Yes, folks, another sighting of a forward scout for the new Washington-Is-Broken-We're Here-To-Save-You-Party! It won't be long now, or as in the words of the scout himself, "Timing: just over the horizon."
I am speaking, of course of the No Labels Party . . . um . . . PAC . . . coalition . . .not a party . . . a movement - oh, whatever the hell they call themselves!
For background, you might read a previous diary I wrote a month or so ago, when it started being evident what was going on:Oh Look! The Centrist Corporatist Cavalry Is About to Ride to the Rescue which was about 2 emerging and converging entities, No Labels and the even more mysterious Americans Elect.
In that diary I stated:
There will be a Third Party, it will appear very soon, but it won't be a Labor Progressive Party. It will be a party that capitalizes on the frustration of "centrists" in both parties who will then divorce their far right( Tea Party) and far left (Progressive) flanks respectively. . .
Important pieces of the new Centrist Corporatist Party are becoming more evident everyday as are the linguistic framing devices and commentary prepping the ground for their arrival. I will lay the breadcrumbs for you to follow in the future and see if I am correct or not.
Well here is today's breadcrumb. Actually, it's so large it's more like a bagel than a bread crumb. Ta dah! Today we have Gary Hart announcing on his blog and on Huffington Post - the Party Of Patriots! I personally can't believe they would go that cheesy for the actual name. I'm hoping it's just his descriptive for my much better name IMHO, the Centrist Corporatist Cavalry.
Party of Patriots
Party of Patriots
Gary Hart
Posted: 9/4/11 03:15 PM ET
Manifesto: We believe that: we are all in this together; a just society protects its children, elderly, and disabled; all are entitled to a healthy environment; the able-bodied should have the opportunity to work; corporations and banks should deal honestly with consumers; workers' safety deserves protection; quality public education is crucial to democracy; special interests should not finance campaigns; our foreign policy should reflect our highest principles; judges should be appointed on merit not ideology; foreign oil is not worth American blood; our government should protect our Constitutional rights.
Read more at the link
It all sounds good doesn't it? But that is the entire point. Please go Google No labels and Americans Elect and find out all the luminaries mentioned. Once you see the names involved, you will have an understanding of why I greet the rhetoric so cynically - who wouldn't trust types like Evan Bayh and Joe Lieberman to guide their future?
Now I could be completely wrong and perhaps Gary Hart is writing about some completely different group or entity, but I don't think so. One of the founders of No Labels happens to be described as a "strategic adviser, fundraiser and relationship/network cultivator for Gary Hart, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Evan Bayh." see here
I see this group as being the new, behind the scenes, Potemkin Political Party du jour, just as the Tea Party was. You want anger? We got anger. And the Tea Party gets trotted out. You want can't we all just get along? We got can't we all just get along? And these guys get trotted out.
These are fake factions created solely to push a specific political agenda. Mark my words, these new guys will be Responsible. Serious. Adult. Civil. as they:
privatize more functions of government, push austerity, voucherize public education, and cut Medicare and Social Security.
In my last diary on this topic, I said
This is my tree falling in the forest diary about a "post-partisan" centrist (really far right) corporatist neoliberal neoconservative consortium becoming prominent and evident in the very near future.
Well Gary Hart says I was right - "Just over the horizon."
So, my little cabbages, I do think things are about to get very interesting.