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Reich's optimistic strategy to get Democrats back in power

[Karl:  Those who claim to seize the high moral ground usually have no concept of common sense morality.  My comments are below.]

      

Reich's optimistic strategy to get Democrats back in power
Reviewed by Steve Weinberg
Sunday, May 16, 2004
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URL: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/16/RVG1U6H7OA1.DTL

 

Reason

Why Liberals Will Win the Battle for America

By Robert B. Reich

KNOPF; 257 PAGES; $24
 

---

As secretary of labor in the Bill Clinton Cabinet, Robert Reich traversed the United States, talking to the underemployed and unemployed.

An extroverted, enthusiastic promoter of better times to come, Reich describes introducing himself, "bounding toward them with my right hand extended." Inevitably, the somewhat sour man or woman on the other end of the handshake would say something like: "Congratulations. What have you done for me?"

Morals does NOT start with, "What have you done for ME?"

Reich would respond positively: "This administration has created millions of new jobs!"

The administration does not create jobs.  Private enterprise creates jobs.

The deflating response would come: "Yeah, and I've got three." An only slightly more welcome response than, "Yeah, and I've got none."

For every victim there is someone ready to feed the maw of victimhood, saying that, "You are not responsible for your condition, but the government is."  That is false data.

Reich, a lawyer and professor in addition to sometimes politician, is smart enough to know that the Clinton administration presided over plenty of factory closings, overseas outsourcing and the like. But he is also smart enough to know that the Clinton administration presided over more job creation than what the statistics indicate about the administration of George W. Bush.

Administrations do not "preside" over, other than in some perverted symbolic sense.  It is true that some politicians throw roadblocks into the path of private enterprise while others try to release private enterprise from government bondage.

That fact [which is NOT a fact!] leads to the crux of Reich's engaging new book, "Reason": Why are so many of these angry workers, who can barely pay their family's bills, voting for radical conservative ("Radcon," in Reich's parlance) Republicans instead of Democrats? Because, Reich answers, the Radcons have "exploited these workers' anger and channeled it toward those familiar targets they want to blame -- poor blacks and Latinos, welfare recipients, affirmative action, immigrants, women, Washington bureaucrats, Hillary and Bill and, of course, liberals. Anger is a potent political force. Radcons have been remarkably, and tragically, effective at their scapegoating."

This is pure baloney.

What to do? Reich should be smart enough to know that the subtitle of his well-thought-out, passionately written book is almost certainly overly optimistic in its prediction that liberals "will win" control of local, state and federal government institutions anytime soon. A more realistic subtitle would read "Why Liberals Ought to Win the Battle for America."

Because any reviewer of Reich's book should be obligated to declare his or her views on political issues so readers can discount for bias, I will disclose that I agree with almost every sentence Reich writes.

So much for an unbiased, "media type liberal" admission.

Until the final chapter, that is, when Reich offers ideas about how liberals, working through the existing Democratic Party, can retake the White House, Congress, governorships, state legislatures and school boards from the radical conservatives who powered the Republican Party into electoral dominance.

Reich builds to his conclusion about liberal victory in chapters focusing on "public morality," "real prosperity" and "positive patriotism." He accuses the Radcons, led by Newt Gingrich, William Bennett, Robert Bork, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and other familiar names -- George W. Bush included -- of betraying an America built on caring across socioeconomic lines, by turning much of the populace to an "us versus them" mentality, the "them" being non- Caucasian and/or low income.

Bosh!

As Reich discusses why sexual preferences should be outside the authority of government,

I would agree with that if we didn't already have plenty of government mandates of "freedom for sexual perversion" built into the laws.  The "sexual revolution" has been encouraged by laws and more laws -- and judicial activism without end.  What a lie for Reich to say that he believe the government should stay away from "sexual preference!"

why economic prosperity for all would help rather than hurt the economy,

Who can disagree with mother and apple pie?

 why unilateralism in international affairs will promote rather than terminate terrorism,

Bosh.  Would he have us retreat onto an island, and hope the bad guys won't come after us if we just leave them alone -- "over there."

he draws on compelling examples from his government service, his personal life and the experiences of his parents. The anecdotes leaven the book's dire warnings, making the text compulsively readable, even in sections where Reich's views clash with the reader's.

I don't need to read his book.  I've heard him all to often on the liberal media, being, so-called, interviewed, but in fact just spouting his liberal views to a compliant host.

Above all, Reich's anecdotes are meant to demonstrate the reasonableness of the traditional liberal agenda and the unreasonableness of the Radcon agenda, which is mostly about making the wealthy even wealthier.

This is the usual scarecrow that liberals use to denounce Republicans -- just not true, but then if you believe it is true you would not be reading this page.

Having reason on their side is a good start for liberals, Reich says, but they must infuse political campaigns with passion.

Well, of course, they have neither reason nor morals on their side, so all they have left is the emotional reaction of non-thinking people. There is plenty enough of that around to keep Reich going, unfortunately.

All right so far. But when Reich moves to his plan for organizing passion into a reconstituted Democratic Party, the specifics become mushy, and even when not mushy, unpersuasive.

Mushy is the proper word for trying to apply logic to emotion. Emotion does not have logic, it has "gut feelings."

Sure, Democratic liberals need to convince wage-earners who are just getting by that the Bush brand of Republicans works against the economic interests of those making less than $50,000 annually. But how do you go about this? One answer comes from Reich's own life. After leaving the Clinton administration to become a Brandeis University professor, Reich left the cocoon to seek the governorship of Massachusetts. He lost, but his actions spoke even louder than his words. In losing, Reich says he left a legacy that could be built upon: "I did at least inspire a lot of young people to get involved. They worked tirelessly in my campaign. They saw how politics can affect the lives of ordinary people in very practical ways. They felt the joy and excitement of politics, and also its disappointments. ...

They were brainwashed into a losing idea -- and some of them remain brainwashed -- it is the only tool liberals can use -- brainwashing.

"Liberal idealism isn't dead. It's just waiting to be ignited (among young people, minorities, the poor) or reignited (among the middle-aged and jaded). ... They want the system cleaned up. They want government to work better and for more people. They yearn for political leaders who are authentic, who'll stand up for what they believe in, who aren't afraid to take on sacred cows and tell it like it is, who have new ideas that are commonsensical. They're deeply worried about where the Radcons are taking the country."

Bosh!  As the November elections will prove!

Amen, Brother Reich. You have given much of your career to public service at relatively modest salaries. Now we will see what you do after your book tour is finished. •

Wow!  I've come to the end of an emotional review of an emotional book and have no idea if there is even a slight claim to facts and logic, much less morality, in this Book.

I suggest you read a comic book!

Steve Weinberg is a writer in Columbia, Mo.

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