The Politics Of Image and Derision

White House and Bush campaign officials have long said that the details matter far less than the pictures and sounds of Mr. Bush talking in any way about his campaign against terrorism, which polls show is still his strongest card against Mr. Kerry.

This is the kind of thing that should be ground out by every single Democrat on radio, television and print. The White House believes that the details matter far less than the pictures and sounds of Junior “talking in any way” about terrorism. Pointing this out — and the loyalty oaths demanded of the crowds, the faux backdrops, the refusal to hold press conferences and explain their policies, could go a long way toward educating the public about what phonies they are.

We haven’t done this and as a result, Karl Rove’s dictum about politics being “TV with the sound turned off” remains absolutely true. Unless half the country has ingested so much lead that their IQ’s have been cut in half, there is no other explanation as to why people see this dancing monkey as a great leader. It’s the images.

The other side of this formula, of course, is their rapier attacks against the Democrats. The Bush campaign has said that its convention will use humor and derision to criticize John Kerry. Josh Marshall points out that this propensity for ridicule seems to be built into the right’s DNA.

Republicans are very good at this. And it can be a tool that is deceptively difficult to respond to or combat. Effective mockery is ‘sticky’, hard to shake off, hard to parry. And it appeals to people’s appetite for fun and humor.

Indeed, it’s not just contemporary Republicans who have a knack for this. There seems to be something intrinsic to the reactionary or right-leaning mentality that gravitates toward this method of political combat. Think of the Tory pamphleteers and essayists of the 18th century in Great Britain or others of a more recent vintage in the US.

I think this is because the right is essentially authoritarian

and group derision is one of the most powerful weapons in the bully’s arsenal. Frat boys, Heathers, street gangs, insider cliques of all kinds use it to terrorize the loners and coerce fealty from those who don’t want to be a target. Indeed, forcing others to join in the cruelty is the actual point. I’ve loathed and resisted this dynamic my whole life. It may be the single most important reason I am a Democrat. I just can’t stand those assholes.

But, it is a very powerful social force that asserts itself in various ways from childhood into old age. Right now, we seem to be in one of those periodic cultural eras in which these kinds of adolescent, anti-intellectual social types come to the fore. (There is no greater example than the president himself — “Fuck Saddam, we’re takin’ ‘im out.”) It’s hard to fight in this environment and while I am all for ridiculing them right back, I’m afraid that most liberals are never going to have quite the flair for it that they do. We have way more genuinely funny guys and gals deflating the hypocricies of our times, but the bullies have that nasty coercive streak that really gives this stuff its punch. “Laugh, you pussies, unless you want a piece of this.”

I spent a lot of time interacting with activist Republicans in years gone by and you’d be surprised at how lame we leftys generally are at this game. The bullies have spent their entire lives eating reasoned arguments and pleas for civility for breakfast. Still, I think it’s a good idea for us to keep at it. They really hate being made fun of. Even if most of us can’t strike that perfect, snarly bitchy tone in our mockery we can still bother them with it.

Unfortunately, however, in the long run the Democratic party really can’t indulge very much in these high school games because the fate of the world depends upon somebody rising above this immaturity. For all of our fractiousness and various feints left, right and center, we are the grown up party. Gawdhelpus.

Update: Sommerby has more on this topic in today’s column. And for the record, I agree with him about Garofolo on Hannity. I love her, but she was unprepared. The “biggest liberal in the senate” line is entirely predictable and she should have had the facts at hand, a ready diversionary feint or some kind of a snarky takedown. This isn’t really a complaint just about her. The Democrats often don’t seem as armed for combat as the Republicans even when they know very well what the RNC talking points are going to be. Garofolo is a very sharp cookie but she needs some help. Gawd knows the GOP helps its talking heads with staff and oppo researchers and clip services up to here. If Janeane and others are going to be voices for the Democrats in the media they need some back-up.