Forgetting politics for once, Boogie Man shows what a winner Michael Dukakis is

[BeyondGeography]

Yes, this is a positive thread about Michael Dukakis, who, in the 80-plus minutes of the Frontline piece on Lee Atwater, radiates goodness, reason and dignity.

We've written enough about his political ineptitude, but "Boogie Man" <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/atwater/> is about the human costs of living a lie. The juxtaposition of the prematurely dead Lee Atwater's descent into hell with the humble and healthy Dukakis, still living in that house in Brookline puttering around that kitchen (which could use an update, but, what the hell, who needs granite countertops anyway?) was a profound message in and of itself.

Atwater was said to be haunted by the quote from Matthew, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" It's debatable to me that his self-examination was sincere (Ed Rollins at the end says a Bible that Atwater had asked for and was always talking about was still wrapped in cellophane after he died...), but we do know that Dukakis has always stayed true to himself, fatally so, in the political sense, in 1988, but triumphantly in the broader realm that is human existence.

"Boogie Man" reminds us how we beat up "losers" in this country, but also how our near-term definitions "winning" obscure other, more enduring forms of victory.

[investintrains]

1. History will show that the election was stolen from Dukakis as well

History will show that the election was stolen from Dukakis as well

just as Reagan's 1980 election was the result of G H W Bush's,
Reagan's and Jim Wolsey's treason as Bush and Wolsey met on March
12, 1980 as private citizens with an Iran govt official about
detaining Amerian POW's til the election

[GoesTo11]

2. Dukakis has conducted himself with great class and humility

A very good man, and he would have been a very good president. It's hard to fault him for losing. He was the first Democrat hit with the full force of the Republican smear machine. It took a very long time for the Democrats to find a formula where a candidate could take the high road and decisively beat the smear machine.

[zazen]

3. I agree--it's also telling in how Dukakis couldn't comprehend electorate's dumbing down

It's not that Americans were more moral in earlier ages--we saw highly eloquent defenses of slavery, rich in rhetorical flourish and odious in their message. But there was an expectation by politicians and the more educated public of a certain level of argument among your (then) avg high school graduate--that your electorate read and discussed issues in depth and wasn't subject to such impulsive TV-driven swings in attitude.

I was also pleased to see them so detached--understandably sad, but clearly past it in some spiritual way. But I was also shocked in retrospect by how he was so completely blindsided by Atwater's tactics. Obama took the high road too and also had 20 years of growing American frustration with these tactics to help him (and the blogosphere), but he knew it was coming and hit back hard and fast when they struck a blow. Dukakis seemed to assume that it was beneath him (as it was) to ever respond to this vitriol by calling it what it was, or to proactively define his opponent.

In retrospect it seems as quaint, innocent and foreign as '50s advertising--how naive they were about the dirty tactics of the Republicans (which is surprising, given Watergate.) Thank God they've woken up.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Thank you...The comparisons with the Obama campaign are important to note

The Republicans have gone to that well so many times that Obama was able to disarm them with a simple, "Not this time." The accumulation of sins has been so great that he was, unlike Dukakis, able to stay true to himself and win; even if he was a far more charismatic figure, this approach would not have worked in another place and time. It took 20 years, but there it is.

[Captain Hilts]

11. People hate GWB so much that message has been delegitimized. nt

[msongs]

5. gw bush shows he was slime from the beginning and his ol man had no honor at all nt

[Captain Hilts]

6. I saw the Duke on C-Span at the Dole Center in KS. What a great, smart guy. Obama should use him.

[nxylas]

7. What is so terrible about this picture?

A "Dukakis in the tank" moment is still part of the lexicon for a politician making a fool of himself, but this famous picture doesn't look especially ridiculous to me.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. The picture I remember was a down-angle shot which included

more of the vehicle, making the large helmet look even larger on his small frame - looked like a kid playing army, particularly since he was never seen in that milieu.

But still, it wasn't the picture itself but the way the press presented it that mattered. This was early in the days of the RW takeover of the media, and the common perception was the press did not make people look ridiculous - they just showed what was there. And they wanted Dukakis to look ridiculous.

[Captain Hilts]

10. Folks made fun of him because he's short. So what? He didn't choose his height.

It's kind of weird to see people here regaling in the fact that Obama is taller than Bush. So what?

[Captain Hilts]

9. Beats me. An Army veteran riding in a tank wearing a tanker's helmet. Looks fine. nt

[DefenseLawyer]

12. It's pretty goofy.

I'm sorry. He's in a tank with a huge helmet and a tie. Should it have disqualified him from being president? Of course not. Should anyone have actually chosen not to vote for him because he was in a goofy picture. No. But I'm sorry, it is a goofy picture. It is just silly to pretend now that it was really cool just because we like and respect Gov. Dukakis.

[snake in the grass]

14. I think the picture is harmless.

As noted in a previous post, there was another picture from a different angle that made him look small in the tank, and even that one wasn't so bad. The coverage made Dukakis look silly and, of course, the respectable Republicans jumped right on it.

This is a goofy picture:



and Kerry's campaign manager should have been fired (or keelhauled) for allowing this shot to be possible.

The most ridiculous picture I know, however, is this one:



Seeing President Dildroid masquerading as a scientist with Hastert as an evil henchman is comedy pure. Too bad it wasn't a campaign photo. Look at that lost look in W's eyes. NOBODY HOME!

[Bake]

13. Atwater, the poster boy for selling one's soul

I think it's hilarious that he stabbed Ed Rollins (another major douchebag) in the back. Like Rollins didn't see it coming? "They told me not to trust him, but I trusted him anyway."

Atwater was slime. As for his deathbed confession and repentance, I'll leave that to God to judge. His legacy lives on, and that is a crime in itself.

Bake