Moving Right Along...
Now that the NYT has received its marching orders from The One to avoid politicizing the tragedy in Tucson, it can now settle into its more regular routine and assign the blame where it clearly belongs: Pima Community College.
posted by ziel | 1/13/2011 08:48:00 PM
2 Comments:
They aren't marching orders at all. If they were marching orders, Obama would have given them right away, or at least prior to the memorial. The new strategy since the shift of power in the midterms is the classic "good cop, bad cop". Obama is trying to appear to "pivot" and adopting faux-triangulation, making it appear to the unwashed masses that he really is a reasonably pragmatic centrist who transcends ordinary partisan pettisness. Here's how it works.
1. Something bad happens with endless-media-echo and political-exploitation potential.
2. The Left media and blogosphere goes the full Loughner with vile, insane and knowingly baseless propaganda, trying to profit from a meaningless tragedy by smearing the right - which hurts their feelings!
3. Obama waits ... pot percolates ... tempers flare.
4. After proper echo-news-cycle timing, maybe 48 hours or so, Obama emerges, having stayed mysteriously silent, removed, disengaged and out of sight - which is spun as being "above the fray". Remember the whole "Cambridge Police acted stupidly" fiasco in a press conference? There was no word from Obama, no press conference, and no one asked Obama any questions, this time around. He controls his message and image completely and much more carefully now.
5. When he emerges - he is now The One, The Messiah, The Healer, The Uniter - with his feel-good cliches speech and call for civility (after he's spend days ignoring vicious slander). Good Cop.
I'm your friend - that guy, sure, he looks like he's my partner and on my team and we're cooperating to manipulate your feelings, but really, he's kind of a loose canon isn't he? That's no way to act! That's why I made him leave the room to cool down! Here, let me get you a coffee and cigarette. I think you and me can get along. Let's do this the right way, by the book.
When the Dems are in power and trending downward and have something to lose - they all play a united message front with the President. When they lose power - they switch tactics and split into special teams - dirty-deeds and the immaculate-statesman.
The next time something, *anything*, happens, expect to see an exact repeat of the above pattern.
Yes, I think your scenario is probably a good approximation of what happened and how it will transpire should something similar happen again. Obama gets to be the hero with no downside for the Stalinists on the left - he's basically just saying "Alright, you can calm down now boys, you made your point".
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