The Republican Dream World

Today on the DNR Board an interesting comment was made by one of the regular conservative commenters. I couldn't help but notice the use of some of the standard right-wing noise machine cliche/smears that appeared in the comments. Glenn Greenwald has a new book (linked below the fold) that shines the light on the Republican Dream World. I'm just getting into it and hope to have more commentary as I work my way through it. Meanwhile... The thread is here, and you might want to read the original letter to the editor inspiring the whole exchange here.

Comment:

"Certainly the Bush Deranged have placed all of their eggs in the "defeat in Iraq" basket, and if the latest military successes ultimately lead to a stable democracy; the BD will have another inconvenient truth to ignore."

Response:

Again, your grasp of the Republican dream world is breathtaking.
The Scene: A military or administration spokesman tells us that we should wait just six more months and then see where we are and then we'll re-evaluate our position. Meanwhile he states that things are improving, great progress has been made...(trots out a meaningless statistic that supports the dream scenario) so we REALLY need to just stay the course a little longer.

We (the Bush Deranged) get it! It doesn't matter that it will cost over 3 TRILLION dollars and thousands of lives. We simply can't accept defeat! Our nation crumbles around us, our economy goes in the tank, my fixed income is getting relatively smaller and smaller, but in the Dream World all is well! Keep lowering those taxes, damn the deficits, keep the boys in Iraq, shower the world with bombs of love, we're fighting for democracy, the American way! (flags are waving.)

Comment:

"That, in addition to fielding a candidate who advocated the banning of handguns, consorts with known terrorists and racists and engages in metatarsal marksmanship almost daily, makes this a fluid election environment."

Response:

Way to go! You get today's Golden Cliche Award for pointing out that Liberals are namby pamby wimps, cowards, and unpatriotic. You Rock!

Comment:

"The constant spinning and waterboarding of logic by the Obamarama crowd is rather telling in itself."

Response:

It's just the "reality based" viewpoint intruding on the Dream World. Yeah, I think the Dream World looks really groovy too. Meanwhile.... elect a Liberal who can actually understand the problems we face, can listen to a broad spectrum of input and actually put together a domestic "coalition of the willing." Look around.... it's happ'nin'.

The thread is just a small example of the willingness of the Republican conservative movement to push upon us once again the Dream World platitudes, the cliches, the false ideology, the hypocrisy of faux patriotism, and the flat out lying about Liberals and Progressives. The fact that this Dream World has become so entrenched in our political debate that it appears in the simple casual comments found on small town blogs is the proof of it's effectiveness.

Watch the debate on TV or look for examples of conservatives painting any and all Democrats with the brush of elitism, gentility, being out of touch and not being "real Americans" with "strong moral values." It doesn't matter a whit, that EVERY Democrat fits this Dream World stereotype. The hypocrisy is clear. Look for Republicans to be described as true patriots, draped in the flag, pronouncing how tough they are by fanning the flames of war, advocating torture, and sending "bad guys" to prison. Listen to the fawning media describe Democrats as "girly men" and, quite famously, "faggots."

Glenn Greenwald expresses it quite nicely in his new book "Great American Hypocrites."

The most important right-wing marketing method, as examined in Chapter Three, is the relentless effort to depict GOP male leaders a tough guys, real men of courage, and swaggering warriors. Conversely, Democrats and liberals are gender-confused freaks-their males are effeminate, soft weaklings, and their women are emasculating, controlling, threatening dykes.

It is the right-wing noise machine and marketing campaign that has dominated the elections since the era of Ronald Reagan. This type of blatant marketing, based on a Dream World scenario, has led us to the abyss that has been the Bush Presidency. Glenn Greenwald calls on us to point out the hypocrisy and deceit at every opportunity. Write letters and blog aggressively. Point out the cliches. Check the record and point clearly to connection between failed policy and Dream World ideology.