GOP won't always be drunk, lefty media will still be ugly

By Rick Morris

There are two distinct elements in today's politics who are having a hard time getting acclimated to the Age of Obama: Congressional Republicans and those in the left-wing media (described for these purposes not as the mainstream media -- which is actually pretty pinko -- but blogs like Daily Kos and Huffington Post and the MSNBC shows from the likes of those jerks Olbermann and Maddow). Their difficulties bring to mind the saying from the drunk guy: "Yeah, I'm drunk, but I'll wake up in the morning sober. You'll still be ugly!" This analogy fits both parties perfectly.

Make no mistake, the Congressional Republicans are drunk on their own stupidity right now. The decision to oppose the Obama stimulus package on a unanimous basis was idiotic. The leadership is practically begging Obama to portray them as obstructionists who are stuck in the Bush era.

Now, the stimulus package is loaded with a lot of garbage (although the tax provisions are good and the infrastructure repairs are necessary) and did deserve to be voted against -- but for the nimrods in charge should not have made this a party loyalty issue. For once, a couple of squish RINOs could have done the party a favor by casting wimpy unprincipled votes untethered to principle. The measure was going to pass the House almost entirely on Democratic votes, so why the Republicans would make themselves a political target by voting against it 100% instead of 98% or 90% or 85% is beyond me. Actually, no, it's not, now that I think about it. The Republican Party just can't help stepping on its own johnson every time it turns around -- the Bush years and last year's presidential campaign prove this notion to be true. The GOP hasn't had a successful president since the Gipper rode off into the sunset 20 years ago last week and they're begging for more of the same by not being smart and picking their spots in opposing the Obama Administration. Just once, just once, I'd like to see the Republicans try to be as slick as the Democrats instead of merely thinking that they're slick.

But everything in politics is cyclical and even if the dinosaurs still calling the shots in the Republican Party in Congress haven't stepped aside, eventually they'll be gumming their porridge in retirement and some new blood will get a chance. If there's anybody with Reagan or Obama-type skills in that bunch, that will take care of a lot of problems, as impatient as I may be in waiting for that to happen.

The left-wing blogosphere and media structure, though ... now, that's a different story.

Their permanent structural flaws are being laid bare right now in a way that would be unsettling if any of the people involved had the slightest amount of self-awareness. Whether it be that pompous moron Olbermann or that Maoist enforcer Kos or that shrieking menace Huffington, none of them have apparently gotten the memo that their allies now control the entire federal government.

Now, it's true that right-wing media spends time railing against liberals -- and to a large extent -- but not to a complete extent. The only thing that the Maddows of the world can do is rail against the "EEEEVIL CONSERVATIVES!" -- witness their tirades about how none of the (marginalized, irrelevant, powerless) House Republicans voted for Obama's stimulus package. Now, even Helen Keller could tell you what form this is going to take -- blaming everything over the next four years on George W. Bush -- but it's funny that you never hear liberals talking about specific policy ideas. You don't have to agree with Republicans on talk radio or Fox News parroting conservative think tank ideas, but at least they're putting something out there. Democrats don't know how to be FOR ideas in their media platforms. Being affirmatively FOR Obama and the Congress is something they simply can't handle. If you thought right-wing media was disoriented when Bush and his pets in the Republican Congress were in control, you ain't seen nothing yet.

So while Republican drunkenness will wear off someday (it has to, doesn't it?), Democratic media ugliness never will.