My mom is often wrong about politics. But she told me something many years ago that stuck with me, and that I believe is correct. She said that the political pendulum swings from left to right, and that no matter how stuck it might seem on one side or the other, it will eventually swing back to the other side.
Over the last eight to 14 years, the pendulum got stuck deep into the red, seemingly tied there; maybe held with some kind of voodoo or black magic. I say this because of the ascendancy of extreme right-wing voices to the mainstream. I say this because while many liberals like me could "see" the reality, an artificial reality seemed to rule. Karl Rove and his political machine had a lot to do with that of course, with an echo chamber that would repeat anything--no matter how obviously untrue--and it would become conventional wisdom everywhere, except maybe The Daily Show, Air America Radio or Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
But--like my mom said--the pendulum finally became untethered, and came careening back to the left. The right tried to lasso it again and again--indeed they are still trying--but it remains elusive. In fact, that pendulum seems to have struck all remaining hard-right figures like pins in a game of Skittle Bowling, and has knocked them down or left them staggering. These great and fearsome characters have become something like cartoon figures. Consider:
- Congreswoman Michelle Bachmann
- Governor Sarah Palin
- House Minority Leader JohnBoner Boehner
- Governor Bobby Jindal
- Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurtzelbacher
- Drug-addled gas-bag (™The Stephanie Miller Show) Rush Limbaugh
- Ann Coulter
Over the last eight to 14 years, the pendulum got stuck deep into the red, seemingly tied there; maybe held with some kind of voodoo or black magic. I say this because of the ascendancy of extreme right-wing voices to the mainstream. I say this because while many liberals like me could "see" the reality, an artificial reality seemed to rule. Karl Rove and his political machine had a lot to do with that of course, with an echo chamber that would repeat anything--no matter how obviously untrue--and it would become conventional wisdom everywhere, except maybe The Daily Show, Air America Radio or Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
But--like my mom said--the pendulum finally became untethered, and came careening back to the left. The right tried to lasso it again and again--indeed they are still trying--but it remains elusive. In fact, that pendulum seems to have struck all remaining hard-right figures like pins in a game of Skittle Bowling, and has knocked them down or left them staggering. These great and fearsome characters have become something like cartoon figures. Consider:
- Congreswoman Michelle Bachmann
- Governor Sarah Palin
- House Minority Leader John
- Governor Bobby Jindal
- Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurtzelbacher
- Drug-addled gas-bag (™The Stephanie Miller Show) Rush Limbaugh
- Ann Coulter
- Many, many others, including most of FOX "News" and right-wing talk radio
They're all laughable, easily mocked, and no longer only by "the far left." Everyone seems to be getting in on the act. And while I know the pendulum will swing back some day, I'm going to keep enjoying this. It's a schadenfreude sundae with a cherry on top.
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