Chris Adamo
How the establishment intends to maintain control
By Chris Adamo
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the entire Herman Cain "sexual harassment" controversy was its complete predictability. The moment Cain stunned the nation by winning the Florida straw poll, an ambush of this nature became inevitable. And it is for that reason more than any other that, despite the ferocity of the attack, the vast majority of early supporters remain steadfastly in his camp.
After being so overused, the pattern has become unmistakable. The moment any true conservative moves to the political forefront, the script books are opened and a methodical deconstruction of that individual begins. First, some quality (any quality) is spotlighted and identified as a critical flaw, after which the news media relentlessly repeats the mantra. Very soon, the usual "Republican" turncoats begin to concede that the liberals may have a point. Finally, a blanket pronouncement is made in absolute terms, to the effect that the former "rising star" has been rendered irreparably "unelectable" and must be abandoned "for the good" of some more worthy cause, invariably referring to the GOP establishment.
Cain's recent "sexual harassment" debacle has unwaveringly followed this pattern. Rising meteorically in the polls, he clearly represented a looming threat, not only to the Marxist aspirations of the Obama Administration, but also the inner circles of the Republican Party where cronyism predominates. Initial attempts to trivialize Cain's popularity as a "flash in the pan" thoroughly failed to dissuade the gathering grassroots momentum propelling him forward.
Reporters and analysts sought on every occasion to deflate his following by demeaning his "999" tax reform plan and reminding us of his lack of political experience. Of course such criticisms have been comical, coming as they do from people who fawn all over Barack Obama, whose pathetic record of voting "present" in the Illinois Senate and an attendance in the United States Senate literally measured in days, can hardly be held up as worthwhile background for the nation's highest office. Nor do the worst projections of negative fallout from the "999" tax plan compare with the fate facing the nation if Obama is able to complete his own plans for its cultural and economic destruction during a second term.
Thus the slanderous barrage was unleashed against Cain by "The Politico," a very typical left wing website reflecting all of the objectivity and reason of "The Daily Kos" and "The Huffington Post," except that it is presented to the public under the banner of being "mainstream." And believing that such a facade represented political safety, the predictable gaggle of RINOs were soon in front of the cameras pronouncing the Cain candidacy to be DOA.
Forget the fact that with every such attempt to betray a Republican candidate, they improve the political prospects for Obama's reelection. In their minds, such a possibility is far preferable to the unthinkable alternative of a real conservative ever again assuming the reins of national power. One Ronald Reagan was bad enough. And they certainly do not want to contend with any more of his kind.
Similarly, the less than flamboyant 2009 response of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to Barack Obama's first State of the Union address prompted the "experts" on both sides of the aisle to declare Jindal's political prospects to be over. It made no difference that the substance of Jindal's commentary was solidly conservative and in every way the proper course to set for the nation, or that his handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 had been vastly superior to bumbling inaction of federal bureaucrats. The D.C. political stylists had reached the verdict that his persona fails to dazzle, and thus he must be ever after relegated to the second string.
The same can be said of the political dismembering of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. When viewed though the rubble of more than three years of vicious and unfounded attacks from frothing liberals, regularly bolstered by solemn and erudite concurrences from self-proclaimed "conservatives," it is hard to even recall how brightly she once energized the flagging and directionless presidential campaign of John McCain. Yet here again the pattern of her undoing was identical.
First, a negative image had to be contrived, which in Palin's case was to portray her as an intellectual lightweight and a political amateur who was clearly not up to the pedigree of national leadership. Thereafter, the punditry bludgeoned America with the message, night after night, presenting it as inarguable fact. Finally, the nation was emphatically informed that it had arrived at such an irrevocable assessment of Palin on its own.
Shortly before the assault on Cain, it was the candidacy of Texas Governor Rick Perry that, as a result of his non-performance in several "debates," was declared as nothing but a brief moment in the lights. Again, this prepackaged liberal assessment was immediately and loudly seconded by the supposedly "conservative" Beltway political class.
So, America is now being informed that it had better straighten up and face the Republican Establishment version of "reality." As the only adults in the room, they have decided that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the chosen nominee of the party elite, and has been so from the beginning. And no uninvited upstart will be allowed to interfere with that finding. It matters little that the nation is on the wrong course, or that Romney's track record provides the best assurance to the liberal Democrats in both parties that it will remain that way. His vulnerabilities all but assure a political implosion if he becomes the nominee. But if he somehow should win, he would still be the least likely to reset the ticking statist time bomb meticulously constructed by the Obama Administration.
Of course Romney will eventually face his own Waterloo at the hands of the Democrat political machine, but that will only come on the day after he has secured the Republican nomination.
The ultimate desire of the political establishment (and within its realm, such inane terms as "Republican" and "Democrat" bear little real significance) is to maintain its current status at the reins of power. This requires that the peasantry (the rest of us) be kept in its place and thoroughly impressed with the notion that the current condition of the country is an unalterable necessity and that only seasoned political professionals can be entrusted with its future.
If Real America wants to shun such a fate, it must recognize the futility of pursuing any significant change under conditions and terms dictated by those who have a vested interest in continuing "business as usual."
© Chris Adamo
November 10, 2011
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the entire Herman Cain "sexual harassment" controversy was its complete predictability. The moment Cain stunned the nation by winning the Florida straw poll, an ambush of this nature became inevitable. And it is for that reason more than any other that, despite the ferocity of the attack, the vast majority of early supporters remain steadfastly in his camp.
After being so overused, the pattern has become unmistakable. The moment any true conservative moves to the political forefront, the script books are opened and a methodical deconstruction of that individual begins. First, some quality (any quality) is spotlighted and identified as a critical flaw, after which the news media relentlessly repeats the mantra. Very soon, the usual "Republican" turncoats begin to concede that the liberals may have a point. Finally, a blanket pronouncement is made in absolute terms, to the effect that the former "rising star" has been rendered irreparably "unelectable" and must be abandoned "for the good" of some more worthy cause, invariably referring to the GOP establishment.
Cain's recent "sexual harassment" debacle has unwaveringly followed this pattern. Rising meteorically in the polls, he clearly represented a looming threat, not only to the Marxist aspirations of the Obama Administration, but also the inner circles of the Republican Party where cronyism predominates. Initial attempts to trivialize Cain's popularity as a "flash in the pan" thoroughly failed to dissuade the gathering grassroots momentum propelling him forward.
Reporters and analysts sought on every occasion to deflate his following by demeaning his "999" tax reform plan and reminding us of his lack of political experience. Of course such criticisms have been comical, coming as they do from people who fawn all over Barack Obama, whose pathetic record of voting "present" in the Illinois Senate and an attendance in the United States Senate literally measured in days, can hardly be held up as worthwhile background for the nation's highest office. Nor do the worst projections of negative fallout from the "999" tax plan compare with the fate facing the nation if Obama is able to complete his own plans for its cultural and economic destruction during a second term.
Thus the slanderous barrage was unleashed against Cain by "The Politico," a very typical left wing website reflecting all of the objectivity and reason of "The Daily Kos" and "The Huffington Post," except that it is presented to the public under the banner of being "mainstream." And believing that such a facade represented political safety, the predictable gaggle of RINOs were soon in front of the cameras pronouncing the Cain candidacy to be DOA.
Forget the fact that with every such attempt to betray a Republican candidate, they improve the political prospects for Obama's reelection. In their minds, such a possibility is far preferable to the unthinkable alternative of a real conservative ever again assuming the reins of national power. One Ronald Reagan was bad enough. And they certainly do not want to contend with any more of his kind.
Similarly, the less than flamboyant 2009 response of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to Barack Obama's first State of the Union address prompted the "experts" on both sides of the aisle to declare Jindal's political prospects to be over. It made no difference that the substance of Jindal's commentary was solidly conservative and in every way the proper course to set for the nation, or that his handling of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 had been vastly superior to bumbling inaction of federal bureaucrats. The D.C. political stylists had reached the verdict that his persona fails to dazzle, and thus he must be ever after relegated to the second string.
The same can be said of the political dismembering of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. When viewed though the rubble of more than three years of vicious and unfounded attacks from frothing liberals, regularly bolstered by solemn and erudite concurrences from self-proclaimed "conservatives," it is hard to even recall how brightly she once energized the flagging and directionless presidential campaign of John McCain. Yet here again the pattern of her undoing was identical.
First, a negative image had to be contrived, which in Palin's case was to portray her as an intellectual lightweight and a political amateur who was clearly not up to the pedigree of national leadership. Thereafter, the punditry bludgeoned America with the message, night after night, presenting it as inarguable fact. Finally, the nation was emphatically informed that it had arrived at such an irrevocable assessment of Palin on its own.
Shortly before the assault on Cain, it was the candidacy of Texas Governor Rick Perry that, as a result of his non-performance in several "debates," was declared as nothing but a brief moment in the lights. Again, this prepackaged liberal assessment was immediately and loudly seconded by the supposedly "conservative" Beltway political class.
So, America is now being informed that it had better straighten up and face the Republican Establishment version of "reality." As the only adults in the room, they have decided that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the chosen nominee of the party elite, and has been so from the beginning. And no uninvited upstart will be allowed to interfere with that finding. It matters little that the nation is on the wrong course, or that Romney's track record provides the best assurance to the liberal Democrats in both parties that it will remain that way. His vulnerabilities all but assure a political implosion if he becomes the nominee. But if he somehow should win, he would still be the least likely to reset the ticking statist time bomb meticulously constructed by the Obama Administration.
Of course Romney will eventually face his own Waterloo at the hands of the Democrat political machine, but that will only come on the day after he has secured the Republican nomination.
The ultimate desire of the political establishment (and within its realm, such inane terms as "Republican" and "Democrat" bear little real significance) is to maintain its current status at the reins of power. This requires that the peasantry (the rest of us) be kept in its place and thoroughly impressed with the notion that the current condition of the country is an unalterable necessity and that only seasoned political professionals can be entrusted with its future.
If Real America wants to shun such a fate, it must recognize the futility of pursuing any significant change under conditions and terms dictated by those who have a vested interest in continuing "business as usual."
© Chris Adamo
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