Watching the Republican Party mindlessly continue in its plunge to ever more complete irrelevance, one unavoidably wonders if some sort of larger plan lurks below the gaseous frenzy of the synchronized "talking points," unchallenged, deceptive comments in interviews and the flat out zaniness of the tiny fringe dramatics of Tea Baggers, militias and other drooling Southerners.
MeanMesa feels obliged to present some possible generalizations which might touch on the common ambitions represented in such a maelstrom apparently disassociated "cannon fire." No matter how disorganized the immediate "big picture" might seem to the casual observer, there are, indeed, some common themes coursing through the smoke which might reveal a larger plan.
Of course, the observation that a daily ration of highly coordinated terms and "talking points" emerge, seemingly based on an impressive "lock step" continuity of zombie-like homogeneity of thought, is suspicious enough. How can the objective observer think that these highly specific, inflammatory terms just simply "came to mind" spontaneously to anchor literally dozens of comments from different speakers on a given day?
Is there an underlying strategy which will reveal this unexpected, unsettling and unlikely singleness of expression?
Most likely, there is. MeanMesa will avoid any speculation as to the source of origin for such a questionable synchroneity. That would entail yet another plunge into conspiracy theories which might dilute the intended focus. There will be plenty of time for such postings later.
The Republican Strategy
1. Sustain and enlarge the uninformed tantrum of the Republican base
Although this priority might, at first, seem to be central to the over all theme of the "divide and conquer" operation going on amid the GOP, their "straw men spokesmen" and their highly effective -- and unchallenged -- Congressional liars in interviews, it actually serves only as a minor distraction.
Of course, it is important to retain the fury of the marching horde of "hill billies and bigots" to plump up what would otherwise be far less notable affairs such as Tea Bagger rallies, health care hating festivals and other small gatherings of eschatological doom sayers. However, Republicans know that these little pockets of truly purified medievalism will never represent a foundation for a working majority when it comes to election time.
For these groups, an on-going state of "out of control" frenzy will be suitable enough. All these wing nuts must fit in somewhere, and the party circuit of overly publicized "news" coverage is both a convenient and a relatively safe political cul-de-sac where they can be stored for use later if they are needed.
2. Take Your Lumps, but Drag the Democrats Down With You
Public approval of the Congress is at an historic low already. The Republicans have correctly gauged this bad reputation to be one of the few common opinions remaining in an exhausted electorate which is actually bi-partisan.
The PR problem the Republicans seem have "sewn into their seams" arises from the image of relentless corruption. The PR problem the opposing Democrats seem to have in "their seams" stems from perceptions of inaction. Because the neo-cons have fastidiously concentrated on the purchase and ownership of all commercial media, these lingering public opinions have been carefully manipulated. In the absence of contradictory information, the innuendoes craftily inserted at the most fundamental "word selection" level have been discouragingly effective.
Using the broad term "Party of No" has worked to some extent to reveal Republican obstructionism in the most glaring cases, but even that populist concept loses too much "octane" to present the gravity of the whole effort. Voters can see and understand GOP obstructionism in spectacular examples, but, an objective view of how destructively thorough-going that effort has been in hundreds of other, less salient cases continues to elude them.
The GOP Party Leadership has clearly adopted the idea that it can emerge a winner, although an admittedly "wounded" winner, by simply making every effort to stop the progress of every tiniest tid-bit of Democratic proposals for legislation, thus reinforcing the "inaction" criticism.
Further, this effort has a definite time-line. The "inaction" idea must be constantly promoted at any cost right up to the mid term elections this November. This explanation accounts for the continuous pleas to "slow down" all Democratic legislation for "more debate."
It also helps to explain that when legislation makes its journey too quickly, it becomes slightly more difficult to loot it.
3. Create Suspicion Then Constantly Reinforce It
At the ground level, the "dust cloud" constantly raised by the true crazies is effective enough to camouflage both some of the impact of the outrages of hypocrisy and some of the more flagrant criminality of the hyper greedy within the Congressional GOP. However, as mentioned before, the "dust cloud" will never serve to swing elections.
No matter how distasteful it might be to radical neo-cons, elections are still won and lost by the perceptions entering the booth with the voter. The most egregiously flamboyant antics always serve as "good cover," but there remains the troubling centrality of the mind of the voter who will be pulling the level on that ballot.
If the thoughts of that "voting mind" can be contaminated with suspicions inserted over time by "toxic capsules" of deception and mis-information the lever's product might migrate to become a Republican advantage. Advantage? Spell that "p-o-w-e-r." Eagerly discharging any thought for the good of the country, the entire Republican priority system is comprised of politics, and that "political" obsession has absolutely no meaning beyond simply winning elections.
4. Disguise the Legislative "Yard Sale" as Thoughtful Caution
A conventional understanding of the legislative process goes a long way in explaining why such matters always seem to take more time than we would like. There are discrete cycles in the journey a bill must make to reach the all important "floor vote" we see on C-Span.
We are "lulled" into a remarkably compliant acceptance of the necessity of "negotiating" delays all along the course of a bill's development.
However, it is becoming increasingly clear that one of these routine "tasks" -- as seen by the corrupt neo-cons in the Congress -- is to carefully examine every aspect of each piece of legislation to relentlessly extract even the smallest possibility of exactly what is contained there which "might be sold" to a, uh, campaign contributor.
Once those "opportunities" have been detected, the "negotiating" can begin. The goal of the "negotiations?" The goal will be presented as some sort of ideological purification to provide the necessary cover to disguise the more pedestrian, "campaign contribution" possibilities of such a change. If some advantage can be extracted from such "negotiated changes" to a piece of legislation, that same advantage can be sold at the neo-con "Yard Sale."
All that need to be added is a willing buyer, and, believe MeanMesa here, the neo-cons have lists of them. K-Street and C-Street, Pharma, Big Oil and Defense Contractors -- for starters -- make certain that the "return address" list is perpetually plumped up, current and ready to go.
MeanMesa's message is the same. Find good news sources, inform yourself about these issues, then talk to every fellow citizen and voter who will listen to you. Find out what your Congressman -- regardless of party -- is doing. Then get involved. Elect people you can trust to look out for your interests.
There are 6 months between now and the mid-terms. MeanMesa is determined to make sure that voters in this neighborhood aren't suffering from any short term -- or long term -- memory loss when they enter those voting booths in November.
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