Bow Before the Master

Billmon speaks. I, for one, listen. It just takes me a while to come up with a response to his call to action. And, well, I'd post this on his comments but things got a little out of hand there once upon a time (Nice problem to have, I guess.) and he doesn't have them any more. So, my humble, well-thought, and considered response to things:

It’s morning in America again. Return of Reagan era politics and politicians. Not only do Republicans want to stay the course they seem to be going in the wrong direction. Having lost an election with their new fangled neocons they’ve decided to turn the page back to an earlier iteration. The Reagan era conservatives are crawling back into bed. Because when Reagan was elected that’s what they said. “It’s morning in America.” We’ve been asleep and now our eyes are open. Or our long, national nightmare is over. It’s a bright new day and all seems right with the world. Well, that’s all just a fancy way of saying we didn’t like the way things were going but we like the way they are going because we’re finally the ones in charge. And that was fine for them back in their day but that was twenty, almost thirty years ago. If they were young then they’re old now. And if they were old they’re even older. People tend to slow down when they get older, you know, and like to crawl under the nice warm covers and take their sweet time waking up.

It’s not morning for them, though, it’s noon or dusk, maybe. While they haven’t been running things their bastard children, this “conservative” movement has. And they’ve either been complicit in helping to run things or negligent in trying to alter the course of their own party. They’ve either been shuffling around like doddering old men or soundly asleep and snoring, in other words, and I’m not sure which is worse. Because it’s not morning for them, it’s morning for us. It’s morning for the American people because these Reagan conservatives aren’t the ones in charge. Because for the past six years they’ve been making a mess of things. And now, the Republicans answer is to look to the past? Sorry, but the American people look ever forward. The past is the past and these old men have had their shot. We shooed their children away and now it’s time to send them to the nursing home, heh. Wake up granpa, it’s time to go to bed.

We’re stealing their catchphrase, though. Or, at least, I am. We’ve seen their tricks and now we can use them against them. It’s morning in America because the legacy of Regan and the first Bush has been defeated on the field of electionary battle. Now we’ve got big grins on our faces and they’re scrambling around like the sky is falling. The people rising to the top of the mob are those wizened old men who gave us such wonders as (off the top of my head) “No New Taxes”, the Iran-Contra scandal, set up Afganistan to be a terrorist training camp by covertly funding the anti-Soviet Afghani rebels – the jihadist (Go check out when and where and how Bin Laden cut his teeth on fighting the great Satan. Back in the day they were wearing a hammer and sickle instead of the stars and bars, you know.). And we should be worried about this? No, last year’s last year’s model shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

So they have a track record. So they’ve done things in the past. So they think their old big boy pants are still going to fit after a few years of retirement. Let them come forth. Let them dance upon the stage of politics. There shall be much rejoicing as we can play what they call the blame game. But what we like to call “constitutionally mandated accountability”.

Put your teeth in gramps and get your lips around that one. Because if I can figure that out you can be damned sure some Democratic strategists are sharpening their knives. Cause, you know, it was the Clintonistas who beat back the Reaganites the first time around. And they’re still around but a lot younger and a lot hungrier than some grumpy old men. And probably a better memory as well. That seems to go as you get older, doesn’t it? And you haven’t even seen the new model Democratic army up close and personal yet.