* My Sun-Times column was pushed back to Monday because I got bumped by a special Roger Ebert column on Friday. Not like I could complain. He is Roger Ebert, after all, and Monday has a much higher readership than Friday. It came out OK for me. Here’s the beginning…
The politics of fear is as old as politics itself. And it usually works. At least for a while.
President Bush’s more visceral opponents have decried his administration’s blatant use of fear to railroad through legislation that curtails Americans’ freedoms. “If this legislation to [fill in the blank] doesn’t pass, then the terrorists will win and we’ll all die,” has seemed to be the rallying cry since 9/11.
They have a point, but Bush’s detractors ignore how fear of “Commies” was used so successfully for decades in this country.
Before the Godless Communists, it was the Germans, the Japanese, the unions, the Anarchists, the Confederates, the Indians, the Mexicans (several times, including today), plus far too many more to list here.
Many of these fears were legitimate, some were not. And almost all were misused as blunt instruments against political opponents — an ugly, divisive and destructive tactic.
All of that occurred to me as I watched the coverage of Gov. Blagojevich’s latest political stunt.
* The “stunt” I referred to was the governor’s anti-violence “plan” that he attached to the capital bill. This is what Blagojevich had to tell reporters after the unveiling…
“This is an emergency,” Blagojevich told reporters after the announcement. “Children are being shot and killed. And for lawmakers to say we can’t do it, that’s exactly the reason why there’s so much violence out there today and so we’re just not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer.”
No lawmakers had yet said that they couldn’t do what the governor wanted. Blagojevich briefed just a couple of them beforehand, so how would he even know how lawmakers felt? The governor hadn’t submitted legislation containing the proposal, so lawmakers hadn’t even seen it. Heck, they probably hadn’t even seen the press release at that point.
What he meant was that he would make the choice very clear to the General Assembly: “If you don’t vote for my capital plan, then you’re siding with the killers.”
* And the homestretch…
As if the Statehouse atmosphere wasn’t poisoned enough with broken promises, stalled legislation, rising deficits, corruption allegations (most of them against the governor himself) and general dysfunction, now we’re going to be subjected to crud like this?
Fear-mongering doesn’t work forever. Bush’s use of the tactic isn’t producing the results it once did, partly because we’ve become almost dulled to the overuse of fear and partly because he’s been so discredited in the public’s eyes.
Blagojevich is even more discredited than Bush, if the polls are correct, so it’s doubtful that this gambit will work to persuade a skeptical General Assembly and an angry public to climb aboard. Just the opposite.
And that’s too bad because his plan is pretty good.
* A reporter friend who was at the event read the column this morning and sent this e-mail…
[Blagojevich] bolted for the exits as we surrounded him attempting to ask (gasp!) QUESTIONS! It was like one of those shots of Britney Spears coming out of court after being caught binge drinking with an infant.
We all owe George Ryan an apology
He may have a point.
* I couldn’t resist sharing with my syndicated newspaper column readers the Automated Rod Blagojevich Story Generator posted here by an anonymous commenter…
Sometimes, you run across something so perfect that you just have to share it.
Last week, an anonymous commenter on my blog composed a thing of pure beauty. The Automated Rod Blagojevich Story Generator is a very funny satire on how our state politics are stuck in a bizarre, ever-repeating spectacle.
* Meanwhile, the New York Times takes a look at the damage the Rezko case has inflicted on Blagojevich. There isn’t anything new in the story at all, but I thought you’d like to know about it.
* Related…
* Gadfly Quinn transforms image as he clashes with Blagojevich
* Tony Rezko trial nears conclusion as prosecution, defense strategize on best closing arguments
* 10 key developments in case of gov’s indicted fund-raiser
* Embattled Blagojevich’s agenda could take hit with Rezko verdict
* Who’s who in Rezko corruption trial
* What to expect on last day of Rezko trial