With Marco Rubio’s GOP response to President Obama’s State
of the Union Address, there has been an element of triumphalism in the reaction
of the Democratic Party. Senator Rubio
had an awkward moment during his speech when he reached for a drink of water. The Democratic Party used the occurrence to
emphasize that Mr. Rubio is a flawed product.
Just as a political figure with dark skin tone is “not black
enough” until he or she is a member of the Democratic Party, the same standard
applies to Hispanic political figures.
Unless the individual is a Democrat, he or she is lacking in political
legitimacy.
Senator Rubio finds himself at the center of this cultural phenomenon,
and Americans are wondering, “Is he ready for prime time?”
Saturday
Night Live (SNL) had a parody of Rubio’s “Watergate” moment on Saturday
(2/16/2013) and for extra measure, threw in a sketch portraying Jesus Christ as
a maniac in “DJesus
Uncrossed.” This upped the ante
associated with President Obama’s characterization of Republicans as those who
“cling to guns or religion or antipathy.”
The “DJesus” segment got the attention of Sean Hannity, who featured
it on his television show. Mr.
Hannity cast the blasphemy of the skit as an affront to Christianity.
Unfortunately, he missed the main point: The Themes.
Let me quickly review them for your reference. There are six of them:
* Republican are bad people (racist, homophobic, and bigoted).
* Republicans are destroying the environment.
* Republicans are harming our children.
* Republicans are stealing from our Seniors.
* Republicans are shredding the Constitution.
* Republicans are turning the economy into a catastrophe.
These are the six anti-Republican messages our culture
drives home to Americans day after day.
Surprisingly, Republicans seem unaware of them. They know there is a “double standard” in
American politics, but can’t figure out why it exists.
Take the SNL skit as an example. The sketch is creative, edgy and irreverent; classic
SNL. And yet Sean Hannity (in perhaps “Rubio
Watergate” fashion) goes for the wrong target.
He rises to the defense of Christianity.
Analyze this in the context of America’s anti-gun debate. Republicans are characterized as killers, or
people who actively want to harm our children.
How do Republicans respond?
Rather than point to the scurrilous nature of the characterizations, Republicans
defend the Second Amendment!
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Our Constitution has legal scholars to defend it. Christianity has ardent followers to defend
it. The Republican Party needs to
concentrate on the task at hand: Counter the themes being used to define
Republicans to the American people.
Instead of working the blasphemy aspect, Sean Hannity should
have pointed out how SNL is re-working the “Republicans are bad people” theme,
casting Republicans as the bitter clingers portrayed so effectively by our
President. SNL uses religion and
entertainment as a vehicle, and presents Republicans not only as bigots, but as
outright killers! This is effective, but
only if it is not exposed as an
obvious use of “The Themes.”
That didn’t happen. Sean
Hannity makes Republicans seem peevish and demonstrably humorless.
Mission accomplished, Mr. Hannity! (That’s sarcasm.)
The Democratic Party gets to claim a victory with this
incident, and it’s another in a long string of victories based on employment of
“The Themes.”
We saw a deft working of “The Themes” with the Romney 2012
presidential campaign. The Democratic
Party reinforced the theme that Republicans are bad people, with the 2012
campaign taking it to new heights. Mitt Romney ended up being Electro-Borked!
Americans
learned that Mr. Romney would put the family dog on top of the car, place
people with dark skin tone in chains, cause Americans to lose their jobs, and
kill women with cancer.
Are there more examples?
Well, yes there are! For every 21st
century event in national politics, the themes are there…
No Child Left Behind – “Republicans are harming our children.”
The Affordable Care Act – “Republicans are bad people.”
The Fiscal Cliff; Debt Ceiling; Sequestration – “Republicans are turning the economy into a catastrophe.”
The Patriot Act – “Republicans are shredding the Constitution.”
Medicare and Social Security Reform – “Republicans are stealing from our Seniors.”
Climate Change, Keystone, ANWR – “Republicans are destroying the environment.”
Gun Control, Voter ID, Immigration – “Republicans are bad people.”
CPAC (the
annual conference of the American Conservative Union) is being held in
Washington next month. If conservatives
are truly interested in fighting back against America’s political double
standard, they should study “The Themes” and determine an effective counter
strategy. Ignoring this political threat
is insanity.
My hope is that Americans “take off the blinders” and see
the instruments being employed by the Democratic Party to change American
culture.
It might be too much to ask, but high-ranking Republicans need
to lead the way.
UPDATE 2/28/2013:
Bob Woodward has the courage to confront the "Republicans are turning the economy into a catastrophe" theme. Ron Fournier rises to his defense.
UPDATE 2/28/2013:
Bob Woodward has the courage to confront the "Republicans are turning the economy into a catastrophe" theme. Ron Fournier rises to his defense.
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