The Wave That Breaks the Liberal Bubble
Can you feel it?
The wave, that is. I speak of one that will wash away far more than just a failed presidency. This wave will have the torque to rock the entire liberal bubble -- the political/media/crony bubble -- leaving it forever exposed. Ironically, those inside this bubble will be the last to know -- which is precisely why it will happen. Those who would rule over us, and insult us with outrage over Big Bird, academic debate-scoring, "binders" memes, and specious jobs statistics know nothing about us. This includes those inside the bubble who purport to represent our views.
But we know them well. For the record, "we" refers to the quarter of the country that never bought into the fraudulent vapor of Obama and who lost respect for anyone who did. Even post-election, when 70% plus of the nation was in this stupor, we knew it was Marxist voodoo that could not last.
It did not. Early in 2009, per Rasmussen, another 25% got over the phony high of Obama's election. Since then, Obama's been underwater on approval .
Millions more have joined this narrow majority in the past weeks. Debates have been the catalysts, but this epiphany has been building for much longer -- and now it's reached critical mass. There is now understanding of the shallowness of Obama and of liberalism. Everything said by the supposedly racist, mean-spirited conservatives has been validated.
Doggone it...I think they've been right all along.
We were, and not just about Obama. We've been right about the academia elites, the Jurassic media, the elitist conservative pundits, the establishment, the "obama foam" class, and Occupy and union thugs, too. This includes anybody who makes his living from government -- and the reporting thereof. It encompasses those who live inside the bubble, plus those who depend on them. These people are all intertwined, co-dependent, and out of step with America. Recent events have finally connected dots for a lot of people in ways they can no longer deny.
Consider a quick history:
Rush Limbaugh opened his show that day saying that "the new tone has come home to roost" and, seconds later, "I'm already on the field." Many scratched their heads, yet others knew exactly what he meant. The diluted conservatism of Bush, Karl Rove, and John McCain was destined to fail -- allowing a fresh start to take its place. This was explicitly Rush's point. Game on!
It mattered not that Bush and McCain couldn't stand each other; reaching across the aisle and the new tone were different names for the same perception failure. Thus, the end of Bush/McCain felt like termination from a bad job. Awful, and yet liberating. Many were "on the field" with Rush that day. The wave began.
Yes, Romney uses some McCain language -- and Rove is part of efforts to defeat Obama. Consider them collateral beneficiaries of a wave they don't understand.
The wave grew in February 2009, when Rick Santelli reintroduced the term "Tea Party" into our vernacular on CNBC -- and his rant went viral thanks to Matt Drudge and Limbaugh. The phrase "Tea Party" was everywhere.
Thus, when people connected in spring '09 at town hall meetings opposing ObamaCare, Tea Party groups organically sprang up. David Axelrod, who has never been part of any movement that he was not paid to dream up and fabricate, immediately projected his counterfeit style onto the Tea Party. He still doesn't get it.
In November 2009, Jon Corzine was decisively beaten by Chris Christie, and Bob McDonnell won Virginia big. People were seeking refuge from Obama in the safety of Republican governors. In the bubble, they ignored these and bitterly clung to an oddball race in New York 23. Hey, no big deal -- you won two, but we won one. Nothing to see here. By the way, did we mention that Obama is personally popular?
The wave then crashed at Hyannis months later and washed the Ted Kennedy seat out of Democrat hands. Scott Brown is no Reagan, but his campaign was anti-ObamaCare and pro-Tea -- even as he avoided the term. The excuse from the bubble? Martha Coakley was a poor candidate. True, but poor libs win safe seats all the time. Those in the bubble missed the point and passed ObamaCare anyway.
They even promised to read it...if Nancy Pelosi would take her 200-pound gavel off it.
Then came 2010, which, like 1994, was fought ideologically. With Pelosi predicting victory, Democrats lost 69 seats in Congress, 700 state seats, lots of governors -- and damned near every dogcatcher. Pelosi lost her gavel, too.
Undeterred, the bubble-dwellers then put all their chips on the table in Wisconsin, where they had unions, a hack judge, and the sacrosanct teachers on their side. This was their slam-dunk. They were sure they could sink Scott Walker, and the world would be right again.
Uh-oh. Walker won the absurd recall easily. The bigger story is the damage done to public unions. The infantile behavior of so-called dedicated educators was seen nationwide. "Public servants," greedy? Who knew?
In the bubble, they dismissed this. They said the problem was simply their messaging and the evil Koch Brothers. Forget Brown, Christie, McDonnell, 69 seats, 700 legislators, lots of governors, and Walker (twice). Forget that the entire nation watched the Democrats flee the state to avoid a vote! Obama is still inevitable. Everyone (in the bubble) knows it.
They really believe this, and they really believe that the world revolves around them. For years, it did -- as most power, communication and information originated inside the bubble. Three networks, two wires, one cable, and three dailies ruled the bubble and the opinions of the world. We know the rest: along came Rush, Drudge, Fox, Hannity, Levin, Savage, Beck, and the conservative websites. Breitbart emerged and inspired millions to embrace tech toys to expose the "racial Marxism" of the Democrat-media complex. Thanks to the delightful capers of O'Keefe and Giles, we all know ACORN.
Liberal mischief was exposed. A union thug fakes racism at a Tea Party -- it goes viral. SEIU members confess to being paid to protest -- and it goes viral. A Democrat congressman insults a youngster -- it goes viral. Chris Matthews wets his pants, and it goes viral. Weiner...well, you know -- and it goes viral. The entire bubble is intellectually naked, and everyone sees the political porn without the networks, cable channels, or newspapers that once controlled access.
In the bubble, where politics is but a game, they miss the cumulative effect of all this. They have no sense of the undertow pulling on many.
Fast forward to last week. As Candy Crowley and the pundits are finding out, winning the optics of the moment is no longer enough. Now events are won and lost in the days following. It's not over 'til the fat lady goes viral. She went viral, and now Crowley, Obama, and the entire media coterie are being exposed on the web.
Those in the bubble never see these tectonic shifts. They were in denial after Drudge nearly brought down Bill Clinton. They stayed in denial after bloggers retired Dan Rather. Everyday reality brings down more newspapers and magazines, and the pioneer of cable is now only airport fare.
Hello? Anyone in the bubble spot a trend here?
No, and this includes some good guys. Limbaugh and Mark Levin hammered Charles Krauthammer and George Will last week on their groupthink. Even bubble conservatives speak of four-dollar gas and dead ambassadors as mere debate topics. How can they miss that four-buck gas, soaring food prices, and 11% unemployment are ruining lives? These are not points awarded because a guy sounds elegant.
Crowley's antics are a sample of incidents that cause light bulbs to go off for voters who may not know the issues but who do know that a president who has to be rescued by a B-list journalist is indeed an empty chair. They know that the B-list journalist is not worth listening to, either. This is the kind of event that can put the last four years into instant perspective for someone.
Different dots connect for different people. For some, it may be Obama snarking, "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" after blaming the video for weeks. Add this to Big Bird, binders, and contraception for middle-aged students, and even unserious voters can tell that Obama is unserious.
For others, it may be the pipeline and gas prices. Or the cancer ad, the phony Harvard Cherokee, or fat union perks. Whatever the dots, they all connect those inside the liberal matrix of Obama, all Democrats, the media, unions, Occupy, and the pundits. Nothing they have said for years is actually true.
If such realizations have hit critical mass, we have a wave.
Gone will be Obama and the Democrat Senate. More than that, however, will be the exposition of the entire liberal myth. Obama has been the face of liberalism, and the bubble has been his support system. When this vapor gets blown away, the propagators will see their credibility blown away as well.
Even at this late date, many assign credence to polls with laughable 2008 turnout models. This includes Fox, Rasmussen, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as the liberal outlets. (Gallup excluded this week.) It will be fun to watch the horror, the denial, and then the spin after election day.
That's why the wave will be so satisfying. Oh, saving the country from four more years of Obama will be important, too, of course. But that will be challenging at the same time. Remember that John Boehner was a collateral beneficiary of the 2010 elections, and he still does not understand the movement that gave him the speaker's gavel. The same might be true for Romney and Paul Ryan. Rove will also get more credit, more airtime, and more wealth as a result. He may think he is driving the wave, but he is merely riding it. These winners are very likely to miss the message of this election, just as the liberals have misinterpreted every election since 2009. Inside the bubble, they always miss it.
All of this will present challenges and frustrations, of course, going forward. To paraphrase a sentiment of Levin's, we'll "deal with all of that later." And we will. In the meantime, enjoy the wave. It's coming. You can feel it, too. I know you can.