...there is a season, spin-spin-spin;
and a spin for ev'ry screw-up under Heaven.
(OS can still hear the Byrds sing.)
This time, it's Robert Reich. He has reason to engage in pre-election spinning of results that are going to be dire for his posse. After all, he is one of the brain trust who advised the Obama transition team on matters economic, before returning to the safety of academia. That could have turned out better, one concludes...
His spin is: Well, people gets all upset in the first two years of a presidency, and besides presidents don't have that much say in how economies fare. and besides those Wascally Wepubwikans are meeeeannnn, shallow, authoritarian types, not enlightened and easygoing like us nice Democrats, so any thought of Himself changing anything should be banished from His Most Precious Mind, because those voters don't know nuthin' anyway. Just ignore those rubes. You izzz Da Wan!
Fer instance:
By the first midterm the public is almost always grouchy because the president wasn’t a messiah and didn’t change the world. No single president has that kind of power. The higher the expectations for change at the start of an administration, the greater the disillusionment.
Well, Bubbah Bobby, who-da-hell whipped up all them expectations? He Himself spoke of Himself in messianic language, if memory serves. Remember the iconic 'Hope' posters that seemed to pop up everywhere? The speech in Berlin, where he tried to portray himself as the new Kennedy? The journey to Washington that recreated Lincoln's journey to Washington? Starting off yoh' Presidency by printin' up and spendin' some 800 billion bucks, takin' over GM and Chrysler and handing them to the UAW and Fiat respectively? Remember that? All them shuttered-up car dealers? All that shit wuz DELIBERATE, Bubbah. Then there's that unemployment thang. Remember how Himself promised it would go below 8% if He got to spend Him 800 billion dollars to kick things off? Need any more 'xamples, or iz that enuf fer yew?
And youze surprahzed when people gets all pissed-off and stuff when things go so profoundly sour? What are you folks in Kuhlifornia smokin' after all? That there meth stuff will mess yo' brain up fer shure. Then there's all that Kool-Aid consumption--that don't help neither.
And there's this loo-loo:
Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It’s far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.
Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.
Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.
Well, at least he's candid about his contempt of the people who disagree with him and Himself. But, as OS has noted, candor can be dangerous.
So, does Reich get canned for his candor, or is freedom of speech still only reserved for the left, and the Friends of Himself?
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