The way the aristocrats have always put down the rebellion

[phantom power]

Limbaugh's "slave revolt" thesis plays nicely into the emphasis on the Ricci case, which greatly offends bobble heads like Pat Buchanan, Chris Matthews and Bill O'Reilly, who despite their vast wealth and celebrity, like to pretend that they are oppressed working class white guys. Indeed, the whole phony construct of the Village is based upon the idea that these people inhabit a small middle class town in 1950s Real America, which is under seige from rapid social changes that threatens their traditional values. What they are, however, is a decadent ruling elite who inhabit the most powerful capital on earth who are under seige from social progress which is allowing members of unrepresented groups to have a seat at the table. There are certain shared characteristics between the illusion and the reality, but the results are hardly similar.

Limbaugh, who spends hours each week railing against the unions which represent both the firefighters and the autoworkers, may be down to his last quarter billion, but the idea that he's got more in common with those firefighters than the black and Hispanic colleagues who are competing for the promotions is ludicrous. But it's the way the aristocrats have always put down the rebellion when the folks get a little bit too uppity -- they turn them on each other and set them to fighting over the scraps. Sometimes they use tribal loyalty, race or religion. Lately, it's this phony idea of "class" as a state of mind rather than an economic status.

As always, the working class white guys Limbaugh is enlisting in his posse are being duped. The enemy is the fellow who's telling them they should fight all the women and minorities who are coming to "return the country's wealth to its rightful owners" instead of looking to the old boys network that pays that same blowhard hundreds of millions of dollars to misdirect their legitimate anger away from the people who are bleeding the country dry.

Right wing populism always comes down to demagoguing on race, religion or some such which always ends up serving the wealthy interests very nicely. Complaining that a Latina judge is both a racist and an "affirmative action" hire for the court is an excellent phony symbol of the change that inspires the anger and insecurity so many people feel out there --- including the anger and insecurity of the villagers, who are feeling that the riff-raff are coming to town to trash the place --- and it's not their place.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/returning-wealth-to-its-rightful-owners.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. Yes, Limbaugh just practices Machiavellian "divide and conquer" to misdirect

anger, justice, and any sense of righteous decency.

If the people still fall for Limbaugh's propaganda, they will never be satisfied, always having that vague sensation of loss, hunger, anger and disappointment while being clueless as to the real culprits pulling the strings on their misery.

Thanks for the thread, phantom power.

[Senator]

2. K&R