn't mean that I'm less concerned and moved by things like the devastation in Haiti, or even stories about individual hardships. It does mean I might, in the latter case, without a preponderance of evidence eye them with more caution than before. I suppose that's good and bad, given the track record of the press of late. Maybe fact checking has become a thing of the past.

But what I find myself wishing for, is a return to political normalcy - outside of the win/lose continuum. That way my focus can be on factual arguments rather than looking for political machinations and subterfuge.
Given my current way of thinking, I can't see that happening. Oh well, there's always Cake Boss.