Today, as usual, there are lots of diaries noting that the leadership of the Democratic Party is made up of cowards, that the party caves in constantly on important issues (S-Chip, FISA, you name it), sometimes even in advance of confrontation, that Pelosi and Reid cannot lead, and that the leadership doesn't know yet that it's the majority party in Congress. Some have asked whether there is a secret, master plan we are not aware of. Others are exploding in rage at being betrayed (again).
Maybe, I wonder, the leadership's idea is to act like the Rethuglicans. If the idea is to look and act like Republicans, or even Republican-lites, I have some sartorial observations below the fold. I think this might really be all about fashion. I think it's about Democrat Wear.
Join me in the dressing room.
Democrat wear is all about camouflage, looking like you're not a real, fire-breathing liberal. It's about looking like a jackass Rethuglican. A Wiki defines camouflage:
Camouflage, also known as cryptic coloration or concealing coloration, allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain indiscernible from the surrounding environment. Examples include a tiger's stripes and the battledress of a modern soldier. Camouflage is a form of deception.
And why, you might ask, might someone or something wish to remain "indiscernible"?
Well look at this:
Next to the green rock, just to its right, is a Lizard Fish. You can see it if you really try to. And what is this particular Lizard Fish up to? Well, it's hiding so it will not be somebody's lunch. It chooses not to fight, and it chooses not to be attacked. This is a form of survival it has adapted. If the Lizard Fish could kick ass, or if it can kick ass but for some reason doesn't know it, camouflage is a good idea for staying alive in the ocean. The ocean, like Congress, is full of things that eat other, weaker, smaller things.
Which brings us by a roundabout route to people. Today's New York Times brings us this photo:
The coke machine at the right isn't a coke machine. It's a person wearing a coke machine costume. And why is s/he doing that?
Deftly, Ms. Tsukioka, a 29-year-old experimental fashion designer, lifted a flap on her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers — by disguising herself as a vending machine.
The wearer hides behind the sheet, printed with an actual-size photo of a vending machine. Ms. Tsukioka’s clothing is still in development, but she already has several versions, including one that unfolds from a kimono and a deluxe model with four sides for more complete camouflaging.
These elaborate defenses are coming at a time when crime rates are actually declining in Japan. But the Japanese, sensitive to the slightest signs of social fraying, say they feel growing anxiety about safety, fanned by sensationalist news media. Instead of pepper spray, though, they are devising a variety of novel solutions, some high-tech, others quirky, but all reflecting a peculiarly Japanese sensibility.
It's just camouflage, in this case urban, Globalization camouflage.
And the Democrats in Congress? Well, evidently they want to appear to be Rethuglicans. They think it has to do with their survival. If they vote with Retuglicans and join in Rethuglican talking points (not to mention Rethuglican games), and they sound like Rethuglicans, they are "indiscernible" from Rethuglicans. They don't know they can kick ass. They are afraid to be eaten up by the Noise Machine. They are afraid of confrontation. They are afraid to stand up. They are just a form of Lizard Fish. And that, sadly, makes them look just like this:
That's Democrat Wear. Our Congresspersons have fogotten what they are, and they think they've become "indiscernible", and they look in every possible way as if they were more Rethuglicans.
Democrat Wear is the new Black. And that, I'm afraid, is what they've become. They just don't want to be eaten.