Truth Is Not an Option: The Manning/Crowley Affair
The big picture take-away here is that authoritarianism has gained such a pervasive foothold among the American ruling class that it is no longer even possible for a substantively non-authoritarian political position, actor, organization or movement to be recognized as such. Non- (or even anti-)authoritarian spoofs, set-pieces and fantasies by authoritarian actors of one stripe or another have completely taken over the roles of their authentically anti-authoritarian counterparts, and this is every bit as true of Obama as it is of the Tea Party, however much they may differ from one another in any number of other ways.
When a genuinely non-authoritarian movement arises–such as the mass opposition to Walkers’ Wisconsin coup–the political elites are completely flummoxed by it, and aside from falling back on hackneyed authoritarian-projection stereotypes of “union thugs” and “union bosses” they have literally nothing to say, and consequently simply decide not to cover what they cannot understand.
This, then, is the deeper sense in which the Manning/Crowly Affair reveals the fact that truth is not an option in American political life today.
p.s. Just to make things perfectly clear, nothing in the above is meant to excuse authoritarianism on the left. I am searching for explanations, not justifications. For me there are no justifications. But getting a handle on explanations is the first step to getting a handle in how to combat it.
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Xtine:
March 15th, 2011 at 3:44 am
I’m one of those on the left who will not make excuses for Obama and am flummoxed each time I hear the right complain about how liberal he is. I don’t have the answer for why the left turns a blind eye to Obama’s obsession with not just continuing, but expanding Bush policies. My particular baby with this is the expansion of faith-based initiatives/organizations (FBO). There was actually a Pew study comparing how the media criticized & covered Bush’s expansion of FBOs to the coverage of Obama’s continuation and expansion of Bush’s FBOs. Obama’s taken it to a whole new level with a tiny fraction of the media coverage. Not cool. That’s all I’ve got.
It’s worth trying to hammer out the wherefores and whynots. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one frustrated by this – though to be honest – not surprised – at all.
Pathman25:
March 15th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Nicely written Mr. Rosenberg. These issues can’t be summarized in sound bites and require some level of deeper/critical thinking. That is where the majority of the population falls off. They either can’t or won’t look at these issues precisely as you point out. They are looking for the black and white answers that aren’t there. It creates a cognitive dissonance that many people can’t tolerate. Again, nice post.