Aug 11, 2023·edited Aug 11, 2023Liked by Joe Klein
The logic of Republican positions since Reagan has always tended to nihilism. You can't generalize by saying "the government is the problem" without qualifying it and not cause a great deal of harm. Eventually, you get caught in that logical trap. Added to that, the overall position required empirically wrong positions on macroeconomics (supply side, trickle down), fiscal policy (marginal tax rates, etc.), climate change (you know), and a host of other crucial questions. That meant they had to have their own epistemology - presto! Fox News. Eventually, the structure fails under the weight of the truth, as its consequences become undeniable. The only people left are deeply prejudiced, deeply uneducated or the people you mention - intellectually dishonest grifters advocating "revolution" - they "literally" have no choice.
Joe - as usual I finish your posts mumbling to myself about how on target they are, a euphemism for both "I agree" and "wish I had said that". I don't share your optimism about the calming down of the crazies of the left. The more moderate Dems have the mirror image and problem that the R's have of not wanting to piss off their crazies. See, for example, in our old Massachusetts stomping grounds, the enactment of a budget that gives undocumented residents the same tuition as instate citizens at public colleges and universities and the NYC council trying to do the same with voting in municipal elections. Thanks for doing what you do.
Joe, I love reading your work. I remember reading Primary Colors and enjoying the mildly veiled Clinton story. I remember believing in Clinton's political goals while seeing through his transparent corruption. Eight years later I saw the same corrupt elements in Hope You Can Believe In and wasn't mildly surprised that Obama failed to keep his promises on stopping wars, providing affordable health care and uniting the country. In less than 25 years two narcissists had abandoned and gutted the middle-class while elevating the educated elite to believe they had the answers to the nation's challenges while, in fact, they were simply doing the dirty work for ultra-rich tech and financial oligarchs.
I still love reading your work as it reminds me of times when I too felt hopeful about America's future. I remember watching Tim Russert every Sunday morning and respected his inciteful reporting. And I took some joy in watching his son, Luke, get a shot in the business. Considering the debasement of the news business since Tim's death, the full-blown abandonment of any attempt at objectivity by so-called reporters, the evolution of the Washington Post and New York Times from investigative enterprises to government organs akin to Pravda and Tass of the '70s, it is just as well that Luke sought out other opportunities.
Your analysis of the current state of the political landscape is accurate, as far as it goes. It is largely quiet on the culture war front, with only Christopher Russo on the attack. What you do not report is that Russo is calling up the ghost of Dick Nixon to support the notion of dismantling the administrative state and elevating the Imperial Presidency to new heights. All I can think of is Nixon's claim that " if the President does it, then it must be legal". I first thought that Russo is too young to remember Nixon, but I guess he is simply too disingenuous. He is not really helping the Republican cause.
Where you go wrong is when you ignore the disrupted state of the near-term political playing field. The middle-class is gutted and the Democrats have lost them. This began with Clinton promising good paying jobs for computer coders, while he off-shored actual good paying jobs, and continued with Obama failing to prosecute the thieves of Wall Street , make any changes to control the legalized thievery of financial markets and did nothing for the millions who suffered foreclosures. And it continues today with "Bidenomics" being perceived as failing the average American.
The government is properly viewed as largely corrupt. The Dems improperly employed the FBI and the intelligence community to hound Trump with their Russia collusion nonsense. Meanwhile Biden and his degenerate son are seen as profiting while the FBI and intelligence community provided cover. It's not that the FBI is seen as a left-wing operation. It is seen as corrupt.
And the broad attack on the 1st Amendment by the government directly or through its publicly funded agencies to control speech on the internet is further evidence of pervasive corruption throughout the government.
There was a time that I believed, as you apparently continue to believe, that there was little one can do to change corrupt politicians, that it was just the way it was and things would work out. However, when you reach a point where you realize that the ultra=rich run the show, that the political leaders of both parties have no interest in your well-being, that the intelligence community and law enforcement community is politicized, that the traditional media is unreliable and that freedom of speech is jeopardized, a thinking person is no longer willing to believe that everything will work out.
So, Joe, enjoy the quiet before the storm. Go to sleep tonight believing that the Dems have settled into a strong position by not getting baited into defending the self-flagellating woke nonsense. The next year is going to be wild and the Dems are likely to pay a price for their duplicity and cupidity.
Christopher Rufo is not now nor has he ever been a valuable voice against anything. He’s a fascist demagogue who thinks nothing of engaging in corrosive rhetorical devices to stoke hatred and anger in order to cultivate support for fascist ends. The CRT shuffle is a nearly complete fabrication - outside academia - and his transphobic hysteria is repulsive.
Sorry but your contention that the Dems are somehow winning the culture wars by becoming less crazy than the GOP just smacks of whistling pass the graveyard. My mainstream media newsfeeds are filled everyday with stuff I find heretofore unimaginable, from California’s proposals to offer welfare to striking workers to a glum bunch of woman soccer players refusing to respect the country they chose to represent.
No, wokeness is the gift that keeps on giving to the Republican Party.
It’s great to reflect upon wonderful journalists like Tim Russert! Much luck to Luke as he searches for what’s next. I can’t help but believe that many, many people are searching as well to explore the future! My hope is that those delusional Trump cult members will see the light and reengage in our nation’s best interests to save our democracy! May responsibility and integrity become major planks in our country’s foundation! May truth again be the glue that holds us together! Thanks Joe!
As a 40 year Beltway Republican consultant-type (guess that makes me a RINO but so be it) totally agree w/ your basic premise about GOP losing summer, esp Exhibit A (no brainer to those who can read a poll) and Exhibit B, where Dems have shown uncommon restraint and, as you artfully say, perhaps finally "shedding deference to academic left culture screamers"... well said.
The logic of Republican positions since Reagan has always tended to nihilism. You can't generalize by saying "the government is the problem" without qualifying it and not cause a great deal of harm. Eventually, you get caught in that logical trap. Added to that, the overall position required empirically wrong positions on macroeconomics (supply side, trickle down), fiscal policy (marginal tax rates, etc.), climate change (you know), and a host of other crucial questions. That meant they had to have their own epistemology - presto! Fox News. Eventually, the structure fails under the weight of the truth, as its consequences become undeniable. The only people left are deeply prejudiced, deeply uneducated or the people you mention - intellectually dishonest grifters advocating "revolution" - they "literally" have no choice.
Joe - as usual I finish your posts mumbling to myself about how on target they are, a euphemism for both "I agree" and "wish I had said that". I don't share your optimism about the calming down of the crazies of the left. The more moderate Dems have the mirror image and problem that the R's have of not wanting to piss off their crazies. See, for example, in our old Massachusetts stomping grounds, the enactment of a budget that gives undocumented residents the same tuition as instate citizens at public colleges and universities and the NYC council trying to do the same with voting in municipal elections. Thanks for doing what you do.
I disagree. Might have been true 70 years ago, but certainly not now.
Joe, I love reading your work. I remember reading Primary Colors and enjoying the mildly veiled Clinton story. I remember believing in Clinton's political goals while seeing through his transparent corruption. Eight years later I saw the same corrupt elements in Hope You Can Believe In and wasn't mildly surprised that Obama failed to keep his promises on stopping wars, providing affordable health care and uniting the country. In less than 25 years two narcissists had abandoned and gutted the middle-class while elevating the educated elite to believe they had the answers to the nation's challenges while, in fact, they were simply doing the dirty work for ultra-rich tech and financial oligarchs.
I still love reading your work as it reminds me of times when I too felt hopeful about America's future. I remember watching Tim Russert every Sunday morning and respected his inciteful reporting. And I took some joy in watching his son, Luke, get a shot in the business. Considering the debasement of the news business since Tim's death, the full-blown abandonment of any attempt at objectivity by so-called reporters, the evolution of the Washington Post and New York Times from investigative enterprises to government organs akin to Pravda and Tass of the '70s, it is just as well that Luke sought out other opportunities.
Your analysis of the current state of the political landscape is accurate, as far as it goes. It is largely quiet on the culture war front, with only Christopher Russo on the attack. What you do not report is that Russo is calling up the ghost of Dick Nixon to support the notion of dismantling the administrative state and elevating the Imperial Presidency to new heights. All I can think of is Nixon's claim that " if the President does it, then it must be legal". I first thought that Russo is too young to remember Nixon, but I guess he is simply too disingenuous. He is not really helping the Republican cause.
Where you go wrong is when you ignore the disrupted state of the near-term political playing field. The middle-class is gutted and the Democrats have lost them. This began with Clinton promising good paying jobs for computer coders, while he off-shored actual good paying jobs, and continued with Obama failing to prosecute the thieves of Wall Street , make any changes to control the legalized thievery of financial markets and did nothing for the millions who suffered foreclosures. And it continues today with "Bidenomics" being perceived as failing the average American.
The government is properly viewed as largely corrupt. The Dems improperly employed the FBI and the intelligence community to hound Trump with their Russia collusion nonsense. Meanwhile Biden and his degenerate son are seen as profiting while the FBI and intelligence community provided cover. It's not that the FBI is seen as a left-wing operation. It is seen as corrupt.
And the broad attack on the 1st Amendment by the government directly or through its publicly funded agencies to control speech on the internet is further evidence of pervasive corruption throughout the government.
There was a time that I believed, as you apparently continue to believe, that there was little one can do to change corrupt politicians, that it was just the way it was and things would work out. However, when you reach a point where you realize that the ultra=rich run the show, that the political leaders of both parties have no interest in your well-being, that the intelligence community and law enforcement community is politicized, that the traditional media is unreliable and that freedom of speech is jeopardized, a thinking person is no longer willing to believe that everything will work out.
So, Joe, enjoy the quiet before the storm. Go to sleep tonight believing that the Dems have settled into a strong position by not getting baited into defending the self-flagellating woke nonsense. The next year is going to be wild and the Dems are likely to pay a price for their duplicity and cupidity.
Christopher Rufo is not now nor has he ever been a valuable voice against anything. He’s a fascist demagogue who thinks nothing of engaging in corrosive rhetorical devices to stoke hatred and anger in order to cultivate support for fascist ends. The CRT shuffle is a nearly complete fabrication - outside academia - and his transphobic hysteria is repulsive.
Sorry but your contention that the Dems are somehow winning the culture wars by becoming less crazy than the GOP just smacks of whistling pass the graveyard. My mainstream media newsfeeds are filled everyday with stuff I find heretofore unimaginable, from California’s proposals to offer welfare to striking workers to a glum bunch of woman soccer players refusing to respect the country they chose to represent.
No, wokeness is the gift that keeps on giving to the Republican Party.
Loved today’s column. Glad I subscribed.
Thank you,
Most Americans do not oppose racial preferences for white people. How can you not know that?
Trump has no limits. Isn’t this judge paying attention?
https://apnews.com/article/7129afbb11d968b42c9500559109f52
It’s great to reflect upon wonderful journalists like Tim Russert! Much luck to Luke as he searches for what’s next. I can’t help but believe that many, many people are searching as well to explore the future! My hope is that those delusional Trump cult members will see the light and reengage in our nation’s best interests to save our democracy! May responsibility and integrity become major planks in our country’s foundation! May truth again be the glue that holds us together! Thanks Joe!
As a 40 year Beltway Republican consultant-type (guess that makes me a RINO but so be it) totally agree w/ your basic premise about GOP losing summer, esp Exhibit A (no brainer to those who can read a poll) and Exhibit B, where Dems have shown uncommon restraint and, as you artfully say, perhaps finally "shedding deference to academic left culture screamers"... well said.