THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Apparently, one year is enough

I have spent the last year convincing myself that Glenn Beck, teabaggers, Sarah Palin, birthers, people who think President Obama is a Muslim socialist who wants to kill your grandmother, Rep. Joe Wilson, Rush Limbaugh, and William Kostric represent only the extremist fringe right and speak for a very small percentage of Americans.

In essence, I chose to believe that their popularity was due to the fact that a lunatic minority of Fox News worshippers were outraged, among other things, that the president is a black man from Chicago who appointed a Puerto Rican from New York to the Supreme Court and, also, that the South lost the Civil War.

They needed an outlet for their frustrations and Glenn Beck et al. were more than happy to capitalize on their frothing animus.

As such, I've tried to ignore these voices in an effort to marginalize their lunacy and minimize the possibility that my head will blow up.

My instinct was largely fueled by polls showing that the Republican party hasn't been this unpopular since the Clinton impeachment.

I suppose last week's election might have served as a wake-up call, but the few races didn't really suggest any alarming nationwide trend. (Even in places where Republicans made gains, many exit polls indicated significant support for President Obama.)

However, today's Gallup survey makes me realize that the loudest voices on the right are making headway -- both in terms of control of the Republican party, as well as the national dialogue.

In some ways, this is good. I'd rather have Sarah Palin be the GOP nominee than, say, an intelligent thoughtful conservative like Senator Susan Collins.

But this is bad news when it comes to trying to pass any progressive legislation after 2010.

Alas, many independents (who initiate most of the swings in these polls) have either forgotten the lessons of Bush/Cheney or they've concluded that one year of Democratic control over the White House and Congress is so bad that they're ready to turn the tide back again.

--Junichi