There is no real name for the movement that took over America six
years ago and continues run it. That's part of the reason for its
success. Its very vagueness makes it hard to attack.
In actuality,it is not a single entity.It is made up of three main parts.
Cor****atism, which is based on the belief that whatever makes money is
good--and should not be restrained.
Neo-con megalomania, which is the belief that American power is
absolute, irresistible, and always good, and should therefore be
used--without restraint.
And right-wing religion, which is the certainty that this movement's
form of Christianity is God-commanded; therefore it should rule
America and, through America, the world--and any restraint against it
is opposition to God.
Its proponents entered into the existing Republican Party and the old
Goldwater-Reagan conservative movement. They brought those people
along with them (roughly half the voting population) and ran for
office under the guise of being Republicans and conservatives.
Capitalism is good. Being strong is good. Education, financial
security, and trade are good. America is a good, idealistic country.
It's good that America defeated its enemies in the past, like the
Nazis and the Soviets, and it's a good idea that we remain capable of
doing it in the future. Faith and belief in a higher power is good. We
should be careful about foreign military adventures, though once we
are attacked we have to be vigorous in our response and fight them
over there before we have to fight them over here.
All that sounds reasonable, appealing, and familiar.
What distinguishes Bu****sm from old-line Republicanism and reasonable
conservatism is not the names on their beliefs, it's the quality of
their beliefs. The beliefs of Bu****sm are theological.
Theological thinking creates powerful and convincing rhetoric.
There are two reasons for this.
People with theological beliefs don't mind lying for the greater good.
This has been combined with the cor****ate attitude toward truth: "Coke
adds life!" It doesn't matter if it's true or false, or absolutely
meaningless. If it moves the product, that's what you say.
The result is spinning, which is more effective than straight-out
lying. For years, Bush was a master of spin. If you analyze his
speeches, it is exceedingly rare to find an outright lie that you can
nail to the table. Yet he was able to lead his listeners to
conclusions that were absolutely false.
The classic example is in his 2003 State of the Union address, in
which he said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein
recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." The
substance was absolutely false. He had been told as much by the CIA.
The consequences of creating a false impression were vast, tragic, and
intensely stupid. Yet, by putting the opening clause on it, citing the
British government--whose intelligence service did, at one time, think
there was reason to believe it--it is not, technically, a lie.
People with theological beliefs routinely lie to themselves.
In their theological minds, the theory is always true. Only reality is
flawed.
When the CIA stated that there was no substantive link between
al-Qaeda and Iraq, Cheney disputed their claim and in effect said, "It
must be true! Find intelligence that does agree, or if you're too
incompetent, I'll find it myself." Bush believes that cutting taxes
always increases revenues and creates jobs. Yet year after year, when
the numbers came back and it didn't happen, the response was to insist
on more tax cuts, because the theology says it has to happen.
Listening to Bush--and Cheney and their sup****ters--is exactly like
listening to a Marxist explaining away Stalin. And Mao, and the
gulags, and the East German secret police, madness of Ceausescu.
They were a new force. They believed completely in their cause and
that they should have power. They arrived cloaked in old and familiar
and reassuring rhetoric, so they encountered little resistance, and
conquered rapidly and thoroughly.
What is astoni****ng is how rapidly their ideas are being revealed as
bankrupt.
The war in Iraq has demolished the myth of America's unlimited power.
Iraq was the neo-cons' great experiment in democracy and free-market
capitalism. The true believers really believed that simply by having
people vote for a democratic-style government and sweeping away all
restrictions on free markets, a little America would instantly
emerge--stable, friendly, prosperous, the envy of its neighbors.
Instead, it created a hell on Earth.
Anti-government government was exposed as bankrupt by Katrina.
Prosecutor-gate is revealing, quite rapidly, how the quest for power,
fueled by theological righteousness, tossed out all other
virtues--like justice, fairness, and honesty.
Economists and pundits are behind the curve, but ordinary Americans
get that Bush economics do not work for them. And that what's good for
giant cor****ations is not necessarily what's good for the USA.
Religion has been a sacred cow. But the excesses of Christian power
and the violent madness of Islamic fundamentalism have changed that.
Now atheist books are on the best-seller list. Because it is
necessary, it has become respectable to genuinely question why and how
and what people believe.
Theological thinking, itself, has been revealed as bankrupt.
It is almost impossible to overstate how disastrous the eight years of
Bush are going to turn out to be for the Republican Party and for the
right. It is not entirely visible yet, but this tumble downhill is
going to turn out to be a fall off a cliff.
The Democrats, and the left, have a great op****tunity here. I hope
they make something out of it, because those other people are
dangerous idiots. If they are going to, they can't simply fall back on
their old rhetoric. The world has changed. It always changes. It will
keep changing. They have to come up with something new. Something that
combines realism and good, hard-headed American pragmatism with
ideals. Then make it sound exciting.
Larry Beinhart
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