Mesmerized by the Right

By
Glenn W. Smith
– July 26, 2010Posted in: Media, Politics

hypnosis slave Mesmerized by the RightWhen our sideshow news cablists, the White House, the NAACP and others began their carnival barking outside Andrew Breitbart’s tent once again – this time echoing Brietbart’s slander of Shirley Sherrod – the predictable puerility followed. The White House apologized and blamed the media culture, Fox News denied its role, pundits claimed the high ground and called for Sherrod’s reinstatement. The NAACP’s quick admission – “we were snookered” – was the only adult behavior around.

It’s a rare day that Sarah Palin, the Klondike Queen of Kooks, doesn’t get a front-page turn on Huffington Post. Left, Right, Middle or Ozone, commentators of all stripes are mesmerized by the Right. No matter how nutty, nasty or distant from reality, the extremists talk and the whole political sphere gets all rubbernecked.

I’ve fought white conservatives’ annual voter suppression and intimidation campaigns for decades in the South. It was and is hard to get attention on the issue. But let a couple of black guys dressed up as New Black Panthers hang around an African-American polling place in Philadelphia, and FoxNews has America thinking the Liberty Bell down the street has finally fallen apart.

When CBS News’ Bob Schieffer somehow avoided the Right’s hypnotists on this unscandal and failed to make it a subject on “Face the Nation,” Fox’s Megan Kelly was so shocked she attacked Schieffer on the air. That’s how accustomed the Right is to having its daily way with the minds of America’s newsies and pundit class.

I can’t bring myself to say much about Drudge, except how in the hell is it that college-educated journalists let themselves be drug around by the nose by the idiot? Where is their self-respect? Where is their judgment? Where is their common sense?

It’s not enough to pin the blame on the Right’s legendary message machine, the noisy blog-to-talk-to-Fox-to-talk-to-blog circle of hate. By all rights it ought to be a classic closed system. But there’s something else afoot here, Holmes.

How is it that the Right has mesmerized the American media, including some in the Left-leaning media? Part of the answer lies in the great moral leveling of the media itself. The elimination of authentic moral considerations in reporting reduces everything to mushy he said/she said. Anything goes, so long as it’s entertaining.

Political news has been Jerry Springer-ized. This is an old and very un-Springery observation. It remains relevant. Clowns play better than statesmen in today’s news. Everybody knows it, but few do anything about it. Success comes to those with empty heads, no moral compass, and the gift of self-delusion.

There’s a folk legend that hypnosis can’t make anyone do something they’re opposed to morally. If that is the case, America really is in moral danger. Or, more accurately, America is danger because of its moral vacuity.

Cultural memory is essential to social ethics, and America is losing its memory. The Right is busy re-writing the Constitution, confident that very few Americans know what it is. The extremists have yet to find a way to justify torture, domestic spying, federal intervention in our bedrooms, and government control of women’s bodies while prohibiting federal enforcement of the commerce clause. However poor their reasoning, however fact-free their arguments, the major media continues to afford them the benefit of the doubt.

History and memory. They are key to understanding the Right’s hypnotic power over today’s media. The New York Times has a story today about China’s murderous occupation of Tibet. The parallels with the European conquest of the Americas are striking. Really striking. So striking that they ought to be mentioned. But they are not.

That, I think, is a clue to Right’s mesmeric power. History is assigned to another bureau. It is someone else’s beat. The Right gets this, and it promises journalists what logic tells us is impossible: a place in history that requires the erasure of history.

The person who, like Emerson, wants to pierce the rotten diction that is the lifeblood of destructive fantasy is, well, little more than a drag, a bummer, out of touch with the power of anti-history while looking to the lessons of history for some sign of justice.

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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.”