I have to disagree with the about-to-be-much-missed Frank Rich (while I'm not whining about the Times op-ed folks being behind a paid firewall as of tomorrow, I will miss reading this guy's stuff) when he says Katrina will prove the unmasking of George Bush. It's a nice thought, but pardon my cynicism in speculating that it's not going to happen for much of his base that would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich (see quote below), but still appreciate the image of "the kind of guy Joe Six-pack would like to have a beer with," as if a bumbling guzzler were the person you'd want as leader of the free world instead of a clear-headed wonk who's smarter than you. These are the same folks who look at pictures like this:
And they think, "well, good for him, he takes bathroom breaks and misbuttons his shirt and flop-sweats just like the rest of us ordinary folks!"
I was taken aback yesterday when Robin pointed out that my audioblog with MadKane wouldn't be understood by much of Bush's base as anything but an elitist in-joke because so many of them had probably never heard the original quote from Cheney, much less the response from Dr. Marble that elicited my quip as to whether I was famous yet. And I thought about it, and it may very well be true, and play into the base's carefully-cultivated assumptions that only liberal elitists use obscenities. But even if it's not, it still plays into their carefully-cultivated assumptions that conservative elitists are nothing more than regular good-ol'-boys who live on southern ranches (not New England estates as in reality) and cuss and drink too much and roll up their sleeves just like they (the base) fancy themselves to be. And that's kind of the definition of "damned if we do, damned if we don't" right there. And that's why the "image-mongering" that Frank Rich and many of us deplore is still working, and shows little sign to my mind of suddenly not working.
Update: What happens when spin-doctors go bad (read: good)? Via Robin, the Daily Mail's serialization of excerpts from Lance Price's diary and accompanying editorial.
And they think, "well, good for him, he takes bathroom breaks and misbuttons his shirt and flop-sweats just like the rest of us ordinary folks!"
I was taken aback yesterday when Robin pointed out that my audioblog with MadKane wouldn't be understood by much of Bush's base as anything but an elitist in-joke because so many of them had probably never heard the original quote from Cheney, much less the response from Dr. Marble that elicited my quip as to whether I was famous yet. And I thought about it, and it may very well be true, and play into the base's carefully-cultivated assumptions that only liberal elitists use obscenities. But even if it's not, it still plays into their carefully-cultivated assumptions that conservative elitists are nothing more than regular good-ol'-boys who live on southern ranches (not New England estates as in reality) and cuss and drink too much and roll up their sleeves just like they (the base) fancy themselves to be. And that's kind of the definition of "damned if we do, damned if we don't" right there. And that's why the "image-mongering" that Frank Rich and many of us deplore is still working, and shows little sign to my mind of suddenly not working.
Update: What happens when spin-doctors go bad (read: good)? Via Robin, the Daily Mail's serialization of excerpts from Lance Price's diary and accompanying editorial.
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