From BDS to OBS in only 90 days
Illustration by KAL, The Economist April 16
Many talked about Bush Derangement Syndrome in the latter days of the presidency of Bush, the Younger,this Lexington column in The Economist postulates that Obama Derangement Syndrome is upon us.
The rapid polarization of feelings in the USA cannot be a good thing. It is not good for America, nor by extension for the rest of us.
The column concludes:-
What is clear is that the rapid replacement of Bush-hatred with Obama-hatred is not healthy for American politics, particularly given the president’s dual role as leader of his party and head of state. A majority of Republicans (56%) approved of Jimmy Carter’s job performance in late March 1977. A majority of Democrats (55%) approved of Richard Nixon’s job performance at a comparable point in his first term. But today polarisation is almost instant, thanks in part to the growing role of non-negotiable issues such as abortion in American politics, in part to the rise of a media industry based on outrage, and in part to a cycle of tit-for-tat demonisation. This is not only poisoning American political life. It is making it ever harder to solve problems that require cross-party collaboration such as reforming America’s health-care system or its pensions. Unfortunately, the Glenn Becks of this world are more than just a joke.
The huge influence of single issue politics in the USA, especially abortion and gay marriage, has had an especially baleful and divisive impact. Further, despite the constitutional separation of Church and State the influence of religious beliefs continues to permeate politics; again in this observer’s mind with negative impact. This coupled with the stances taken by various media personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others.
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Bill, I cannot agree with your characterisation of the nature of the “Obama-Baiting” being different. G W Bush was mercilessly attacked non-stop from the very start, the whole Florida voting issue was blown way out of proportion, many democrats refused to even accept GW’s election. So I think that it is way over hyped to call the current situation unusual. If anything, GW had it worse, remember the “fake turkey”, which wasn’t even fake although you would be hard pressed to find a democrat who would acknowledge that. The “fake but accurate” memos about GW’s service with the National Guard ? Remember too, how the left so dispicably treated Sarah Palin, hells bells, Andrew Sullivan (left-wingnut anyone) STILL goes on about his pet fantasy that she isn’t the mother of her Downs Syndrome child, as if having such a child isn’t hard enough. Look, too, at the bile and hatred spewed forth on DailyKos. And you think the right are the ones being divisive.
President Obama is being attacked, but I suggest his very actions are the cause. Someone who speaks so broadly and grandly of bi-partisanship and the like, and then in practice entirely shuts out the opposition, indeed with a “we won, you lost (if minus the “eat that”)” comment as well. Someone who goes around attacking radio talk show hosts by name from his presidential bully pulpit, promises to exclude lobbyists and then recruits them by the score, one who specializes in (apparently) picking cabinet members with “tax averse” records… and so it goes on. Are none of these true, are none important, he should be given a free pass on this ? They represent a massive degree of hypocrisy. Obama isn’t so much undermined as self undermining, I suggest his problems are precisely because of what he has (and hasn’t) done as opposed to what he says and said.
I do think you define yourself by the phrase “right-wingnuts”. The use of that puts people clearly in the “left-wingnut” division, the fake but accurate turkey brigade if you will.
There’s always been a tension in right-wing political circles between hard-headed, rational business-cum-managerial types and those with a more mystical or emotional view of the world.
In the US they are christians, in the UK they are mainly royalist little-Englanders, in New Zealand they can be religious, monarchists or something thereabouts.
Funny, until the last five years or so I always thought the most fissile division in the US right was between authoritarian and libertarian thinkers.
I think the split has been there for at least 10 to 15 years, maybe longer, but they managed to obscure it for a long time. Also it is probably the case that the mysticals rose in the ascendancy say within the last 10 years.
I suspect we may be reaching that point, at least on the Right. The GOP in it’s present form is not the GOP of old. I would not be surprised to see the GOP split asunder.
Tensions also exist, but are presently papered over, in the Democrats. Yet they too have the capacity to split. Many Dems are not leftist in the terms we think of in NZ, consequently some of the Obamanauts may frighten the horses so to speak.
There are commentators on the left and right in America who argue the political system has been moving towards democratic meltdown for many years.
I’m personally suspicious of a system where two parties are locked into a political pendulum. It’s simply too polarised and needs a circuit breaker.
I think the baiting by Limbaugh, Beck and some others is certainly of that ilk.
To me it seems that in recent years US politics has become ever more polarised and that the impact of this is exacerbated by the way in which certain issues have become litmus tests, e.g. abortion, stem cell research, contraception, gun control
I’m no expert on American politics, but to me this current Obama-bating appears to be a deliberate campaign of undermining the president. That didn’t appear to be the case with the anti-Bush sentiment.
It looks as if America’s right-wingnuts are no longer interested in the democratic process. That’s dangerous.
Good point.
The separation of church and state was originally devised for the protection of the church, not the state. Christian influence has always been very heavy in American politics but has only become divisive relatively recently. What you are seeing now is the collision of two forces, the increasing secularization of American society and politics and the increasingly vacuous nature of Christian thought and response. Both of these are exacerbated by the couching of debate in distinctly post-modern terms using “feelings” and “rights” instead of facts and responsibilities.