From Obstruction to Gridlock

Of course the next post will be "From Gridlock to admitting we live in a rigidly class divided society." But prior to that,let's look into the future. Present "gridlock" is occurring in that nothing is happening politically; no one is thinking; the talking heads are still talking about Romney's funeral, the catch-22 the Republican party(or should I say 'rich class mouthpiece') finds itself caught in, or, even Thanksgiving, or Black Friday. Now the Repub's have found another target, Susan Rice.The Repub's will latch onto anything, even secession from the union movements, to detract from the political matters at hand.  It doesn't seem to matter that a look backward at such obstructionist tactics, if not strategy, show them for what they are.  In fact 'gridlock' is a strategy for the Repub's.  Such resistance and non-cooperation as politics is dangerous yet revealing of the impotence, the effete and enervated character of "republicanism" today.  So while backroom meetings haggle of the so-called 'fiscal cliff'--another scare tactic to allow the parties to get away with doing nothing of ultimate political value or significance--democracy continues to degrade, and de-politicization of the masses becomes more subtle and deepens. So looking into our political future is the same as looking into our past.  Given that facts don't matter in politics these days, an irrationalist nihilism tightens its grip and normality becomes a zombification of the normal in which most agree with Jack Nicholson when he said, "this is as good as it gets."  So money continues to 'matter' more than ever and what really matters doesn't seem to be real. 

OBSTRUCTIONISM BEGINS WITH BENGHAZI

Investigating the Benghazi incident is one thing. Making it a matter of cynical hyperbole for the media machine and red meat for the unrequited right wing is another matter. The Republican lynch mob rhetoric makes anyone aware of the last four years of Republican obstructionism suspicious that we are in for more of the same--more subtle and less blatantly bold but still obstructionist in spirit. The state of the nation-state may actually move them to at least appear as if they are doing something. At least a bone will be thrown to the people. Yet it won't be sufficient to deal with the continuing crisis of an impotent Liberalism hog tied by a capitalism run out of ideas. The only support they have from "the people" to continue such anti-democratic if not unconstitutional behavior is from the likes of the fringe of the fringe Conservative Majority Fund. In other words the Republicans are out on a limb without any net. Furthermore, if Elizabeth Warren manages to push through filibuster reform, the bland Old Party will have one less tool to prevent the system from having some semblance of usefulness in reducing the misery of the 20 million or so out of work and possibly soon out of hope. Stopping progress is easy for the 1%. They can wait indefinitely for the masses to flip flop and return them to power once again. Possibly,, however, the new young Republicans will force the hand of their party's establishment. But what they can imagine themselves to be beyond a front for the rich is yet to be seen. Their talk regarding acknowledging and responding to the "the new demographics" of the country hardly makes space for the re-visioning of conservatism. This would amount to old policies and attitudes with only new strategies and tactics to presumably maneuver the masses into acceptance of an apparent alternative once Obama's efforts prove to be relatively futile and, in effect, more of the same managerial liberalism and obsolete empire building and global policing.