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• Wednesday, May 17, 2006 11:17 PM

  The implosion is going to be bigger than you think.

  I talked about this with my family in the bad days of 1994, and it seems to be coming all too true (fortunately). Te power of the current Republican movement is based on the idea that working together will allow each member of the alliance to gain such political dominion that any “dirty tricks” performed before that day will be rendered moot by the power of the new “ruling class”. The history of this tactic is obvious with the impeachment of Clinton, and the hairpin turn of “deference to the decider” once their man was in power (through a legal decision that rivals “Dread Scott” in its damage to our legal system).

  Here is the fundamental gamble with such an alliance. Once in power, you must be able to make it impossible to challenge your power in any fashion. All three factions failed in tandem to do this. The religo-cons failed to fatally breach the wall between church and state (Terri Schaivo, court packing, gay marriage). The Industrio-cons have failed (partially) to fully implement the K street project where the legislative branch is a stenography pool for vested business interests. Finally, the libertarian/neo-cons failed to execute their grand plan of hegemony over the resources and society of the Middle East, and this is where the real implosion begins. (These are of course hazy boundaries, with much cross pollination, which is what allowed them to work so well together)

  All three factions have honed similar skills in “dirty tricks” (instant religious protests, astro-turf campaigns, swift-boating) over the past twenty years, they have been held together by the dream of dominance which has now gone horribly sour. As much as we “evil” progressives have thwarted them, we “lost” after 9/11 (we are re-building, much faster than they think, but that’s another post). How else to understand this failure? Why can’t the “blessed of God” change the world in their image? Obviously the enemy within, which they have been so good at squashing by any means available.

  But now there is no “other” to point the finger at, so the only possible other is within. (http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_digbysblog_archive.html#114782325663340794 ). All those nasty, yet so, so, so, effective tricks each faction has learned? How easy, how right, to turn those tools against those who betrayed the cause. The religo-cons will turn agains the libertarian-cons for not bowing before god. Industrio-cons, will turn against the religo –cons for making business more difficult over religious issues. The neo-cons turn against the religo-cons for not being good obedient soldiers in changing the world.

  Church protest vs. astro-turf vs. swiftboat……

  Boom.

  —nwithers Read nwithers's other letters
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