Waving Red Flags at the Bulls: On Politicians
Roberts writes about politicians--and mocks the red flags at Current Affairs
What one can say about the modern politician is the same thing one could say about the 'statesmen' of yesteryear--they are the best money can buy. The only insight we have gained in our time is that politicians do not adjust to inflation; we pay a lot more and receive a lot less.
Nowadays, the American voter is less a voter than they are a viewer; our rulers are Philistines and our middle class is chocked full of puritans, but our general populace are spectators. Where our media has become infotainment, our politics has become a sitcom directed by Zach Braff--sad and all too earnest in its message, even as we can see the background coming apart.
We have many colorful characters in this sitcom--as many Micawbers as Iagos traipse about the 'halls of power'. Everything these characters do draws a crowd of admirers as well as detractors; whether it is Mitch McConnell succumbing to Trump's demand to oppose the president no matter what (we have seen this before, haven't we? Maybe it is a rerun from Season 44?) to the Manchin-Sinema comedy duo (I am remembering past episodes now) that always stymied Biden, we are treated to an ever-running sock puppet drama.
The socket puppets are not merely those on the Right--count Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in, too. You don't become a sock puppet unless someone has their hand up your ass, making you talk. Cortez shills for Biden's presidency while arguing for a ceasefire, while Sanders is mute on a ceasefire but talks about 'conditions' for sending weapons to Israel. The cool aunties and uncles of Congress think cool slogans and 15 word tweets are all politics are about. They say the right things to avoid doing it.
I
Of everything this country has produced for the sake of entertaining the masses--films, TV shows, pop music, the Kardashians--our political system has to be the most enduring spectacle we have made. Starting with George Washington and his cherry tree, we have been dazzled by real drama and dramatic realism. From Watergate and the McCarthy trials to Bill Clinton's cinq à sept and Obama's tan suit, and everything in between and beyond, we have had a full comedy and drama in equal, often dangerous, measure. Recently, if you will turn in your TV Guides to the last few pages, we have been privy to the antics and bumbling of the Jolly Green Giant from Pennsylvania; John Fetterman, heir to the ever-entertaining art of politics. Whether he is a descendant of Joe McCarthy, Henry Cabot Lodge, or George Wallace is still up in the air, but what we do know is that his politics are so shallow they won't cake the sole of your shoe--it is no surprise he hasn't a soul.
Between snarky tweets, misshapen hoodies, and enthusiastic support for genocide, John Fetterman has put the 'blue' into 'blue dog Democrat'; anti-immigrant and pro-Israel (or, more accurately, pro-Israeli lobby), he is depressed, under-dressed, and ready to oppress. A darling of the conservatives (always ready for another 'moderate'; their last one was delicious) and a favorite on CNN, Fetterman is the cheapest whore in the whole AIPAC payola. His hijinks, once cheered, retweeted, and headlines for the auxiliary media of the Left, has become the topic of disappointment and finger wagging from the blogger punditry and the enraged Twitterati. Between the denunciations of Substackers like Ganeva and the mea culpa of those like The Majority Report, everyone has weighed in on this episode of American Politics, Season 46.
II
Of the commentators who have voiced their repine, Nathan J. Robinson's 'How to Spot Red Flags', published in his magazine Current Affairs, seems to be one of the more popular pieces on this topic. Of all the praise given to this piece, no one seemed to notice it's greatest feat: the way in which the article never touches upon its point anywhere between its opening lede and closing platitude. Against the consumers, I say that the piece did not grasp the problem presented by John Fetterman; it merely continued it.
Consider, for example, how Robinson begins the conclusion of his piece. He writes:
"To progressives who end up disappointed by Fetterman, then, I think there are some important lessons here. Don’t trust politicians, even if they seem cool. Be careful not to project onto them qualities they haven’t actually shown they possess. Scrutinize them intensively."
Robinson follows this up with taking aim at Kyrsten Sinema is noted as a turn-coat of the Greens who eventually curled herself into a small enough ball that she can fit in any corporate pocket. A safe target, no doubt. How does he follow it? With a grovel in parentheses:
"Trust someone’s record, not their promises. (Bernie Sanders earned his supporters’ trust in part through 40+ years of consistency.)"
The overactive subconscious that produced Echoland does not mention this as an offhand remark; in fact, right before the quote above, Robinson writes:
"But I was disturbed by how little substance there was to the Fetterman campaign. His social media accounts were flooded with goofy memes and insults, not actual political positions. It struck me as very much the opposite of the inspiring and wholesome Bernie Sanders approach, which hammered on substantive issues like the costs of healthcare and college and led with promises to make material improvements in voters’ lives."
We are told, towards the end, to follow advice the author himself does not follow; where Robinson implores us 'don't trust politicians', he precedes and follows this statement with an absolute trust in Bernie Sanders, whom he not only does not criticize but seems hellbent on protecting. Early in the piece he writes, with a peremptory smugness:
"Even those who agree with Fetterman on his anti-immigration, pro-genocide stances should be able to see his dishonesty. (Although if you’re fine with the obliteration of Gaza, I doubt you’re terribly disturbed by a politician’s fibs to voters.)"
And yet the wholesome example is Bernie, who refuses to call for a ceasefire. Perhaps Robinson needs a little help with the names and deeds of congresspeople--if he must applaud a politician in a piece about not trusting them, might I offer up Cori Bush from Missouri's First District. Nevermind her near-impeccable stances on various issues, let us consider the fact she was talking about a ceasefire near immediately, on November 9th, 2023; maybe not in the most firebrand terms, but she took a position that was deeply unpopular but was absolutely correct to take. Where was Bernie?
Somewhere being wholesome, I'm sure.
III
As fun as it is to poke and prod at dear old Nathan (old in style, but not age), he is only the most articulate believer of a particularly rote religion in our nation: the religion of 'political accountability'. As he writes, with all the passion of a night light, '[p]oliticians are “public servants"' and that 'they’re here to serve us'. The politician as public servant, meant to serve the people, is a yarn that has been sold since, at least, Cleisthenes. For Americans, it is in our blood; we like to wave our fingers at politicians and state that since we pay their salary, we are their boss--and, since we elect them, they owe us gratitude.
But that is not how it works, is it? Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington be damned, our politicians do not arise from the people to represent us, but are rather lowered into the pit by the ruling class, using money as a carrot, they get them in a harness, lock them in, and dump them into the arena of politics. To us, we see an empty suit meant to be filled with our demands; to the politician, they see a fish tank filled with piranhas; and to the plutocrat, they see a small stack of poker chips put into play. Even the claim that we pay their salaries isn't quite right; technically, yes we do. We pay for the salary and the healthcare. And yet, our salary must compete with the salary our plutocrats and lobbyists give them; a salary that pays for fancy houses, private jets, tips on insider trading, preference in healthcare priorities (who gets the organ first when there is a tragedy?), fancy dinners, expensive escorts…you get the idea, right? Between a debt funded by China (communists and balloons and spies, oh my!) and the high life funded by corporations, politicians see the 'salary' we pay them as a tithe or tribute; money they pocket for a rainy day. (Unless, of course, you are Robert Menendez--there is no room next to the gold bars, you see)
You see, the big, open secret here that no one has touched on--often because they are too busy trying to defend this or that politician--is that our politicians do not represent us. And, since Richard Nixon, they have never even made the effort to pretend to anymore. Politicians do not serve us; they exist to influence us. Politicians are not public servants; they are public influencers. Ronald Reagan was called our 'Acting president' by Gore Vidal; Donald Trump and his coeval Joe Biden are our presidential influencers. And John Fetterman is merely one of the many influencers who now skulk about the Halls of Power; the politician exists to influence our opinion, so that we only think about the country in the terms the ruling class wishes us to. They shepherd us, who they see as sheep, for the sake of people who wish to flay us.
It was Oscar Wilde's Lord Henry Wotton who said to influence someone is to give someone else one's soul; and what do the politicians who influence us want to give us, if they have no soul to give? Exactly that; nothing. They want to give us nothing, in return for our very lives.