A Must Read for Everyone

John Cole has written a remarkable piece in which he distills the entire American political/media dynamic in one horrible, all-too accurate scenario.

It really captures the essence of our dysfunctional and sad politics and the way in which the media feeds into it, inevitably in a way that the right wing somehow always wins. 

Discouraging, but illuminating.   

h/t to the inestimable Roy Edroso, who has his own rather pithy summary of Cole's piece, while urging everyone to read the original in full.

Comments

[corvus9]

What, you don't read Balloon Juice daily, Sir Charles? I read that piece yesterday, and thought it was godly. Hell, I haven't even clicked the link, and I know which post you are talking about. Truly the most discouraging, yet refreshing thing I have read all month.

[corvus9]

Also, as I see you sent me this direction in the last thread I suppose I should highlight this here. Durbin has thrown his support to the Harkin plan, which can only be good news on the filibuster front.

Ok, maybe not, because I feel like Durbin has a tendency to be on the last Senators still supporting noble goals when the rest of them are running for the hills, (cramdown, Guantanamo) so this could be the kiss of death here, but some one in leadership needs to come down in favor, and now we have that.

[Sir Charles]

Corvus,

I read it most days, although not every day. I really like John Cole, but I thought this was an exceptional piece.

Dick Durbin is a genuinely good guy and I would rather have him serving as leader than Reid. He was really righteous on bankruptcy cramdown and was deeply upset that he couldn't get the caucus to support it. He was proven correct of course.

[litbrit]

From Roy: It's an unavoidable problem, I fear, of democracy in an age of mass communications and dwindling dollars. To the honorable old question, why oh why can't we have a better press corps? I can only answer: No money in it. [...] But from what I've seen, it's more like the progress of junk food: from an agreeable, consistent, and convenient substitute for the real thing, to something everyone eats and nobody remembers is junk.

God, I love him. I hereby nominate Sir C to have his babies. ;-)

[ikl]

I'm not sure if it is the blog, or just that I appreciate it more, but I think that Ballon Juice has been absolutely terrific lately. I didn't really think that post particularly stood out because I think that so many of the recent posts have been so good.

[Sir Charles]

ikl,

I realy like the blog too -- I finally put it on my favorites list so that I will remember to view it every day.

I really liked this post because I thought it captured in one go the maddening cycle that I feel like I see going on day after day.

[Sir Charles]

Deborah,

I am sure that Roy and I would have babies that would be expelled from school by the second grade, so corrosive would there wit be and so deep their cynicism.

[corvus9]

Sir Charles, I like that aspect too, but what I really enjoyed was how it pointed out how completely useless "reasonable conservatives" are. Here's James Joyner, trying to be helpful, but he just doesn't get that nobody cares what he has to say, that his ideas will never be enacted, are not a possible route for policy, because there are no conservatives who will actually work to support it, and thus no reason for liberal to bother trying to engage you to pragmatically make things better. It's why I can't read Obsidian Wings or League of Ordinary Gentlemen anymore. It seems like every other post on those blogs is von or ED Kain trying to explain some "sensible, market-friendly" reforms that liberals and conservatives should come together on, and how it's still possible for there to be a compromise bill, and there are only so many words I can read where I think the author is in a fantasy land before I lose patience, you know? (Unless wizards show up.) Conservatives aren't interested in reforms unless they allow business and the rich to more easily accumulate and hold onto money, and I can't respect the intelligence of anyone who doesn't get that, no matter what grade-level you write at. And in the marketplace of ideas, morons just aren't worth my free-time.

One of the things I really like about John Cole is that when he woke up, he really woke up, and saw the sham in all its dimensions. He didn't keep trying to sell a phantom ideology to some "open-minded" liberal audience. He saw it was all bullshit, and now he is one of the best bullshit-explainers in the business.

[Krubozumo Nyankoye]

It would be funny if it were not true. It is reinforcing to the extent that we all now know that at least one other person than ourselves percieves things similarly. But the vexing question is what can we DO about it.

As you float along with the current in any wide calm Amazonian river, it is usually silent, but when you begin to hear the distinctive sounds of water falls you make for shore and figure out how to get around the declivity.

The senate appears like a nightmarish party boat where you are one of the 100 revelers, you can distinctly hear the roar of the tons of water plunging over the edge onto the rocks below, and yet no-one else on board is even aware they are on a boat, the same boat.

What are we to do? That seems to be the key question.