The Republican debate in Florida was an eye-opener wasn't it?
The NeoCON party has found themselves in a return to the Summer of Love.
They seem to be suddenly high on love & group hugs amongst themselves as they jockey for position.
Break out the day-glo colors any time!
Just don't be too quick to include Obama or Edwards or Hillary or anyone in the center in that outpouring.
I puzzle as to what our political world has come to when there is a NeoCON Republican Love Fest on TV.
I watched the Florida Republican debate with rapt attention to see who would dig down & rip each other first, in order to stand out in contrast to the pale gray mush in smart designer silk suits they represent.
Ohmygod! They didn't rip each other overmuch! Had the earth moved? Did I doze? Was there a popping sound as the axis of the globe shifted?
It gave me pause to wonder if I misunderstood them to this point.
Just because they wear suits & ties & look uncomfortably stodgy as they sell & screw us, that in reality they were all channeling Jimmy Hendrix & caring for the earth deep down under those expensive exteriors.
That they were all "mavericks" like McCain gets painted for.
Simply because of his deviance on one or two party positions - he's willing to stutter step in the march & that a little hitch in his walk suddenly qualifies him a Maverick --- a rootin' tootin' Riverboat Gambler.
After all, the Republican candidates seem to be admitting to the evidence of global warming, despite the creationists aboard. A very left & earth friendly position to give lip service to.
They talk about taking care of the average American - the forgotten, discarded class most of us fit into, despite fancying ourselves as "high rollers." We've suddenly been discovered as the backbone of this nation!
The financiers of the economic revitalization of the nation on our plastic.
They talk about Apollo energy programs! How novel.
Something that began in progressive & scientific communities.
Something which has been touted now for years by commentators on the left, like Al Franken who brought actual scientists to his show. Now that energy initiative is re-invented as it suddenly enters the arena on the right. Suddenly their stream of consciousness.
Then just as SUDDENLY I was struck by the parallel to other things in our world, in my life.
Ever had a trend, a sports team or maybe an old band that you really liked but was awash in obscurity? They just weren't "with it" as far as broad popularity. They weren't seen as successful or playoff material? Didn't have cash value?
Then I recognized the new found "greenness," the guise of love. The color greenis the color of money & jealousy too.
The touchy-feely right wing empathy was all about political chameleons & bandwagon claim jumpers. Right out of the Old West.
Now that band you've liked cuts an album & goes on a revival tour, maybe has a posthumous "best-of" album issued. Becomes "hot," "trendy" once again. They have cash value.
Now you have those snarky people who abhored your mention of good ol' Hendrix or UB40, Curt Cobain, Lawrence Welk, Thelonius Monk or The Rolling Stones suddenly embrace them as their own. Singing the praises back into your face as though they sprang full grown from the womb just yesterday & were discovered by your friends.
I came to understand political expediency & absorption:
That when you steal the cattle off the range - you must be sure to brand them as your own.
Let's remember the cautions by the late great Molly Ivins when she told us about Bush as Governor in Texas.
Bush did not invent anything in Texas,
he merely adopted strategies that had political potential - and branded the cattle that he rustled!!!!!
This is more of the Bush legacy - REBRANDING under their logo.,
More of the same by the Republicans who know to get in front of a moving parade to make it look like they are leading it. Glomming onto a winning formula.
And here I thought my old vinyl had come back!