Extremism on both the left and right have emerged with startling immediacy and intensity this year, as an entirely unintended result of the presidential primary process, which was largely “intended” to produce a near re-match of both the 1992 and 2000 elections, featuring Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. Apparently, that was just too goddamn boring for the American people to stand, for Jeb! barely got out of the starting blocks before self-destructing while Hillary, though destined (it seems) to stumble over the finish line ahead of Bernie, is one of the least impressive “winners” ever. The only problem is, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders make “boring” not merely attractive but essential.
Both the left and right are tired of behaving themselves. Donald Trump’s legions on the right pride themselves on their intolerance, in keeping with their chief, while Bernie’s legions, surprisingly enough, have taken up the cult of violence, probably because they don’t seem to be able to win elections.
The Republicans, of course, have been unstable for decades. Back in 2012, the common assumption was that Mitt won the nomination because all the alternatives–Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum–were all too “crazy”. As it turned out, of course, they weren’t crazy enough.
The Democrats were different. For decades, the neolibs owned the party, and the paleolibs could only dream of the good old days, when coffee was a dime, and a paleolib could actually afford a cup. All the smart money, and all the big money, was on the neos, like the Clintons and Obama, who took it as a given that a Democrat with Wall Street’s backing couldn’t lose. It’s a measure of how badly Wall Street has screwed up that the paleos, who don’t deserve it, now have new life.
The gleeful irresponsibility of both sides is repulsive–“Mexicans suck!” “Muslims suck!” “Free speech sucks!” “Violence rocks!”–and both sides want to go back to Fifties America when we made everything ourselves and the standard of living was surely less than half what it is today. What fools these mortals be.
