Lucas

Last time: It is impossible for large, multinational corporations to have a "liberal agenda" . I mean, think it through:

"The political media aren't becoming more responsible; they're simply continuing to direct their scorn at Democrats and progressives. Just this week, media have hyped purported Democratic disarray while downplaying or ignoring altogether GOP infighting; falsely suggested that Nancy Pelosi is as unpopular as President Bush; asserted that Democrats -- who do not yet actually control Congress and won't until next year -- are 'starting to feel some of the pressure' of catching Osama bin Laden without explaining how Bush and the GOP let him get away; and suggested that Nancy Pelosi, who hasn't even become speaker of the House yet, is already 'damaged goods'. Meanwhile, Trent Lott, who has as good a claim on being 'damaged goods' as anyone, is the beneficiary of a media whitewash of his history of associating himself with racist organizations and ideas. Fox News, not typically known for subtlety or for downplaying controversy, told viewers that Lott 'ran into a little bit of difficulty, but now he's making a comeback'. Yes, that unpleasantness about his suggestion that America would be better off had a segregationist been elected president is behind him, and Lott is now ready, we presume, to act as a uniter, not a divider. Right...."

Since the election, I've been de-toxing from politics (and grading tons of student papers, all of which illustrate the "genius" behind No Child Left Behind, standardized testing, et al.)

One thing I've noticed is that, after the sexy sexy of the tidal wave cum ass whippin' the Dem's laid on the GOP is that there is a subtext becoming text: The GOP lost because they got away from Conservative values (this is partially true: When Reagan got in bed with the Religious Right, the writing was on the wall. However, the conflation of Conservative and NeoConservative renders this moot), and not because this not so dearly departed GOP hegemon were a bunch of crooks. Moreover, it certainly had nothing to do with the glaring failures of their policy and philosophy: It was Bush.

The worst part of this subtext is the almost cheerleading for the GOP as underdogs: It matters not how disasterous it has been for our country, as long as the story is forced into a narrative peghole and conforms with some pre-existing American semiotic dementia involving underdogs. Make history fit the narrative.

In a related note, I guess the world needs a Conservative Daily Show, since the "underdogs" need to lash at the "liberal" establishment. Dennis Miller is probably speed dialing his agent while frantically searching his house to figure out where his funny went:

"If successful, the show could take its place on the regular schedule, adding satire to FNC's formula of news and opinion."

Read the above quotation again. After you stop laughing, read it again. WTF?