Something Matt Taibbi said in the comments to the terrific Book Salon below got me thinking about the role of cynicism in American politics:

I get that “cynical” thing all the time but I disagree that I’m a cynic. Ambrose Bierce said that a cynic is a “blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they should be.” But if you see them as they are AND how they should be, and you’re trying to be upset about the distance between the two, that’s not cynicism, that’s just being outraged like any normal person would be. The problem we have in our media is that too many journalists act like the stuff they cover is okay because people have always acted like it’s okay. If Tom Brokaw isn’t screaming “WHAT THE FUCK!” when he reads the news, nobody else will. But they should, sometimes. That’s sort of where I see my role. I don’t think that’s a cynical approach. Tom Friedman, making gazillions of money saying nothing and blowing powerful people, that’s cynicism.

If the last eight years haven’t made you cynical, well, you probably need lots of help overcoming your drinking problem. But cynicism can either make you angry enough to try to change something, or it can make you sit on your ass — out of despair, or a belief that you’re too damn cool to sully yourself with the political dirt: whatever, the effect is the same. You’re on your ass, out of the game, and that’s a small comfort to some real sonofabitches out there.

The GOP and their enablers & hangers-on want to make you too cynical to do anything. But even though this particular tactic is rather more subtle than the usual "liberals hate America!" stuff, it’s getting awfully worn out. We’ve seen this before. Like many another fishy conservative stratagem it has been left out so long even a half-starved cat won’t eat it. But they won’t stop sticking it under your nose.

To wit. Here’s David Brooks, who is overcome with ennui.

Why is there no zip in my zest, no snap in my vigor? Why does my mood stretch out blue and lifeless, like a patient etherized upon a table?

Here we have two outstanding presidential candidates. The Economist magazine, which is so much cleverer than the rest of us, lauds them as the best of America. And yet somehow the campaign is not exactly Lincoln v. Douglas or Plato v. Aristotle. Every day’s issue blip is more trivial than the last. McCain used some unfortunate phrase about American troops staying in Iraq and the Obama henchmen launched a thousand conference calls twisting the phrase entirely out of context and claiming that McCain doesn’t care about the fate of the troops. James Johnson, Obama’s V.P. vetter and a highly respected political practitioner, takes an insider loan or two and the entire McCain apparatus erupts as if this transgression reflects directly on Obama’s fitness for office.

Right. On the ‘tubes the pundits come and go, but none quite wanks like ‘ol Bobo.

As usual with Brooks it’s hard to tell where to start peeling the Onion of Suck. First, it’s pretty rich seeing David Brooks whine about the elevation of the trivial in the context of a presidential election, not least after seeing as how he just got his salad tossed at Applebee’s. Second, the two examples of horribly unfair mudslinging are not remotely equivalent. What the Obama camp is saying about McCain’s "100, even 10,000 Years in Iraq!" stuff happens to be a valid criticism, in that when you put it back into context, it is clear that McCain is nuts. Third, the stuff about Obama’s VP vetter really is stupid — but then, that’s the point, isn’t it?

Pretend that Obama rightly pointing out that McCain makes no sense on Iraq is the exact same thing as a nonsense gotcha from McCain. And for the rest of your performance, make like Obama is an unethical hypocrite for wanting to reduce the influence of lobbyists in politics. (No, Brooks really says that.)

David Brooks may be stupid, but he’s not stupid. (You know what I mean.) Oh, they are all the same, those politicians! It is all so wearying! Why… even try… too… tiring… they play these awful games… even that young well-spoken black fellow of who I had such high hopes… oh how dispiriting… please, I have some Amontillado down there behind those stones, why don’t you go find it…

The absolute last thing Brooks wants is for anyone to get thinking that this election matters or might represent some sort of change. Take your cynicism back to the couch, you.

And it gets better: note the idea that to fight back against idiot smears is somehow declasse. Observe how the narrative will develop as Obama says he won’t put up with it:

Barack Obama is warning supporters that the general election fight between him and John McCain may get ugly, but the Illinois senator is vowing not to back down.

"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," Obama said at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, according to pool reports.

"We don’t have a choice but to win," Obama said, joking that he has heard "folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles games."

Obama again said that the GOP will make try to make him look "scary" to voters.

Oh but it is so rude of that scary black man to point out the obvious!

McCain and the RNC took on the comment in terms that will be very familiar to people who followed Clinton campaign statements last year:

“Barack Obama’s call for ‘new politics’ is officially over. In just 24 hours, Barack Obama attacked one of America’s pioneering women CEOs, rejected a series of joint bipartisan town halls, and said that if there’s a political knife fight, he’d bring a gun," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said, referring also to the Obama campaign’s shot at Carly Fiorina’s lavish pay package and role in layoffs at Hewlett-Packard.

“Why is Barack Obama so negative? In the last 24 hours, he’s completely abandoned his campaign’s call for ‘new politics,’ equating the election to a ‘brawl’ and promising to ‘bring a gun,’ " said the RNC’s Alex Conant.

I don’t think the "New Politics" is "being civil at all costs." It means "discrediting the parasites and swine who have been poisoning our discourse."

It’s not cynical to devoutly hope for this sort of result.


Related posts:

  1. Late Night: Elephants on Parade
  2. Sunday Late Night: Fifty-Two Days
  3. Sunday Late Night: Other Things to Delay
  4. Late Night: Obama and the Bite Me Point
  5. Late Night: Vertebrates on Parade