An epidemic of delusions

Paul Krugman, on his blog, obliquely meditates on the "epidemic of open-mindedness" that David Brooks suggests is sweeping the Republican asylum. So far, writes Krugman, only the raging pathogens can be confirmed. The open and exemplary mind of Bobby Jindal, for instance, "has just published an op-ed on the cliff that sure looks as if he has no idea whatsoever what the cliff is about." And this smoothly leads us to "wonder even more about the state of mind that induces you to write an op-ed about a subject you don’t comprehend at all."

"Fevered" comes to mind, even if trite. Desperately fevered, understandably fevered, and possibly even terminally fevered. The GOP's Jindals are not laboring mightily to force a populist smiley face into their procrustean bed of a grim, discredited ideology--but to keep it there. Republicans have for decades wooed the Everyman into believing that playtime for plutocrats and garroted government are key to the little guy's success. Yet catastrophically contrary empirical evidence has begun--undeniably--to mount. And the natives are fleeing.  

That is what Jindal does comprehend. His fundamental problem likely isn't a lack of comprehension, but an irreconcilable surplus--a political allegiance to Gilded economic theory mixed with a reinforced awareness of Keynesianism's pragmatic superiority trapped intellectually in the wretched inconvenience of ideological pieties that Must Not Be Questioned. That's quite a bind.

It's also why Brooks must artificially swoon over what amounts to nothing but platitudinous mediocrities as recently imparted by Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio at the Jack Kemp Foundation's Leadership Award dinner. Here, for instance, from Rubio, is what Brooks claims is an inspirational germ of "open-mindedness":

It all starts with our people. In the kitchens of our hotels. In the landscaping crews that work in our neighborhoods. In the late-night janitorial shifts that clean our offices. There you will find the dreams America was built on. There you will find the promise of tomorrow. Their journey is our nation’s destiny. And if they can give their children what our parents gave us, the 21st-century America will be the single greatest nation that man has ever known.

Then, from Brooks, comes this spectacular bathos: "People at the dinner say that there was a hushed silence for a second as Rubio concluded with this refrain. Then a roaring ovation swelled and filled the room."

Yep, that's an epidemic all right; a collective delusion that something at least marginally divergent if not profoundly innovative has been uttered, when in reality it's nothing but the same old useless pieties--populistically dressed.

Comments

[japa21]

The quote from Rubio is a perfect example of "words are cheap". He is talking about the very people that most of the GOP likes to pretend don't exist. The "little people", many of whom, due to low income, don't make enough to pay taxes. In other words, he is talking about the 47% the GOP has so much disdain for.

And Rubio, for all his false biography, knows nothing about parents struggling to make sure their children have opportunities. Neither did Romney, or Ryan, or most of the current GOP leadership. And those that did grow up in the kind of situation Rubio alludes to, probably have a lot of disdain for their parents.

It is not the words Rubio uses, but the hypocrisy behind those words. The Obamas and Bidens of this world can say those words and they have meaning. When the Rubios, Ryans and Romneys of the world say them, they are truly mediocre platitudes.

[Janicket]

Wow, japa21, I clicked in to say that, but you said it all for me, and so well. Bravo.

[Jason]

Amen, japa. Rubio and his horde love those sweet, little janitors until they remember that many of them are unionized. They love those nice, darling landscapers until they remember that many of them are Hispanics without proper papers. And they love the good, hardworking kitchen staff of the posh hotels they stay at, until they remember that if most of those staff members knew who they were serving, they would likely spit in the soup.

[JTL]

Was it before or after that speech, eloquently pledging his support of the disdvantaged that Rubio voted against ratifying the UN Treaty to protect the rights of disabled people?

[Peter G]

Well stated and inarguable.

[majii]

They're all, including Brooks, jackasses, intent upon continuing to push their failed policies while telling us that they are "concerned" for America's "unwashed masses." If Romney had had an ounce of respect for those who were serving at the dinner where he made his 47% remark, he would have never said it. He really didn't notice them because in the course of his life, he's been used to viewing the "help" as unthinking robots whose main role is to make his life easier.