Fantastically Deadly Fantasies
Frank Rich in his Sunday column wants us to believe that the simmering, dangerous anger resulting in health care reform town halls has to do with demographics: the white majority is losing its grip on power in the face of a very diverse population, at the head of which is President Barack Obama.
This is bullshit, and let me tell you why.
There are three types of people: those who do, those who don’t, and those who dream. The unbelievable invective unleashed by the right-wing in whipping up hysteria against health care reform is not about a deep-seated fear of demographic loss. Republican senators, like Tom Colburn (R-Pissquik) of Oklahoma, or that gun-toting asshole at a town hall in New Hampshire like to fancy themselves revolutionaries. Like the far leftist jerks who gloss over Stalin’s mass murders or consider September 11 as a political work of art, these scumbags like to pretend they’re on the vanguard of a revolution in dark times. So, they’ll trot out quotes from Thomas Jefferson although they know nothing about the man, his politics or his beliefs. They’ll imagine themselves as the core of a faithful community under siege from the forces of the anti-Christ who longs to destroy them. These people read books like the Apocalypse of John and see themselves at the edge of history, perhaps one of those “seven churches of Asia Minor” who are witnessing persecution and signs and are exhorting themselves to hold steady.
For any Congressman to act as though he’s the member of a beleaguered community is a joke: this motherfucker has a staff and an office and a regular paycheck. Despite his best efforts to the contrary, he’s not suffering at the hands of anyone but his imaginary enemies. But it helps to feed into the latent racism and virulent hate of like-minded peckerheads for who this crap is an article of faith. But just like little boys who dream of becoming soldiers and little girls dream of being a princess bride, so do Republican elitists pretend they’re tough, valiant heroes, doing the Lord’s work, as Hitler would say. But they can’t really accomplish anything in terms of what they see American soldiers do, but they can dream that they are doing the next best thing: modern day Paul Reveres warning about the arrival of the enemy, or partisans working against the coming behemoth of whatever dark force suits their needs. (Think I’m kidding? Take this quote from Michelle Bachman, R-MN: “Right now I’m a member of Congress. And I believe that my job here is to be a foreign correspondent, reporting from enemy lines.” What enemy lines?) These are not men or women of action, but dreamers of phony revolutions. Unfortunately, they inspire pieces of shit like Timothy McVeigh or that New Hampshire “protestor” to pretend the same thing, only they have no problem showing off their guns.
And really, what rational person believes it’s an okay thing to show up in a public place with a gun, particularly a town hall? You’re not there with a legal pad to take copious notes, or a notebook crammed with articles you’ve printed out from the Internet: you’re there with a fucking gun. Why aren’t responsible gun owners tearing these losers a new asshole as it makes all of them look insane? Bring a gun to a town hall says one thing and one thing only, but pretending to be a patriot as though it’s 1776 is beyond ridiculous. You’re wanting to provoke a fight and if you say otherwise, not only are you a liar but you’re a damned liar.
So no, the ugly confrontations at these town halls is not a cover for demographic angst. It’s about playing out a dangerous fantasy led by politicians who are supposed to know better, egging on any number of thick-skulled assholes who clearly don’t.