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OCTOBER 31, 2006 – There's an
interesting trend that is so quiet, even an insider might miss it.
In fact, it is the quietness that is the trend.
When The Moderate Independent
began the better part of half-a-decade ago, we could not post an
article without being besieged by angry, swearing, name-calling
Bush-backing right-wingers. Indeed, throughout the press -
from the mainstream media to the new world of Blogland - these
hate-spewing Fox/Limbaughites were fervent and constant. They
"trolled" around liberal sites injecting their venomous nastiness
into the discussions, and they constantly barraged any journalist or
periodical that dared to say something that wasn't approved by
Bush/Limbaugh and friends.
On top of this, there were certain ideas
we put out there that sparked confusion on both sides of the aisle,
such as that the media was not "liberal," as the accepted 'wisdom'
repeated endlessly, but, in fact, right-wing-dominated. When
we offered this commentary years back, the slew of smirky, snarling,
threatening e-mails would come rolling in.
Yes, don't forget the word threatening -
these people would frequently toss loosely veiled threats of
violence and taunts, just for suggesting things like that the
economy might not be as good as the media is reporting, that Iraq
might not have been such a good idea, and that the media isn't
liberal.
But today, all that is different.
Today, we at M/I - and likely others,
though we can only comment on our experience - can and do post
stories in the same vein we have. We have been able to stay
the course in our commentaries, as reality has come to reflect what
we've been saying all along.
What has changed is that the trolling
hate-mongers that used to launch barrage after barrage have now laid
down their weapons. Yes, the Bush/Limbaughians don't feel much
like taunting. And they are not so offended by the ideas and
commentaries we put forth. Even when we do get the occasional
disagreeing e-mail now, the tone is not so strong, and the person on
the other end is usually willing to at least consider the
perspective we put forth and engage in discussion - and, often, in
the end, sign up as a subscriber to The Moderate Independent.
This is all part of what was meant in
our recent article
Underestimating the Sea Change. What has occurred in our
nation over the last couple of years is not just Democratic
prospects improving for the upcoming elections. What has
happened is that a bubble of philosophy that was sold to the nation
back in the 1980's, during the days of Reagan, has, for the first
time, lost its acceptance as undisputed truth. Such ideas as
deregulation, supply-side, top-heavy-tax-cut economics, free trade,
bravado-based foreign policy, thumbing ones nose at the warnings of
environmentalists and talk of Global Warming, all the ideas that
were not allowed to be questioned for decades now are not only being
questioned by Americans everywhere, but doubted.
One might say that, ha ha, the left and
middle are now getting to have their revenge and get even for all
the crap they've put up with the past few years. But the
screamingly obvious quiet coming from the right is just as
noticeable on the left and in the middle.
The passion with which people reacted to
commentaries that called Bush and friends on their lies and policy
blunders has quieted dramatically. The hateful tone, the
demanding of more and more have faded. It appears that the
left and middle, at last, feel that they are not just being allowed
to speak their piece but actually being heard, and so no longer feel
a need to scream and shout.
In fact, if you put both pieces of this
equation together, it seems Americans of all stripes have come to
the solemn realization that the nation is in more than a bit of
trouble, and that all the sniping that has become the trademark of
our nation this millennium is both in large part responsible for our
problems and an undesirable obstacle in the way of potential
solutions.
So this election cycle, as Dick Cheney
yet again tries to hit the message that the violence in Iraq is just
the insurgents making a show before the election to help elect
Democrats, and that it will ebb after the vote (can anyone imagine
he would say this again, two years after his "last-throes" nonsense
was followed by yet more and more violence and insurgent strength?);
this time, as Republicans try to shift attention to gay bashing; as
GOP stalwarts talk about how Democrats will cost everyone so much in
taxes and give victory to the terrorists, no one has the passion to
bolster the empty arguments with willing suspension of disbelief as
in the past. Americans have stopped, looked, and listened to
actual reality. And that reality has told us all it is time to
cut the crap, to come together, and to start to do two things many
of us have not done in the past six years: listen to each
other, and seek the truth.
The joy that came with using provably
dishonest Limbaugh lines to win arguments has passed. People
see the price that is being paid for having played such a game.
The glee with which so many launched endless tirades has given way
to a post-party hangover. There are still the Limbaughs,
Hannitys, and Bushes who call on them to have yet one more drink.
But the headaches Americans have are far to pounding to ignore, and
that familiar hair-of-the-dog remedy, at last, doesn't seem so
appealing.
Americans see Global Warming and the
complete lack of action about it. They see an Iraq conflict
going on and on without any action to fix the mess. They see
North Korea getting nukes, our national debt already piled up beyond
comprehension, the costs of living in America going up and up while
wages stagnate or fall. They see all these things, and they
are not amused. They realize this is not all some game, that
the arguments we have are not a matter of who comes out on top but
of what is the right answer; that to win a debate is not a victory
if the wrong answer prevails; that, in the end, there is reality and
consequence.
Elections 2006 might bring a Democratic
Congress. It might bring a change in who is in charge and the
policies our nation follows moving forward.
But one thing that is for certain is
that 2006 has already brought a much needed change in our nation's
tone. George W. Bush promised to be a 'uniter not a divider.'
He promised to 'change the tone' in Washington to a calmer, more
bi-partisan one.
In the end, he has done that. The
clarity of his incompetence, of his administration's corruption and
lack of oversight on everything from Iraq War spending to protecting
young pages, and the clear failure of the policies he and his
administration have put forth; the clear lack of deliverance on
promise after promise, of a brief Iraq War, of fixing Social
Security, of putting money in people's pockets, of getting results
from North Korea - of, in general, making our nation safer, richer,
and more powerful; the clear failure, incompetence, dishonesty, and
wrong-headedness that George W. Bush and friends brought to
Washington has at last, for the first time since Limbaugh took to
the air in 1992, united the nation and changed the tone in
Washington to a more civil one.
Unfortunately for George and friends,
this was not what they meant, planned, or expected when they
promised to change the tone and unite the nation. The reality
is, they have not gotten what they meant, planned or expected with
anything they promised.
The 2004 elections of Moveon and Moore
vs. Swift-Boat liars has given way to a peaceful calm.
Americans want to hear answers. And they realize they can only
do this if they stop screaming themselves.
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