Sometimes called the Theater of the Absurd, Kabuki Theater seems to be all the rage in modeling the stagecraft that passes for governing. Whereas in reality, so much of the Kabuki is simply a face-saving exercise, designed to paper-over the GOP's governing subplot: intentional gridlock.
First some background:
Kabuki Theatre
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Kabuki
Wikipedia
Kabuki is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
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Chief among these is the concept of jo-ha-kyū, which states that dramatic pacing should start slow, speed up, and end quickly.
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Nearly every full-length play occupies five acts. The first corresponds to jo, an auspicious and slow opening which introduces the audience to the characters and the plot. The next three acts correspond to ha, speeding events up, culminating almost always in a great moment of drama or tragedy in the third act and possibly a battle in the second and/or fourth acts. The final act, corresponding to kyū, is almost always short, providing a quick and satisfying conclusion.
If they're going to insist on doing Kabuki Theater, every time the Government has to do its job -- they should at least try to get the "closing act" right!
Next, here's some not-so-humorous history, told in a fun-to-learn fashion. Thanks Jon:
Daily Show: Bipartisan Health Care Kabuki Theater Summit
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Finally some "progressive commentary" on the social damage caused by the GOP's intentional strategy to "wreck the economy" in hopes of blaming it on Obama:
RT & Sam Seder: Debt ceiling political Kabuki theater
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Kabuki Theater may be a fine way to spend an afternoon, to broaden your historical and cultural awareness. But it is a terrible way to conduct a Government. And as those clips have shown, the traditional media are often unwitting accomplices -- often acting even as the Theater Ushers -- allowing and even encouraging this ritual stagecraft melodrama, instead analyzing and reporting on the real issues, behind the posturing.
Act 2: Watch as one of the bit players sets up the plot:
White House: Payroll tax fight "kabuki theater"
by Lucy Madison, CBSNews -- Dec 19, 2011
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday accused House Republicans of turning the fight over the a bill extending the payroll tax cut into "kabuki theater," and urged House Republicans to break with party leadership and vote for the measure.
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"There's a bit of a kabuki theater going on here," Carney told reporters Monday in a White House briefing. "It makes getting things done on behalf of the American people pretty difficult when you have that kind of volatility and have that situation where the things that have broad bipartisan support, have broad, broad American public support cannot get done because of a sub-faction of one party in one house basically dictating the direction of the majority in that house. It makes it very difficult."
In an overwhelming -- and increasingly rare -- show of bipartisanship, the Senate on Saturday passed a two-month payroll tax cut extension that had previously been negotiated by Senate leaders Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The bill, which passed 89-10 with the support of all but seven Republicans, one independent and two Democrats.
Protagonist enters stage, Act 3:
Obama directly calls out Boehner: Stop the games
by Greg Sargent, washingtonpost -- Dec 20, 2011
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Obama made a surprise appearance before reporters and called out John Boehner in the most direct terms yet to stop the games and pass the Senate proposal. He said:
House Republicans say they don’t dispute the need for a payroll tax cut. What they are holding out for is to wring concessions from Democrats on issues that have nothing to do with the payroll tax cut -- issues where the parties fundamentally disagree. A one year deal is not the issue...
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I saw today that one of the House Republicans referred to what they’re doing as “high stakes poker.” He’s right about the stakes. But this is not poker....This is not a game for the average family who doesn’t have 1,000 bucks to lose. It’s not a game for somebody who’s out there looking for work right now, and might lose his house if unemployment insurance doesn’t come through. It’s not a game when the millions of Americans take a hit when the entire economy grows more slowly because these proposals aren’t extended...
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Act 4: Antagonists hurriedly set up a faux TV Press Conference this morning, demanding the mock-attendance of their rhetorical foils ...
And the drama continues ... while average working people continue to get hurt by the GOP's over-arching game-plan to "prove that government is broken" -- and they're just the ones to dismantle it further -- and sell it off for parts.
That's their specialty, if you can see past their smiling facades.