PostHeaderIcon Washingtonians

I have frequently lamented that the Left/Right dichotomy the Incumbrepublocrats try to shoehorn us all into isn’t very useful for categorizing the political factions in America. I have explained that I find more utility in Walter Russel Mead’s division of American foreign policy in to four schools, the Jeffersonians, Wilsonians, Hamiltonians, and my home among the Jacksonians.

I have also made much of the distinction between the largely Jacksonian values of the traditional folk culture of the heartland of America, known as Flyover Country, and the elitist cultures extant in metropolitan America, which combine the academics and the ghettos.

Now, Rush Limbaugh, has provided another useful label. I haven’t listened to Rush for more than a few minutes here and there in the car for years, but I sure missed a great monologue recently. I had read of Collin Powell’s recent suggestion that Republicans stop listening to him, so when his rebuttal popped up as a link on Drudge, I was naturally curious. It turned out to be a transcript of a part of his show the following day, and he not only nailed Powell’s vacuous character, but the whole mindset of the Washingtonian elites who control the Incumbrepublocrat Party. It is well worth the read; but here are some highlights. First he explains the beef:

…you might even say that the Republican Party is in the situation it’s in precisely because of the people like Colin Powell and John McCain and others who have devised this new definition and identity of the party which is responsible for electing Democrats all over this country.

…I guess McCain and Colin Powell are showing their true colors. Here is Colin Powell telling the Republican Party what to do after he voted for Obama! I know what really has Colin Powell upset, it’s because I said his endorsement of Obama was about race, and I’m not supposed to say those things. These things are supposed to go unsaid.

…Once McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, largely by independents and Democrats voting in Republican primaries, Colin Powell waited ’til the last minute, when it would do the most damage to McCain and the Republicans and endorsed Obama. And when I said it was largely about race, that’s what set ’em all off, you’re not supposed to say these kinds of things. This is supposed to go unspoken.

Then, he identifies the problem:

What’s going on here with this Colin Powell thing is that the Washington establishment — Powell’s not a Republican. McCain’s not a Republican. These guys are not even mavericks. They are Washingtonians. Washingtonians have their own culture and their own desires, and it is to matter. They don’t care who’s in power, they just want to be closely associated with whoever is. That’s the name of the game and they want press adulation. They want to be loved and adored by the media, they want fawning treatment, they want to be thought of as something special, unique, dignified and so forth, and that’s the Washington establishment. These guys are Washingtonians. And what is a Washingtonian? Who are these people? Ladies and gentlemen, they have driven this economy into the toilet. Washingtonians are tone deaf in terms of how you and I actually live and the things that matter and are important to us. Washingtonians are grabbing as much power for themselves right now as possible. Washington does not live in the rest of the country, does not live in the same world we do. What they’re doing now is looking for ways to silence opposition. They don’t care about the timid ineffective opposition. They like Republicans and conservatives who are ashamed of their views and their fellow citizens. What they want to do is silence people like me because they can’t abide debate or opposition or challenges to their status and their authority.

I couldn’t agree more, and “Washingtonian” just became part of my political lexicon. â—„Daveâ–º

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