The Evil of Banality

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham's fulminations on the Senate floor last Friday were a sight to behold. He denounced President Barack Obama for being "A.W.O.L." on providing leadership for his economic stimulus bill and theatrically concluded: "This bill stinks. The process that's led to this bill stinks. If this is a new way of doing business, if this is the change we can all believe in, America's best days are behind her!" Graham then made his usual rounds on corporate media repeating his "it stinks" tag line. When I caught a snippet of Graham's dramatic soliloquy it led me to wonder to what constituency is he speaking? Could it be the people who live in those counties in South Carolina where unemployment is now 20 percent? Or was Graham just channeling the sentiments of the beleaguered white men of his state?

Graham voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and for a ban on gay adoptions. For those votes and many others the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest gay rights organization in the country, gives him a zero rating. Conversely, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and the Christian Coalition give Graham's voting record a 100 percent rating. All said, in addition to his horrible record on civil rights, the environment, and the separation of church and state, Lindsey Graham has one of the most atrocious voting records on issues that affect the lives of gay and lesbian citizens as does any member of Congress. It's a curious voting record for a 53-year-old bachelor who is rarely seen in the company of women.

Meanwhile, right-wing talk radio and its television counterparts continue to trivialize the current economic crisis. The Republicans' failed economic theories are causing real suffering among millions of Americans who have recently joined the ranks of the unemployed and the biggest mouthpieces of the Right fail even to acknowledge the hardships of their fellow citizens. The discredited former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who spent $1.2 million redecorating his office, was on John McCain's short list to be his Treasury Secretary (as was Phil Gramm). How's that for "new ideas" coming from the Washington Republicans?

No GOP personality could win a national election today, not John McCain, not Sarah Palin, not Bobby Jindal, not Lindsey Graham, not Jon Kyl, not even Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. The leadership vacuum at the top has enhanced the power of "conservative" media personalities. The target audience for right-wing talk radio is mostly white workingmen, many of whom are now unemployed. It is the target demographic that explains that pitiful contrivance, "Joe the Plumber," a cartoon character that allows Republicans to say: "See, we have average working stiffs who love our anti-labor agenda."

And then there's the cynical elevation of former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele to be the first African-American to chair the Republican National Committee. A colleague of mine who has been part of the black struggle for forty years told me that he thinks the Steele pick is part of a ploy aimed at trying to win over to the Republican cause upscale people who happen to be non-white -- the same yuppies at which the Republicans aim Bobby Jindal. He calls Steele the "reverse Harriet Tubman"; whereas Tubman led enslaved people to freedom, Michael Steele is going to lead freed people to slavery. I guess some white males are attracted to Steele because his sister was once married to "Iron Mike" Tyson. (With luck, his political judgment will turn out to be as poor as his sister's taste in men.) There has been little commentary of substance on the racial implications of the new RNC chair. Many people in the black community, in light of the first African-American president, no doubt see the move as an expression of tokenism, but these views in the media are as invisible as the people who hold them. The only time race relations were addressed in a meaningful way recently was when Obama spoke about the topic last September in Philadelphia. And that was only after the Republicans and the Clinton camp did everything they could to derail his candidacy through endless tape loops of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's most inflammatory sound bites.

And then we turn to "experts" like the Republican propagandist of youth Ben Stein. In yesterday's New York Times Stein pooh-poohs President Obama's stimulus goals of putting people back to work arguing that the solution is not "to hire men and women to build more wind-power windmills, or '21st-century classrooms.'" Not for Stein. His "solution" is for Obama and the Congress to throw more money at Wall Street. Stein wants the Obama Administration to ignore the fraudulent waste that is going on of scarce tax dollars spent on corporate jets, lavish bonuses, and vacation retreats because, as Stein puts it: "Yes, they will do stupid, immoral, evil things with some of the money. They are humans and that's what humans do. We're sloppy and often dishonest." Speak for yourself Ben. So much for strict government oversight on how the TARP money is flushed down the toilet.

As Stein would have it the American taxpayer should just throw more money at Wall Street and hope for the best without even purchasing equity in the banks "we" are saving. That's exactly what is wrong with TARP in the first place, and it is generating widespread public disgust. Stein uses the Savings and Loan scandal of the early-1990s as his model, and in a typical Steinian feat of intellectual dishonesty he states: "In the end, the government made money on many of the assets, then 'toxic,' that it bought." But Stein fails to mention that American taxpayers lost over $150 billion in the deal. To Stein Wall Street malfeasance is "what happens in life" because "life is sloppy." I wish Stein and other high-profile Republicans had this same kind of "que sera, sera" attitude toward the people on the lower income scale when they receive tax dollars in the form of government subsidized health care, cash payments, or other social welfare programs.

We are also seeing in the mainstream press a great deal of hand wringing and fretting about "protectionism." There's a consensus running from the Wall Street Journal to the editorial page of The New York Times and beyond that is screaming that any "Buy American" provisions put inside the stimulus bill will be a disaster on par with the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. What a sorry joke! After thirty years of the relentless internationalizing of production where multinational corporations have "outsourced" and "downsized" the American manufacturing base nearly into oblivion; and at a time when we face severe trade imbalances to the tune of $50 billion each month; and when we already had a $10 trillion federal debt before the current economic collapse; a few provisions that protect American jobs inside a giant taxpayer-funded stimulus bill are not even in the same economic universe as the conditions that surrounded Smoot-Hawley. It's a scare tactic that capital and its mouthpieces use to ensure that working people will not accrue their rightful benefits from their own government's largesse. Under these economic conditions the "free trade" argument is a disgrace. Our political discourse insists on framing the trade debate on Republican terms and still uses laissez-faire concepts that the current economic bloodbath has completely discredited.

Even the "moderate" Republicans like Senators Susan Collins and Arlen Specter who voted for the stimulus bill only did so after gutting $40 billion out of it that was designated to help ease the fiscal crises of state governments. My friend who just took a nine percent pay cut as part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's "furlough" program of state workers could have used a helping hand from Uncle Sam. It makes no sense to force state governments to lay people off at a time when the federal government is trying to stimulate employment.

We are about to find out whether or not our governing institutions have the capacity to deal with the serious economic and political crises facing our country. It could be that our institutions are so corrupt, our political discourse so banal and polluted, that they are incapable of lifting us up from our national malaise. After seeing one prominent Republican after another on television railing against the stimulus bill as if it is just another "pork barrel" project from any old Congress; and then seeing these stupid arguments disseminated through the corporate media and influencing public opinion, it is clear that Washington Republicans still frame the debate. And with their filibuster power in the Senate they still control Washington. At some point the logjam must be broken. This state of affairs, if not disrupted by the mass energy of organized people, threatens to succumb to stasis and gridlock.

Comments

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you all for the kind words about my latest post -- I'll run with my gut more often, these were just my thoughts on a variety of issues I see in the daily news -- Dap and Doright Woman thank you -- your 83 year old relative was right! I can't believe the mess this country is in and it could have all been avoided -- some people say we get the government we deserve, but I don't think the good people in this country deserved this. Thanks again all!

[realpolitic]

It is hard to believe we had to bend so far backwards to compromise with Republicans regarding the stimulus bill when we know that Bush or another GOP president would have told Democrats "its my way or the highway." Perhaps Obama's technique of bipartisanship will show dividends down the line. I think, unfortunately, Republicans view any bipartisan outreach as weakness and in that way are sort of like the Taliban.

[aloha43]

Thank you Joseph....great reading!

[realpolitic]

As usual, Joseph Palermo touches on so many important issues. It is amazing , for example, that Republicans still frame the debate in the media, especially after Democratic gains in the last two elections. The media , as usual, adopted GOP talking points about the bill being a "spending" bill and not a stimulus bill, which President Obama pointed out was one and the same.

Regarding Graham, what a hypocrite is he. He never theatrically waved a Bush bill around and the Bush team wrote most of the bills giving Congress only hours sometimes to debate and pass complicated legislation. The TARP bill passed by the Bush administration was amazing for its non-transparency.

As pointed out, the election of Steele was entirely symbolic. He offers little that most African-Americans would value, like perhaps an interest in voting rights, a continuation of affirmative action policies, worker's rights, and economic justice. It is the same cluelessness showed by Republicans when they nominated Palin as VP and actually thought her being on the ticket would attract women voters, although most women probably disagreed with everything she stood for.

As for the base of right-wing talk radio, most probably consider these unfortunate peope as sad. They are mostly poorly educated and easily led, and still harbor resentments toward minority groups who are passing them on the educational and financial ladder..

[Dap]

Dear Mr. Palermo,
It's been awhile scince I've dropped in on ya, an eloquently expressed post, right on target to boot. Good on ya! Agape, dap

[DorightWoman]

Bless your heart, Mr. Palermo, for summing up the situation so well. When I've discussed the free trade agreement, it's met with pooh-poohing which so aggravates me no end. I don't think many people really understand how it has affected our economy, the unions and the middle class.

My 83 yr. old father warned me about this many years ago, he saw the collapse of the steel industry and how it eroded over time. Even though he lived on a very limited budget, when I got married, he asked my mother to buy us a down comforter. She was about to wrap up the wedding gift for us, til he noticed it was not made in America. He had her go find one made in the U.S.A, even though they had to pay a few more dollars in doing so.

Perhaps the Republican party, will figure things out, when everyone has nothing left in their 401K, no social security benefits, and realize they made a huge mistake in their philosophy of greed.

[AbstractImp]

"It's a scare tactic that capital and its mouthpieces use to ensure that working people will not accrue their rightful benefits from their own government's largesse."

Or from their hard work within a company.
Look at all those who have lost their benefits and savings while CEOs fly off with bonuses and planes.

You know, that has an effect over time . . .

These republicans see government purely as a way to get tax breaks for their friends and revenue for themselves. They do not care about anything other than that.

Manifest destiny is little more than manifest ignorance.

"It could be that our institutions are so corrupt, our political discourse so banal and polluted, that they are incapable of lifting us up from our national malaise."

It is not guaranteed that America will succeed.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the comment -- I think the trade imbalances really speak for themselves -- we are in debt to the tune of $2 trillion to foreign countries and that happened under "free trade" policies -- doesn't sound like we got too good a deal.

[Zen0469]

LINDSEY GRAHAM STINKS. Instead of helping his constituents find jobs etc. he's spending his time tub thumping, disparaging those who are working to solve the republican mess, and generally waiting for the economy to collapse because of his party's obstreperous ill-conceived actions.

Let Pres. Obama lead; you obviously do not have the intelligence to follow; so get the he// out of the way!

[newpantaloons]

Zeno, do you live in C. B.?

[Zen0469]

Central Barcelona? No, sorry can't claim that I do, although I do love Barcelona!!!!

My surfboard and I hang out to dry very near Moonlight Beach in S. Calif. I have a damp moisture laden personality.

[lgillooly]

I f you really evaluate our Government and political structure the biggest threat to our welfare and Democracy is mega Corps and right wing ownership of over 90 percent of the media.
Josef Goebbels (Hitler's propaganda minister) said you can control any people anywhere by doing just 3 things
1.Always have an enemy real or perceived
2.wrap it in the flag so that any dissent is un patriotic
3.Control the message
The Republicans have followed this plan expertly. The ONLY reason a Democrat was elected President is because of a Neutral Internet....watch out.They are going after that also.

[Jesster]

Thanks lgillooly. Well stated and succinctly spelled out.

My wistful hope is that "progressives" have a head start in the universe of the internet - let's not squander that slight but significant edge. It's hard to compete with people who are willing to lie, cheat and steel in order to win - power. They love to lie and taunt until their targets take the bait and reduce themselves to the low level of the lying bullies.

Hence, John McCain actually said: "The Democrats are as bad as we are!" Weird.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Yes, the corporate media frame on the economic debate has been a big part of this whole story -- framed the Republicans' way 24-7. We have to break the faux consensus they're ramming down our throats.

[Bodie P]

When Marie Antoinette was faced with news that the people had no bread, she is rumored to have said, "Let them eat cake." We all know what happened next. The level of obliviousness and self-aggrandizement I am seeing in the Republican Party's actions makes me wonder just what it will take for them to look around and realize that there is a real and pressing need to respond to frightened, angry, in some cases hungry people.

I listen to the congressmen congratulating themselves on having achieved a bloc "no" vote on the stimulus and I wonder what on earth they think they have accomplished. What has that 'no' vote done to move us one inch closer to a solution? They have proven a point--that they can enforce their will on their own, and maybe on the rest of us if they shout and stamp their feet really, really hard.

The stimulus package might have been better had they turned their minds to thoughtful, prudent, ways to alleviate the crisis while investing in America's future. Spending is necessary; the challenge is to be sure we spend well. The Republicans might have had much to offer, had they chosen to leave their special clubhouse and come work with the rest of us. But they haven't. Instead, they have informed those with no bread that they should eat cake.

[jhNY]

Somebody once said that freedom of the press really only extends to the freedom of the guys who own the presses. Hence the plutocracy's uncanny ability to 'frame the debate'. It's very hard to tell, but the plutocracy's control of events and attitudes is slipping, and slipping fast. The howls of Huckleberry do not presage a golden era for the overclass but are more like the dying cries of a mastodon trapped in a tar pit of its own design. When they can pay you a living wage, and buy off your defenders, the overclass keeps power. But as they are broke, their noises no longer please even the apolitical, and as we are in real need now, the age of the politicians who insist that government can do no good draws to a whiny close, and noisily, but after all, signifying nothing.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

To Jim R I wouldn't worry about a trade war in this global economic context. That's just a scare tactic. The "Free Trade" policies are part of how we got to this dismal state in the first place. When Smoot-Hawley was passed the US was an oil exporter and we had a manufacturing base and no big federal debt or trade imbalances -- today, we have McJobs and whopping debt and huge trade imbalances, I thing the free trade people are just shilling for the multinational corporations. The outsourcing has devastated labor unions and destroyed the middle class and you people are still crying about the possibility of a "trade war?" Give me a break. I say bring on the "trade war" maybe we'll make more of our own stuff here at home and to hell with the needs of the Multinational Corporations that are the only true beneficiaries of "free trade." The World Ain't Flat my friend.

[KillTheMessenger]

As somebody who works for a company that actually manufactures in the US (and very successfully so), I have to give a warning. The re-introduction of slight or even severe trade barriers will not necessarily bring jobs back. There are enormous economic hurdles to establish many forms of (especially low-end) business and simply making foreign goods more expensive does not overcome those.

For example, the Japanese were threatening to overtake our electronics industry. There was mass panic in the 1980s about it. And it never happened. With the exception of large volume, low margin entertainment electronics and memories, no product of importance in the industry is being made in Japan. The US kept its predominant position because the technological hurdle was too large even for Japan. Later, of course, they lost their position to Korea, Taiwan and now Mainland China.

There are business models that simply move towards the cheapest manufacturing country, no matter what. But then there is also the opposite, where certain technologies are so hard that they do not lend themselves for successful short sighted moves to other countries. The US owns many of these hard, high tech, low volume, high return enterprises.

We need to foster those high tech domains that we truly own instead of trying to get low tech pressure molded plastics manufacturing back to the US by collecting a tax on its products. That's a dead end street if there ever was one.

[johnie2xs]

I just watched a Bill Moyers interview of Glenn Greenwald and Jay Rosen.
The subject was, "Is the established press preventing political change?".
From among the many things discussed, one point that stuck out in my mind. Jay Rosen confirmed a belief I have had as to what Obama should do, and that is, "Not compromise with the Rethugs". He has the backing of the people, he should use it and play hardball. If the Rethuglicans want to filibuster, call their bluff. Forget the mantra about the 60 votes necessary, it only takes 51. Sixty votes only applies if the R's obstruct. Dare them, I say, dare them.

Watch the full interview.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02062009/watch.html

BILL MOYERS: So here, at the end of the week, what's the message you are getting from Obama? And how's the press reacting to it?

JAY ROSEN: I actually think Obama is a disruptive force, potentially disruptive force.

BILL MOYERS: To?

JAY ROSEN: To Washington. Because he did speak to people's disgust with our political system. And he still has the power to mobilize that. And his words, expressing that feeling have more potency than, I think, maybe even he realized. But as Glenn said, he is naturally, a compromiser. And I think he's going to be pulled between playing a savvy inside game and trying to mobilize anger from outside of Washington. He's going to seesaw between these two things.

[philistine]

Thank you for your post. The importance of the far right's ability to frame the debate has become more and more obvious as the financial crisis deepens. No matter how callous and contorted the arguments presented by right-wing mouthpieces and advanced by the so-called free press, the advantage in resources by the right is nearly impossible to overcome.

How do we bell the cat? We have to reduce corporate influence over government, in ways big and small. That will be difficult, since they own the government we are trying to fix. Even F.D.R. only partially succeeded, and that success turned out to be only temporary.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

We see that even with large majorities in both houses in Congress and the presidency the Democrats are lectured by the Washington press to "reach out" and "win over" Republicans and to "tame" the "liberals" in Congress -- ignoring that the American people want the "liberals" in Congress to pass legislation that helps them. So we have a debate that if framed about how best to woo Republicans and it's all about how the Republicans feel about this or that -- just turn on Lou Dobbs or CNN anytime and you hear the Republican-Centered line -- I don't recall hearing the Washington press and TV pundits telling George W. Bush that he should tame his "rightwingers" in the Congress and move to the center and worry about winning Democratic support for his policies -- there's the imbalance. Remember Bush's Social Security privatization tour? My god, there were no voices calling for Bush to "win over" Democrats. It's Corporate Media and It's Right Wing, my friends! (to sound like John McCain)

[Jesster]

Excellent and mostly overlooked point. What is it going to take to finally expose the myth of "The Liberal Media" for the utter hoax that it is.

As far as Obama "taming" the socalled liberals: these days just being reasonable and using common sense is considered being weak and part of the extreme left wing. (Remember when they tried to paint candidate Obama as "the most liberal Democrat in the Senate.") Some might more reasonably argue that he is too much of a centrist.

And "winning over" the Republicans? That's a joke, right? Obama and the Dems have already conceded way too much on matters that are way too important to give up on. Besides, since the GOP's ONLY real goal is to regain power in 2010 and 2012, the only way to "win them over" is to LOSE.

[philistine]

I think that Americans are, consciously or not, moving to more little-'d' democratic news sources because they sense that the corporate media is out of touch with what's happening on the ground. Newspapers have lost circulation, so they depend more on ad revenue, which drives opinions towards those of the advertisers - mostly corporate - which makes them even more out of touch, which causes them to further lose circulation. Broadcast networks - beyond actually being subsidiaries of big corporations - have done the same, although much of their loss has been to cable. Cable apparently is not subject to the same rules as broadcast media, and their news organs have helped drive discourse to the right.

Radio is a subject for another diatribe; but it has certainly slanted towards the right as well. Radio goes head to head with the iPod for entertainment (and is losing), so it went corporate long ago. Even FM has moved to the right; Rush, Hannity et al are moving there in many communities, including my own. So we go for news and opinion to where we can find what we want - for now. Let's pray it stays that way.

Cheers!

[stevebehindthechapel]

Thank you for the most recent, excellent, and informative commentary in this matter. I kindly sent a respectful note onto the Seantor mentioned (with my moderate opinion) to encourage strengthening and passing the stimulus bill-- and to support our new President during these times-- after reading this column.

I encourage other readers to do the same and get involved on this and/or other matters for our unity, easily done through the web site: congress.org

[SilviaMaria]

"Lindsey Graham has one of the most atrocious voting records on issues that affect the lives of gay and lesbian citizens as does any member of Congress. It's a curious voting record for a 53-year-old bachelor who is rarely seen in the company of women."

Every time I see him on TV I have the feeling that he is gay. Nothing wrong with being gay if he and the Republicans weren't so hypocritical about it .... but it is just the way he talks.

[Knowitall]

I don't know if he is gay or not. But I do think he protests too much.

[JimR]

"This bill stinks. The process that's led to this bill stinks."

I'm no fan of Graham, but he is right about this. And BOTH sides are to blame.

You are quick to poo-poo the protectionism fears, but will you still feel the same if it helps spark an unnecessary trade war that hurts U.S. workers even more?

It would be a fatal mistake for Democrats to get too cocky right now. They've been entrusted to get the economy back on track. But if they don't show noticeable improvement by the 2010 elections, voters will make sure they pay the price.

[GiveUsFree]

And who would you vote back in office? The Republicans? You have lost your damn mind to even consider doing that.

"The Republicans don't like poor and middle class people."

-GiveUsFree

[JimR]

Not talking about me. If this plan, which belongs solely to the Democrats right now, doesn't help, there will be a lot of angry, out-of-work voters going to the polls.