Glenn Greenwald, from a post titled “Why I hate, rather than dislike, the Bush movement”:
So, to recap: when insurgents engage in violence before the elections, that’s the fault of Democrats because it’s done to help them win (and credit to Republicans because it shows how tough they are on The Terrorists). When the insurgents engage in violence after the elections, that’s also the fault of Democrats because they are excited by the Democrats’ success (and credit to Republicans because Republicans want to stay forever, which makes the insurgents sad and listless). And when there is no violence, all credit to Republicans because it shows how great their war plan is.
Put another way, no matter what happens in Iraq (violence increases, violence decreases), and no matter when it happens (before the election, after the election), it is the fault of Democrats and it reflects well on the Republicans. Isn’t it fair to say that that’s the very definition of the mindset of a cultist?
The argument could be made, however, that it is less cultism than a total breakdown in enduring values and beliefs: they seemingly shift and are discarded to score political points.
If the Bush faction loses its grip on the Republican party’s power machinery to GOPers who insist on more reality and less political spin, than the key reason will be the kind of rhetoric that Greenwald points to above. And this is also why the GOP lost so many independent and moderate voters in the last election: voters who analyze instead of just accept spin felt the situation is now too grave for polemics; enough is enough.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.