Treviño finds a nut
Come, ye blind squirrel, and show me what bounty ye bring:
Why does Mike Huckabee come in for this bizarre and weirdly strident treatment, not just from NR, but from so many establishment organs and figures within the Republican coalition? Mitt Romney plays pro-lifers and cultural conservatives for suckers, and gets a pass. Rudy Giuliani runs to the left of Hillary Clinton on cultural issues, and gets a pass. Mike Huckabee doesn’t kowtow to the keepers of fiscal orthodoxy within the movement — and we’re told that he’ll cripple America at home and abroad, that his partisans are “idiots,” and that he may destroy the Republican coalition.
All basically true, although Treviño concedes that it would be better if Huck did kowtow to the GOP’s supply-side royalists.
More:
They’re the churchgoers, parents, local activists, and cultural conservatives who have kept the Republican party nationally competitive for the past thirty years. They’re us and ours. They’re the base. In the end, the ones tearing apart the Republican coalition aren’t them — but the elites who deride them for daring to vote their values.
And that’s just the problem.
The GOP has, generally speaking, done close to nothing for its Values Voters, much like the Democrats have done little for union voters in recent years. The reason that unions and the Christian Right keep voting for Democrats and Republicans, respectively, isn’t because those parties support their political interests. Rather, it has to do with voting against the other party, which they see as actively hostile to their interests. Despite being more liberal socially, the cash-rules-everything-around-me, C.R.E.A.M., get-tha’-money dolla-dolla-bill-y’all wing of the GOP has been willing to tolerate the social cons’ views on abortion, gay marriage and Hollywood as long as they don’t interfere with the tax cuts, which are more important than anything else. And besides, it’s not as if the GOP leadership ever planned to enact any of the social cons’ agenda in the first place.
Oh sure, the Republicans might throw the Christian Right an occasional bone with things like the Terri Schiavo insanity or meaningless pro-Christmas fatwas, but this shows that the GOP generally views its religious Right voters as a group of unhinged wackos who can be easily appeased and distracted with shiny objects. Witness:
Every other White House office was up and running. The faith-based initiative still operated out of the nearly vacant transition offices.
Three days later, a Tuesday, Karl Rove summoned [Don] Willett [a former Bush aide from Texas who initially shepharded the program] to his office to announce that the entire faith-based initiative would be rolled out the following Monday. Willett asked just how — without a director, staff, office, or plan — the president could do that. Rove looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, “I don’t know. Just get me a f—ing faith-based thing. Got it?” Willett was shown the door.
And:
Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe’s gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
“The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees,” Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.” The brilliance of this strategy was twofold: Not only would most voters not know about an initiative to protect Coushatta gambling revenues, but religious “wackos” could be tricked into supporting gambling at the Coushatta casino even as they thought they were opposing it.
And:
There was one significant mistake in the speech. I do not know why Romney did not include nonbelievers in his moving portrait of the great American family. We were founded by believing Christians, but soon enough Jeremiah Johnson, and the old proud agnostic mountain men, and the village atheist, and the Brahmin doubter, were there, and they too are part of us, part of this wonderful thing we have. Why did Mr. Romney not do the obvious thing and include them? My guess: It would have been reported, and some idiots would have seen it and been offended that this Romney character likes to laud atheists. And he would have lost the idiot vote.
Etc., etc.
In this light, the horror at Huck’s rise is completely understandable. The GOP simply loved having the “idiot” vote as long as the idiots kept supporting tax-cuttin’ anti-gubmint candidates. When they start switching their support to someone who hasn’t been as faithful a supply-sider, then the economic elite will well and fully freak out.
When people say that religion is the opiate of the masses, I observe that opiates get me high.
Dr. Brad, there’s truth to what you say about Christianists and union voters, but the sad truth is “Duverger’s Law” will prevent any real reform from happening in this country.
Gee, so one of them finally noticed that the Bush administration has always been of the rich, for the rich and run by the rich, with nothing but contempt for their poorer supporters, who don’t want an onerous tax burden when they win the lottery.
actor- in a well-functioning parliamentary democracy (i.e., not the one we currently live in), there are multiple parties that serve a multitude of different interests. If America had such a system, I can imagine a social conservative party run by people like Huckabee, a labor party run by people like Feingold and Kucinich, to go along with the pro-corporate Republicans and Democrats.
How about a Global Credit Meltdown, like the Great Depression?
Would that spur on any reform?
Well, we’re in luck. We get to watch and see.
Those Sammich guys need to put on their tinfoil hats.
Well, we’re in luck. We get to watch and see.
Yeah, this is gonna be hoot.
That’s the interesting thing about Huckabee–socially, he’s about as conservative as they come, and his bona fides are much better than those of Romney, Thompson, Giuliani, and even McCain, and major conservative publications like the National Review are doing absolutely everything they can to take him down. This commenter seems to have some sense of what is up, but hasn’t yet hit on the (fortunate) truth that the GOP doesn’t give a tinker’s damn about his views.
Oh! Sounds like fun!
I hope I can afford popcorn. Otherwise I’ll have to eat my conservative friends’ Cheetos, and you know how stingy they are.
(But I’ll have the last laugh because I know where the Cheetos come from. Most conservatives believe they magically appear in the cupboard once a week.)
Huckabee / Paul in ’08!
i agree with most of this but it doesn’t explain while wrong-headed but sane people question global warming. i think the christian right’s insanity has bled into the mainstream conservative’s brain–a brain that likes to think of itself as contrarian (despite all the evidence) anyway. and once you get to faith-based thinking, it’s a nice drug and one that you want to keep tapping.
Oh! Sounds like fun!
I hope I can afford popcorn. Otherwise I’ll have to eat my conservative friends’
Cheetos, and you know how stingy they are.Fixed!
You’re welcome. You’re gonna want horseradish and barbecue sauce…
mikey
I was hoping to ride out that Credit Meltdown thingie, but so far it isn’t working too well. Lost my job as a mortgage loan processor on Wednesday–the boss said he’s getting out of residential lending completely. Merry Xmas to me!
When people say that faith-based thinking is the nice drug of the mainstream conservatives, I turn off the computer and seek solace in akvavit.
I turn off the computer and seek solace in akvavit.
No, don’t do that!
Leave the ‘puter on and seek solace in akavit and porn!!
mikey
mikey, I’ve often heard human flesh described as “long pig.” Wouldn’t mustard be a better choice than horseradish?
And global warming is a plot of anti-progress hippies who want us to live an agrarian existence in sod huts, rather than tool around in SUVs. It’s that simple. It has something to do w/ how hippie pagans worship the earth rather than Jesus.
Don’t forget the pomegranate vinaigrette!
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from ol’ Tacky around here. Time was when he’d show up in S,N! comment threads, threaten HTML, and get his knickers twisted in a pseudoblogoethical tizzy.
Now he appears to be blogging with an Austrian (?!?) url.
Oh how the inane are fallen!
(Shouldn’t there be a picture on this post of him brandishing a marital lightsaber?)
It’s all about the dum dum do do dum dum.
Not to alienate our religious brethren, but did anyone else misread cumchuggers for church-goers?
I’ve been blogging for 18 consecutive hours now, and I think I”m rapidly reaching the limits of when it’s neurologically safe to do so.
Now he appears to be blogging with an Austrian (?!?) url.
The gay fascism feels just like home.
i don’t get this values voter thingy.
isn’t the act of voting a values thingy?
aren’t all voters values voters?
anyhoo my values demand popcorn over cheetos but then i grow my own so… wait a minute.. if i could just get my hands on some of those cheetos seeds………
if i could just get my hands on some of those cheetos seeds…
I think there’s a place in Amsterdam where you can order them online. But if you do, you get added to the AEI’s spam list.
Hey I thought gay fascism was totally cool in Europe… didn’t some uber-conservative anti-mulsim guy get killed for being out and gay? Or was he only “conservative” because he was worried about teh muslims killing him for being gay?
Or was he just gay in order to be even more anti-muslim?
I don’t know what’s going on any more.
what pisses me off about Huckabee is the whole “the national press loves him” BS. (see Marc Ambinder @ The Atlantic).
As much as I would love Huckabee to help explode the GOP, and even to win the nomination and get crushed, I don’t think I can stand more Beltway Press love-in with the guy.
We should look deeper into the “opiate” analogy. If my recent experience with Percocet is any indication, it sounds about right. Percocet is an opiate. It is ineffective in relieving pain, yet renders one dizzy, nauseous, irritable, and unable to operate a motor vehicle without endangering himself and others. The next time you see a Jeebus bumber sticker, rate the driver…
Kathleen – The press loves Huckabee because they’re bored and need a story that’s not about Republican candidates flaying the flesh off freedom-haters with their fingernails and eating it like so much unknosher pork rind. Most estimates give the press about a month before they get sick of Huckabee and “Dean” him.
At least da frikkin’ pope isn’t running for election.
If Taci found a nut, you can be sure he’ll bury it soon enough.
Also, if you plan on eating conservatives, you’ll need something to cut the fat; Colman’s English Mustard comes highly recommended.
Hey, marc, if you don’t want them anymore, then, you know, I’ll take ’em off your hands.
Anyway, what’s interesting here — aside the Percocet reference which got me Jonesin’ — is that Tacky the Christianist is stronger with the force than Tacky the Fusionist or Tacky the Neocon.
Dr. Brad,
The problem is, our system is not a parliamentary, proportionately representative democracy.
It’s a winner-take-all republic. Therefore, all elections will devolve to two parties. We can throw up sham parties (like, say, the Liberals or Conservatives) but ultimately, the money goes to two parties, so the power goes to two parties.
But I’ll have the last laugh because I know where the Cheetos come from. Most conservatives believe they magically appear in the cupboard once a week.
Hoosier X, is this *really* the right season to be disillusioning those poor conservatards about the Cheetos Fairy? Next thing you know, you’ll be telling Tacitus that it’s not Santa coming down his chimney leaving IOUs in his stocking and dirty footprints on his rug, it’s the NSA.
And to repeat myself, Huckabee just hired Ed Rollins to run his “upgraded” campaign. Since Ed is one of the people who taught Karl Rove all he knows, and every bit of it illegal, that should destroy any vague hopes that a nice Baptist minister like the Arkansas Elmer Gantry might run a Rethug campaign based on anything other than pure evil. Or else ol’ Huck wanted to get the original “Willie Horton ad” progenitor off the market before one of the other Rethugs could call Ed up and ask for a version featuring DuMond.
Or else ol’ Huck wanted to get the original “Willie Horton ad” progenitor off the market before one of the other Rethugs could call Ed up and ask for a version featuring DuMond.
LOL
Inkadu writes:
Not to alienate our religious brethren, but did anyone else misread cumchuggers for church-goers? I’ve been blogging for 18 consecutive hours now, and I think I”m rapidly reaching the limits of when it’s neurologically safe to do so.
And I cannot resist the temptation to suggest that … at least we know what sorts of things Mr./Ms./Etc. Inkadu was blogging about for eighteen hours.
___________
But regarding our good friend, Mr. Big Government Conservative Tackitus, it is a wondrous thing indeed to see that he’s still blogging away. And not from Austria, if memory serves, but rather some Chardonnay-swilling enclave on the Left Coast, about whose politics he rails mercilessly. Over a nice glass of chilled Chardonnay. Paid for by a big steaming dollop of wingnut welfare.
Free enterprise and the invisible hand, Excelsior!
Y’know, you guys with your “blogs” and you “paypal tip jars” might consider getting together to get up a few stinkin bucks so Anne Laurie can get broadband and a blog. I mean, in the overall scheme of things, you could do one freakin helluva lot worse…
mikey
I agree, mikey. I recently proposed to Anne Laurie on a different site and was soundly rejected by silence. 🙂
And count me as one of those people who are experiencing the unmistakable smell of ecomonic meltdown. Not “recession,” boys and girls.
For those with lesser olfactory gifts, our ecomony smells a little like “three card monty,” with a whiff of “house of cards,” and some “pyramid scheme” for spice.
But it probably won’t happen until after the Dems win more seats, and perhaps even the Presidency, which would be somewhat of a miracle considering how weak and incompetent (at the game of politics, not governance) they are.
Annie, baby, you don’t have broadband? How much do you need?
You’ll love me more, I promise, if I send you a check.
Someone just fucking kill me. Make it a clean shot. I’ll be good with that.
I think it’s a great idea.
Whoa. To kill me, HTML?
I’m just hoping you meant a fund for A.L., since I’m in the middle of posting a near-gay homage to you.
Jesus, a guy with a libertarian bent posts out here, and the next thing he knows, getting taken out is a good idea?
I was only half-kidding, though if someone can make a big enough media-splash with the idea, I’m willing to negotiate.
Just for the record, I DO love you, HTML, but only as friends.
See, here’s the deal. I’ve seen courage under fire, and I’ve seen embarrassing cases of terror and cowardice. But here’s the thing. Anne Laurie wields the english language as Sgt. Basilone wielded a machete.
Sure it’s hard and bloody, but it’s right, and it needs to be recognized.
I try to tell you what they’re actually talking about.
Anne Laurie can tell you what it means.
And that’s important…
mikey
Precisely, mikey, and that’s exactly why I proposed, even though I’m a confirmed lookist who fears A.L. is a 200 lb transvestite. It would be terribly stressful for me if she accepted. (Thanks, Anne Laurie. And I’m serious ’bout the broadband. You wouldn’t be the first most-excellent blogger I’ve supported financially.)
But still.
Thank you for pointing out how the parties only pay lip service to their bases who have nowhere else to go. Maybe someday they’ll catch on and realize that after all those years of Dubya in the Oval Office and a rubber-stamp GOP congress, abortion was never outlawed.
Mikey, John O, and of course HTML: It’s not the money, precisely, that’s keeping me on dialup. Our house is in one of those decrepit old-urban pockets where we can’t get broadband without paying for cable TV, and if we got cable TV, I wouldn’t have time to blog anyway. I keep pestering Verizon for FIOS, and they keep promising it’ll be available here “sometime in the next few months”. So far, it’s been 18 of those few months, but hope like snark springs eternal. Believe me, you guys will be the first to know when that glorious day arrives. (Cue mad scientist voice crying, “Ve haf created… a MONSTAHHRR!”)
And John, while I hate to disappoint such a nice man, I already have one husband, and when Romney was the governor of our fair commonwealth they legalized gay marriage but *not* polygamous marriage. Go figure. You would be bitter anyway, because though I am entirely female and have the Barr bodies to prove it, let’s just say I’ve got a voice made for radio and the figure to match. If Brad & Gavin & the guys ever stop procrastinating and schedule the Sadly-palooza, I hope you’ll be able to come out here to see for yourself, and I’ll even buy the first round, okay?
For those with lesser olfactory gifts, our economy smells a little like “three card monty,” with a whiff of “house of cards,” and some “pyramid scheme” for spice.
Don’t forget the sharp edge of “flop sweat”, the woodsy tang of “cornered vermin about to throw itself at someone’s throat”, and the copper/iodine odor of “mixed school of shark and piranha biting chunks out of everything within reach of their jaws”…
For the truth about gay marriage check out our trailer. Produced to educate & defuse the controversy it has a way of opening closed minds & creates an interesting spin on the issue: http://www.OUTTAKEonline.com The truth will set them free…
And besides, it’s not as if the
GOPDLC leadership ever planned to enact any of thesocial cons’liberal/anti-war agenda in the first place.No, no, John. I like you very much alive. I meant about funding A.L.
Damn, I should have hung on to the percocet a little longer. Perhaps then I could effect some sort of tequila-based barter…
You mean my all-but-unsellable house might be a symptom of a Great Depression II: This Time it’s … Pretty Much the Same as Last Time? If it gets all survival-of-the-fittest and whatnot, I call Karl Rove, Jonah Goldberg, and Daffyd ab Huuuge. Goodness. I think I just made myself sick…
I love Molly Ivins (RIP) comment about Texas Baptists:
“We don’t hold ’em under water long enough.”
We should look deeper into the “opiate” analogy. If my recent experience with Percocet is any indication, it sounds about right.
Marx was thinking about laudanum, not the synthetic shit.
Actually, I’ll correct myself: he’d have been thinking about morphine, first synthesised in 1804.
Wu-Tang references: The Hon. Dr. St. Rev. Bradley S. Rocket, Esq, PhD, MD wins the Internet.