For far too long, we on the left have been tied into knots by the hard rights ability to scare the populace with labels such as "tax and spend" "socialist" "welfare queen" etc. etc. etc. and drive accompanying narratives that made Republicans seem like some sort of free market defenders of all that is good and pure about the generic definition of America. Against that tide we have again and again been unable to win the narrative battles with those we needed (the media, swing voters, co-workers, family, friends, etc.) to frame this discussion in a way that would allow us to successfully push nationalized health care, comprehensive poverty relief, an energy policy that makes even a shred of sense and like programs.
And then, this past week happened, and George Bush decisively led this country into socialism.
And with that move by the Bushies, we just got the rhetorical high ground. Whether it was a good idea or bad idea to in effect nationalize the nation's mortgage market and insurance market, not to mention nationalize the very financial markets that define in large part who we are economically as a nation, it has been done without a shred of protest from those that claim to be "conservative". Giddyup, that.
That means, assuming that we push this advantage into November and claim the White House, it should be far, far easier to accomplish the following:
- Re-regulate industries that too long have been unfettered and crooked. Glass-Steagall needs to come back. What is the counter-argument going to be from the Repubs to that? That it inhibits free markets? Ha! Those markets are socialized now, the notion of the free market regulating itself is dead and gone, a relic of the inevitable conclusion of the Reagen/Bush years and doctrine. We no longer have to run from that argument, instead, we need to press our advantage that since this historic step has been taken by Bushies (a Nixon-to-China moment if ever there was one) it is simply now a matter of defining the terms of our socialims. Our price for that ought to be the reinstitution of the checks needed to keep this from happening again.
- Health care. National health care. We're finally gonna get us some of that. What are the arguments against it now that hold water? That it's expensive? Well, yeah. So is running AIG, the Macs, and guaranteeting crooked financial deals with a rumored 500 billion to 1 trillion dollar slush fund. And we are doing all that without blinking, apparently (or even having a public discussion...just what are they up to in Washington, this weekend?).
Will they still argue that national health care is socialism (or socialistic)? Well, yeah, but we now know the country has no problems with that concept. Have any of you who have to operate around Repubs engaged them in this discussion this week? I have at work. And it has been delicious. I simply mention that its time for nationalized health care since we have now embraced socialism and they really don't have anything to say back about it. Why? Because they have lost the framework for the argument. Hard to argue against health care for all when we are footing the bill for corporate shenanigans...
- Breathing life into Obama's vision for work programs reminiscent of the New Deal surrounding the energy crisis and the need to go green. How well can Repubs argue against this in light of the largesse paid to vast segments of the country's financial and insurance sectors this week? When the free market has failed and been acknowledged as failing as the Bushies have been forced to acknowledge this week, then attempts to attack ideas such as Obama has for putting people to work will be awfully hard to mount with any kind of punch as the rhetorical framework for attacking those ideas from the right has been critically wounded.
It seems to me that we now own the high ground with regard to framing these issues on the left, and simply need to take the opening that the Bushies and the right has handed us to go ahead and forward our agenda in the coming months. Frankly, the country is going to desperately need us to take advantage of this opportunity, as the Republic does indeed, at this point, stand on the edge of an economic knife. If you didn't get a chance to see it last night, check out Paul Krugman on Maddow's fine show on where we stand:
http://www.youtube.com/...
The highlights:
- The gov't isn't being very forthcoming, but it appears that we were within days and may still be of the complete collapse of financial institutions. Think 1931.
- If that were to happen, credit is gone. As in, no one can get a loan. Any loan. Think 1932.
These kinds of times call for bold leadership.
We have been given the opportunity to finally win the frame of this discussion as the terms that usually box us in have completely been ripped away from the right, ironically, by the right themselves. Time to assert ourselves as a movement and make some positive changes for this country and the world. Offense feels so much better than defense, and thanks to all those chickens coming home to roost from the deregulation gang, all those things we have been warning of are coming to pass.
Time to set things right.