If, in the privacy of their own hearts, many Leftists jumped to conclusions or even felt a brief moment of dark glee upon hearing of the Tucson shooting, they shouldn't be blamed too much; after all, most restrained themselves while waiting for more evidence. The most notable exception to responsible behavior was Paul Krugman at the ever-shrinking New York Times. But that was expected.
After all, the Democrats took quite a "shellacking" in the midterm election, causing it to be compared to 1994. Naturally a shocking act of violence instantly brings to mind the Oklahoma City bombing, which Clinton was able to use to his advantage in becoming the Comeback Kid.
My advice to the Left is that they not be misled by seductive analogies. So far, Obama has shown none of the political acumen or good luck of Clinton. In the mid-90s, Talk Radio was the only crack in the Leftist hegemony over the Media. (Fox News didn't hit the big time until later in the 90s.) But today the internet blogosphere is eating Krugman and the New York Times alive.
There is a perspective that you are unlikely to get from all the Breaking News, but I can't remember the source. (Maybe it is from Machiavelli's Prince, or maybe from Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men.) But the gist of it is that a political tactic that is fresh and successful the first time around, seldom works as well in Round 2.
The opponents have wised up, and it no longer has that magical novelty that can charm the masses. It is analogous to a plague that has lost its punch the second time around.
Or, if you can stand another analogy, trying a successful political maneuver twice is rather like a stand-up comedian trying to get an easy laugh from the audience by telling the joke a second time.
Rather than pinning its hopes on a replay of Clinton's Oklahoma City bombing comeback, the Left should focus on its archenemy, the Internet. Until they can incorporate it into their hegemony over the Media, Academia, the Courts, and Hollywood, they are at risk. It is a truism that a good politician never lets a good crisis go to waste. Somehow Obama, without being obvious about it, needs to use the Tucson shooting to gently tap in the "thin end of the wedge" of internet controls. Obviously he must good-naturedly laugh off the accusation of attempting internet censorship.
Too far-fetched? Here's a plausible argument he can use: if Congress members can't even have open public meeting with their constituents, then our Democracy is at risk. And if vitriolic, hate-filled messages fill up the internet and encourage kooks out there to acts of violence, well then, some sensible and mild safety guidelines for the internet are the lesser of two evils. I don't agree with this argument of course, but it would be attractive to many modern Americans who actually put little importance on personal freedom.
It's about "safety" and "democracy", you see. And if you oppose him, you are just a paranoid crank, a hate-filled 60-year-old white guy, or a hard-hearted bastard who doesn't care about 9-year-old girls getting killed, like in the Tucson shooting.
Too far-fetched? Here's a plausible argument he can use: if Congress members can't even have open public meeting with their constituents, then our Democracy is at risk. And if vitriolic, hate-filled messages fill up the internet and encourage kooks out there to acts of violence, well then, some sensible and mild safety guidelines for the internet are the lesser of two evils. I don't agree with this argument of course, but it would be attractive to many modern Americans who actually put little importance on personal freedom.
It's about "safety" and "democracy", you see. And if you oppose him, you are just a paranoid crank, a hate-filled 60-year-old white guy, or a hard-hearted bastard who doesn't care about 9-year-old girls getting killed, like in the Tucson shooting.
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