American rightwingers retreat into fantasy world as their political front crumbles

by: Salaam

Wed Jan 14, 2009 at 10:32:12 AM EST

Salaam writes: Brandon Friedman reports on some of the many exhibits that the US rightwing is departing reality into fake journalism, pro-torture television plots, and fake military units - rather than face up to the failure of their movement. I'm excerpting one of his examples. Follow the link after excerpt for the whole piece.

Brandon Friedman writes:
Whereas most of America sees a largely incoherent plumber from Ohio wandering cluelessly around Israel with a microphone, conservatives are witnessing the reincarnation of Ernie Pyle before their very eyes.  Of course, if you've heard the guy open his mouth, you know this is, indeed, fantasy.  But it had to be done.  When the bad news delivered by the likes of Nic Robertson, Michael Ware, and Christiane Amanpour reached a crescendo for conservatives toward the end of October, they decided to invent their own reporter.  In their own minds, they pined for one who wouldn't challenge their long-held beliefs that Arabs are Muslims and Muslims are bad, that Saddam did 9/11, and that there was no way a man named Barack Hussein Obama could ever be elected as President of the United States.

That trailblazing, fearless reporter for truth became Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher--a man who, as soon as he got there, proclaimed "the media should be abolished from reporting."

I have to say, though, that of all the recent conservative fantasies, the idea of Joe the Plumber as the voice of conservative American media is the least surprising.  That's because it is a persistent belief among many on the Right that training is unnecessary, that education is for elitists, and that wishing hard enough for something can supersede those things.

And I'm okay with all this.  To me, it's evolution.  By retreating so deeply into this fantasy world of strike forces, pro-torture heroes, and swashbuckling, allied journalists, we're witnessing a self-induced thinning of the herd by conservatives.  They're actively choosing not to participate in the reality that is present-day America, instead opting to fall back on the comforting, familiar images of handymen and handsome actors on their television sets.  

So much the better for the country.  We'll tackle real problems head on--with real solutions starting next Tuesday.  And we will progress without them.

Story here.