Pity the elites!
And look out for them damned Russkies
On Saturday the 30th of July (in the paper edition of the Strib, anyway), John Rash published a piece that was summarized by the paper as follows:
Like the primaries and the impact of media, the DNC hack is just the latest story to morph in a different direction than anticipated.
First of all, for the grammatically fussy, there is no simile involved here. Remember friends, Winston does not taste good like a cigarette should.
Rash’s point is that what started out as a revelation of what a bunch of corrupt bozos at the DNC did to the Sanders campaign turned into a sinister advance of the Cold War.
Well, naturally it did because people like John Rash are so furiously spinning it that way.
For his article, Mr. Rash gets quotes from somebody from the Hudson Institute, the Home for Broken Down Cold Warriors, who babbles about “false moral equivalency,” and a guy who runs a cybersecurity company in Estonia. Seriously.
This is really Katherine Kersten quality work. Also seriously.
There was one quote from the cybersecurity guy that caught my eye:
By all measures, the election system is a critical piece of American society and Western democratic societies in general. Can this be considered an attack on the critical infrastructure of the country?” Maldre [the cybersecurity guy] rhetorically asked. “It’s striking at the heart of the social contract between citizens and the state. It’s trying to undermine trust between the elite and the regular voters …,
Why yes, exactly, I thought! That’s precisely what the DNC did. But then, well, here’s the rest of the quote:
and if there is no response to this, then that will be another signal to Russia and other parties that this kind of behavior is acceptable.
Just in case you hadn’t noticed, our pal the cybersecurity guy from Estonia, and Mr. Rash, too, are trying to ramp up tensions with Russia. Personally, I don’t think this is a good idea. Or necessary, either.
And it’s a distraction — undoubtedly intended — from where the rot in the democratic process actually lies. It’s just redbaiting.
The disaffection of the hoi polloi with the elites, however, is real. And in my humble opinion, looong overdue.
Disaffection with the elites has another name: populism. And it happens when people listen to patrician bullshit for a long time and finally say, You know, this isn’t working out so well. Maybe these people don’t have all the answers after all.
This always comes, of course, as a rude shock to the patrician bullshitters, because they are used to being listened to.
That’s what makes it so much fun.
Update:
Here’s a Robert Parry opinion piece on the dangers of bear baiting:
Thanks for your feedback. If we like what you have to say, it may appear in a future post of reader reactions.