Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau has once again graced us with one of those columns that is so blatant in its straw men and falsehoods that it deserves a good rant. Let's see if I can avoid that and just take it apart piece by piece.
Our children may never believe that moderate Republicans once roamed the Earth, advocating policies that would limit carbon pollution and invest in scientific research, reform our schools and build new roads, promote national service, reduce the influence of money in politics, and require individuals who can afford health insurance to take responsibility for buying it. Soon enough, these politicians will exist only in the minds of ’90s-era pundits and Aaron Sorkin’s writing staff.
Let's start with "carbon pollution." One of the tells that someone is lying is when they deliberately fuzz things up, because clarity makes a liar's job very difficult most of the time. When Favreau mentions "carbon pollution," what does he mean? I think it's pretty clear that he is talking about carbon dioxide and global warming. So why doesn't he just say that? Because when you get specific about carbon dioxide people identify it as the colorless, odorless, naturally present gas that plant life depends on and that humans exhale with every breath. It's kind of hard for most rational people to call that "pollution." It's much easier to manipulate people with the more generic "carbon pollution."
The implication that today's Republicans, including the conservative ones, are against investing in scientific research is a lie. The 2012 Republican platform mentions the following monetary and policy support for various scientific reseach:
- "...a permanent research and development tax credit..."
- "...ensure diversified domestic sources of energy, from research and development..."
- "We support the historic role of the USDA in agricultural research that has transformed farming here and around the world."
- "We also support federal investment in basic and applied biomedical research..."
- "...we must invest in continuing research to develop cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies to protect the U.S."
- "Asymmetrical or non-traditional warfare results in a high incidence of severe conditions that must receive high priority and call for continued research into prevention and treatment."
In addition to energy, agricultural, medical, cybersecurity, and veterans care research, Republican members of Congress fund hundreds if not thousands of specific research efforts every year through earmarks. Favreau knows this, he has to given his time in Washington D.C. He lies about it because he doesn't have the guts to face the real issues, which are prioritization and justification for federal tax dollars. In other words, legitimate political issues.
It's astonishing that Favreau would even bring up school reform, let alone claim that Republicans are blocking it. It's the teachers unions and their Democratic Party allies who block school reform in every major city and condemn millions and millions of students, many of them minorities, to shitty schools and a shitty education. And that lying asshole has the gall to blame Republicans.
"...build new roads." Ah yes, the magical "infrastructure" projects that will save America. Congressional Republicans do not have a blanket opposition to infrastructure projects that make sense. What they oppose are high speed rail boondoggles to nowhere and ones that are known, designed, to be slower than a goddamned bus. That stuff is just idiocy.
"...promote national service." Show me the Tea Party Republican who doesn't believe that volunteer service is important and something that should be supported. The devil is in the details, as always. When Favreau talks about "national service" what does he actually mean? What specifically is he saying that Tea Party Republicans oppose. He doesn't say, of course. Remember, clarity is the enemy of the liar.
"...reduce the influence of money in politics." Hahahahaha. Perhaps the biggest Democratic Party lie of all. Certainly one of the most common. The only sure and incorruptible way to reduce money in politics is to reduce the presence of politics in money. The Democratic Party today is all about increasing government control, political control, over who makes money and how much of it they get to keep, and they have been pretty successful with the help of plenty of establishment Republican politicians. So is it any wonder that more and more money is spent lobbying politicians to get the pieces of the pie they control? Deep down I bet Favreau scorns you if you actually believe that he gives a shit about less money in politics.
The last business in that paragraph about "...require individuals who can afford health insurance to take responsibility for buying it" is really hilarious. Anybody who has been paying attention knows that Obamacare doesn't require anybody to buy health insurance. If it had, the US Supreme Court would have declared it unconstitutional. Instead it attempts to coerce people into a certain action, buying health insurance, by imposing a tax if they don't. I don't know about you, but I just love when my government uses its powers of taxation to coerce me into certain behavior. Its love and obvious ability to know what's best for me makes me feel all ooky inside.
Wow, 847 words in the above part of this post and I'm only through the second paragraph of Favreau's bullshit. It's a testimony to his ability to shovel shit at his readers at an amazingly high level. No wonder he found a home in Obama's campaign and administration.
The rest of his post is essentially an attempt to build on that second paragraph and establish a narrative of a civil war in the Republican Party between what he calls the "small-government conservatives" and the "no-government conservatives."
Sigh.
There are no "no-government conservatives." Not a single fucking one. If you believe Favreau on this you are an idiot. A tool. A walking pantload. The only people who believe in "no government" are pure anarchists. Even libertarians don't believe in "no government." Any conservative who claims to be for "no government" by definition isn't actually a conservative.
Favreau knows that, I'm sure. And I'm just as sure that it matters to him not one bit. His job is to tell fables, to twist and distort and weave a tapestry of lies that will beguile the gullible and poorly informed into believing the lies as the truth. If J.R.R. Tolkien could meet him today he would instantly identify him as Wormtongue.
Our political, academic, media, and business elites are infested with these wormtongues to a degree that I think is unprecedented, and to be fair to Democrats it includes plenty of establishment Republicans as well.
The Jon Favreaus of the world are why I have this growing desire to want out of urban society as much as I can. Favreau is a liar and a fuckup who peddles fantasies and lies as a way to accumulate power, but he is obviously valued in certain quarters. He knows how to spin for the powers that be. When the lies no longer work he and company will surely have no qualms about turning to raw power, as wannabe totalitarians always do.
I'd just as soon not be that close to them when that happens. Not if, when.
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