Horsefeathers

By
Glenn W. Smith
– September 9, 2009Posted in: Uncategorized


My favorite part of the famous musical number from the Marx Brothers’ film, Horsefeathers, is Groucho’s little slip as he comes around the table. “I’m opposed to it,” he sings, and his foot shoots out from under him momentarily before he jiu-jitsus his own leg and recovers.

Groucho sings:

Your proposition may be good
But let’s have one thing understood
Whatever it is, I’m against it
And even when you’ve changed it or condensed it
I’m against it

Well, there you have in succinct Grouchovian Verse the Republican response to President Obama’s health care address to Congress.

“Afford,” said U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, M.D., “is an important word.”

Son of a gun, there’s a one-point plan. But, Congressman Doctor, did you ever say such a thing to a patient? No, the insurance company said it for you. Of course, in the case of the penniless, it was told to an ex-patient.

Presidential speeches to joint sessions of Congress are extraordinary rituals. The Vice-President and the House Speaker are sitting behind the president, members are cheering and rising to applaud the leader of the free world, a congressman is shouting at the president, “You Lie!” What?

That’s what U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., screamed at Obama last night. Wilson acted like the boorish stranger at the family wedding who, when the preacher says, “Do you take this woman…” interrupts and bellows from a back pew, “I sure wouldn’t.” Trashing the ritual usually doesn’t get one a piece of the wedding cake.

Yesterday I wrote that I hoped Obama would go ahead and shave the creeps who keep pulling their hair out over the prospect that some kind of health care reform would pass and save them from their faulty spleens. Shave them he did. In a forceful, emotional, detailed speech to the nation, Obama laid out the case for reform. He also, in my favorite parts, called out the loonies. One of them, Joe Wilson, answered, “Present.”

I suspect that just about every day most of us encounter – at work, at school, at the back fence (does anyone still talk across the fence with a neighbor?) – the lies, distortions and misunderstandings about health care. And most of us are frustrated when the truth just doesn’t seem to set our antagonists free like it’s supposed to.

I resent the Right Wing theft of Groucho, and that suggests a plan. Let’s steal him back. When we encounter the stubbornly ignorant we should just stop arguing and sing Groucho’s song to them, and, if we can, do that little dance as well. If that doesn’t set them free, nothing will.

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About Glenn W. Smith

Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” “There’s no one like him,” says author George Lakoff. CNN commentator Paul Begala says, “He has unmatched experience, a graceful pen (or pixel nowadays) and deep insight into the best and worst of us.” Novelist Sarah Bird speaks of his “lucid and lyrical” prose. And, she says, he’s fun. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington says Glenn writes with “grace and abundant humor” and “uses his colorful experiences in Texas to enlighten us all.”

Smith led Ann Richards’ successful 1990 campaign for Governor of Texas. He worked for former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Earlier, Smith was a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. He’s coordinated national campaigns for groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2004, he authored the highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction. He also wrote Unfit Commander, a book that detailed George W. Bush’s mysterious disappearance from military service.

In 2004, Smith was featured in the film, Bush’s Brain, a documentary about Karl Rove. Smith provided commentary on Rove’s role as then-President Bush’s senior advisor. He has made numerous media appearances with Chris Mathews on Hardball, Joe Scarborough, Brit Hume, and many others. He writes a regularly for top national web sites, including FireDogLake and Huffington Post.

As a senior fellow at George Lakoff’s prestigious Rockridge Institute in Berkeley he studied, wrote and taught on the power of metaphor and narrative in political communications. He also lectured on religion and politics at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. As a sponsor and organizer, he has pulled together numerous national events with progressive religious leaders. He also organized a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at Riverside Church in New York City as well as “Freedom and Faith” bus tours, which was a nationwide campaign for social justice and progressive values.

Smith’s play, Double Play, which explored American Western myths and legends, was held over to sold-out audiences. He’s even written and performed songs in the Americana tradition, such as his best-known song, “Helping Marty Robbins,” a tribute to his hometown, Houston.

Most recently, Smith is the creator of DogCanyon, a political and cultural web site covering state, national and global issues from a Texas perspective. DogCanyon is an exhilarating and unique site that gets the connections between politics and culture and explores both the personal side of politics and the ups, down, craziness and beauty of “life its ownself,” as humorist Dan Jenkins would say. DogCanyon offers heartfelt personal essays, hard-hitting political analysis, and, most importantly, laughs.

As Paul Begala said, Smith writes in “the finest, firmest, fearless tradition of Texas essayists like Molly Ivins.”