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November 19, 2004

You're No Good

First things first: Linda Ronstadt abruptly ceased being listenable when she stopped covering Warren Zevon songs. Heart Like A Wheel is a simply amazing album - and it's been downhill since then.

I mention this by way of saying that in a just universe, nobody would care what Linda Ronstadt is saying; when she was in her prime, I was still in elementary school.

And yet she's oddly symptomatic of what ails the "elite" of the Democrat party these days.

Here's the money (earned in Branson) quote:

Don't get her started on the recent presidential election. "People don't realize that by voting Republican, they voted against themselves," she says. Of Iraq (news - web sites) in particular, she adds, "I worry that some people are entertained by the idea of this war. They don't know anything about the Iraqis, but they're angry and frustrated in their own lives. It's like Germany, before Hitler took over. The economy was bad and people felt kicked around. They looked for a scapegoat. Now we've got a new bunch of Hitlers."
So - in one short graf, we have the Democrats Post-Moore Manifesto:
  • "People are stupid and ignorant - that's why we lost"
  • "Forget what you see - a Republican adminstration is baaaad for you"
  • "Your motivations are base and scary..."
  • "...and comparable to Hitler."
The more I think about it, the more I believe we're at a fork in the road.

The Democrats can grow up and start basing their politics and worldview in reality, and start acting like a party of adults. That might be good for the nation, probably would save their party, and probably lead to a long-term stabilization of the GOP's electoral fortunes.

Or the Democrats can continue down their current path - hatred, paranoia, self-contratulatory narcissism based on a delusional, self-adulatory dream of their own intellectual superiority. It'll lead to decades of GOP hegemony over American politics, which I like to think would be a good thing...

...but in fact would be a problem in the long term. Our country is designed, from the Constitution on down, to be a two-party system. Not a multi-party system, not a one-party state.

Given the way the Democrats nationally have been acting lately, I wonder if the Greens woudn't make a better second party for this nation than the Democrats currently are?

Posted by Mitch at November 19, 2004 09:56 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Gotta disagree, Mitch. When Linda Ronstadt (or almost anyone else, for that matter) covers Warren Zevon songs, it loses the smarmy, ironic sence of humor. Her doing "Mohammed's Radio" is like listening to the Muzak version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" (which I once heard in a mall overseas. I'm STILL traumatized). Pretty Disturbing...

Posted by: Just Me at November 19, 2004 10:15 AM

No question, I'll take Warren's versions.

Just saying.

And Heart Like A Wheel is still a great record.

Posted by: mitch at November 19, 2004 10:26 AM

In your post you didn't indicate why what Ronstadt said was wrong.
"People don't realize that by voting Republican, they voted against themselves,"
-This is a frequent talking point of the Dems these days. Conservatives believe that individuals are the best ones to judge where their interests lie. If someone chooses to vote against gay marriage rather for 'free' health care, that's their choice to make, not Ronstadt's.
"I worry that some people are entertained by the idea of this war. They don't know anything about the Iraqis"
Did Ms. Ronstadt speak out against Sadam's genocide against the Kurds, oppression of the Shi'a, or his terrorizing of his own Arab people? Her concern for the Iraqi's seems only to exist when she wants a tool to criticize the country that's given her wealth and fame.
". . . they're angry and frustrated in their own lives. It's like Germany, before Hitler took over. The economy was bad and people felt kicked around. They looked for a scapegoat. Now we've got a new bunch of Hitlers."
This is just a stream of nonsense. Are republicans the party of the rich or are they the party of the poor? In what way is the US like Germany before Hitler took over? Does she mean when Hindenburg was in charge or after Hitler became Chancellor but before the Reichstag fire? Is this "new bunch of Hitlers" all people who voted republican, some people who voted republican, republican politicians, or administration officials? All of the above? The whole statement is a multi-layered cheap shot, the equivalent of making a debating point out of the fact that your opponent is a grown man and clean shaven, but if was to not shave his upper lip for a month he might have a mustache . . . just like Hitler!

Posted by: Terry at November 19, 2004 11:23 AM

I'm just happy that the media continues to give celebrities like Ronstadt a forum in which to make fools of themselves. It constantly amazes me how some people think that just because entertainment tonight covers them, they must be listened to outside their sphere of experience. The wizest political comment I've ever heard from a celebrity was when Brad Pitt said "why does anyone care what I think? I'm a grown man who goes to work and puts on makeup." Brad may be an idiot, but his awareness of that fact makes him the smartest guy in Hollywood.

Posted by: mlp at November 22, 2004 08:43 PM
hi