Contra Noonan: Bullshit About Narratives Is Exactly Where They Live
So, we recall Peggy Noonan's comments at open mic night yesterday, no? Goes like:
Contra Nooners, the GOP does not lose every time they go for the political bullshit about "narratives." Rather, it's their bread and butter. The GOP since Reagan has been all "narratives" all the time--all stories, that is, as opposed to policies, and especially as opposed to facts:
Reagan was a hero (though he committed impeachable offenses). And Clinton was a murderer and a drug runner. And Al Gore was a pathological liar. And he said he invented the intertubes, to boot (as it were). And he tried to steal an election (by--the nerve!--asking for the votes to be counted). And Bush is Reagan. And Bush is "Churchillian." And Bush is kinda sorta a tough-as-nails war hero-type guy, mostly because of showing up in that flight suit that one time (that was very narrative). And Saddam mumblemumblemumble 9/11. And All Dems are wimps and closet pacifists no matter what they actually believe or do...and on and on.
So Nooners has it exactly wrong. Republicans do the "narrative" bullshit reeeally well. In fact, it's almost all they do anymore, and it works wonders for them. And once such stories get entrenched, and become part of people's mental lives, part of their world-views...well, they are largely impervious to facts and reason, hence largely impervious to revision.
The Palin ridiculousness is not an example of the GOP deviating from its standard practice, it's just more standard practice: find somebody you can tell an exciting story about, and then tell it, tell it, tell it. It's best if there's some truth in it, but sometimes just making shit up works too. So they find Palin, they spin a yarn about her being a plucky, mavericky reformer who haaates earmarks and bridges to you-n0-where, and voila, it almost might as well be so.
Politics, it seems, has always been full of bullshit--but the contemporary GOP has made it a real art, piled story upon story until one can dig down fairly far without hitting anything resembling an actual fact.
As I've said before, it's this that gave us the Bush administration, the first postmodern presidency, the presidency that seems to think that it's narratives all the way down, explicitly defining itself in opposition to the "reality-based community."
It's not a bug, Ms. Noonan, it's a feature.
And if you don't like it, then I'm afraid you're in the wrong party.
So, we recall Peggy Noonan's comments at open mic night yesterday, no? Goes like:
PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --
CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.
MM: I totally agree.
PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.
(Now, parenthetically, "narrative" is an extremely annoying term that everyone should stop using. It's one of those annoying PoMo-y, LitCritter words that is supposed to sound quasi-technical and hip. See, normal people call such things "stories." But that, I guess, is another gripe for another time.)
Contra Nooners, the GOP does not lose every time they go for the political bullshit about "narratives." Rather, it's their bread and butter. The GOP since Reagan has been all "narratives" all the time--all stories, that is, as opposed to policies, and especially as opposed to facts:
Reagan was a hero (though he committed impeachable offenses). And Clinton was a murderer and a drug runner. And Al Gore was a pathological liar. And he said he invented the intertubes, to boot (as it were). And he tried to steal an election (by--the nerve!--asking for the votes to be counted). And Bush is Reagan. And Bush is "Churchillian." And Bush is kinda sorta a tough-as-nails war hero-type guy, mostly because of showing up in that flight suit that one time (that was very narrative). And Saddam mumblemumblemumble 9/11. And All Dems are wimps and closet pacifists no matter what they actually believe or do...and on and on.
So Nooners has it exactly wrong. Republicans do the "narrative" bullshit reeeally well. In fact, it's almost all they do anymore, and it works wonders for them. And once such stories get entrenched, and become part of people's mental lives, part of their world-views...well, they are largely impervious to facts and reason, hence largely impervious to revision.
The Palin ridiculousness is not an example of the GOP deviating from its standard practice, it's just more standard practice: find somebody you can tell an exciting story about, and then tell it, tell it, tell it. It's best if there's some truth in it, but sometimes just making shit up works too. So they find Palin, they spin a yarn about her being a plucky, mavericky reformer who haaates earmarks and bridges to you-n0-where, and voila, it almost might as well be so.
Politics, it seems, has always been full of bullshit--but the contemporary GOP has made it a real art, piled story upon story until one can dig down fairly far without hitting anything resembling an actual fact.
As I've said before, it's this that gave us the Bush administration, the first postmodern presidency, the presidency that seems to think that it's narratives all the way down, explicitly defining itself in opposition to the "reality-based community."
It's not a bug, Ms. Noonan, it's a feature.
And if you don't like it, then I'm afraid you're in the wrong party.
posted by Winston Smith at
7:22 PM
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